Car dumper dust collection method and apparatus

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling dust generated by the rotary dumping or rail cars may include one or more flexible baffles are provided to the back-side of a rotary dump frame to seal a portion of the material receiving pit during a portion of the rotary motion. The dust cloud generated by this dumping is retained in the pit for an increased time due to tumbling of the cloud induced by the baffles and other features of the facility. A plurality of intake ducts removes the dust cloud from the pit for transfer to a remote filtering facility.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to rotary-dumping of material from rail cars, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling environmental contamination produced by rotary-dumping material from rail cars.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Rail cars have been used for many years to efficiently haul large quantities of bulk materials over land. Items commonly shipped include grain, iron ore and coal. Shipping such items via rail car is very efficient due to the ability to transport extremely large loads of these materials in one shipment. For example, one single rail car may hold up to 110 tons of coal and an entire train made up of such cars may be over 130 cars in length, extending 6000 feet in total length.

[0004] Once at the destination, it is necessary to unload the cargo. For bulk material such as grain, ore, or coal, bottom-dumping and rotary-dumping are commonly used. Bottom-dumping involves staging a particular car over a receiving pit and opening hatches located in the bottom of the car. The cargo exits the car though the bottom hatches or doors and proceeds into the pit below. U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,071, assigned to Svedala Industries, Inc., discloses one example of a bottom-dumping rail car.

[0005] Bottom-dumping requires the use of rail cars that are specifically designed for bottom-dumping. This is due to the need to direct the car contents to a centrally located chute on the bottom of the car. The sides of the car must be at least partially sloped to urge the contents towards the chute, or else there would be a partial retention of the material being carried. This configuration decreases the ratio of the car's size vs. cargo capacity. Additionally, the bottom-dump configured rail cars are not easily interchangeable with standard cars at a dumpsite because the dump apparatus for standard cars must be uniquely configured to accommodate bottom-dump cars. The bottom-dump rail cars are also environmentally disadvantageous, as will be described more fully below.

[0006] Rotary-dumping is the other commonly used method of unloading a rail car. In rotary-dumping, a standard rectangular rail car is staged or indexed in a rotary-dump apparatus. The apparatus then rotates approximately one-half turn, thereby dumping the contents of the car into a receiving pit. Typically, the cars of the train remain connected during the dumping process through the use of rotary couplings between each car. Such couplings permit the cars to be rotated while still connected though an axis center at the coupling. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,479,749 and 4,609,321, both assigned to Dravo Corporation, disclose conventional rotary-dump apparatuses. In some applications, such as the dumping of coal at major power plants, cars may be rotated and emptied at the rate of one car every four minutes.

[0007] Environmental pollution is an important concern to the design of a material dumping facility. When the car's load is dumped, a large quantity of material exits the car in a very short time. The turbulence generated by the quick unloading causes fine dust particles to billow up from the receiving pit and pollute the air surrounding the dump facility. The resulting dust, such as from grain or coal, is very explosive when in sufficient density. It is also an environmental pollutant. Therefore, there is a need to provide an apparatus and method for minimizing the polluting effect of dust.

[0008] Bottom-dump apparatuses have two critical drawbacks. First, they require special cars equipped with the bottom chutes as discussed previously. Second, the dust cloud produced by bottom-dumping is recognized by those skilled in the art to be larger, more aggressive and less controllable than the cloud produced by the rotary-dump method.

[0009] Rotary-dump systems control the dust cloud by using fans with large motors to exhaust the dust-filled air surrounding the car though conduits and into filtering devices. This process requires a very high flow of air and correspondingly very large motors to drive such high capacity system. These motors are commonly several hundred horsepower. Multiple motors of this size may be required at any given installation.

[0010] The cloud is typically large enough and aggressive enough to overpower any given removal system. Therefore, the airflow around the car and in the pit is controllably designed to keep the dust cloud suppressed long enough to allow the dust collection system to suck the dust from the surrounding area. The better the airflow is managed, the less horsepower is needed to drive the system. This results in greatly improved efficiency.

[0011] The Dravo patents listed above disclose a method of enclosing a rail car within a fixed enclosure. This design has several drawbacks. First, it restricts the operator's ability to observe the load as it is being dumped to ensure that the system does not malfunction and that no impurities or foreign objects are introduced into the pit. Next, the fixed enclosure requires multiple large motors to drive the plurality of air handling units. The filtering portions of the air handling units are within the dumping facility, which makes cleaning and maintenance more difficult. The presence of the air filtering units in the dumping facility exposes the facility to the risk of damage due to the force of explosions that sometimes occur in the filtering assemblies. Finally the efficiency of the system is low due to the large motors required to produce sufficient air removal capacity because the control of the airflow around the car does not have good dust cloud retention time.

