A cyclone pre-filter offers multiple benefits to your dust collection system. One of these benefits and easiest to observe is extending filter life.

How Do Cyclone Dust Collectors work?

Cyclone dust collectors remove dust by using centrifugal motion.  The airflow enters the cyclone and spins around until it reverses and leaves the cyclone through the center of the vessel.  As the airflow spins, centrifugal motion pulls the dust towards the wall, leaving cleaner air in towards the center of the vessel.  So when the airflow reverses, the dust falls into the hopper while the clean air leaves through the center of the cyclone.

The larger and heavier a dust particle is, the greater the centrifugal force on it and the more likely it is to move towards the walls.  What this basically means is that the larger the particles the greater the removal of those particles in a cyclone.

A cyclone pre-filter will remove the larger particles from an airstream.  Often times this can be as much as 80-90% of the dust loading in the airflow.  Installing a cyclone pre-filter could decrease the loading on the filters by 80-90%, which in turn will allow a longer time between cleaning of the filters.

“Pulse-Jet” Baghouse   

In a “pulse-jet” baghouse the filters are cleaned by blasting compressed air through them.  This causes the filters to expand off their support.  The expansion causes the top layer(s) of dust to fall off the filters, thereby cleaning them.  Now each time the filter expands, the filter is weakened.  Over time, holes will develop in the filter, thereby allowing unfiltered air past.  This lowers the removal efficiency and could cause the system to be out of compliance.

Dust Built-Up Over Time

Another issue is over time, the top dust layers might not fully fall off.  So the total dust on the filters increases, making it harder for air to pass through.  This causes the pressure drop across the filters to increase, which will result in less air being collected at the collection points.

Installing the cyclone pre-filters decreases the dust getting to the filters, thereby requiring less cleaning (weakening of the filters) and lowering the amount of dust that builds up on the filters.  Together this can extend filter life by many months to a few years, which will lower your maintenance costs.

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5 Signs Your Dust Collection System Needs a Pre-Filter

Watch the video from the Dust Efficiency Clinic discusses how using a pre-filter will optimize your dust collection system. 

 

If you prefer this valuable information in white paper form, get our whitepaper, Top 5 Reasons to Use a Cyclone as a Pre-filter.

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

 

 

A significant benefit of using a cyclonic dust collector as a pre-filter for baghouses or cartridge collectors is increasing removal efficiency. A cyclone removes all types and particle sizes of dust. At larger particle size, dust collection is nearly 100% but with smaller size (ex. sub-micron) particulate the collection can typically less than 5%.

Filter Cleaning Cycle

Filters such as bags and cartridge collectors get their high removal efficiencies by building up a dust layer over the filter.  This dust layer allows air to pass through it and the filter while preventing dust particles from passing.  As the dust layers build up, it becomes harder and harder for air to pass through, hence the increase in the pressure drop of the collector.  The filter cleaning cycle is used to remove the top layers of this dust layer; thereby allowing air to pass through easier.

Particles in the Dust Loading

When large particles are in the dust loading, they will block more passages of the air.  However, the layer may not be as uniform, thereby allowing high velocity channels that will allow the smaller particles to pass, with enough velocity to get through the filters.   If the dust loading particle sizes are more equal (smaller) then the dust layer is more uniform, letting less small particles through, thereby increasing the removal efficiency. 

Cyclone Pre-Filter

The installation of a cyclone pre-filter removes the largest particles, allowing only the smallest to pass.  This allows for a more uniform dust layer, thereby increasing the removal efficiency of the filters.

 

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5 Signs Your Dust Collection System Needs a Pre-Filter

Watch the video from the Dust Efficiency Clinic discusses how using a pre-filter will optimize your dust collection system. 

 

If you prefer this valuable information in white paper form, get our whitepaper, Top 5 Reasons to Use a Cyclone as a Pre-filter.

