Introduction

Fabric Filters (also called baghouses and bagfilters) are air pollution control
devices that remove particulate matter from a gas stream by passing the
dirty air through a layer of cloth. The particulate matter deposits on the
cloth surface and the clean air passes through. Of all the air pollution
control technologies, fabric filters are the predominant particulate removal
device used in industrial processes today.
Unlike electrostatic precipitators, where performance may vary depending
on process conditions, fabric filters can maintain a particulate collection
efficiency of 99% or better, even when the particle size is very small.
Fabric filters can be broadly categorised into three main
types; Shaker, Reverse Air and Pulse Jet. Each is largely defined by the
way in which the collected dust is removed from the filter surface. AT TAPC
we service and maintain all types of fabric filter but only supply modern
style Pulse Jet filters under our PowerJet range. The following is a
discussion on each style:

Types of Fabric Filters

Shaker
In mechanical-shaker baghouses,
tubular filter bags are fastened onto a
cell plate at the bottom of the
baghouse and suspended from
horizontal beams at the top. Dirty gas
enters the bottom of the baghouse and
passes through the filter, and the dust
collects on the inside surface of the
bags.

Reverse Air
In reverse-air baghouses, the bags are fastened onto a cell plate at the bottom of the baghouse and suspended from an adjustable hanger
frame at the top. Dirty gas flow normally enters the baghouse and passes through the bag from the inside, and the dust collects on the
inside of the bags.
Reverse-air baghouses are are always
arranged in multiple modules. Before a
cleaning cycle begins, filtration is stopped
in the compartment to be cleaned. Bags
are cleaned by blowing cleaning air into
the dust collector in a reverse direction,
which pressurizes the compartment. The
pressure makes the bags collapse
partially, causing the dust cake to crack
and fall into the hopper below. At the end
of the cleaning cycle, reverse airflow is
discontinued, and the compartment is
returned to the main stream.
The flow of the dirty gas helps maintain the
shape of the bag. However, to prevent total
collapse and fabric chafing during the
cleaning cycle, rigid rings are sewn into the
bags at intervals.
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During Cleaning

Pulse Jet
In reverse-pulse-jet fabric filters, individual filters are either bags supported by a metal cage (filter cage) or PulsePleats. Each filter
element is fastened onto a cell plate (or tubesheet) at the top of the baghouse. Dirty gas enters from the bottom of the fabric filter and flows
from outside to inside the individual filters.
Filter elements are cleaned by a short burst of compressed air injected through a common manifold over a row of filters. In the
TAPC PowerJet fabric filter range, the compressed air is accelerated by the PowerJet nozzle mounted in the blowtube, which
increases the cleaning efficiency. Since the duration of the compressed air pulse is short (0.1s), it acts as a rapidly moving shock wave,
traveling through the entire length of the filter element and causing the filter element surfaces to flex. This flexing of the surface breaks the
dust cake, and the dislodged dust falls into a storage hopper below.

The advantage of Pulse Jet filters over

Shaker and Reverse Air filters is that they
can be operated continuously and cleaned
without interruption of flow (i.e. no module
needs to be isolated from the gas flow).
This is because the burst of compressed
air is very small compared with the total
volume of gas passing through the
collector. Also, Pulse Jet dust collectors
are usually not compartmentalized which
allows them to operate at higher air-tocloth ratios. In basic terms, this means
that, for the same duty, they are smaller
and cheaper than the other two styles.
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During Cleaning