[0012] Therefore, there is a continuing need to provide a rotary-dumper dust collection apparatus and system that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention addresses the disadvantages in the prior art and the need to provide an environmentally friendly and efficient way to unload rail cars by providing a method and apparatus for controlling dust generated by the rotary dumping or rail cars. One or more flexible baffles are provided to the back-side of a rotary dump frame to seal a portion of the material receiving pit during a portion of the rotary motion. The dust cloud generated by this dumping is retained in the pit for an increased time due to tumbling of the cloud induced by the baffles and other features of the facility. A plurality of intake ducts removes the dust cloud from the pit for transfer to a remote filtering facility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a side detail view of a rotary-dump facility according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a top view of a rotary-dump facility according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a rotary-dump apparatus with airflow control features according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 3 in partial rotation;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 3 in partial rotation;

[0019] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 3 in partial rotation;

[0020] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 3 in partial rotation;

[0021] FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 3 at full rotational travel;

[0022] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a rotary-dump apparatus with airflow control features according to an embodiment of the present invention at partial rotation;

[0023] FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 9 in partial rotation;

[0024] FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the rotary-dump apparatus of FIG. 9 at full rotational travel;

[0025] FIG. 12 is a partial detail end view of a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] FIG. 13 is a detail end view of a rotary-dump frame with baffle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] FIG. 14 is a detail view of a baffle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] FIG. 15 is a detail end view of a rotary-dump frame with baffle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] FIG. 16 is a detail view of a baffle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 17 is a detail view of a baffle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 18 a is a side elevational view of a baffle for a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] FIG. 18 b is a side elevational view of a baffle for a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 19 is a sectional side view of a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 2;

[0034] FIG. 20 is a sectional side view of a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

[0035] FIG. 21 is a partial top detail view of a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 22 is a partial top detail view of a rotary-dump apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Referring to FIGS. I and 2, a material dumpsite 50 is shown. Throughout this description, reference will be made to the configuration of the present invention for use at a coal dumping facility. However, the invention is well suited to the dumping of a wide range of dust producing materials, such as ore and grain.

[0038] The coal dumpsite 50 generally comprises a dumping facility 52 and a filter facility 54. The material to be dumped enters the dump facility 52, which is a rotary-type dump facility. The dumping of this material produces a dust cloud, which is sucked through ductwork and transferred to the filter facility 54 through air transfer ducts or conduits 56.

[0039] The filter facility 54, also known as a bag house, functions to separate the coal dust particles from the air to prevent environmental contamination and the possibility of explosion. Bag houses 54 generally comprise an upper portion 55 and a lower portion 57 separated by a filter membrane assembly (not shown). The contaminated air is drawn through the filter assembly, and the filter assembly traps the contaminants in the lower portion 57 of the filter facility. Filtered air proceeds to the upper portion 55 of the filter facility 54 and exits through filtered air exit 58. The filtered air arrives at fan housing 62 and finally exits through a clean air exhaust duct 60. A drive motor 64 powers a fan (not shown) within fan housing 62. The drive motor 64 rotates the fan, which causes air to rapidly move through the entire system as described hereinabove. The negative pressure created within the system, located prior to the fan housing, drives the system by drawing the contaminated air into the system of the rotary-dump facility 52.

[0040] A contaminant particle collector 68 is disposed within filter facility 54 and in communication with the facility lower portion 57 to collect the contaminant particles that accumulate on the filtering assembly. From time to time, the filtering assembly may be vibrated or flushed with a reverse flow of air in order to remove accumulated contaminants. The filter assemblies and filter facility 54, as described herein, are more fully described in co-pending U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/037,319, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0041] The filter facility 54 may comprise more than one fan housing 62 and drive motor 64, as shown in FIG. 2. The ultimate number of drive motors depends on the capacity of the system in the particular installation and size of the individual motors utilized. A plurality of explosion vents 66 is provided to each of the upper and lower portions of the bag house 54.