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

 

 

 

Cyclone maintenance can often be difficult.  Traditional vertical cyclones are tall with long sloping hoppers making access for maintenance limited. Additionally, confined workspace can require special hardware to clean. Smaller versions can be disassembled but may require the unit to be disconnected from the airlock and duct work for cleaning procedures.

 

 

OSHA Special Procedures Requirement                                           

OSHA requires companies to have special procedures for “confined space entry”.  Equipment that is large enough for an employee to enter fully and is not designed for continuous occupancy and has limited or restricted means of entry or exit is considered confined space.  If a person has to go inside, they often require a “permit to enter”.  This could include having a dedicated person outside.  While if the worker only needs to reach inside, the requirements may not require as stringent precaution or possibly even a permit. 

Horizontal Cyclones – Removable Backplate

However, horizontal cyclones (as manufactured by Aerodyne Environmental) have a removable backplate.  This allows access to the cyclone internals without disassembly and disconnecting of the cyclone.  Small and medium size units also allow access without having to fully go inside the cyclone.  Many units are small enough that normal humans can’t even fully enter.  So full confined space entry procedure may not be required.  The company’s confined space entry policy should be review to see what is required.

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GPC Dust Collector Spec Request

The GPC Dust Collector is an efficient way to handle your dust collecting needs.

 

 

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Dust Collection Deathmatch: Baghouse vs. Cartridge

Trying to decide whether to use a cartridge collector or baghouse in your dust collection system? Find out the four factors that separate the baghouses and dust cartridges.

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com

Dust collectors can have issues with material bridging in the hopper. 

Round or Square Airlocks

A standard collector uses round or square flanged airlocks instead of a rectangular design better suited where bridging persists.These designs are great for standard dust that doesn’t bridge.  They are easy to fabricate, thereby keeping cost low.  However, the uniform dimensions of the flange allow the dust to be equally supported on all sides, creating a more stable environment for a dust bridge to form.  One way to counteract this is by over-sizing your airlock. An example would be using a 12” rotary valve instead of an 8” valves.  While oversizing the airlock lowers the chance of bridge forming.  A bridge can still form due to shape of the flange. 

Better Airlocks: Rectangular Rotary Valve

A better way would be to use a rectangular rotary valve.  Since the rotary valve has a rectangular flange, dust trying to bridge over the opening isn’t equally supported.  And any bridge trying to form across the long axis will be unstable and begin to bow down into the valve opening, where the rotors will grab them and destroy the bridge, allowing the free flow of dust out of the hopper.

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Bridging Dust?

Try the Aerodyne Mighty Whopper.

Aerodyne’s Mighty Whopper rotary valve has over-sized rectangular inlet and outlet. 

 

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5 Signs Your Dust Collection System Needs Maintenance

Is your dust collection system working at peak efficiency? A quick, do-it-yourself examination may identify symptoms that your system needs a check-up.

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com

Dust collection systems require the proper airflow to operate correctly.  Without the correct air flow, dust will not be removed from collection points and the collection equipment (baghouse, cartridge collectors, cyclones, etc.) will not operate with maximum efficiency. However, if too much air is being pulled through the system, a variety of issues might ensue, such as product being lost, removal efficiency lowered, utility usage increased.

Conventional Way to Measure Airflow

The normal way to measure airflow is to insert a pitot tube in the ductwork to measure the air velocity in an airstream, and then calculate the velocity (and airflow).  This is a manual process that requires a trained individual.  It is time consuming and to a certain degree an art, since the velocity in a ductwork changes depending how close to the wall you are.

Effective Way to Measure Airflow

Obviously, you cannot walk next to a piece of equipment or meter and check the velocity through the ductwork.  However, if you have a cyclone dust collector you can.  Cyclone pressure drops are based on the airflow through them.  The more air you send through a cyclone, the higher the pressure drop.  Each cyclone design has its own equation to determine pressure drop based on the airflow.  With this equation, you can estimate the airflow based on the pressure drop in your cyclone.

