Vacuum loader

• US 20030131571A1
• Filed: 03/17/2003
• Published: 07/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Demarco Vacuum Corporation
• Original Assignee: Demarco Max Vac Corporation
• Inventors: Demarco, Thomas M.
• Granted Patent: US 6,936,085 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 55/324
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2273/28 Making use of vacuum or underpressure
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 45/16 generated by the winding course of the gas stream , the centrifugal forces being generated solely or partly by mechanical means, e.g. fixed swirl vanes
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 50/20 Combinations of devices covered by groups B01D45/00 and B01D46/00
• CPC Class Codes: B04C 5/10 with perforated walls
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 55/03 Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A specially arranged vacuum loader and industrial dust collector with a perforated plate tangential cyclone separator is provided to efficiently remove, readily collect, effectively separate and safely dispose of wet, dry and fibrous materials, including liquids and slurries. The special vacuum loader and industrial dust collector has a solids-gas separation compartment comprising a tangential cyclone separator, preferably a perforated plate tangential separator, which is positioned generally alongside and laterally offset from one or more filtering compartments to minimize turbulence and re-entrainment of the collected particulate material.

Claims

1. A vacuum loader for removing particulate material comprising:

a perforated plate formanious tangential separator for partially dedusting and separating a substantial amount of particulates from a fluid, said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator having a foraminous upright curved cyclone wall plate for minimizing turbulence and reintrainment of particulates and for minimizing clogging and substantially enhancing separation of said particulates, said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator defining an inlet for receiving said fluid containing said particulates and an outlet including a fluid outlet port for discharge of said separated fluid and particulates, and said foraminous upright curved wall plate defining perforations providing fluid outlets for discharge of partially dedusted fluid.

2. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 1 wherein said perforations are arranged in a pattern to substantially prevent re-entrainment of said particulates;

and said perforations being smaller than a substantially amount of said particulates to prevent passage of a substantial amount of said particulates there through.

3. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said perforations are spaced from said inlet from about 30 to about 330 degrees; and

said fluid is selected from the group consisting of air, gases, and liquid.

4. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said perforations are spaced from said inlet from about 90 to about 270 degrees; and

said perforations comprise upright openings.

5. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said perforations are spaced from said inlet from about 60 to about 300 degrees; and

said perforations have a maximum diameter ranging from {fraction (1/16)} to ¼

inch.

6. A vacuum loader for removing particulate material, comprising:

a foraminous tangential separator for partially dedusting and separating a substantial amount of particulate material from a dusty fluid, said foraminous tangential separator means comprising;

an inlet for ingress of a dusty fluid containing particulate material;

an outlet comprising a lower particulate outlet for egress of separated particulate material; and

a curved cyclone wall plate with apertures providing fluid outlets for egress of partially dedusted fluid.

7. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 6 wherein said foraminous tangential separator includes directional vanes comprising differently space curved vanes with converging portions for narrowing the flow path of said dusty fluid, and said curved vanes being positioned eccentrically relative to said annular wall.

8. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 6 wherein:

said apertures extend about said curved wall plate from about 1 to about 360 degrees; and

said apertures provide an open area occupying from about 3% to about 95% of said curved wall plate.

9. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 6 wherein:

said apertures extend about said curved wall plate from about 60 to about 300 degrees; and

said apertures provide an open area occupying from about 10% to about 65% of the total area of said curved wall plate.

10. A vacuum loader for removing particulate material, comprising:

a perforated tangential entry cyclone separator for partially dedusting and separating a fluid laden with particulate material, said perforated tangential entry cyclone separator comprising a housing having an upright curved wall plate;

an inlet comprising a tangential intake conduit extending linearly and tangentially outwardly from said housing; and

a lower particulate outlet comprising a downwardly facing outlet port for discharging separated particulate material by gravity flow substantially downwardly from said separator; and

said upright curved wall plate comprising outlet ports extending radially for exiting partially dedusted fluid substantially radially from said separator.

a housing having an upright curved wall plate;

an inlet comprising a tangential intake conduit extending linearly and tangentially outwardly from said housing; and

a lower particulate outlet comprising a downwardly facing outlet port for discharging separated particulate material by gravity flow substantially downwardly from said separator; and

said upright curved wall plate comprising outlet ports extending radially for exiting partially dedusted fluid substantially radially from said separator.

11. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 10 wherein:

said outlet ports are selected from the group consisting of perforations, apertures, holes, slits, openings, and passageways; and

said outlet ports occupy from about 3% to about 95% of said curved wall plate.

12. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 10 wherein:

said outlet ports are selected from the group consisting of round holes, square holes, rectangular holes, oval holes, elliptical holes, and polygonal holes; and

said outlet ports occupy from about 10% to about 65% of said curved wall plate.

13. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 10 wherein:

said outlet ports are arranged in rows selected from the group consisting of curved rows, parallel rows, staggered rows, offset rows, and aligned rows; and

said rows extend from about 1 to about 360 degrees.

14. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 13 wherein:

said rows extend from about 60 to about 300 degrees; and

said outlet ports range from about 10 to about 135 outlet ports per square inch of said curved wall plate.

15. A vacuum loader for removing particulate material, comprising:

an inlet hose for drawing fluid laden with particulate material under a suction pressure;

a reinjection device comprising a collection transition communicating with said inlet hose means for receiving said particulate laden fluid and for receiving separated particulate material;

a first stage separator comprising

a rotary bulk separator with direct belt loader means communicating with said reinjection device for receiving and making a gross cut separation of said particulate material from said fluid;

a bulk material receiver comprising a member selected from the group consisting of a conveyor, bin and receiver, for receiving the grossly separated particulate material from said rotary bulk separator;

a second stage separator comprising a perforated plate tangential separator for partially dedusting and separating carryover dust, said perforated tangential separator comprising a cyclone inlet communicating with said rotary bulk separator for ingress of said grossly separated fluid from said rotary bulk separator, a cyclone outlet including a downwardly facing cyclone particulate outlet for egress of said carryover dust comprising said separated particulate material into said collection transition of said reinjection device, a perforated upright wall plate with radially facing perforations providing cyclone fluid outlets for egress of partially dedusted fluid and for substantially reducing backup and clogging of said carryover dust in said perforated plate tangential separator; and

at least one filtering compartment communicating with said perforated plate tangential separator for filtering said partially dedusted fluid from said perforated plate tangential separator.

16. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 15 including directional vanes comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of an arcuate baffle and a concave deflector.

17. A vacuum loader for removing particulate material, comprising:

a flexible inlet vacuuming hose having a bulk vacuuming nozzle for vacuuming an influent fluid containing particulate-material under substantially continuous negative pressure;

a perforated plate foraminous tangential separator for minimizing turbulence and reintrainment of particulates;

a reinjection unit having a reinjection tee for receiving influent dusty fluid and separated particulate material from said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator, said reinjection unit having an upright airlock feeder extending upwardly and communicating with said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator for feeding separated material from said tangential separator downwardly, and a flexible reinjection outlet hose for discharging said dusty fluid and particulate material;

a gross cut rotary bulk separator for grossly separating said particulate material from said fluid into a particulate laden stream containing the bulk of said particulate material and a grossly separated fluid containing carryover dust comprising entrained residual particulate material, said gross cut rotary bulk separator having a direct belt receiver loader with an inlet connection communicating with said reinjection outlet hose for receiving said dusty fluid and particulate material;

a bulk material receiver comprising a member selected from the group consisting of a belt conveyor, bin and receiver, positioned below said gross cut rotary bulk separator for receiving said particulate laden stream from said gross cut rotary bulk separator for transport to a collection and processing site;

a bulk separator-fluid-outlet hose connected to and communicating with said gross cut rotary bulk separator and said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator for passing said grossly separated fluid stream from said gross cut rotary separator to said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator;

