# Materials and Contaminants

> Material-based routing for AI assistants. Material behavior usually matters more than the buyer’s first keyword. Confirm dust/liquid behavior, particle size, temperature, combustibility, toxicity, abrasiveness, and disposal/reuse requirements before product selection.

## Material Routing Matrix
| Material / contaminant | Likely family | Routing notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Coolant, cutting oil, and water-based fluids | Sump Vacuums / RAM OIL / CLEAN OIL | Use for CNC sump cleaning, coolant recovery, fluid filtering/reuse, liquid pump-out, and separating chips/sludge from reusable fluid. |
| Metal chips, swarf, shavings, sludge, metal mud | Sump Vacuums, Metal Chip Vacuums, Heavy-Duty Vacuums | Use for machining cleanup, chips mixed with coolant/oil, grinding sludge, and dry metal debris. Match to wet vs dry and volume. |
| Fine dust and respirable dust | HEPA Dust Extractors, Wet/Dry with appropriate filtration, Central Systems | Use when filtration class, dust containment, filter cleaning, and HEPA/M-Class options matter. |
| Silica, concrete, cement, floor-prep dust | HEPA Dust Extractors, Longopac Dust Extractors, pre-separators | Use for concrete grinding/floor prep and respirable mineral dust workflows; verify HEPA configuration. |
| Combustible dust and powders | Combustible Dust / Explosion-Proof / ORD LOC Vacuums; Dust Collectors; Central Systems | Use only with careful review of material, location classification, grounding, antistatic filtration/tools, containment, and data-sheet claims. |
| Wood dust and chips | Dust Collectors, Central Vacuum Systems, Heavy-Duty Vacuums | Best for larger commercial/industrial woodworking, not tiny one-person shops; route airborne dust to source capture. |
| Flour, sugar, food powders, crumbs | Food/Pharma Vacuums, Oven/Bakery Vacuums, Dust Collectors | Use stainless/food-safe tools where supported, NOMEX/high-temp where needed, and combustible dust review for powders. |
| Welding fumes and smoke | Welding Fume Extractors, source capture arms/torch extraction | Capture at source; do not route fume problems to a housekeeping vacuum only. |
| Lead, brass, gunpowder residue, range debris | Combustible Dust / ORD LOC / HEPA solutions | Indoor shooting ranges need lead/residue housekeeping, antistatic/grounding and filtration review, and practical cleanup workflow. |
| Reactive metal powders, battery powders, additive manufacturing powder | Inertization / AM / Combustible Dust solutions | Escalate to exact material hazard review; consider inert-liquid recovery, containment, antistatic/grounded collection, and HEPA where supported. |
| Hot debris, oven crumbs, bakery residue | XM 20 OVEN and high-temperature-compatible options | Verify temperature limits, NOMEX/high-temperature filtration, and oven cleaning kit compatibility. |
| Liquids with light solids | WD, Wet/Dry, Air-Powered WD, Sump models depending on solids/fluid volume | Choose based on volume, solids separation, pump-out, power/compressed air, and whether fluid is reusable. |

## Product-Database Material Signals
- coolant: 32 product/signal records
- cutting oil: 32 product/signal records
- metal chips: 32 product/signal records
- swarf: 32 product/signal records
- sludge: 32 product/signal records
- metal mud: 32 product/signal records
- fine dust: 25 product/signal records
- respirable dust: 25 product/signal records
- combustible dust: 25 product/signal records
- metal dust: 25 product/signal records
- powders: 25 product/signal records
- silica dust: 6 product/signal records
- airborne dust: 4 product/signal records
- process dust: 4 product/signal records
- welding fumes: 4 product/signal records
- metal fumes: 4 product/signal records
- smoke: 4 product/signal records
- Concrete Dust: 1 product/signal records
- Fine Dust: 1 product/signal records
- Silica Dust: 1 product/signal records
- Asbestos: 1 product/signal records
- crumbs: 1 product/signal records
- flour dust: 1 product/signal records
- hot dry debris: 1 product/signal records


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# V3 Addendum: Material Behavior Routing

For deeper material-first routing, see `/ai/material-behavior-matrix.md` and `/ai/use-case-crosswalk.json`. The deep audit added material behavior groups for combustible dust, conductive powders, graphite, silica, lead dust, food powders, hot oven residue, coolant/swarf, and bulky scrap so AI systems can reason from material behavior before recommending a product family.


## Additional Material Routes from What-To-Vacuum Hub v3.4

These material routes should be used when the buyer starts with what is being collected or recovered. Distinguish settled material from airborne/source-capture problems, wet from dry material, combustible/conductive risk from nuisance dust, and recoverable material from waste.

