Farmers Lung from dust and mould found in Hay, Haylage & straw
26 Jan 2015
Farmer’s lung (not to be confused with silo-filler’s disease) is a hypersensitivity pneumonitis induced by the inhalation of biologic dusts coming from hay dust or mould spores from other agricultural products. Farmers Lung is an allergic reaction usually caused by breathing in this dust and can cause lung diseases such as asthma.
The spores released from handling mouldy hay, grains, straw, corn or even tobacco can cause farmers lung and new guidelines on how to control exposure have been released by the Health and Safety executive. They recommend the use of respiratory protective equipment where breathing the dust is unavoidable and to handle the hay, Haylage etc gently to avoid stirring up the dust.
Ken Mills Engineering Ltd are helping farmers reduce their risks of developing the disease, designing and manufacturing a delivery drum which is a high efficiency dust separator. The unit removes 95% of these harmful dust and mould spores and can be used for hay, straw, wood shavings, shredded paper etc.
The Delivery drum is a product separator with is used in conjunction with a pneumatic conveying system which takes the dust and spores out of the air stream in which it is being conveyed. The remaining material is delivered totally air and dust free to the end baling machine, bagging machine, hopper, drying machine etc.
For more information about this process and the delivery drum please contact Lauren Morton laurenm@kenmills.com