said gross cut rotary bulk separator having a fluid outlet port communicating with said bulk separator-fluid-outlet hose for exiting said grossly separated fluid stream into said bulk separator-fluid-outlet hose, and said gross cut bulk separator having a bulk material outlet for discharging said particulate laden stream into said bulk material receiver;

said perforated plate foraminous tangential separator comprising a perforated tangential entry cyclone for partially dedusting and separating said carry over dust from said grossly separated fluid stream, said perforated tangential entry cyclone comprising;

a cyclone housing having a perforated curved upright cyclone wall plate with perforations for minimizing clogging and substantially enhancing separation of said particulates;

a cyclone inlet connected to and communicating with said bulk separator-fluid-outlet hose for receiving said grossly separated fluid stream and carryover dust from said bulk separator-fluid-outlet hose, said cyclone inlet comprising a tangential intake conduit extending linearly and tangentially outwardly from cyclone housing; and

cyclone outlet openings including a lower particulate cyclone outlet comprising a downwardly facing cyclone outlet port for discharging said separated carryover dust comprising said separated particulate material downwardly from said tangential entry cyclone into said airlock feeder, said cyclone outlet openings including said perforations in said perforated curved cyclone wall plate, said perforations providing radial fluid cyclone outlet ports for passing and exiting partially dedusted fluid substantially radially from said perforated tangential entry cyclone;

said airlock feeder extending downwardly from and communicating with said perforated tangential entry cyclone and having at least one control valve, said valve being open to permit passage of said separated particulate material removed from said perforated tangential entry cyclone into said collection chamber, and said valve being closable to maintain an air lock and substantially block and prevent passage of said separated particulate material removed from said perforated tangential entry cyclone into said collection chamber;

at least one filtering unit positioned above and communicating with said perforated tangential entry cyclone, said filtering unit having at least one filtration chamber with a set of canisters containing tubular filters spaced along side each other for filtering said partially dedusted fluid;

a vacuum pump communicating with said filtering unit and said hoses for drawing fluid through said filtering unit and said hoses, said vacuum pump comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of a compressor, pneumatic pump, air blow, fan, and turbine; and

a muffler assembly providing a sound abatement control unit for quieting filtered fluid exiting said filtering unit and for helping suppressing operational noises from said vacuum pump, said muffler assembly having a silencer base comprising a support housing positioned in proximity to said filtering unit and said vacuum pump, an internal composite sound attenuating chamber with a channel communicating with said filtering unit for varying the direction of flow of said filtered fluid, and acoustical baffles in said channels covered with sound insulating material for dampening the noise of said filtered fluid passing through said channel.

18. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 17 wherein said cyclone outlet opening is covered by a top closure plate.

19. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 17 including a set of directional vanes extending between said cyclone inlet and said cyclone outlet openings for changing the direction of flow of said fluid stream, said directional vanes including at least a pair of central vanes with substantially parallel portions, said central vanes being connected to and communicating with said cyclone outlet openings.

20. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 19 wherein said directional vanes have curved eccentric portions spaced unevenly from each other.

21. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 19 wherein said directional vanes include a concave deflector spaced outwardly of said central vanes, said concave deflector having an outlet end connected to said outlet openings and an inlet end connected to said housing.

22. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 17 having at least two filtering units.

23. A vacuum loader in accordance with claim 17 with multiple filtering compartments.

24. An industrial dust collector, comprising:

at least one solids-gas separating compartment comprising at least one solids-gas separator for removing large particulates of dust from a dusty gas stream to provide a partially dedusted gas stream;

at least one inlet conduit connected to said solids-gas separating compartment for feeding said dusty gas stream to said solids-gas separating compartment;

simultaneously operating multiple filter compartments comprising at least a first filtering compartment and a second filtering compartment, said filtering compartment cooperating with each other and operating and filtering at the same time in the absence of purging and cleaning filters therein for filtering said partially dedusted gas stream from said solids-gas separating compartment;

said first filtering compartment positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separation compartment and in offset relationship thereto, rather than in vertical alignment or completely above said solids-gas separation compartment, said first filtering compartment having at least one first filter for filtering a first portion of said partially dedusted gas stream, at least one first compressed air tank communicating with said first filtering compartment, and at least one first air injector operatively connected to said first compressed air tank for injecting compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy into said filter in said first filtering compartment to help clean said first filter in said first filtering compartment;

