Research of dust control in the air at a feed factory when receiving wheat

At agricultural enterprises, when accepting grain material, there are norms that clearly regulate each action at all stages of receiving raw materials for processing. These standards are legally fixed and prescribed in GOST 13586.3-2015 «Acceptance standards and methods for sampling». The article also describes the processes involved in dust emission at these stages and presents the results of a gravimetric study of dustiness. According to the dust concentration values obtained at each stage, microscopic examinations of the analytical filters were carried out to determine the disperse composition of the dusts generated. For this purpose, the article gives examples of microphotographs of dusts, which were then processed in special software programmes to establish various particle parameters. The maximum linear particle size, the particle area, and the ratio of the largest linear particle size to the smallest linear particle size are used as the main parameters. Based on the area and shape of the particles, their aerodynamic diameters were determined, which is also an important dust parameter shall be used in the calculations of dust collection equipment and estimating aerosol longevity. Based on these parameters and the number of detected particles, there have been obtained integral dependencies of particle fractions on their decimal logarithm of maximum linear size and aerodynamic diameter. According to the processed dependences, dust dispersion parameters (average particle size and standard deviation), formed when receiving wheat, are given. Then the data on the content of particles with sizes up to 2,5 microns and 10 microns are presented. The results of this study can be used for the estimation of the probability of occupational diseases among workers in reception centers of the feed mixing plants. In addition, there have been presented the results of the morphological analysis of the industrial air dustiness in reception centers by the value «the ratio of the largest linear particle size to the smallest».