[0042] In the event that a fire of explosion might occur in the bag house 54, the explosion vents 66 minimize potential damage. The powder from coal or grain dust is highly explosive, as discussed previously. The explosion vents 66, in conjunction with a remote filter facility 54 avoid damage to the dumping facility 52, which is in contrast to a dumping facility that encloses the filtering facility within the same housing as the dump facility.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 3, the coal dump facility 52 is shown with a coal car 69 in the upright configuration. The contaminated air enters the transfer duct 56 through a plurality of air inlet conduits 70, 72. The dump-side intake 70 is located on the side closest to the direction of the dumping and the backside intake 72 is located approximately opposite the dump-side intake 72. Each intake 70, 72 terminates in a respective dump-side hood 74 and backside hood 76. The intakes 70, 72 exhaust the contaminated air that emanates from the pit 78, which is located directly below the rotational dumping frame 80. Each of the intakes 70, 72 spans the length of the pit 78, as will be described below.

[0044] The pit 78 presents a plurality of features to cooperate in controlling the movement of the dust cloud produced by a dumping activity. A dump-side diverter 82 is positioned on the dumping side of the pit 78. The dump-side diverter 82 functions to both direct the flow of material being dumped, and to direct the airflow inside the pit 78. A backside airflow diverter 84 is positioned in the pit 78 approximately opposite of the dump side diverter 82. The backside diverter 84 is also referred to as the ski jump, due to the resemblance of its general shape.

[0045] The ski jump 84 comprises a curved upper surface 86 and lower surface 88. The backside hood 76 exhausts the dusty air from the pit 78 from beneath the lower surface 88 of the ski jump 84. The sloped upper surface 86 cooperates with features on the rotational frame 80 to seal the backside of the frame 80 and control the airflow during a dumping operation.

[0046] A dump-side hood baffle 90 protrudes from a portion of the side of the dump side hood 74. This baffle 90 is a flexible rubber member that spans the width of the pit 78. The baffle 90 is preferably a {fraction (3/16)} inch thick belt comprised of 2-ply Dulon and 150# polyester. Baffle 90 is preferably of sufficient length to droop into the pit area 78. The dump-side baffle 90 functions to control the airflow in the pit and induce a tumbling effect to the dust cloud caused by a dumping operation. The amount of time a dust cloud is retained in the pit is increased by making the cloud tumble, rather than naturally billowing straight up. Thus, the air intakes 70, 72 have more time to exhaust the dust cloud than if no dust cloud tumbling were provided.

[0047] A grizzly 92 defines the bottom of the dumping pit 78. A hopper 94, as shown in FIG. 1, is disposed below the grizzly 92. The grizzly 92 comprises a grid that screens impurities from the coal in car 69 that are larger than the aperture size in the grid. These impurities may include rocks and timber. The hopper 94 funnels the coal into a receiving pit, transport container or conveyor for transportation, storage or later use.

[0048] The rotational frame 80 comprises a section of track 94 that is approximately the same length as a rail car 69. The track 94 is sealed below, on the dump side and on the back side by plates 96 to prevent the escape of dust during a dumping operation. Each of the front 81 and back ends 83 of the rotational frame 80 are fastened to end plates 98 (shown in FIG. 2). The end plates 98 are configured to permit the rotation of the frame 80 about an axis centered at the coupling of the rail car 69, thereby permitting the cars 69 to remain coupled during a dumping operation. The rotational frame 80 receives a plurality of counterweights 100 to balance the car 69 and frame 80 during rotational motion.

[0049] A plurality of frame baffles 102 are provided to the dump side 81 of rotational frame 80. Referring to FIGS. 3, 12, 13 and 15, the baffles 102 are placed at multiple positions on the dump side of the rotational frame 80. FIG. 3 depicts three baffles 102 mounted to the frame 80 via hinged 103 fasteners. Such arrangement is shown with more detail in FIG. 17. The hinges 103 allow the baffles 102 to hang vertically regardless of the orientation of the rotational frame 80, as shown in FIGS. 3 though 8.

[0050] FIGS. 14 and 16 depict an alternative mounting configuration for the baffles 102. An extension member 104 extends from the plate 96 to a fixed distance. The extension member is rigid. The baffle 102 is then fastened to the end of the extension member 104 via a hinged fastener 103, as in FIG. 17, or by way of a fixed bracket 106, as shown in FIG. 14. A further alternative involves fastening the fixed bracket 106 directly to the side of the frame 80 or plate 96 without an extension member 104, as shown in FIG. 16.

