Sizing of RG Filter

Below, an equation is developed for prorating the cloth area for a Recycle Gas
(RG) Filter based on known performance of a filter in the same service.

Ordinarily, the flow velocity through filter cake is low enough so flow will be
laminar. Under such conditions, the pressure drop through an incompressible
cake is proportional to the flow velocity through the cake, the thickness of the
cake and the viscosity of the gas and inversely proportional to the active surface
area of the filter, or

u   x
(1) p  a 
A

p  pressure drop through filter cake

a constant
u flow velocity through the cake
 viscosity of the fluid
x thickness of the cake
A surface area of filter

Constant a is a lumped parameter that depends on the characteristics of the

particles and the filter cake.

Flow velocity is

V m

(2) u  where
A A

V  volumetric flow rate of gas

 
m mass flow rate of gas
 density of gas

If we insert equation (2) into (1), we get

m    x
(3) p  a 
  A2

Assuming the fines loading in the gas as well as the flow rate of the gas remain
relatively constant over time, the thickness of the cake will grow linearly with
time, or

(4) x  b 

b constant
   run length

Substituting this into equation gives

m   
(5) p  a  b 
  A2

Let us then assume that we need to define the filter area of a new filter which will
replace an existing filter whose surface area is known. From operating
experience we also know the run length of the filter (the length of time the filter
can stay in service until its pressure drop reaches some allowable maximum
limit). The properties (viscosity, density) of the gas handled by the new filter will
be similar to those handled by the existing filter.

For the existing filter, equation (5) can be written as follows

m E   E
(6) p E  a  
AE2

p E  pressure drop of existing filter at end of run

m E  mass flow rate of gas through existing filter
 E  run length of existing filter (at above mass rate)
AE  surface area of existing filter

All parameters that can be assumed to remain constant have been lumped
together into a new constant

a  b 
(7) a 


We can determine constant a’ by solving it from equation (6) and using measured
values for pressure drop, mass flow rate and run length.

p E  AE2
(8) a 
m E   E

If it can be assumed that the filter cake in the new filter will be similar to the one
forming in the existing filter, then the pressure drop of the new filter can be
similarly estimated from

m N   N
(9) p N  a  
AN2
Then we express the flow rate, the run length and the allowable pressure drop for
the new filter in terms of the known values for the existing filter, or

(10) AN  rA  AE
(11) p N  rp  p E
(12) m N  rm  mE
(13)  N  r   E

rA  ratio of the filter areas of the new and the existing filters
rp  ratio of the max pressure drops of the new and the existing filters
rm  ratio of the mass flow rates through the new and the existing filters
r  ratio of run lengths of the new and the existing filter

With these definitions, equation (9) becomes

(rm  m E )  (r   E )
(14) ( rp  p E )  a  
(rA2  AE2 )

From this we can solve rA .

 r r  m E   E 
(15) rA  a    m   
 rp  p  A 2
  E E 

If we then utilize equation (8) to eliminate a’, the above equation reduces to a
simple form we can use for estimating the filter area of the new filter based on
known performance of an existing filter

rm  r
(16) rA 
rp

To see an example of how to use this equation, assume that we want the new
filter to have three times longer run length than the existing filter at 20% higher
flow rate while limiting the pressure drop to 80% of the maximum pressure drop
of the existing filter, then

r p  0.8
rm  1.2
r  3.0

Inserting these into equation (16) gives

 1.2  3.0
rA   4.5  2.12
0.8

This means that the new filter should have 2.12 times the filter area when
compared to the existing filter.

The equations above are true if:

 Gas properties at new and existing cases are similar

 Filter cake is incompressible

Notice that the equations only account for the pressure drop of the filter cake.
The assumption is that the pressure drop of the filter housing, nozzles and the
clean filter bags are negligible (all these are valid assumptions). It is worth
emphasizing that because the clean filter bags have a negligible pressure drop,
the service pressure drop of the filter is dictated by the properties of the filter
cake (PP powder & catalyst fines), not by the properties of the filter bags.

The most important assumption is that the cake is incompressible. If this is not
true and the cake has a tendency to compact with time, the pro-rata sizing
offered here may not be conservative. Thus, it is important to log the pressure
drop of an existing filter at relatively steady operating conditions over several
cleaning cycles to see how the pressure drop changes with time. If the increase
is approximately linear with time, it proves that the cake is incompressible.
Otherwise care must be exercised in sizing the filter.