10
Good Reasons Not to Build Your Own Spray System
I have often fantasized about running an ad that
read, "Here's the cheap hunk of junk spray system you always
wanted". Why, because the last
thing in the world most plants want to spend their money on is dust
control. I've had a plant manager rip up
my literature and a quarry owner storm out a meeting because of their anger and
frustration over regulation that requires them to protect the environment. Our
biggest competitor at NESCO is the plant that decides to build and install
their own spray system. I've seen a few
that are well-designed, but hundreds that aren't.
If NESCO built that cheap spray system, we would've
been out of business years ago.
Why? Because when that system
didn't control your dust, got your stone too wet and broke down all the time
you wouldn't remember that's the system you wanted but only that I was the guy
that sold it to you.
Thankfully, there are plenty of mines and quarries
that see the value in quality equipment that is designed to last in an abusive
mining environment.
But, if you're still thinking about building your
own system, think twice. Here are 10
good reasons not to do it:
1. If you do it right, you won't save any
money. If you build a well-designed,
high pressure spray system you won't save any money compared to commercial
system. NESCO builds systems with
quality components designed to withstand an abusive mining environment. If you use the same components and figure in
all the labor that went in to sourcing the components, purchasing the materials,
constructing the pump module and
installing system, the savings just aren't there.
2. If you do it wrong, it'll cost you
production. If you build a cheap,
low pressure system you'll save money compared to a commercial system but
you'll pay for it in lost production. For
lack of pressure and adequate controls, they add so much water that they blind
screens, cause belt carryback and throw products out of spec. Shutting a 500 tph plant down for an hour or
two to clean screens could cost you $1000 to $2500 a day! That will wipe out the savings in your do-it-yourself
spray system in a few weeks.
3. Whose going to build it? Most plants these days barely have enough
manpower to keep production equipment operating and don't have the manpower to
spare to design, build and install a spray system.
4. Whose going to fix it? When your DIY system breaks down - and it
will - there's no manual, there's no spare parts list, there's no replacement
parts in inventory. The odds are the
employee who got stuck designing and building the system has moved on and no
one knows where to go for parts or service.
5. It is rocket science. I've been listening to people tell me for 30
years that building a spray system isn't rocket science. Well, guess what - designing and installing a
spray system that will knock down the dust and won't screw up production is
just as much rocket science as designing and installing a crusher or any other
piece of production equipment. It
doesn't take any talent to dump enough water on the stone to kill the
dust. Making sure you've got the right
nozzles in the right spot at the right pressure with the right kind of controls
that won't cost production does.
6. There's no guarantee it will get you into
compliance. If you're building a new
plant, you've got 180 days after the plant achieves full production to pass a
visible emissions (VE) test. What if
your system doesn't pass that test? What
are you going to do then - just dump more water onto the stone? You'll pass the test but you won't sell those
off-spec products. NESCO guarantees
compliance by offering an Emissions Control Warranty with every DustPro System.
7. Make dust control our problem
- not yours. Who gets the blame if
your DIY system turns out to be a disaster that gets the rock so wet that you
can't screen it or make spec products?
You do. If we screw up, it's on
us.
8. Regulators don't trust you. They'd rather see a commercial system
installed by experts.
9. You've
got better things to do. Time spent
on designing and building a spray system is time lost on projects that improve
production.
10. Support small business - when you imitate,
we can't innovate. Companies like NESCO
that sell dust control aren't General Motors. We are all small or even, micro, business
that sell into a niche market. Mining
companies intent upon driving costs down at the expense of small businesses dry
innovation up.