Lecture 4

Design of fabric filter

DESIGN OF FABRIC FILTER
- Pressure drop and air-to-cloth ratio are the major design parameters in bag-house design.
- Higher pressure drops implies that more energy is required to pull the gas through the
system.
- Air-to-cloth ratio, also referred to as the face velocity, is the the volume flow of gas
received by a bag-house divided by the total area of the filtering cloth. This ratio is the
result of and is usually It is expressed as acfm/ft
2
. The air-to-cloth ratio determines the
unit size and thus, capital cost.
- Higher air-to-cloth ratio mean less fabric, therefore less capital cost. However, higher
ratio can lead to high pressure drop thus requiring higher energy. Also, more frequent bag
cleanings may be required, thus increasing the downtime.
- Fabric filters are classified by their cleaning method or the direction of gas flow and
hence the location of the dust deposit [1].
Pressure Drop: The pressure drop is the sum of the pressure drop across the filter housing and
across the dust-laden fabric.
- The pressure drop across the housing is proportional to the square of the gas-flow rate
due to turbulence.
- The pressure drop across the dust-laden fabric is the sum of the pressure drop across the
clean fabric and the pressure drop across the dust cake.

vw K v K P P P
d f 2 1
+ = A + A = A
(2.4.1)
Where, v=the filtration velocity; K
1
=the flow resistance of the clean fabric; K
2
=the
specific resistance of the dust deposit; w=the fabric dust areal density; K
1
is related to Frazier
permeability, which is the flow through a fabric in cfm/ft
2
of fabric when the pressure drop
across the fabric is 0.5 in w.g. as follows [1]:
( )
in w.g.) 0.5 at ty(cfm/ft Permeabili Frazier
24590
m s Pa
2
1 -
1
= K
(2.4.2)
Evaluation of specific resistance K
2
: The dust collected on a membrane filter and K2
should be calculated from the increase in pressure drop (P
2
- P
1
) with filter weight gain (M
2
-
M
1
) as follows:

|
|
.
|

\
|

A A
=
1 2
1 2
2
M M
P P
v
A
K
(2.4.3)
Where, A is the surface area of the membrane filter.

Problem 2.4.1. A fabric filter is to be constructed using bags that are 0.1 m in diameter and 5.0
m long. The bag house is to receive 5 m
3
/s of air. Filtering velocity is 2.0 m/min. Determine the
number of bags required for a continuous removal of particulate matter.
Solution:
t
b
A
N
A
=

=
g
t
Q
A
u

= b A dL t
Given that: Diameter of bag (d) = 0.1 m; Length of bag (L) = 5 m; Flow rate (Q
g
)= 5 m
3
/s;
Filtering velocity (u)=2 m/min=0.0333 m/s.
2
t
5
Total area of filter A 150 m
0.0333
= = =
2
Area of single bag 3.14 0.1 5.0 1.57 m = = = b A
150
Number of bags N 95.54 96
1.57
= = = ~

The numbers of bags required for a continuous removal of particulate matter are 96.

Problem 2.4.2. A bag house is to design to handle 1000 m
3
/min of air. The filtration takes place
at constant pressure so that the air velocity through each bag decreases during the time between
clearing according to the relation
t 08 . 0 267 . 0
1
u
+
=

Where, u is in m
3
/m
2
min of cloth and t is time in min.
The bags are shaken in sequence row by row on a 30 min cycle. Each bag is 20 cm in
diameter and 3 m height. The bag house is to be square in x-section with 30 cm spacing between
bags and 30 cm clearance from the walls. Calculate the number of bags required.
Solution:
0 0
1 1
0.267 0.08
= =
+
} }
t t
avg
dt
V udt
t t t

avg
g
t
V
Q
A =

= b A dL t
b
t
A
A
N =

Given: Ratio of flow rate air to cloth area (u)=
1
0.267 0.08t +
( m
3
/m
2
min of cloth).
Time (t)=30 min; d- Diameter of bag (d)=0.2 m; Length of bag (L)=3 m; Flow rate (Q
g
)=1000
m
3
/min.
Average velocity (V
avg
)=? (m/min)
Total area of filter (A
t
)=? (m
2
).
Area of single bag (A
b
)=? (m
2
).
Number of bags (N)=?
Put the values in equation, we get the average velocity
30
avg
0
1 dt 28.78
V =0.959 m / min
30 0.267 0.08t 30
= =
+
}

2
t
1000
A 1042.390 m
0.959
= =
2
b A 0.2 3 1.8849 m = t =
1042.390
N 553.005 553
1.884
= = ~

The numbers of bags required for a continuous removal of particulate matter are 553.

REFERENCE
[1] Altwicker, E. R., Canter, L. W. Cha, S. S., Chuang, K. T., Liu, D. H. F. Ramachandran,
G., Raufer, R. K., Reist, P.C., Sanger, A. R. Turk, A., Wagner, C. P. "Air Pollution",
Environmental Engineers Handbook, 2
nd
Edition, 1997.