An Introduction to Air

Pollution
Chapter 6. Fabric filters

Ph.D
2nd October 2012
 Fabric Filters
Fabric filtration
Air or combustion gases pass through a fabric
Dust is trapped on the fabric
Cleaned air exits the system
Baghouses
Rows of bags
Inlet
Exit
Cleaning mechanism
Baghouse application and operation
Baghouses-
Compartmented:
Shaker
Reverse flow
Noncompartmented: Pulse Jet
Operation:
Dirty air enters at low velocity
Multiple filters (bags)collect PM
PM falls to bottom
Cleaned air exits
 Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
High efficiency for small particles
Modular design
Low velocity
Low pressure drop
Expense
Large area
Frequent cleaning/maintenance
Operating temp limitations
 Types of Baghouses
Compartmented:
Shaker baghouse
Bags cleaned by oscillating framework
Reverse air
Clean air blown through bag is opposite direction
Non-compartmented:
Pulse jet
Compressed air blown down bags for cleaning
 Dust loading
Fabric: filter material
Woven fibers
100-150 micron diameter
Interstitial holes
50-75 microns
PM layer forms between fibrils
Increased filtration efficiency
Increased pressure drop
S= filter drag
V= filtering velocity
 Theory

P Total pressure drop

Pf Pressure drop due to the fabric

Pp Pressure drop due to the particulate layer

Ps Pressure drop due to the bag house structure

 Darcys equation

Pf Pressure drop N/m2

Pp Pressure drop N/m2
Df Depth of filter in the direction of flow (m)
Dp Depth of particulate layer in the direction of flow (m)
Gas viscosity kg/m-s
V superficial filtering velocity m/min
Kf , K p Permeability (filter & particulate layer m2)
60 Conversion factor /min
V = Q/A
Q volumetric gas flow rate m3/min
A cloth area m2
 Dust Layer

L Dust loading kg/m3

t time of operation min
L Bulk density of the particulate layer kg/m3
P = Pf + Pp

Filter Drag S = P/V

Areal dust density W = LVt
S= k1+k2W
 Permeability, K
Permeability of filter material, (K1)( Ke )
Extrapolated from test data
Permeability of particulate layer, (K2)( Ks )
Slope of test plot

Determined from test data

Fabric, dust
Contributes to filter drag (S) as a function of
areal dust density (W)
 Filter drag model
Filter drag: dependent on areal dust density (W)
and fabric and dust layer permeability (K)

S= filter drag, Pa-min/m or inches of water- min/ft

W= areal dust density, kg/m2 of fabric or lb/ft2 of fabric

L= dust loading, kg/m3 or lb/ft3

T= time of operation, minutes
 Filter drag model
Using the filter drag model to predict pressure
drop (P) after 60 min of operation
Dust loading (L) = 15 g/m3, V= 0.8 m/min
Ke = 500 Pa-min/m, Ks= 3 Pa-min-m/g
 Filter drag model
Using the filter drag model to predict pressure
drop (P) after 60 min of operation
Dust loading (L) = 15 g/m3, V= 0.8 m/min
Ke = 500 Pa-min/m, Ks= 3 Pa-min-m/g
 Filter drag model
Using the filter drag model to predict pressure
drop (P) after 60 min of operation
Dust Layer
 DESIGN OF FABRIC FILTERS
The equation for fabric filters is based on Darcys law for flow
through porous media.
Fabric filtration can be represented by the following equation:
S = K e + Ks w
Where,
S = filter drag, N-min/m3 S = P/V
Ke = extrapolated clean filter drag, N-min/m3
Ks = slope constant. Varies with the dust, gas and fabric, N-min/kg-m
W= Areal dust density = L V t
L = dust loading (g/m3), V = velocity (m/s)

Both Ke and Ks are determined empirically from pilot tests.

