Better dust extraction and save on energy costs

Smart electric valves combined with sensors

It is a true passion project. After three years of development, BlastGate.com, a Dutch manufacturer founded by Chris de Jongh, is introducing a system of fully automatic, electric valves for dust extraction systems for the European market. "Compared to traditional pneumatic valves, our system is much smarter and more energy efficient," he says.

An engineer by trade, De Jongh got the idea while helping to build a woodworking shop at a youth center. "This also needed a dust extraction system; however, I saw that the existing
systems with automatic valves were not practical and should be able to do better. It was only when I looked into this that I discovered how complicated it is. In the world of dust extraction, you have to deal with explosion hazards, and you have to comply with very strict regulations. Our SHUTR valves are developed based on the ATEX-114 standards." 

According to De Jongh, traditional pneumatic valves have many disadvantages. "To begin with, you have to install compressed air, which is expensive. Apart from the energy costs of a compressor, regular maintenance is necessary and leaks on the compressed air line often occur. This in turn ultimately leads to additional costs." At many companies, the exhaust system is on all day. "That costs a lot of energy, while there is no need to extract all day. Second, on the shop floor people leave manually operated valves open here and there because it's nice and easy. However, this forces the extractor to run harder and that costs energy. So smart valves, combined with sensors, can save energy costs!"

No more opening and closing valves

BlastGate.com's SHUTR system consists of electric valves, a sensor that clips onto the power cable of a machine tool and registers whether the machine is on or off, a remote control and a controller. All components are wireless so no compressed air lines or signal lines are needed. "Anyone can install this themselves without any technical knowledge and we created a handy app that allows you to configure the system."

When a machine tool is turned on, the associated valve automatically opens within 2 seconds; optionally, it also turns on extraction. However, employees can also turn the suction on or off by remote control. Several safeguards are built in, such as a minimum number of valves that must always be open to prevent a vacuum and protection against valve jamming. 

One of the first Dutch companies to use SHUTR is the company Houtwerk in Beverwijk. De Jongh: "When I visited this company, I noticed that on a large number of machine tools the hand-operated valves were open while the machine was not in use. When I pointed this out to the director, he then walked through the workshop every day to push valves closed. Thanks to SHUTR, however, this is no longer necessary. The employees were super-enthusiastic. The system takes work off their hands, and in the meantime the extraction process is more focused and therefore better. At the bottom line, our system is better for the employees and energy consumption goes down."

No 'Single point of failure'

Unlike pneumatic systems, the SHUTR system has no so-called "single point of failure," according to De Jongh. In an extensive installation with pneumatic valves, if the PLC (control unit) or the compressed air fails, all valves fail. In the worst case, production will come to a standstill. In the SHUTR system, all components work independently and the failure of one component does not affect the operation of the rest of the system.

In principle, the SHUTR components and the app developed, to configure the components, can be installed and operated by any employee. "However, companies can also use an installer. Installers are very enthusiastic about our electric valves and have all the tools they need to quickly adjust the exhaust pipes should the need arise. They can also connect to the extractor if desired."