Methods of ash removal from galvanizing bath

A. You didn't say how you manually remove ash.
There are perhaps three parts to ash removal.
1. Skim to one end of the kettle. This might not be what you meant? Methods here include both wooden and steel skimmers - a blade with handle where the blade is partly immersed and partly floating above zinc level, and pushes the ash along the surface. This should create no fume or dust.

2. Lifting the ash from surface of zinc.
This can be lifting it right off the surface into an external container, or it can be just to the top plates of the furnace. By moving it only to the top plates, you can do it without creating so much ash dust/fume. Try using a standard garden leaf rake (steel), and just pull the ask to the side of a full kettle onto the top plate.

3. Removal to a container.
Use a shovel. This too need not be dusty, but is quite operator dependent.
How far does the shoveller let the ash fall through air? Its hot so will create dust if let fall far. If placed onto the pile in the drum can be done with minimal dust.

There should be no fume. What creates your fume? Dust yes, but fume? Unless you have unburnt flux that's been placed there by hand? (and should not have been)

A. Sir:

You need an ash box, which is rectangular with no lid and no bottom. It is about one inch larger all the way around at the bottom, so the ash does not get stuck in the box. This box is about 18 inches by 24 inches. The unworked ash is put into this box and a thin steel lid laid on to reduce smoke. The box itself gives a reducing atmosphere and normally ash will be only about 0.4% of production. There is a motorized version with a slow moving Ferris wheel in the ash box and a small auger that continuously removes powdered, processed ash to a barrel, resulting in ash production of about 0.2% of production. Alternatively there is a commercial device that processes unworked ash resulting also in 0.2% ash. This commercial device looks like a small cement mixer with gas heating to remelt the zinc in the ash. Done properly and if you have good flux zinc recovery can be as high as about 85%.

Regards,

Thanks for both of your comments and suggestions, apologies Geoff, yes, dust not fume. Operators are not very careful removing the ash skimmings from the from the side of the zinc bath, so it is a handling issue, I am very interested in the mechanical system as a means of reducing dust generation.