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The GPC Dust Collector is an efficient way to handle your dust collecting needs. Simply click below for direct access to the GPC spec.

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Exhaust Fans: The Motive Force of a Dust Collection System

In this video, Aerodyne discusses how system changes and fan performance affect your dust collection system.

 

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

The key function of a collector is to remove the maximum volume of dust from the airstream.  Additionally, an important part of the process is keeping the removed dust from re-entraining.

Baghouses and Cartridge Collectors

Baghouses and cartridge collectors collect the dust on the filters and during cleaning, the material is knocked loose and falls to the hopper.  How well the material falls to the hopper is dependent on the dust that is being collected, the can velocity (speed of air between the filters) in the baghouse, and the design of the baghouse.  

Basically, if the dust is very light and/or irregular in shape, then it might not easily fall to the hopper, instead it might float (like a leaf).  This could cause it to be re-entrained in the airflow and go back on the filter.  If the airflow is very high then the can velocity could hold up dust after cleaning, thereby causing re-entrainment of the dust.  The design of the unit can affect re-entrainment as well.  Some units have the dust coming in the unit below and at a rather high speed, which can increase dust re-entrainment.  Others will have the dust entering from the side of the filters, thereby being at a much lower velocity and out of the path of falling dust.

Cyclones

Cyclones use centrifugal force to push the particulate dust outward.  Most cyclones also use tapered walls to concentrate the dust as it gets lower in the cyclone until it falls into the hopper, while the clean air leaves the cyclone through the center.  The point where the air stops traveling down the walls and begins to travel up the center is called vortex reversal.  Depending on dust size, concentrations, and cyclone design, dust can be re-entrained by the clean air leaving the cyclone.

Wet Scrubbers

Wet Scrubbers are very good at low re-entrainment.  This is because when the dust meets a droplet, they become one larger particulate and then fall out of the airstream easier.  Most well designed wet scrubbers have a mist elimination section that will further collect droplets before leaving the collector.

 

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5 Signs Your Dust Collection System Needs a Pre-Filter

Watch the video from the Dust Efficiency Clinic discusses how using a pre-filter will optimize your dust collection system. 

 

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

 

 

Simple Timers

For many years, pulse-jet baghouses were cleaned by simple timers.  The timers would start the cleaning cycle every so many minutes.  You would be able to change how often your filters are cleaned by changing the time between each cleaning.  This design makes sure that the filters are cleaned regularly, whether they need to be cleaned or not.  The main issue with this is that every time a filter is cleaned, it increases the chances of it failing.  Filters are cleaned by pulsing high pressure air into the filter.  This expands the filter, which causes the top layers of dust to fall off.  But that expansion can also cause holes or rips in the filters.

Pulse-On-Demand Controller

So it would be beneficial to minimize the cleaning of the filters to only when it’s needed.  The pulse-on-demand controller does just this.  It measures the pressure drop across the filters.  When the pressure drop gets over a certain amount, it will begin the cleaning process.  Many of these controllers also have “bag break” technology, which will tell you when one of the filters has a hole.  You will then be able to replace the filters only when they are needed.  Some controllers can even isolate the row where the broken bag is located, so you won’t have to replace all the filters.

Installing a Clean-on-Demand controller, “bag break” technology, and cyclone pre-filters (Check out other Aerodyne blogs for more info) can help you decrease the maintenance on your filters, extend filter life, and lower operating costs (less air usage).

 

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

Do the rotary valves under your dust collectors cause maintenance headaches?  Are they clogging?  Are you having to drop everything and assign extra labor to fix them?

The disadvantages of Rotary Valve

Most dust collectors are equipped with a motor-driven rotary airlock valve that empties contents from the hoppers. Rotary valves have been used for many years and are probably the most widely used airlock design. However, maintaining rotary valves is difficult and time consuming. These valves run continuously, regardless if dust is present, which leads to wasted electricity. In addition, the valves can wear out rapidly, resulting in costly repairs and replacements.