[0051] FIGS. 18 a and 18b depict a baffle 102 according to a preferred embodiment. The baffle 102 comprises a top edge 108, bottom edge 110, first side edge 112, second side edge 114, two longitudinal side surfaces 116, 118 and leading edge 119. The baffles 102 preferably extend the approximate length of the pit 78, which is slightly longer than the length of a rail car 69. Alternatively, a baffle 102 may comprise a series of baffle segments that, when operated as an assembly, are equivalent to a single baffle 102 spanning the approximate width of the pit 78.

[0052] Each baffle 102 is preferably fastened to a mounting bracket 106 by way of a plurality of threaded fasteners 107 extending through a respective plurality of apertures 120 in baffle. The apertures 120 communicate between the longitudinal surfaces 116, 118 of the baffle 102 and are equally spaced about a line adjacent the top 108 of the baffle 102. A threaded bolt 132 is provided with a washer 134 (to minimize tearing through the aperture) to sandwich a portion of the baffle between the washer and a surface of the mounting bracket. The opposite surface of the bracket receives a locking washer (not shown) and threaded nut 136. Those having skill in the art will recognize that other means for fastening the baffles 102 to the mounting brackets 106, such as clamps and adhesives, may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The baffles 102 are preferable made from the same material as the dump-side hood baffle 90. However, any flexible and rugged material may be used within the scope of the present invention.

[0053] Referring to FIGS. 3 through 8, three baffles 102 are shown on rotational frame 80 throughout various points of a dumping cycle. Embodiments using fewer or greater numbers of baffles 102 are contemplated by the present invention. In. FIG. 3, the frame 80 is in a full upright position. FIG. 4 shows the frame 80 rotated through approximately 60 degrees of motion. The first 122 of three baffles, 122, 124, and 126, is arched due to contact with the ski jump 84. The length of each baffle 122, 124, 126 is preferably such that it will bow slightly, as shown in the figures, when contacting the upper surface 88 of the ski jump 84.

[0054] FIG. 5 shows the frame 80 at 90 degrees of rotation. Now, each of the first 122 and second 124 baffles are atop the ski jump 84, thereby causing the baffles 122, 124 to bow. The contact between the upper surface 86 of the ski jump 84 and the leading edge 119 of the baffles 122, 124, 126 effectively bars the dust cloud from escaping out the backside of the dumping frame 80. The cloud is sealed in the pit 78 until removed by the ducts 70, 72.

[0055] FIG. 6 shows the frame 80 at approximately 110 degrees of rotation. Now, only the second 124 of the baffles 122, 124, 126 is in contact with the ski jump 84. This illustrates the point that, starting at approximately 60 degrees of rotation, one or more of the number of baffles 122, 124, 126 is in contact with the ski jump 84 to provide a seal on the backside of the frame 80.

[0056] FIG. 7 shows the frame 80 at approximately 130 degrees of rotation. Now, the third baffle 126 is in contact with the ski jump 84 and the first baffle 122 is completely past the jump 84. The frame 80 continues its rotation until coming to 160 degrees of rotation as shown in FIG. 8. One hundred sixty degrees (160°) is a complete dumping motion for the depicted embodiment. Typically, the rail car 69 need not be rotated more than hundred sixty degrees (160°) to achieve full dumping.

[0057] The baffles 102 also provide the additional benefit of scraping the top surface 86 of the ski jump 84 with the leading edge 119 when the car 69 is rotated in the opposite direction. The scraping action shovels any accumulated dust off of surface 86. This configuration results in a self-cleaning mechanism, which minimizes the need to periodically clean surfaces in the dump facility.

[0058] FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 depict an alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the rotary-dump facility 52 is configured to allow for a 180 degree dumping motion, while continuing to manage the airflow as previously discussed. These figures also illustrate that a counterclockwise direction dumping motion may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Three baffles 122, 124, 126 are again shown as being hingedly fastened to the dump frame 80. The second 124 and third 126 baffles are now disposed on protruding extension members 104. A rigid airflow diverter member 127 is shown mounted in place of the hood baffle 90 to create the tumbling effect on the dust cloud within the pit 78.

[0059] The configuration of the ski jump 84 is modified with respect to that shown in FIGS. 3-8 to accommodate the additional 20 degrees of rotation without structural interference between the ski jump 84 and the frame 80. The sloped surface 86 of the ski jump 84 does not extend past the end of the backside hood 76 to provide the required clearance. FIG. 9 shows that the upper surface 86 of the jump 84 no longer extends vertically above the backside hood 76, as it did in FIG. 3. FIGS. 9-11 show the frame 80 at 20°, 110° and 160°, respectively. The frame 80 may continue to rotate until reaching 180° without interference from the various dumping structures.

