How to Choose the Right Sweeper for FOD Mitigation

Making sure you have the right equipment for the job can save a lot of time and money in the long run. The Elgin Crosswind FSX is a regenerative air sweeper made specifically for airport operation use. The key difference between the FSX and a standard street sweeper is the side broom material. The material used in the broom poses less of a risk to airport and any other debris getting introduced to the system. The purpose of the side brooms is to take dirt and debris and move it into the middle of the truck. For a regenerative air sweeper, what happens is the dirt and debris is pushed into the center, and then, it's picked up by a regenerative air pickup head.

The pickup head is a metal piece of equipment that runs the width of the truck. On one side a fan is used to blow air down onto the runway, and that pickup head creates a seal on the runway. Then, on the other side of the pickup head, going from the right side of the truck to the left side, there's an air knife. The air knife agitates the dirt and debris on the runway, or any other type of foreign object and it pushes it to the other side of the pickup head, where it is then suctioned up, and placed into the hopper.

Once the air and the debris are in the hopper, there's a vortex system that's used to separate the heavy material. The heavy material then falls to the bottom of the hopper.

“It's a regenerative air system, so the air, instead of being pushed out of the hopper, it goes back into the pickup head, starting the whole process over,” said Elgin Sweeper Company Product Manager Tim Letts. “It's a closed loop system. So, the air that we bring in is constantly being used to either move the debris from the one side of the pickup to the other, bringing it up into the hopper, and then it's reused once again, kind of going through that same path.”

Standard street sweeper vehicles operate five to seven miles per hour, the FSX was designed to pick up dirt and debris at a faster pace and features a turbo charged auxiliary engine. “You need to make sure that you have a job to do when you're cleaning the runways, but you also have to make sure that you have to do that job, and not interrupt the major operations of the airport, which is airplanes taking off and landing,” said Letts.

The FSX can be customized to any airport’s needs.

“Though we have standard offerings, we manufacture our trucks to the specifications of our customers,” said Letts. “So, you don't have to order it just in the standard configuration. You can go ahead and make specializations, to custom configure the truck to your exact needs.” For example, Letts said one of the most popular options is instead of having two side brooms, Elgin can replace one of the side brooms, or both, with a large nozzle that is used to blow debris off the runway. “We have our side brooms pushing debris off of the runway, and then, our pickup head can go ahead and pick up any debris that's still left,” said Letts. “Those blast nozzles come in handy when you're doing things that are close to the lights that guide the planes into the runway.”

  Specifications:

•         Auxiliary Engine:

o   Make: John Deere 4045T Tier 4 Final

o   Type: 4-cylinder, turbocharged diesel

o   Displacement: 276 cu. in. (4.5 L)

o   Horsepower: 74 (55 kW) @ 2400 RPM

o   Torque: 224 ft-lbs. (304 Nm) @ 1600 RPM

o   Oil Filter: Spin-on full flow

o   Air Cleaner: Dual safety element dry type

o   Auto Shutdown for Low Oil / High Temp Electronic Throttle

•        Sweeping Path:

o   Pickup Head only 90 in (2,286 mm)

o   Pickup Head & one Side Broom 117 in (2,971 mm)

o    Pickup Head & two Side Brooms 144 in (3,658 mm) Travel speed Up to highway speed

•         Available Enhancements:

o   Glycol recovery system

o   MemorySweep

o   Broom hour meter

o   Full broom retract

o   In-cab vac enhancer control

o   Enhanced water control

o   Aux. lighting packages

o   In-cab side broom tilt

o   Variable broom speed

o   Auxiliary hydraulic system

o   Wandering hose 8 in (203 mm) diameter

o   Auto lubrication system

o   LifeLiner Hopper System

o   Stainless steel hopper

o   Hopper inspection door(s)

o   Hopper deluge washout system

o   Hopper drain

o   High/low pressure washdown

o   Auxiliary water tank capacities

o   Water system air purge

o   PM-10 water system

o   Caster pick-up head wheels

o   Full-width magnet

o   Cast aluminum side air blast nozzles

o   Aluminum refillable side broom segments

o   LED clearance lighting

o   Front Spray Bar

o   Low pressure washdown capability

o   PM-10 compliant

o   Extended warranty