A combination of lost knowledge and the loss of skilled workers has caused many companies to neglect maintenance of dust-control equipment, which industrial filtration company, Brasco Group, stresses is “an unfortunate situation that most industrial companies find themselves in”.

“Industrial dust control equipment requires a specialist to not only maintain the equipment but also to understand the processes wherein this equipment operates,” says Brasco Industrial Filtration divisional manager Hanru Coetzee, remarking that “many people think it’s just changing filter bags or cartridges that’s required to make the unit work”.

This is not the case, he avers, as he explains that process and equipment changes with plant upgrades or input product quality and material changes can have a major impact on dust control equipment, and then “changing a bag won’t solve your problem”.

“When this happens, this is usually when we get a phone call,” Coetzee comments.

“With 100 years of combined experience in all areas of industrial dust filtration, we are uniquely positioned to address any issue in any process and can assist our clients with unique solutions to address their problems or equipment failures,” he adds.

However, capital equipment sales manager Graham O’Connell notes that through continuous research and development, Brasco Group is able to “keep up with the latest technology”.

“We offer a turnkey solution with regard to dust extraction systems, which makes us a one stop filter shop. We have our own in-house design, costing, procurement and drawing office,” he comments, adding that, collectively, Brasco Group has over 100 years of knowledge in the dust extraction field in its employ.

The Brasco Filtration division is one of the largest industrial filtration companies, Coetzee notes, explaining that its business is split into service and capital equipment departments.

Through its service department, for example, the company supplies all related parts such as pulse valves, controllers, jet tubes, manifolds, fans, water separators, regulators and more.

“Within the last year we’ve also expanded our services to include fabrication repairs on industrial filtration units and have thus far completed three major shutdown repair projects this year,” he adds.

Brasco also supplies a permanent on-site service, where the company maintains all on-site dust control equipment and monitors and maintains dust emissions within legal parameters.

“In 2022 alone, we’ve signed three major service level agreement (SLA) contracts.”

Meanwhile, the capital equipment department, includes from plug-on filter units for silo venting, to standalone filter units and ducted system extraction at dust source. These, O’Connell says, have proven quite popular lately, with calls mainly stemming from the mining and cementation industries.

“In our range, we also have, pressurization units to serve substations and compressor rooms,” O’Connell says.

OUTLOOK
Both Coetzee and O’Connell are positive about the company’s growth following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company has almost doubled its turnover in the last year, and is experiencing growth in both departments.

“This is a clear indication that the industry is bouncing back,” says Coetzee, who believes the main reason for the company’s growth is its focus on quality and expert services.

“This is a direct effect of spending limited funds on the correct areas to achieve the best possible results.”

Prospects for the next 12 months include an increased focus on achieving the set goals for the three signed SLAs, as well as an increased focus on growing the company’s permanent on-site services offering.

“We hope to sign two more SLAs before the end of the year,” Coetzee comments.

O’Connell, meanwhile, adds that the company is also in the final stages of negotiating orders for very large baghouses for a mine in South Africa’s North West province, as well as a baghouse that will get sent to Australia.

The company has also recently completed a large project in the wooden board industry, where three large baghouses were supplied, he comments.