a first discharge outlet conduit connected to said first filtering compartment for discharging said filtered first portion of said partially dedusted gas stream from said first filtering compartment;

said second filtering compartment positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separation compartment and in offset relationship thereto, rather than in vertical alignment or completely above said solids-gas separation compartment, said second filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment rather in vertical alignment therewith, said second filtering compartment cooperating with said first filtering compartment and simultaneously filtering said partially dusted gas stream with said first filtering compartment, said second filtering compartment having at least one second filter for filtering a second portion of said partially dedusted gas stream, at least one second compressed air tank communicating with said second filtering compartments, and at least one second air injector operatively connected to said second compressed air tank for injecting compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy into said second filter in said second filtering compartment;

a second discharge outlet conduit connected to said second filtering compartment for discharging said filtered second portion of said partially dedusted gas stream from said second filtering compartment;

a hopper comprising a bin positioned below and supporting said solids-gas separating compartment and said first and second filtering compartments of said multiple filtering compartments, said bin having a collection compartment for receiving and collecting the removed large particulates of dust from said solids-gas separator and smaller particulates from said first and second filtering compartments;

said bin being selected from the group consisting of a stationary bin, a moveable bin, a portable bin, an a towable bin;

said first and second filtering compartments each defining an open bottom communicating with said bin for discharging filtered particulates from said first and second filtering compartments of said multiple filter compartments into said bin; and

said open bottoms of said multiple filtering compartments providing passageways for upward flow of the partially dedusted gas stream from said solids-gas separating compartment upwardly through said multiple filtering compartments.

25. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 wherein said solids-gas separator comprises a perforated tangential cyclone positioned between said first and second filtering compartments.

26. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 wherein said solids-gas separating compartment is positioned between and separates said first filtering compartment and second filtering compartment, and solids gas-separating compartment is located above and supported by said bin.

27. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 including:

a motor;

a vacuum pump connected to said motor for drawing influent dusty air through said inlet conduit into said solids-gas separating compartment; and

a sound attenuating device providing a muffler for dampening noise emitted from said motor and pump.

28. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 including:

a third filtering compartment positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto, rather than in vertical alignment or completely above said solids-gas separating compartment,

said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith, said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally from said second filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith, said third filtering compartment cooperating with said second filtering compartment and said first filtering compartment and simultaneously filtering said partially dedusted gas stream with said second filtering compartment and said fist filtering compartment, said third filtering compartment having at least one third filter for filtering a third portion of said partially dedusted gas stream, at least one third compressed air tank communicating with said third filtering compartment, and at least one third air injector operatively connected to said third compressed air tank for injecting compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy into said third filter in said third filtering compartment to help clean said third filter in said third filtering compartment; and

said third filtering compartment being located above and supported by said bin, and said third filtering compartment defining an open bottom for discharging fine particles from said third filtering compartment into said bin.

29. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 wherein said solids-gas separator comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

a barrier wall, an impact plate, a strike plate, and a deflector.

30. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 wherein at least one of said filters comprises a tubular filter, bag filter, canister filter, or cartridge filter.

31. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 24 wherein at least one of said filters is selected from the group consisting of:

a Hepa filter, a bag filter, a box filter, an envelope filter, a flat filter, and a conical filter.

