Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Dry Processing

TECH FLASH

Beyond OSHA combustible dust compliance

Feed mill employs portable combustible dust central vacuum to remove fugitive grain dust.

Beyond OSHA combustible dust compliance
January 12, 2015

When Missy Morrison, plant manager at Star Milling says she wants to avoid employee injuries at all cost, she’s not regurgitating a safety slogan but stating a legitimate objective. Morrison and Maintenance Manager Keith Williams attend several safety seminars throughout the year and devote a significant amount of time staying abreast of OSHA news. “Many people don’t understand that grain milling is high risk,” says Williams. “It’s an extremely flammable industry.”

Located in Perris, CA, Star Milling was created to produce quality feed for the family egg farm. Now, the mill uses raw grains and other ingredients to produce feed for a wide variety of animals. In addition to producing its own Integrity, Kelley’s, Ace Hi and Ultra Balance feeds, the company provides private-label services and delivers its feed in bulk tankers to farms.

Producing tons of feed per day, the large facility includes an extruder, two pellet mills, a grain cleaner, roller mills for making rolled barley grains, a mixer for pigeon and wild bird feed, a fully automated bagging system with a robot that palletizes sacks and a small bagging line for small packaging flexibility. To stay ahead of the growth, new electrical and computer systems were installed to facilitate increased automation in the facility.

But, with increasing production, manual cleaning methods were becoming cumbersome.

Knowing combustible dust is one of OSHA’s increasingly hot topics, especially with feed mills, Williams and Morrison began researching alternatives to manual cleaning methods of sweeping and compressed air usage. “Compressed air is the biggest thing to get away from right now,” explains Williams. “It just blows the dust around into hard-to-reach areas.”

Although vacuum cleaners are the preferred method of removing fugitive combustible dust, the mill had previously used an agricultural vacuum, which Williams says was great on the farm but not for Star Milling. 

The other alternative was a central vacuum system that would be expensive to set up, require more piping and multiply the areas where dust could settle. In such a big facility, a vacuum that could pull from one end to the other would require a large and expensive setup.

Both Williams and Morrison remembered reading an article about a VAC-U-MAX breakaway central vacuum system that meets OSHA’s requirements for a combustible dust vacuum. After researching other options, Morrison arranged a meeting with Air Cleaning Technology (ACT), the local representative for VAC-U-MAX.

During the initial meeting with ACT’s Sales Engineer Randy O’Halloran, the option of dust collection equipment was discussed. During the walkthrough, O’Halloran witnessed the problem areas the feed mill wanted to handle such as rafters, beams and pits, and suggested a vacuum cleaning application.

According to Williams, Star Milling chose the VAC-U-MAX 1020 system over those of competitors because of its superior suction.

The higher suction is a result of the positive displacement (PD) pump vacuum production. PD pumps are capable of generating high vacuum and excellent airflow so they can pull massive amounts of material over distances. The 15hp model at Star Milling moves 10,000 lb. of powder an hour from 30 ft. away, if needed.

Williams says, “I like the ability to do whatever I want with one vacuum. The VAC-U-MAX 1020 system is a dual-purpose machine that maximizes ROI. It is a cost-effective alternative to what could have been very expensive.”

Once the system was in place, Star Milling set up a training program to teach supervisors and operators how to use the machine. “It’s pretty much plug and play right away, but the suction is powerful, and we wanted to be sure everyone was using the vacuum safely,” says Williams.

Cleaning the upper area of the pellet mill was one of Morrison’s first projects. “Before we purchased the vacuum, we used to clean that area every three months, and it took one person all day to clean it,” she recalls. “With the vacuum, all the dust gets sucked into the vacuum system and doesn’t spread anywhere,” says Morrison.

One of the biggest benefits came with cleaning the elevator pits. “We use extension tubes with the vacuum, and they give us the ability to get into the confined space without anyone actually having to enter it, which is a big deal for us. Every time someone has to enter the confined space, you need to have a three-person team monitor the air,” says Morrison.

Before Morrison and Williams had a chance to set up a schedule to clean the pits, the operators in the area began using the system on their own. The unit is designed for one-person maneuverability with 14-in. diameter wheels, but Star Milling chooses to move the vacuum from area to area with a forklift. 

For more information:

973-759-4600, info@vac-u-max.com; www.vac-u-max.com.

KEYWORDS: milling plant safety regulations vacuum worker safety

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    Latest headlines
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Cleaning | Sanitation
    By: Richard F. Stier
close

1 COMPLIMENTARY ARTICLE(S) LEFT

Loader

Already a Registered User? Sign in now.

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

Cargill Cocoa Plant

Cargill Invests in its Cocoa Supply Chain

Campbell’s Utah plant

Going for Gold(fish): Inside The Campbell’s Company’s $160M Cracker Plant Expansion

Woman engineer on construction site

Exploring the Impact of Women Engineers on the Food Industry

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

July 23, 2025

Decarbonizing Process Heat: What You Should Know and Next Steps

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • Grain silos connected to a processing facility

    Controlling Combustion Beyond Dust Hazard Analysis

    See More
  • Dry Processing

    Combustible dust safety services

    See More
  • New regs on tap for combustible dust explosions

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • Rice-Engineering-Website-Cover-439x600.jpg

    Advances in Science & Engineering of Rice

  • Peanuts-Flyer-(2016).gif

    Peanuts: Bioactives & Allergens

  • military-food-engineering.gif

    Military Food Engineering and Ration Technology

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • June 27, 2018

    Signage for Safety & OSHA Compliance

    Invest in safety through clear and consistent signage, with guidance from this free webinar.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!