[0060] Referring to FIGS. 19 through 22, various views of the rotary-dump facility 52 are shown to illustrate the hood 74, 76 and duct placements 70, 72 according to the preferred embodiment. FIG. 19 shows a side sectional view of the dump side of the dump facility 52. A plurality of dump side air intake ducts 70 branch off of the transfer duct 56. Each branch 70 terminates in a hood 74. The hoods 74 are approximately aligned with the top of the pit 78. The hoods 74 span almost the entire distance between the end plates 98.

[0061] The operator station 128 is also shown in FIG. 19. The operator station 128 is generally placed above the dump side of the rotational frame 80 to provide the operator with a clear view of the pit area 78 and the grizzly 92. This way, the operator may observe the dumping procedure to ensure safety and efficiency. Prior art systems that completely enclose the rail car 69 do not permit the operator to easily observe a dumping procedure.

[0062] FIG. 20 shows a side sectional view of the backside of the dump facility 52. A plurality of backside air intake ducts 72 branch off of the transfer duct 56. Each branch terminates in a hood 76. The hoods 76 are positioned near the bottom of the pit 78. The relative positions of the dump-side 74 and backside 76 hoods may also be seen in FIG. 3. The hoods 76 span almost the entire distance between the end plates 98.

[0063] FIG. 21 shows a top partial sectional view of the dump side intakes 70 and respective hoods 74. There are only relatively small gaps 138 between adjacent hoods 74, 76. The minimal gaps 138 create a generally constant wall of suction to remove the dust cloud quickly. FIG. 22 shows a top sectional view of the backside hoods 76. The upper surface 86 of the ski jump 84 is outlined as a location reference.

[0064] A major design goal for a dump-site 50 is to balance the system effectiveness with its efficiency. It is theoretically possible to remove a volume of air sufficient to dismiss the dust cloud without using any sealing systems. However, such systems would require enormous drive motors and would be undesirably inefficient. Therefore, it is a constant design goal to reduce the airflow to around 140,000 cubic feet per minute. The present invention provides a system and method that allows those design goals to be achieved in the preferred embodiments. To help achieve this goal, approximately 60 percent of the air volume is preferably removed from the backside duct system 72. The remaining 40 percent is removed from the front or dump side 70. The air duct hoods 74, 76 are spaced so as to achieve an even air distribution along the entire length of the dump frame 80.

[0065] Increasing the time the dust cloud is retained in the pit 78 allows a lower volume system to work effectively. Configuring the system as described herein and shown in the figures increases the retention time by tumbling the air below the dump frame 80 in the pit 78. The tendency of the tumbling air is to remain in the sealed confines of the pit 78, rather than seeking to escape. The baffles 102 and other features described herein contribute to this tumbling effect.

[0066] In operation, a coal car 69 enters the rotary-dump facility 52 through entrance 130. The car 69 may be coupled to adjacent cars with a rotary coupling. The car to be dumped 69 is indexed on to track 76. The rotational frame 80 begins rotating the car 69 through a full dumping rotational motion of between 160 and 180 degrees, depending on facility design. As the car 69 is rotated, the material, such as coal, within the car 69 spills over the dump side of the car 69. The car 69 exits the facility 52 through an exit 131 after dumping is completed and the car 69 is returned to its upright position.

[0067] The dumping of the material generates a dust cloud. The cloud is retained in the pit 78 by sealing plates 96, 98 on the dump frame 80 and by the use of a plurality of baffles 102. The baffles 102 and facility 52 design features, such as diverters 82, 84 hood baffle 90 and intake hoods 74, 76 cause the dust cloud to tumble within the pit 78, thereby increasing the retention time of the dust cloud within the pit 78.

[0068] A plurality of intake hoods 74, 76 on both the dump side and back side of the frame 80 inhale the dust cloud and transmit the contaminated air through a transfer duct 56 to a remote filter facility 54. The dirty air enters a lower portion 57 of the facility 54 and is passed through a filter assembly before arriving at an upper portion 55 of the facility 54. The filter assembly traps the airborne contaminants in the lower portion 57 of the facility. The clean air continues through a filtered air exit duct 58, through a fan housing 62 and exits to the atmosphere though a clean air exhaust duct 60.

