Q: What are the most important reasons to install the ECOGATE® System?

A: The most important reason to install the ECOGATE® System is to be cost effective in production. The ECOGATE® MASTER System significantly reduces the cost of the electricity needed to run a dust collecting system. Reducing the production costs is imperative in today's highly competitive market.

Dust collecting must transport the sawdust from the workstations in a container in the most effective way. A designer should design a well-balanced dust collection system that takes advantage of this new technology and the cost effectiveness from the benefits of industrial computer control. Computer controlled technology is used everywhere today for increased efficiency, and ECOGATE for the first time ever is taking advantage of computer controlled technology in dust collecting.

OSHA requirements will be stricter in the coming years and the ECOGATE® System will help you to fulfill those requirements in a cost-effective way. If a company tries to meet those requirements without using the ECOGATE® System, the cost to do so will be exorbitant.

Q: What are the factors that maximize the return on my investment with the ECOGATE® System?

A: 1) The cost of electricity. The higher the cost per kWh, the greater the savings will be. Do you know your cost per kWh? 2) With more dust collector operational hours per day (per week, per year) the greater the savings will be. 3) The greater the amount of "idle" time at each work station (set up, breaks, lunch, etc.) the greater the savings.

Q: How much will it cost?

A: It doesn’t take long to find out. Since each system is unique in its configuration, you simply complete a Shop Survey and you will quickly know the estimated installed cost.

Q: What size of dust collector is recommended for use with the ECOGATE® MASTER System?

A: This is completely dependent on your unique "factors" discussed in the previous Q&A. We recommend using the ECOGATE® MASTER System (with Inverters) only with a dust collector of 100 HP or larger, and the dust collector is running more than one shift per day. For smaller dust collectors we recommend using the small ECOGATE® System without the variable speed drive.

Q: How will the system know to open/close gates when we have so many different types of machinery?

A: Special Toroidal Industrial Sensors are used to read current to the workstation motor.

Q: Our CNC machinery is using hydraulic blast gates. Can the ECOGATE® System co-operate with these blast gates?

A: Yes. We will not install the ECOGATE® blast gates on machinery with hydraulic blast gates, but we will install the ECOGATE sensors on those machines. As a result, our computer will know if the hydraulic blast gates are open or closed, and we will include this information in our calculations of the necessary dust collector power.

Q: Could a malfunction cause this system to halt production?

A: There is a programmable and a manual override to the system which would allow for normal operation at any time (without the energy savings functionality of the Ecogate System.)

Q: What happens if the system breaks?

A: This system is primarily electronic, and the mechanical components are simple and not prone to failure. There is a 1 year Manufacturer’s warranty, and an annual Maintenance Agreement to cover repairs related to routine adjustments.

Q: According to my understanding, because the ECOGATE® System is closing the blast gates on non-working machinery, the air volume in the main duct will be reduced, and sawdust will start to settle on the inside of the main duct.

A: This is not correct. The ECOGATE® System is programmed to keep a certain number of blast gates open all the time to maintain the minimum air velocity in the main duct. This means that sawdust will not settle on the bottom of the main duct. The percentage of blast gates that must be kept open all the time differs depending on the individual system, and must be set up during the system installation and based on the measurement and evaluation of that system.
Keep in mind, that if you reduce the air volume (CFM) consumption by twenty percent, (by closing the blast gates) you will save fifty percent of electricity.
If you are a designer of the system you understand that there must be compromise in the design of the main duct. The small size of the main duct allows a greater range of CFM regulation and greater electricity savings. For details about this topic please see our design guidelines.

Q: If you reduce the CFM of the dust collector, the negative pressure of the duct collector is also reduced. How do you maintain the pressure drop for those blast gates that are furthest from the dust collector?

A: Our computer knows the negative pressure loss for each blast gate. If, at the calculated CFM, the negative pressure is not enough for a particular blast gate, the computer will automatically increase the RPM to create the correct negative pressure.

Q: Can the ECOGATE System be used with Spark Detection Systems?

A: Yes, but you must follow design rules in this paragraph.
There is a very good explanation of the spark detection system design @ http://www.hansentek.com/design.html

Placement of the spark detection sensor is based on a formula: Distance (Ds) >= Total System Reaction Time (Tr) x Velocity (V). With a known velocity we simply calculate the distance ahead of the spray for placement of the detectors.

The ECOGATE System is using variable air speed according to the CFM requirements, i.e. the distance must be designed according to the maximum air velocity in the main duct.

I. ECOGATE System installation in existing dust collecting systems

a. existing main duct: we are never using higher air velocities, i.e. existing speed in the main duct before the ECOGATE System installation is also maximum speed (if dust collecting system is correctly designed, min. air velocity in the main duct is about 4000 FPM). The spark detection sensor placement can remain in same position as it was prior to the ECOGATE System installation.

b. in case of changing of the main duct during the ECOGATE System installation (sometimes we are recommending to make main duct smaller) maximum air velocity will be higher (can peak for some percentage of the time) over the existing air velocity in the main duct, i.e. correction of the spark detection sensor placement is necessary!

II. ECOGATE System installation on NEW dust collecting systems

General recommendation: install the spark detection system after the ECOGATE System installation. Maximum air velocity is achieved with all workstations ON - it is necessary to measure the maximum air velocity speed (FPM), and use this value for spark detection sensor placement design.

It is strongly recommended to check the spark detection system after ECOGATE System installation. ECOGATE dealer must inform the spark detection system installer about the real air velocities in the main duct system.

Q: Will installation of this system stop my production?

A: Maybe. Most of the installation process can be completed without interruption to production. If you are running 3 shifts, then we must carefully schedule installation of the Blast Gates and the Frequency Inverter.