Bag House

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Cleaning Sequences

Intermittently cleaned baghouses consist of a number of

compartments or sections. One compartment at a time is
removed from service and cleaned on a regular rotational
basis. The dirty gas stream is diverted from the
compartment being cleaned to the other compartments in
the baghouse, so it is not necessary to shut down the
process.
Continuously cleaned baghouses are fully automatic and
can constantly remain on-line for filtering. The filtering
process is momentarily interrupted by a blast of
compressed air that cleans the bag, called pulse-jet
cleaning. In continuous cleaning, a row of bags is always
being cleaned somewhere in the baghouse. The advantage
of continuous cleaning is that it is not necessary to take the
baghouse or a compartment out of service for bag cleaning.
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Types of Bag Cleaning

shaking,

reverse air,

pulse jet,

sonic

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Shaki
ng

6/2/16

Mechanical shaking is accomplished

by using a motor that drives a shaft
to move a rod connected to the
bags. It is a low energy process that
gently shakes the bags to remove
deposited particles. The shaking
motion and speed depends on the
vendors design and the composition
of dust deposited on the bag. The
shaking motion is generally
Shaking
should not
be used when
in the horizontal
direction.
collecting sticky dusts. The force
needed to remove sticky dust can
tear or rip the bag.

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Shaki
ng

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Reverse
Air

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Reverse-air cleaning baghouses are

compartmentalized to permit a section to be off-line
for cleaning. In a reverse-air baghouse, the flow of
dirty gas into the compartment is stopped and the
compartment is backwashed with a low pressure flow
of air. Dust is removed by merely allowing the bags to
collapse, thus causing the dust cake to break and fall
During
filtering mode, the compartments outlet
into thethe
hopper.
gas damper and inlet gas damper are both open.
When bag cleaning begins, the outlet damper is
closed to block the flow of gas. The bags are allowed
to relax for a short time and the reverse air damper
located at the top of the compartment is opened to
bring reverse air for bag cleaning into the
compartment. The reverse air flow usually lasts from
about 30 seconds to as long as several minutes.
During this time, dust falls into the hopper. Reverse6/2/16
air
baghouses also have by-pass dampers that allow

The cleaning action is very gentle, allowing the use

of less abrasion resistant fabrics such as fiberglass.
Reverse-air cleaning is generally used for cleaning
woven fabrics. Cleaning frequency aries from 30
minutes to several hours, depending on the inlet
dust concentration and the pressure drop of the
baghouse. The cleaning duration is approximately
10 to 30 seconds; the total time is 1 to 2 minutes
including time for valve opening and closing, and
dust settling.
Reverse-air baghouses use very large bags (as
compared to shaker or pulse-jet baghouses) ranging
from 8 to 18 inches in diameter and from 20 to 40
feet in length.
6/2/16

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Pulse Jet

The most commonly used cleaning method is

the pulse-jet or pressure-jet cleaning.
Baghouses using pulse-jet cleaning make up
approximately 40 to 50% of the new baghouse
installations in the U.S. today.

The pulse-jet cleaning mechanism uses a high

pressure jet
of air (compressed air-induced pulse) to
remove the dust from the bag. Bags in the
bag-house compartment are supported
internally by rings or metal cages. Bags are
held firmly in place at the top by clasps and
usually have an enclosed bottom (the bag is
sewn closed at the bottom). In another design,
a snap ring is sewn into the top of the bag
which fits into the tube sheet opening. The
cage slides inside the bag and the top of the
cage sits on the tube sheet. Dust-laden gas is
filtered through the bag, depositing dust on
the outside surface of the bag. Pulse-jet
6/2/16
Source: USEPA, APTI Course
SI: 412A,
Filter
cleaning
isFabric
used
for cleaning bags in an

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Pulse-jet units are usually operated in a non-dust

cake mode. Bags are pulsed frequently to prevent
the formation of a thick cake and to keep the unit
from having a high pressure drop across the dust
cake and felted filter. However, sometimes a dust
cake is desired in cases where woven bags are
used in a pulse-jet baghouse.
The bag cleaning by the pulse occurs in
approximately 0.3 to 0.5 seconds. The pressures
involved are commonly between 60 and 100 psig
(414 kPa and 689 kPa). Some vendors have
developed systems to use a lower pressure pulsing
air (40 psi).
Most pulse-jet baghouses use bag tubes that are 4
to 6 in. (10.2 to 15.2 cm) in diameter. The length of
6/2/16
the
bag
is usually
around
10Filter
to 12 ft (3.05 to 3.66
Source:
USEPA,
APTI Course SI:
412A, Fabric

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Sonic

6/2/16

In a few systems, shaking is

accomplished by sonic
vibration. A sound generator is
used to produce a low
frequency sound that causes
the bags to vibrate. The noise
level produced by the
generator is barely discernible
outside the baghouse. Sonic
cleaning is generally used
along with one of the other
cleaning techniques to help
thoroughly clean
dirty bags.

