Patent ID: 7621975

Claim:
A closed loop air containment system for a particulate material dedusting apparatus operable to remove contaminants from a flow of particulate material by a stream of air entering an air inlet port as a clean air stream, flowing through at least one air wash deck, and discharging through an air discharge port as a contaminate-laden air stream, comprising: a cyclonic separator connected by first ductwork to the air discharge port of said dedusting apparatus, said cyclonic separator receiving said stream of air directly from said dedusting apparatus and spiraling said stream of air around a conical chamber to separate said contaminants from said contaminate-laden air stream before being discharged from said cyclonic separator as a partially cleaned air stream; an inline filter connecting to said cyclonic separator by second ductwork to receive said partially cleaned air stream therefrom, said inline filter being operable to remove remaining contaminates in said partially cleaned air stream before being discharged therefrom as said clean air stream, said clean air stream being delivered to said air inlet port by third ductwork; and a fan positioned to receive said clean air stream from said inline filter and increase a velocity property of said clean air stream for transfer into said air inlet port of said dedusting apparatus, said first, second and third ductwork defining a closed loop system to receive said contaminate-laden air stream from said air discharge port of said material dedusting apparatus and deliver said clean air stream to said air inlet port of said material dedusting apparatus without discharging air therefrom.