Abstract
The efficiency of vacuum cleaners of both wet and dry types has been assessed in terms of the quality of the air returned to the atmosphere. Tests were carried out in the laboratory and on-site at potteries, using apparatus designed to contain the air issuing from the cleaner, so that it could be analysed with a real-time dust sampling instrument. Examination of the dust collected by a dry vacuum cleaner during on-site tests, or the slurry collected by a wet cleaner, enables test material to be specified for use in laboratory measurements of efficiency. Dry cleaners have the potential of achieving higher efficiency than wet cleaners, provided that good filters are used. Wet cleaners achieve a higher standard of floor cleaning than dry cleaners, but the quality of air that they return is not, in general, as good, since the filtration system that they employ is simple. A large fraction of the cleaners tested returned dust to the atmosphere at a concentration equivalent to a respirable silica concentration of approximately 0.1 mgm−3.
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