In 10 years, Oadby-based AJB Woodworking has progressed from small workshop joiner to manufacturer of high-spec windows, doorsets and architectural joinery for commercial renovation projects and the newbuild sector.

Each step in its growth and evolution has been accompanied by additions to its machinery line-up and latest developments meant it also had to replace its old 25,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) capacity chain filter extraction system. It just wasn’t up to the task any more.

To succeed it, Dustraction proposed its Dustrax 4×10 cyclo filter. This can handle up to 100,000cfm, giving AJB a “substantial comfort margin”. The problem was where to put it on the already amply occupied Oadby site.

“We didn’t have a centimetre to spare [in the space AJB wanted it], literally only a couple of millimetres,” said Dustraction managing director Steve Matuska.

But the advantage of cyclo filters, he added, is that they need “less than a third of the floor area of a comparable chain filter system”.

Environmental performance

Equally important to AJB’s founder, Amarjit Binji, was the environmental performance of the extraction system. And, according to Mr Matuska, the Dustrax scores here too.

“It’s suitable for [energy efficient] continuous operation, can return warm air back into the factory and has a guaranteed emission level of 0.2mg/m³, well below statutory limits,” he said.

With rising volumes of wood and panel offcuts to deal with, AJB also installed a larger capacity drum chipper. Consequently, Dustraction replaced the company’s old 28m³ waste silo with a new 60m³ Dustrax model to help it cope better with output peaks and troughs.

At the same time, AJB was reorganising its layout to position all machinery for optimum production flow, so the Dustraction engineers also had to reroute the 300m extraction ducting.

The company has 20 machines, with a total of 100 droppers between them. The new ducting layout and switching system installed by Dustraction means dust extraction can now be focused on just one machine, or production group.

“Being selective with dust extraction, so it serves only machines in use rather than running the whole system for a single machine, makes a big difference to running costs,” said Mr Binji. “It also means we can site machines for best advantage.”

In fact, he added, early estimates are that the reorganisation of the plant could boost AJB’s throughput by 50%.

The new extraction system has also cut noise levels as the main heating duct now runs outside the building, feeding warm air back inside via louvres in the wall.