Best Alternative: Aerodyne Vacu-Valve ^®

A highly cost-effective alternative is Aerodyne’s Vacu-Valve ^®  Trickle Valve System. The Vacu-Valve relies on the negative pressure of the material handling system to hold the duckbill sleeve closed. As the dust or material builds up, the sleeve is forced open, allowing the contents to discharge. Once emptied, the negative pressure then immediately closes the duckbill again. This trickle valve system requires no lubrication, power, or controls. Materials that would normally jam or wear out a rotary airlock valve, the Vacu-Valve handles with ease. There is a variety of duckbill sleeve options designed for specific applications; and the Aerodyne Vacu-Valve ^® is available in an open or closed design, to further accommodate the particular application.

Aerodyne’s Vacu-Valve ^® is the solution! Have a look at this infographic and to learn how the Vacu-valve solves these issues and improves the discharge efficiency of your baghouse, filters and cyclones.

 

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How Do Vacu-Valve Dust Valves Work?

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

If you are like many plant engineers who are working within the confines of a limited work space, rest assured that you don’t need to compromise on the efficiency of your industrial dust collection system. A traditional, high-efficiency cyclone is not the best solution for facilities with low ceilings.

Space Limitation

If space limitations prevent you from properly orienting this type of cyclone in an upright position, this will result in a loss of efficiency due to particulate settling on the side of the collector and being carried out with the exhaust gas. Attempting to solve this problem by installing your vertically oriented dust collection cyclone outdoors may encourage condensation that can shorten service life and reduce efficiency.

Horizontal Cyclones

Today, more plant engineers are choosing a horizontal configuration for reliable, high-efficiency dust collection. These options include the Aerodyne GPC Cyclone and counter-cyclonic dust collectors, such as the Aerodyne SplitStream™ Dust Collector.  The SplitStream™ Dust Collector uses a secondary air stream that directs material toward the collection hopper, and may be installed horizontally with virtually no loss of efficiency.

Because this design does not rely on gravity to bring the dust to the hopper like conventional cyclones, its operational efficiency is not affected by horizontal installation. In addition, this type of dust collection system may be suspended from a ceiling, conserving valuable space on the manufacturing floor.

The SplitStream™ Dust Collector the ability to increase/decrease process temperature while collecting dust. The unique counter cyclonic design element of the SplitStream™ Dust Collector ensures that a minimal amount of particulate comes in contact with the interior walls. This eliminates excessive wear and enables abrasive particulate collection.

 

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How Do Horizontal Dust Collectors Work?

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.

As maintenance staffs become smaller and have less time to do preventative maintenance, technology needs to step in and help. 

Level Switches

That is where level switches in dust collector hoppers fit in.  An airlock works by allowing dust from the dust collector to leave the vessel while preventing air from leaking in or out of the system.  Some airlocks operate by emptying the hopper as soon as dust falls and some require a buildup above them to help seal the valve and provide motive force. 

The main thing is, that dust often times will not constantly be falling through the valve.  This means that walking next to a vessel won’t always tell you if the airlock is operating correctly. 

Installing a level switch in the hopper will help.  The level switch measures the amount of material in the hopper and if too much is in the hopper it will provide a signal (alarm).  This will tell maintenance that the airlock is not operating correctly and it needs to be investigated.  Depending on the system’s controls, the alarm can be a local alarm (light and/or horn) or feed into the central computer.

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Dust collection systems can range from being fairly simple to extremely complex. 

It’s important to know that you have the proper system for your application. Some questions always come up when looking at dust collection systems.

To make life easier, we have put together some common questions we get asked along with answers and explanations. Have a look.

Volume 1:  

Volume 2:

 

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To learn more about which dust collector, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.dustcollectorhq.com.

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To improve efficiency and safety, there is no substitute for an on-site inspection by an experienced expert. Click below to start with a free 20-minute phone consultation by clicking the button.