Problems

1. An aggregate plant at Lime Ridges has been found to be in violation of particulate

discharge standards. A mechanical shaker baghouse has been selected for particulate
control. Estimate the number of bags required for a gas flowrate of 20 m3/s if each bag is
15 cm in diameter and 12 m in length. One-eighth of the bags are taken off line for cleaning.
The manufacturers recommended air-to-cloth ratio for aggregate plants is 0.010 m/s.

Given:
Bag
Diameter = 15 cm
Length = 12 m

Air-to-cloth ratio = 0.010 m/s

Required:
Bags if gas flowrate= 20 m3/s

Solution:

Net cloth area:

20 3 /s
= = = 2000 2
0.010 m/s

Net number of bags:

2000 2
. = = = 353.67 354
(0.15 )(12 )

With 1/8 of the bags offline,

354
= 44.25 44
8

Thus,
= 354 + 44 = 398
2. Determine the collection efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator described below for a
particle 154 m in diameter having a drift velocity of 0.184 m/s. What is the effect of
reducing the plate spacing to one half of its current value and doubling the number of plates.

ESP specifications:
Height= 7.32m
Length= 6.10 m
Number of passages= 5
Plate spacing=0.28 m
Gas flow rate= 19.73 m3/s

Given:

Particle diameter = 154 m

Drift velocity = 0.184 m/s

Solution:

Area of the plates:

: = = (7.32)(6.10) = 44.65 2

Since there are 8 collecting surfaces ( 2 for each plate, 4 plates form 5 passages )

= (44.65 2 )(8) = 357.2 2

Using the equation above, the efficiency is calculated,

(357.2 2 ) (0.184
= 1 exp [ )]
3
19.73
= 0.964
 Therefore, the efficiency is 96.4%.

To determine the effect of reducing the plate spacing, the spacing enters into the efficiency
equation through the calculation of the collection field intensity (Ep).

Using the equation for migration velocity, and treating everything else in the equation as
constant, the equation above is written as:

Where Ep is measured in volts per meter

If the distance between the plates is reduced, the collection field intensity is proportionately
increased:

0.28
= = 2
0.14

Since w increases by a factor of 2, the number of plates, hence, the surface area must double
to maintain the same gas velocity. the new efficiency then,

(714.4 2 ) (0.368
= 1 exp [ )]
3
19.73
= 0.999998 1.0

Thus, the efficiency would be increased to 100%. This plate spacing may not be feasible
because of sparkover problems.