Fabric filters removal efficiency

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. 

Semidry Scrubbers The advantage of semidry scrubbers is in that they remove contaminants by way of a solid waste that is easier to dispose of (less expensive). Initially, the scrubbing medium is wet (such as a lime or soda ash slurry). Then a spray dryer is used to atomize the slurry into the gas which evaporates the water in the droplets. As this takes place, the acid in the gas neutralizes the alkali material and forms a fine white solid. Most of the white solids are removed at the bottom of the scrubber while some are carried into the gas stream and have to be removed by a filter or electrostatic precipitator (discussed later). Although semidry systems cost 5-15% more than wet systems, when combined with a fabric filter, they can achieve 90-95% efficiencies. Dry scrubbers are sometimes used in a very similar fashion, but without the help of gas-liquid-solid mass transfer, these systems use much higher amounts of the solid alkali materials. 

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. 

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. 

Each is discussed in Sec. 17 of this handbook under Gas-Solids Separations. The effectiveness of conventional air-pollution-control equipment for particulate removal is compared in Fig. 22-25. These fractional efficiency curves indicate that the equipment is least efficient in removing particulates in the 0.1- to 1.0-pm range. For wet scrubbers and fabric filters, the very small particulates (0.1 pm) can be efficiently removed by brownian diffusion. The smaller the particulates, the more intense their brownian motion and the easier their collection by diffusion forces. Larger particulates (>1 pm) are collected principally by impaction, and removal efficiency increases with particulate size. The minimum in the fractional efficiency curve for scrubbers and filters occurs in the transition range between removal by brownian diffusion and removal by impaction. 

It is proposed to install a pulse-jet fabric-filter system to remove particulates from an air stream. Select the most appropriate bag from the four proposed below. The volumetric flow rate of the air stream is 10,000 std ft3/min (4.72 m3/s) (standard conditions being 60°F and 1 atm), the operating temperature is 250°F (394 K), the concentration of pollutants is 4 grains/ft3 (141 grains/m3), the average air-to-cloth ratio is (2.5 ft3/min)/ft2, and the required collection efficiency is 99 percent. 

Dry cyclones are the primary collection equipment used to capture the detergent dust in the spray dryer exhaust and recycle it back to the crutcher. The dry cyclones can remove up to 90 percent by weight of the detergent product fines from the exhaust air. Fabric filters have been used after cyclones but have limited applicability, especially on efficient spray dryers, because of condensing water and organic aerosols binding the fabric filters [4, 21]. 

A key research area is the study of the effect of selective catalytic reduction (SCR), selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR), dry particulate adsorbent injection, and SOx removal systems on the removal efficiency, pressure drop, and lifetime of the baghouses. The use of fabric filters in PC boilers is increasing every year due to the stringent particulate emission standards. Pennsylvania Power and Light was the first utility to install a bag-house in 1973, and up until 2005, more than 129 RGFFs were installed on 28 GW of power plant capacities [64] (Figure 18.10). 

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