Key sources of silica dust:
(1) on-site vehicle traffic
(2) access ports (thief hatches) on the top of sand movers
(3) side fill ports on the sand movers
(4) dropping onto transfer belt under the sand movers
(5) motion of the transfer belts
(6) moving off the top end of the sand transfer belt for a sand mover (dragon’s tail)
(7) sand dropping into the blender hopper or onto other transfer belts
The generation of silica dust is increased by:
(1) using high pressure hoses on the sand movers
(2) letting sand fall some distance onto transfer belts or into the blender hopper
(3) moving sand around quickly on transfer belts