[0069] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus for rotary dumping of rail cars, comprising: a material receiving pit, the pit defining an inside surface having a dump side, a back side and a bottom; a rotational frame disposed in the pit, the frame configured to dump a load from a rail car by rotational motion, and the frame maintaining the car above the pit when the car is in an upright position; one or more dump side baffles operably connected to a transfer duct, the one or more dump side baffles disposed within the pit to remove contaminated air from the dump side of the pit; one or more backside baffles operably connected to a transfer duct, the one or more backside baffles disposed within the pit to remove contaminated air from the backside of the pit; a backside airflow diverter disposed within the pit adjacent the backside of the pit; and one or more flexible baffles disposed on the rotational frame, the one or more baffles defining a leading edge, and the one or more baffles configured to contact the backside airflow diverter during at least a portion of the rotational motion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a dump-side hood baffle disposed on the dump side-hood, the dump-side hood baffle extending at least partially into the pit.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more baffles is in contact with the backside airflow diverter between 60 degrees and the maximum rotational movement of the rotational frame.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an airflow diverter provided to the dump-side hood.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the baffles are hingedly fastened to the frame.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the backside diverter comprises a sloped upper surface that causes the flexible baffles bow when contacting the upper surface.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the leading edge of the baffles scrapes the upper surface during a return portion of the rotational motion.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a filter facility in operable contact with the one or more dump side baffles and the one or more backside baffles by way of the transfer duct, the filter facility having an upper portion, a lower portion and a filtering assembly disposed therebetween.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising one or more drive motors operably connected to a fan blade, said fan blade disposed within a fan housing that is operably connected to the upper portion of the filter facility.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of explosion vents provided to the upper and lower portions of the filter facility.

11. A method for removing environmental contamination due to dust produced as part of a rail car material dumping operation; the method comprising the steps of: indexing a rail car on a rotational frame within a rotary dumping facility; rotating the car through a predetermined rotational motion, thereby emptying the car of its contained material; sealing the backside of the rail car with a plurality of flexibly baffles to prevent dust from escaping a backside portion of the rotational frame; controlling the airflow in a pit for receiving the material, wherein a cloud of dust formed from the dumping action is urged to tumble; and removing said dust cloud through a plurality of air intakes.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of transmitting the dust cloud to a remote filtering facility.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of filtering contaminants from the dust cloud.

14. A method for increasing dwell time of a dust cloud in a rail car dumping facility, the method comprising: providing a backside airflow diverter to a material receiving pit; disposing one or more flexible baffles on a rotary dumping frame; sealing a backside portion of the pit during at least a portion of a rotary dumping motion, and providing an airflow feature to a dump-side of the pit, wherein the dust cloud is urged to tumble within the pit.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of: disposing one or more dump-side hoods in the pit for removing said dust cloud; and disposing one or more backside hoods in the pit for removing the dust cloud, wherein a greater percentage of the dust cloud is removed by the one or more backside hoods than by the one or more dump-side hoods.

16. A baffle assembly for use in a rail car dumping facility, the assembly comprising: a flat and elongated flexible member having a top edge, a bottom edge, a first side edge, a second side edge, a first longitudinal surface defined between the first and second side edges, a second longitudinal surface opposite the first longitudinal surface, and a leading edge defined by the bottom edge; and a mounting bracket fastened to the flexible member, the mounting bracket configured for fastening to a rotary dumping frame in the rail car dumping facility.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the flexible member defines a plurality of apertures in communication with the first longitudinal surface and the second longitudinal surface, the plurality of apertures adjacent the top edge.

18. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the mounting bracket is rigidly fastened to the flexible member by way of a threaded fastener.

19. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the mounting bracket is hingedly fastened to the flexible member by way of a hinge.

20. An apparatus for rotary dumping of rail cars, comprising: a material receiving pit, the pit defining a backside and a dump-side, a rotational frame disposed in the pit, means for sealing the backside of the pit during at least a portion of a dumping procedure; and means for removing a dust cloud generated by a dumping procedure.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for transmitting the dust cloud to a remote location.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising remotely located means for filtering the dust cloud of dust particles.

23. An apparatus for reducing environmental contamination, comprising: a rotary dumping facility having a pit; means for increasing the dwell time of a dust cloud produced by a dumping procedure; and means for removing the dust cloud from the pit.

24. A method for removing environmental contamination due to dust produced as part of a rail car material dumping operation; the method comprising: a step for indexing a rail car; a step for rotating the car; a step for sealing the backside of the rail car with a plurality of flexibly baffles; a step for controlling the airflow in a pit; and a step for removing dust from the pit.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising a step for removing the dust from air.