Filter Out the Ultra Fine
TYMCO knows there’s more to cleaning pavement than what meets the eye
There’s more to cleaning paved surfaces than removing litter and debris. A growing number of municipalities and industrial companies are looking to perform a deeper clean by reducing potentially harmful particulates not visible to the naked eye.
Ultrafine particles, measuring smaller than a micrometer, can settle into the cracks and crevices of the road pavement. Along city streets, these non-combustion emissions include brake dust and rubber tire wear. Fugitive dust must also be controlled in and around industrial facilities, such as lead smelters, cement plants, copper mines, and other processing plants.
TYMCO, Inc., of Waco, Texas, manufactures closed-loop regenerative air street sweepers that collect and contain everything from large debris to ultrafine particles. The company invented and patented the regenerative air system in the mid-1960s. Today, TYMCO sweepers clean municipalities, airports, military bases, construction sites, and industrial facilities around the world.
The company is now in its fourth decade powering its regenerative air sweepers with John Deere engines, remaining loyal to the John Deere product line through each emissions tier. TYMCO adopted the PowerTech™ PWL 4.5L Final Tier 4/Stage IV engine in 2016. A 74-kW (99-hp) engine powers both the TYMCO Model 600 regenerative air sweeper and Model DST-6 dustless sweeper. The 86-kW (115-hp) engine drives the Model 500x high side dump sweeper. Bryan Young, TYMCO marketing and sales representative, says the John Deere Final Tier 4/Stage IV engine is about 5 percent more fuel efficient and approximately 3 dBA quieter than previous Tier 3/Stage III A engine models.
The auxiliary John Deere engine on the Model DST-6 powers a belt-driven blower wheel and all hydraulic functions through a gear-driven pump. TYMCO purchases the engines from engines, inc., a John Deere engine distributor in Jonesboro, Arkansas. “The John Deere engine meets Final Tier 4/Stage IV emissions using SCR technology, which keeps the engine package smaller,” says Young. “That’s important because we strive to keep the sweeper as compact as possible.”
TYMCO Model DST-6 regenerative air sweepers send a controlled blast of air to dislodge dirt, dust, and ultrafine particles. The debris-laden airstream is then filtered and cleaned before being reused in the closed-loop system.
The TYMCO BlueLogic control system interfaces with the PWL 4.5L engine and offers useful information through an in-cab color touchscreen display.
While the TYMCO Model 600 and Model 500x control fine particulate matter to 10 microns, the Model DST-6 is a dustless sweeper that performs at a whole new level of clean. TYMCO pairs its regenerative air with their patented DST (Dustless Sweeping Technology). This system uses filters with a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 16 rating, meaning it captures a minimum of 95 percent of particulate matter (PM) that is 0.30 microns or larger.
The Model DST-6 is a benefit for both industrial and manufacturing facilities aiming to reduce fine particulate matter around facility grounds. While the DST-6 does make use of water to control dust around the gutter brooms, it can also sweep dustless without water when operating in freezing conditions. That’s a benefit to some companies handling material like coal, fly ash, cement, or lead dust that may require sweeping without using water for dust control. The sweeper performance has been verified by Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Canada (ISO 14034:2016) to pick up greater than 90 percent of test material with a mean diameter of 3 microns without the use of water for dust control.
The PowerTech™ PWL 4.5L engine interfaces with the BlueLogic® control system, also developed by TYMCO, which offers useful information through an in-cab color touchscreen display. Among its many benefits, the control system enables operators to monitor the hours and track the operating time and performance of the John Deere engine and other sweeper components, says Nathan Baker, TYMCO marketing and sales representative. “They can track how long the machine was sweeping, including the mileage of pavement swept.” The BlueLogic control system also logs service hours and provides visual service reminders and onboard diagnostics for both the sweeper and John Deere engine.
Baker and Young agree that preventive maintenance is key to machine reliability and longevity. TYMCO leans on the network of John Deere dealers to service and support the ever-growing fleet of John Deere engines around the globe.
Distributor: Engines, Inc. in Jonesboro, Arkansas; www.enginespower.com