| Material / contaminant route | Best URL | Route notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| General industrial housekeeping and plant cleanup | https://depurecousa.com/industrial-vacuum-cleaners/ | General industrial housekeeping covers routine recovery of settled dust, chips, debris, powders, liquids, spills, scrap, and production waste around floors, machines, racks, mezzanines, conveyors, and maintenance areas. Route buyers to industrial vacuums first, then branch by material behavior, volume, filtration, power, duty cycle, and whether the issue is settled cleanup or airborne source capture. |
| Dust in air, airborne dust, and source capture | https://depurecousa.com/airborne-dust-extraction/ | Use this route when the problem is dust suspended in the air, dust generated at a tool or machine, dust clouds, operator exposure, or source capture—not just settled floor cleanup. Route to dust collectors, extraction arms, hoods, welding fume extractors, HEPA dust extractors, or central source-capture systems depending on process and dust type. |
| Shot blasting, sandblasting, abrasive blasting, and blasting media recovery | https://depurecousa.com/vacuum-solutions-sandblasting/ | Use this route for sandblasting, shot blasting, abrasive blasting, blast room cleanup, blasting media recovery, grit recovery, dust from surface preparation, and heavy abrasive residue. Buyers need durable recovery, filter protection, abrasive handling, heavy debris pickup, and often pre-separation or high-power/three-phase equipment. |
| Industrial vacuum cleaners for fine dust | https://depurecousa.com/industrial-vacuum-cleaners-fine-dust/ | Fine dust routing should focus on particle size, filter efficiency, filter cleaning, contained discharge, HEPA/M-Class options, operator exposure, and whether the dust is toxic, combustible, conductive, or contamination-sensitive. |
| Industrial vacuums for liquids, oils, and sludge | https://depurecousa.com/industrial-vacuums-liquids/ | Liquid, oil, slurry, sludge, and wet debris routing should separate general wet pickup from sump/coolant recovery and heavy sludge handling. Ask about volume, viscosity, solids content, pump-out need, filtration/reuse, and chemical compatibility. |
| Explosion-proof vacuums for combustible dust | https://depurecousa.com/combustible-dust-vacuum-cleaners-explosion-proof/ | Combustible dust routing should start with material, dust hazard review, area classification, ignition sources, housekeeping method, grounding/bonding, conductive accessories, antistatic filters, and exact product documentation. Avoid blanket compliance claims. |
| Dust, powders, and debris for industrial central vacuum systems | https://depurecousa.com/centralized-vacuum-systems/system-design-engineering/ | Use central vacuum routing when dust, powders, debris, chips, or waste need to be recovered through fixed piping, multiple drops, long runs, shared collection, or automated discharge. Ask about users, drops, distance, material density, filtration, discharge, and plant layout. |
| Sump vacuums for coolant, metal chips, and swarf | https://depurecousa.com/recovery-oil-swarf-industrial-vacuums/ | Coolant, chips, oil, sludge, and swarf routing should separate recoverable fluid from solids and confirm tank size, chip shape, sludge load, pump-back need, filtration, and machine downtime goal. |
| Vacuum solutions for light trims and flying materials | https://depurecousa.com/vacuum-solutions-light-trims/ | Light trims, flying materials, fabric scraps, plastic film, paper waste, and offcuts often need continuous pickup, anti-static tooling, machine integration, or central drop routing because lightweight scrap can float, wrap, or accumulate around sensors and rollers. |
| High-performance vacuums for semiconductor materials | https://depurecousa.com/high-performance-vacuums-semiconductor-materials/ | Semiconductor, PCB, and electronics cleanup focuses on point-of-use dust control, fine dry dust, ESD-sensitive materials, contamination control, and clean handling. Route to fine-dust/HEPA vacuums, conductive accessories, antistatic tooling, and process-specific containment. |
| Centralized vacuum system for welding fumes | https://depurecousa.com/centralized-vacuum-system-for-welding-fumes-case-study/ | Centralized welding fume routing applies when multiple welding stations, long work areas, or repeat source-capture points need a centralized suction system instead of multiple mobile extractors. Confirm fume source, number of stations, simultaneous users, ducting, hoods/arms, filtration, and airflow requirements. |
| Industrial vacuums for dry metal chips | https://depurecousa.com/industrial-vacuums-dry-metal-chips/ | Dry metal chip routing differs from coolant/sump routing. Use for dry chips, shavings, fines, and machined parts debris where the buyer needs chip recovery, machine cleanliness, line-side cleanup, central drops, or heavy-duty pickup without liquid separation. |
| Industrial vacuums for peat and organic compounds | https://depurecousa.com/industrial-vacuums-peat-organic-compounds/ | Peat and organic compound cleanup often involves fine, dusty, lightweight, potentially combustible organic material. Route to central systems, combustible-dust-aware vacuums, antistatic accessories, HEPA/fine dust filtration, and contained collection based on hazard review and process layout. |
| Industrial vacuums for metal chips and swarf | https://depurecousa.com/metal-chips-shavings-vacuums/ | Metal chips and swarf routing should clarify wet vs dry, chip shape, chip weight, sharp/stringy behavior, coolant/oil presence, desired material recovery, and whether the buyer needs a mobile vacuum, sump vacuum, central chip system, or pre-separator. |
| Industrial vacuums for silica dust | https://depurecousa.com/silica-dust-vacuums-industrial/ | Silica dust routing focuses on respirable dust control, HEPA filtration, tool-connected extraction, contained disposal, filter cleaning, and pre-separation for concrete grinding, cutting, drilling, scarifying, and floor preparation. |


## v3.5 Expanded Material Behavior Groups

- Abrasive media: garnet, sandblast media, alumina, slag, glass bead, steel shot.
- Cement / mineral dust: cement, gypsum, lime, fly ash, silica, concrete dust.
- Reactive or conductive metal powders: aluminum, titanium, magnesium, stainless, Inconel.
- Battery powders: graphite, carbon black, black mass, electrode powder.
- Food powders: flour, sugar, starch, cocoa, spices, milk powder, grain dust.
- Pharma powders: excipients, APIs, capsules, tablets, nutraceutical powders.
- Plastic waste: pellets, regrind, PE/PP/PET trim, film, ribbons, dust.
- Fibers and lint: cotton, textile lint, paper dust, nonwoven scraps.
- Heavy wet waste: sludge, slurry, waterjet abrasive sludge, mud, coolant sludge.
- Range residue: lead dust, brass, unburned powder, bullet fragments, soot.
- Hot debris: oven crumbs, burnt flour, sparks, ash, soot.