32. An industrial dust collector, comprising:

at least one solids-gas separating compartment comprising a tangential cyclone separator for providing a gross separation to remove large particulates of dust from an influent dusty stream to provide a grossly separated effluent dusty stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said influent dusty stream, said solids-gas separating compartment having at least one inlet conduit for feeding said influent dusty stream to said tangential cyclone separator, and a separator-outlet conduit for discharging said grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment;

filtering compartments comprising a first filtering compartment, a second filtering compartment and a third filtering compartment, all of said filtering compartments being operatively connected to each other for filtering said grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said tangential cyclone separator at the same time;

said first filtering compartment having a first filtering chamber containing a set of first filters for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a first portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a first filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, said first filters being selected from the group consisting of tubular filters, bag filters, canister filters, and cartridge filters, a set of first compressed air tanks communicating with said first filtering compartment, an array of first air injectors operatively connected to said first compressed air tanks for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said set of first filters in said first filtering compartment to help clean said set of first filters in said first filtering compartment, and said first filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto rather than in vertical alignment therewith;

a first discharge outlet conduit for discharging said first filtered stream from said first filtering compartment;

said second filtering compartment containing at least one second filter for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a second portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a second filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, at least one second compressed air tank communicating with said second filtering compartment, at least one second air injector operatively connected to said second compressed air tank for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said second filter in said second filtering compartment to help clean said second filter in said second filtering compartment, said second filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto, and said second filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith;

a second discharge outlet conduit for discharging said second filtered stream from said second filtering compartment;

said third filtering compartment containing at least one third filter for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a third portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a third filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, at least one third compressed air tank communicating with said third filtering compartment, at least one third air injector operatively connected to said third compressed air tank for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said third filter in said third filtering compartment to help clean said third filter in said third filtering compartment, said third filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto, said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment, and said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said second filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith; and

a third discharge outlet conduit for discharging said third filtered stream from said third filtering compartment.

33. An industrial dust collector, comprising:

at least one solids-gas separation compartment comprising at least one solids-gas separator for removing large particulates of dust from a dusty gas stream to provide a partially dedusted stream;

said solids-gas separator being selected from the group consisting of a tangential cyclone separator, a barrier wall, an impact plate, a strike plate, and a deflector;

multiple filter compartments positioned about said solids-gas separation compartment for filtering a substantial amount of remaining fine particulates of dust from the partially dedusted gas stream, said multiple filter compartments defining open bottoms for upward flow and passage of the partially dedusted stream from said solids-gas separation compartment upwardly through said multiple filter compartments, said multiple filter compartments comprising at least two filter compartments operating together at the same time for concurrently filtering and dedusting a substantial amount of remaining fine particulates of dust from the partially dedusted gas stream; and

a single hopper providing a unitary common bin positioned below and supporting said solids-gas separation compartment and said multiple filter compartments, said bin having a collection compartment for receiving and collecting the removed large particulates form said solids-gas separator and the filtered fine particulates of dust from said multiple filter compartments.

34. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 33 wherein said filters are positioned concentrically or eccentrically about said solids-gas separation compartment.

35. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 33 wherein at least some of said filters are positioned in an annular filter compartment.

36. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 33 wherein;

said industrial dust collector is selected from the group consisting of;

an industrial vacuum cleaner, an industrial vacuum loader, and an industrial solids-gas conveyor; and

at least some of said filters are selected from the group consisting of one or more;

tubular filters, canister filters, cartridge filters, Hepa filters, bag filters, box filters, envelope filters, flat filters, conical filters, and combinations thereof.

37. An industrial dust collector, comprising:

at least one solids-gas separating compartment comprising a tangential cyclone separator for providing a gross separation to tangentially remove large particulates of dust from an a tangentially flowing influent dusty stream to provide a grossly separated effluent dusty stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said influent dusty stream, said solids-gas separating compartment having at least one inlet conduit for feeding said influent dusty stream to said tangential cyclone separator, and a separator-outlet conduit for discharging said grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment;

concurrently operating multiple filtering compartments in communication with said tangential cyclone separator, said multiple filtering compartments comprising a first filtering compartment, a second filtering compartment and a third filtering compartment, said multiple filtering compartments having open bottoms for receiving said grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said tangential cyclone separator of said solids-gas separating compartment, said multiple filtering compartments cooperating with each other for concurrently filtering said grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said tangential cyclone separator, said multiple filtering compartments filtering together at the same time in the absence of purging and cleaning filters;