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Baghouses are designed by considering a number

of variables: pressure drop,
filter drag,
air-to-cloth ratio,
collection efficiency

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Total pressure drop

The total pressure drop equals the pressure drop
across the filter plus the pressure drop across the
cake and is given as:

Where:
pf = pressure drop across the clean fabric, in. H2O (cmH2O)
k1 = fabric resistance, in. H2O/(ft/min) [cm H2O/(cm/sec)]
vf = filtration velocity, ft/min (cm/sec)
pc = pressure drop across the cake, in. H2O (cmH2O)
k2 = resistance of the cake, in. H2O/(lb/ft2-ft/min) [cm H2O/
(g/cm2-cm/sec)]
ci = dust concentration loading, lb/ft3 (g/cm3)
vf = filtration velocity, ft/min (cm/sec)
t = filtration time, min (sec)
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Filter Drag
Filter drag is the filter resistance across the fabricdust layer. The equation for filter drag essentially
gives the pressure drop occurring per unit velocity.
It is a function of the quantity of dust accumulated
on the fabric and is given as:

Where:
S = filter drag, in. H2O/(ft/min) [cm H2O/(cm/sec)]
p = pressure drop across the fabric and dust cake, in. H2O
(cmH2O)
vf = filtration velocity, ft/min (cm/sec)
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Overall pressure drop of a multi-compartment

baghouse
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Performance curve of a pulse-jet bag or a

row of bags
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Filtration Velocity: Air-ToCloth

Ratio
The terms
filtration velocity and air-to-cloth (A/C)
ratio can be used interchangeably. The formula used
to express filtration velocity is:

Where:
vf = filtration velocity, ft/min (cm/sec)
Q = volumetric air flow rate, ft3/min (cm3/sec)
Ac = area of cloth filter, ft2 (cm2)

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

The term gross air-to-cloth ratio refers to the total amount of

cloth area used to filter the entire flue gas stream.
The term net air-to-cloth ratio is used to describe the net
amount of cloth available for filtering when one or more
baghouse compartment is taken off-line for maintenance or bag
cleaning.

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Collection
Efficiency
Extremely small particles (less than 1 m in diameter) can be
efficiently collected in a baghouse. Emission regulations for
various industries including municipal waste combustors and
hazardous waste incinerators require emission limits of 0.010
gr/dscf. Baghouse units designed with overall collection
efficiencies of 99.9% (varying particle sizes) are common.
Exhaust air from many baghouses can even be recirculated
back into the plant for heating purposes, as long as the gas
stream is not toxic.

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

6/2/16

Filter
Construction
Bag filters can be made of woven or nonwoven materials.
Nonwoven materials can further be divided as felted or
membrane. Most bags are either completely or partially made
by weaving since nonwoven fabrics are generally attached to a
woven base called a scrim. Woven filters are made of yarn
with a definite repeated pattern. Felted( ) filters are
composed of randomly placed fibers compressed into a mat and
attached to loosely woven backing material. A membrane(
) filter is a special treatment where a thin, porous
membrane (expanded polyfluorocarbon) is bonded to the scrim,
or support fabric. Woven filters are generally used with low
energy cleaning methods such as shaking and reverse-air.
Felted fabrics are usually used with higher energy cleaning
systems such as pulse-jet cleaning. Membrane filters were
developed in efforts to achieve high efficiency particle capture
and to handle flue gas conditions where high moisture and
resulting high pressure drop problems frequently occur.
6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Wove
n
Filter
s

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

The true filtering surface for the

woven filter is not the bag itself, but
the dust layer or filter cake. The bag
simply provides the surface for capture
of larger particles. Particles are collected
by impaction or interception as the open
areas in the weave are closed. This
process
is referred to as sieving. Some
particles escape through the filter
until the cake is formed. Once the
cake builds up, effective filtering will
occur until the bag becomes plugged
Sieving (on a woven
and cleaning is required. At this point,
filter)
the pressure drop will be exceedingly
high and filtering will no longer be cost
effective. The effective filtering time will
vary from approximately 15 to 20
minutes to as long as a number of hours,
6/2/16
Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI:depending
412A, Fabric Filter
on the concentration of

Felted filters are made by needle

punching fibers onto a woven
backing called a scrim. The fibers
are randomly placed as opposed to
the definite repeated pattern of the
woven filter. The felts are attached to
the scrim by chemical, heat, resin, or
stitch-bonding methods.
To collect fine particles, the felted
filters depend to a lesser degree on
the initial dust deposits than do
woven filters. The felted filters are
generally 2 to 3 times thicker than
woven filters. Each individual
randomly oriented fiber acts as a
target for particle capture by
impaction and interception. Small
particles can be collected on the
outer surface of the filter.
Felted filters are usually used in
pulse-jet baghouses. Felted bags
should not be used in high humidity
6/2/16
Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter
situations, especially if the particles

Felted
Filters

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter

Flex abrasion resistance :

6/2/16

Source: USEPA, APTI Course SI: 412A, Fabric Filter