Obtain Pilot Data to Determine
P versus loading
 Problem
Estimate the values of Ke and Ks for the
filter drag model:

Time (min) 5 10 15 20 25 30
Filter P (Pa) 330 490 550 600 640 700

Limestone dust loading L = 1.00 g/m3

Fabric Area A = 1.00 m2
Air flow rate Q = 0.80 m3/min
 Solution
Step 1:
Calculate the air velocity
Air velocity = 0.80 (m3/min)/1.00 m2
= 0.80 m/min
Step 2:
S = P/V 412.5 612.5 687.5 750 800 875
W = LVt 4 8 12 16 20 24

Step 3:
Determine Ke and Ks graphically
Ke = 470 N-min/m3 Ks = 0.563 N-min/g-m
Reverse Air Fabric Filter
Example Problem
Solution
Solution
Pulse Jet Fabric Filter
 Pulse jet design considerations
Different filtering velocities
No compartments
Compressed air for bag cleaning
Compressor power
Pressure drop
 Compressor power
Major operating expense of pulse jet systems
Compressor power (), kW:

= compressor efficiency
= 1.4 (ratio of heat capacities Cp/Cv)
P1, P2 = initial and final pressures (abs), kPa
Q1 = volumetric flow rate at compressor inlet, m3/s
 Compressor power
Example: Find compressor power (), kW
Flow rate (Q) = 20,000 cfm (9.5 m3/s)
T = 50C (323 K)
P1= 1 atm (101.3 kPa)
Air pulse (P2) 100 psig (790 kPa) abs.
Compressed/filtered air ratio = 0.6%
Compressor efficiency ()= 50%
 Compressor power
Compressor power (), kW:

Flow rate (Q) = 20,000 cfm (9.5 m3/s)

T = 50C (323 K)
Compressed/filtered air ratio = 0.6%
 Compressor power
Compressor power (), kW:
Compressor efficiency ()= 50%
P1= 1 atm (101.3 kPa)
Air pulse (P2) 100 psig (790 kPa)
 Fan Horsepower
Flow rate (Q) = 20,000 cfm
Assume 60% efficiency () for motor

For P = 17 inches w.g. BHP = 90 hp

For P = 3.4 inches w.g. BHP = 18 hp

 Problem
Calculate the number of bags required for an 8-compartment
pulse-jet baghouse with the following process information and
bag dimensions.
Q, process gas exhaust rate 100,000 ft3/min
A/C, gross air-to-cloth ratio 4 (ft3/min)/ft2
Bag dimensions:
bag diameter 6 in.
bag height 12 ft
Solution
Solution
Solution
Solution
Shaker Baghouse
Hopper
 Filtration time, tf
Shaker and reverse-air baghouses
Several compartments
One compartment off-line for cleaning

tf= filtration time, min

N= number of compartments
tr= run time, min
tc= cleaning time, min
 Filtration time, tf
N=5, N-1=4

tf
 Number of bags
Example: Net cloth area = 8,000 ft2
Select 3 (N) compartments
N-1 = 2 (1 off-line for cleaning)
2 compartments on line to meet NCA
Each compartment = 4,000 ft2
4,000 ft2 x 3 compartments = 12,000 ft2
Bag size: 6 inch diameter, 8 feet long
Bag area: dh= (0.5)(8)= 12.6 ft2

12,000/12.6 = 952 bags

 Filtering Velocity
All (N) compartments on-line
for Q = 20,000 cfm
flow rate (QN)through one compartment:

N-1 compartments on line during cleaning

flow rate through on-line compartments:
 Filtering Velocity
All (N) compartments on-line
Filtering velocity (VN) in one compartment (C):

N-1 compartments on line during cleaning

Design Filtering velocity (VN-1) in on-line
compartments:
 Pressure drop
Max pressure drop (Pm) occurs
before next compartment to be cleaned (j)
end of cleaning time for last compartment (j-1)
at time tj (the time compartment j is on-line)

tj

tf
 Pressure drop
Calculating Max pressure drop (Pm)
tf= 60 min, tc = 4 min, tr = ?

tf
 Pressure drop
Calculating Max pressure drop (Pm)
During tj, the cloth in compartment j has
accumulated areal dust density (Wj)
Given dust loading (L) of 10gr/ft3
 Pressure drop
Calculating Max pressure drop (Pm)
Given Ke= 1.00 in wg-min/ft, Ks= 0.003 in wg-min-ft/gr
During tj, the filter drag (Sj) in compartment j is
 Pressure drop
Calculating Max pressure drop (Pm)
During tj, the actual filtering velocity (Vj) in
compartment j is calculated
Ratio of Vj to VN-1 Total Number of f = V /V
N j N-1
Compartments, N
3 0.87
4 0.80
5 0.76
7 0.71
10 0.67
12 0.65
15 0.64
20 0.62
 Pressure drop
Calculating Max pressure drop (Pm)
Finally, the maximun pressure drop can be
calculated
A Compartment of Bags
Use Pilot Data to Design a Multi-
compartment Baghouse
Use Pilot Data to Design a Multi-
compartment Baghouse