a hopper comprising a bin positioned below and supporting said solids-gas separation compartment, said bin having a collection compartment for receiving and collecting larger particulates of dust from said solids-gas separating compartment and filtered particulates of fine dust from the multiple filtering compartments, and said bin being selected from the group consisting of a stationary bin, a movable bin, a portable bin, and a towable bin;

said first filtering compartment having a first filtering chamber containing a set of first filters for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a first portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a first filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, said first filters being selected from the group consisting of tubular filters, bag filters, canister filters, and cartridge filters, a set of first compressed air tanks communicating with said first filtering compartment, an array of first air injectors operatively connected to said first compressed air tanks for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said set of first filters in said first filtering compartment to help clean said set of first filters in said first filtering compartment, and said first filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said tangential cyclone separator of said solid-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto rather than in vertical alignment therewith;

a first discharge outlet conduit for discharging said first filtered stream from said first filtering compartment;

a second filtering compartment containing at least one second filter for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a second portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a second filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, said second filtering compartment operating and filtering said grossly separated effluent dusty stream concurrently with said first filtering compartment and said second filtering compartment, at least one second compressed air tank communicating with said second filtering compartment, at least one second air injector operatively connected to said second compressed air tank for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said second filter in said second filtering compartment to help clean said second filter in said second filtering compartment, said second filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said tangential cyclone separator of said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto, and said second filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith;

a second discharge outlet conduit for discharging said second filtered stream from said second filtering compartment;

a third filtering compartment containing at least one third filter for filtering smaller particulates of dust from a third portion of the grossly separated effluent dusty stream from said solids-gas separating compartment to provide a third filtered stream having a lower concentration of particulates by weight than said grossly separated effluent dusty stream, said third filtering compartment operating and filtering said grossly separated effluent dusty stream concurrently with said first filtering compartment and said second filtering compartment, at least one third compressed air tank communicating with said third filtering compartment, at least one third air injector operatively connected to said third compressed air tank for intermittently injecting pulses of compressed air with sufficient kinetic energy to said third filter in said third filtering compartment to help clean said third filter in said third filtering compartment, said third filtering compartment being positioned generally along side and spaced laterally away from said tangential cyclone separator of said solids-gas separating compartment and in offset relationship thereto, said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said first filtering compartment, and said third filtering compartment being spaced laterally away from said second filtering compartment rather than in vertical alignment therewith; and

a third discharge outlet conduit for discharging said third filtered stream from said third filtering compartment.

38. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 wherein said solids-gas separating compartment is positioned between and separates said first filtering compartment and said second filtering compartment.

39. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 wherein said tangential cyclone separator comprises a perforated tangential cyclone separator with an upright curved foraminous wall plate defining an array of fluid outlet apertures.

40. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 wherein said second filtering compartment is positioned generally along side of said third filtering compartment.

41. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 wherein said first filtering compartment is positioned diametrically opposite said second filtering compartment and said third filtering compartment.

42. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 including;

a blower line extending between and communicating with said first discharge outlet conduit and said third discharge outlet conduit;

said second filter is selected from the group consisting of;

a second tubular filter, a bag filter, a canister filter, and a cartridge filter; and

said third filter is selected from the group consisting of;

a third tubular filter, a bag filter, a canister filter, and a cartridge filter.

43. An industrial dust collector in accordance with claim 37 including:

a motor positioned in proximity to said second filtering compartment;

said second filtering compartment disposed between said solids-gas separating compartment and said motor;

a vacuum pump comprising an air blower operatively connected to said motor for drawing said influent dusty stream through said inlet conduit to said solids-gas separating compartment, said vacuum pump being positioned in proximity to said third filtering compartment;

said third filtering compartment disposed between said solids-gas separating compartment and said vacuum pump;

a base for supporting said vacuum pump and motor, said base comprising a sound attenuating device providing a muffler for dampening noise emitted from said motor and pump;

said bin has a lower portion with a power-operated slidable valve for discharging the collected particulates in said bin; and

said air injectors are positioned at an elevation above said filters, pumps, motor, and tangential cyclone separator.