Choose a vacuum by the job
The catalogue is organised by marking — ACD, ATEX Dust, ATEX Combi. That is how a catalogue should be organised, but it is rarely how a purchase begins. It begins with a powder, a process and a room. These are the ways in from that direction.
Why the job comes before the marking
An ATEX marking tells you what a machine may stand in. It does not tell you whether it is right for your material. Two machines with exactly the same marking can be, respectively, well suited and plainly irresponsible for the same powder — the difference lies in how the dust is handled inside the machine, not in the label on the outside. Reactive metal powder is the clearest example: there it is the method of collection, not the zone, that decides whether the solution holds.
So the pages below are written from the job outwards. Start with the material you work with and let the marking follow. If you are unsure how your area is classified, ask us — it is faster than guessing, and cheaper than guessing wrong.
Other application areas
These areas do not yet have a dedicated focus page. Until they do, the links lead to whichever page covers the subject best today.
Aluminium, titanium, magnesium and lithium. Why an ATEX marking is not enough, and what a liquid bath solves.
Read the article →Liquids and vapours rather than dust. Tank cleaning, spill clearance and handling of flammable liquids in Zone 0, 1 and 2.
See the category →Heavy metal dust, propellant residue and a tightening occupational health regime. What that demands of collection.
Read the article →Capture at source rather than cleaning afterwards, and what that means for placement, capacity and filter choice.
Read the article →Combustible dust in a room that is not an ATEX zone. ACD machines to IEC 60335-2-69 Annex AA.
See the category →When collection has to cover a whole hall or several outlets at once rather than one mobile machine.
See the category →Unsure about the zone?
It is the most common reason a purchase goes wrong — and it is nothing to be embarrassed about. Zone classification is the operator's responsibility, not the supplier's, and many companies never had the paperwork updated after production changed. Three places to start: ACD versus ATEX explains when a zone-certified machine is needed at all. Certifications goes through what the markings mean in practice. And the wiki looks up individual terms if you just need one answer.
Tell us about the job
Describe the process and the material and we will give you a concrete recommendation — including if the answer is that you do not need an ATEX machine at all.