4 Mistakes That Produce High Pressure Drops in a Baghouse
Technical Information, United States
When baghouse differential pressure falls, you lose efficiency. Baghouse pressure drop effectively means that less air is pushed through your filters, reducing your baghouse capacity and restricting your productivity potential.
There are a number of things that can impact your differential pressure, but before you address these you need to first conduct a bag filter pressure drop measurement so you can identify where in the baghouse the problem is occurring – and whether it’s a filter problem, or a baghouse problem. A baghouse pressure drop calculation is also an important part of your preventive maintenance approach, helping you spot the early warning signs of problems such as false air ingress. Sometimes, however, it is neither a filter or a baghouse issue, but an operating problem. Here are four mistakes that produce high pressure drops in a baghouse.
1. Inadequate pulsing pressure.
Pulsing pressure that is too low can lead to inadequate bag cleaning resulting in blocked airflows and increased energy cost. Baghouse compressed air manifold shouldn't drop more than 30% of maximum during pulsing.
2. Too much moisture in airflows.
Moisture in the dust stream often causes dust to stick together and form a thick, wet dust cake. Wet dust cake can seal pores in filtering materials leading to high pressure drops. Fabric filter baghouses should operate at a minimum of 20°F above the dew point.
3. Improperly timed baghouse cleaning cycles.
Improperly timed baghouse cleaning cycles can allow collection of filtrate on filter bag surfaces. Different dust types also require different cleaning cycles and pressures. Consult with your baghouse or filter supplier for optimal settings.
4. Poor start-up and shut down procedures.
Inadequate warm-up of baghouse when bringing it on line results in high moisture conditions that leads to sticky dust cake and subsequent pressure drops. Proper baghouse protection procedure is that bags are cleaned before shutdown. Otherwise, dust on uncleaned bags can harden and create severe pressure drops upon restart.
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