In-Depth Survey Report: Multiple Envelope Particle Expulsion Test of an Existing Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) and an AFCS 200 Configuration

Details

• Alternative Title:
  In-Depth Survey Report: Multiple Envelope Particle Expulsion Test of an Existing Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) and an AFCS 200 Configuration at Siemens Industry, Mobility USA, Infrastructure Logistics Postal Solutions Arlington, Texas
• Personal Author:
  Eaton, Laura ; Garcia, Alberto ; Hammond, Duane R. ; Hirst, Deborah V. L. ; Lo, Li-Ming ; Marlow, David A. ; Shulman, Stanley A. ; Trifonoff, Nick
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Description:
  A multiple envelope particle test was conducted as a follow-up to the single envelope evaluation (Hammond et al. 2010) carried out by researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The additional testing was requested by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to determine if a comparison of two mail processing machines might produce a different conclusion if tested using runs of multiple envelopes instead of using runs of single envelopes. For this additional experiment, researchers from NIOSH conducted an evaluation to compare particle expulsion using runs of 45 envelopes sent through USPS mail processing equipment - the Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) and the AFCS 200 configuration. The AFCS 200 configuration was representative of a production design under the Biohazard Detection System (BDS) hood and in the BDS area. The AFCS 200 was developed to update the approximately 20 year old AFCS fleet of mail processing machines. The testing described in this report evaluated changes to the AFCS 200, such as belt speeds and pulley sizes, which might negatively impact the release of particles from mail pieces processed on the machine. The AFCS agitates and compresses mail pieces during initial mail processing operations to expel any biological hazards that could be contained in a mail piece. The BDS, located over initial hard pinch points on the AFCS, samples and analyzes the air for the presence of biohazards thereby preventing the delivery of a tainted letter to a target destination address. To compare particle expulsion, an existing AFCS and AFCS 200 were tested side-by-side using multiple envelopes at Siemens Industry, Mobility USA, Infrastructure Logistics Postal Solutions in Arlington, Texas. Each machine had a BDS hood ventilation system that captured expelled particles and allowed for sample collection from the exhaust stream of the BDS hose. Comparisons were based on particle count measurements taken from the sample hose of the BDS after 45 envelopes, one of which was loaded with dry polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres, were processed by each machine. A total of 240 runs of 45 envelopes (30 runs of 45 envelopes on each machine at BDS flow rates of 200 LPM and 90 runs of 45 envelopes on each machine at 400 LPM) were conducted. In every loaded run of 45 envelopes, the sixth envelope from the entrance to the BDS hood contained 10 mg of PSL spheres. Total particle counts from each loaded multiple envelope run were corrected by counts from a preceding run with 45 unloaded envelopes. The ratio of the geometric mean particle counts from the loaded multiple envelopes runs sent through the AFCS 200 to geometric mean particle counts from the loaded multiple envelope runs sent through the existing AFCS were 1.79 and 1.39 for BDS flow rates of 200 and 400 LPM, respectively. The lower 95% confidence limits for BDS flow rates of 200 and 400 LPM were 1.22 and 1.09, respectively. Based on the results of this testing, it can be stated, with 95% confidence, that the mean particle counts from the loaded multiple envelopes runs sent through the AFCS 200 were at least 9% higher than the mean particle count of loaded multiple envelopes runs sent through the existing AFCS. These findings are consistent with the single envelope test findings [Hammond et al. 2010].
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Biological Warfare Agents Emergencies Engineering Environmental Monitoring Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Ventilation

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• Keywords:
  Air-sampling-equipment Airborne-particles Anthrax Biological-warfare-agents Control-equipment Control-technology Emergency-response Engineering-controls Equipment-design Equipment-reliability Machine-operation OSHA Region 6 Particle-aerodynamics Particle-counters Particulate-sampling-methods Postal-employees Testing-equipment Ventilation-equipment Ventilation-hoods Ventilation-systems

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• Series:
  Engineering and Physical Hazards Survey Reports
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHEPHB27926a
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Name as Subject:
  United States. Postal Service ; Siemens Industry
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; Arlington (TX) ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology ; EPHB - Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-20
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036859
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-110543
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, EPHB 279-26a, 2010 May ; :1-20
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  491110 - Postal Service - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ffa69a801804f0ad64ae808a2a0f9d5ff3b87983c51c450e905624eeabf0749ebb9561f4d796fe6569de6586431e38661ce7cc068026492605ababfd775227e3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/174930/cdc_174930_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 607.07 KB ]