Fabric filters collection efficiency

Typical new equipment design efficiencies are between 99 and 99.9%. Older existing equipment have a range of actual operating efficiencies of 95 to 99.9%. Several factors determine fabric filter collection efficiency. These include gas filtration velocity, particle characteristics, fabric characteristics, and cleaning mechanism. In general, collection efficiency increases with increasing filtration velocity and particle size. 

Because of their inherently high efficiency on dusts in all particle-size ranges, fabric filters have been used for collection of fine dusts and fumes for over 100 years. The greatest limitation on filter application has been imposed by the temperature limits of available fabric materials. The upper limit for natural fibers is about 90°C (200°F). The major new developments in filter technology that have been made since 1945 have followed the development of fabrics made from glass and synthetic fibers, which has extended the temperature limits to about 230 to 260°C (450 to 500°F). The capabihties of available fibers to resist high temperatures are still among the most severe limitations on the possible applications of fabric filters. 

The cleaning action of the pulse is so effective that the dust layer may be completely removed From the surface of the fabric. Consequently, the fabric itself must sei ve as the principal filter medium for at least a substantial part of the filtration cycle. Woven fabrics are unsuitable for such service, and felts of various types must be used. The bulk of the dust is still removed in a surface layer, but the felt ensures that an adequate collection efficiency is maintained until the dust layer has formed. 

Collection Efficiency The inherent collection efficiency of fabric filters is usually so high that, for practical purposes, the precise... 

Small solid particles, present in dust and grit emissions, have very low settling velocities (Table 4.4) The collection efficiencies of simple cyclones are tlierefore, as shown in Figure 17.3, relatively low. Fabric filters, electrostatic precipitators or wet scrubbers may be required to remove particles <5 pm in size with an acceptable efficiency. Therefore the cost of pollution control inevitably increases when dealing with particle size distributions skewed towards the lower end. 

Fossil-fuel and wood-waste fired industrial and commercial fuel combustion units commonly use multiple cyclones (generally upstream of a wet scrubber, ESP, or fabric filter) which collect fine PM (< 2.5 im) with greater efficiency than a single cyclone. In some cases, collected fly ash is reinjected into the combustion unit to improve PM control efficiency (AWMA, 1992 Avallone, 1996 STAPPA/ALAPCO, 1996 EPA, 1998). 

A major market which has developed for fabric fillers is for the control ot flue-gas fly ash in the utility industry. This market is primarily at the expen.se of electrostatic precipitators. Fabric filters have the inherent advantage of operating at a high level of collection efficiency tor a wide range of dust and gas conditions. 

Dust cake The dust layer that builds up on a fabric filter, initially improving its collection efficiency. 

One of the oldest, simplest, and most efficient methods for removing solid particulate contaminants from gas streams is by filtration through fabric media. The fabric filter is capable of providing high collection efficiencies for particles as small as 0.5 pm and will remove a substantial quantity of particles as small as 0.01 pm. In its simplest form, the industrial fabric filter consists of a woven or felted fabric through which dust-laden gases are forced. A combination of factors results in the collection of particles on the fabric filters. When woven fabrics arc used, a dust cake eventually forms. This, in turn, acts predominantly as a sieving mechanism. When felted fabrics are used, the dust cake is minimal or nonc.xistent. 

Fabric filters (baghouscs) represent a second accepted method for separating particles from a flue gas stream. In a baghouse, the dusty gas flows into and through a number of filter bags, and the particles are retained on the fabric. Different types are available to collect various kinds of dust with high efficiency. 

Fabric-filter systems, commonly called bag-filter or bag-house systems, are dust-collection systems in which dustladen air is passed through a bag-type filter. The bag collects the dust in layers on its surface and the dust layer itself effectively becomes the filter medium. Because the bag s pores are usually much larger than those of the dust-particle layer that forms, the initial efficiency is very low. However, it improves once an adequate dust-layer forms. Therefore, the potential for dust penetration of the filter media is extremely low except during the initial period after startup, bag change, or during the fabric-cleaning, or blow-down, cycle. 

Under controlled conditions (e.g., in the laboratory), the inherent collection efficiency of fabric filters approaches 100 per cent. In actual operation, it is determined by several variables, in particular the properties of the dust to be removed, choice of filter fabric, gas velocity, method of cleaning, and cleaning cycle. Inefficiency usually results from bags that are poorly installed, torn, or stretched from excessive dust loading and excessive pressure drop. 

Collection Efficiency The inherent collection efficiency of fabric filters is usually so high that, for practical purposes, the precise level has not commonly been the subject of much concern. Furthermore, for collection of a given dust, the efficiency is usually fixed by the choices of filter fabric, filtration velocity, method of cleaning, and... 

---