Holcin employees utilise Dupont protective wear

Dupont Tyvek has reported that employees working in cement production at the Holcim Lagerdorf site have switched to wearing garments made of Tyvek Classic to protect them from dust and dirt.

Previously employees wore disposable garments made of SMS material.

They now wear limited-use type 5/6 chemical protective garments made of Dupont Tyvek Classic.

The kiln technology adopted in modern cement plants increasingly supports the use of substitute fuels such as tyre chips, plastic waste, provided their chemical composition is deemed suitable for the combustion process.

To keep the flames in the kiln continually burning at a temperature of up to 2,000C - which is necessary to enhance the quality of the compound and the end product - the fuels are fed into the rotary kilns as finely dispersed powders, flakes and/or fluff.

These substances are highly prone to creating dust.

At Holcin's Lagerdorf site, chemical protective garments are required to protect employees who, on a daily basis, inspect a large number of secondary or substitute fuel metering and conveyor systems or carry out routine maintenance work on such systems.

DuPont Tyvek garments provide a solution.

It became apparent that an alternative to the previous protective garments was required as employees were dissatisfied at the frequent low tear resistance of the material.

Problems had arisen when the barrier layer was no longer intact.

This was especially evident when employees were carrying out physically strenuous activities such as cleaning work on the highly soiled metering and conveyor systems.

Tyvek material is made from spinning 100 per cent extremely fine continuous high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fibres that are then fused together to form a strong uniform web by applying heat and pressure.

Protective Tyvek garments are available with varying degrees of barrier protection (type six to type four: chemical protective garments).

Tyvek Classic, as used by Holcim, is typically used to protect against liquid mist (type six) and airborne solid particulate chemicals (type five).

Type four chemical protective garments made of Tyvek Classic Plus also have overtaped seams, and offer an additional protective barrier against liquid inorganic aerosols.

As protective garments made of Tyvek do not contain any 'critical' additives (for example, no halogen compounds), they can also be disposed of without any problems in incineration plants.

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