Drum Filter vs Baghouse: 5 elements to consider when determining the best system for your plant



Drum Filter vs Baghouse: 5 elements to consider when determining the best system for your plant



When considering a drum filter or a baghouse, one should consider the following elements to determine what type of system is best for the plant.

Application
In manufacturing, there are countless applications. When looking at the application of baghouses verses drum filters one of the primary elements to consider is the dust being processed.  Drum filters were initially developed for the textiles industry, which produces long fiber dust.  Therefore, if your process generates dust with long fibers then a drum filter may be what you’re looking for.  However, if your process generates small spherical dust then a baghouse may better suit the application.  

Air to Cloth Ratio & Static Pressure Drop
A typical drum filter operates at 100:1 air to cloth ratio versus a baghouse containing 6 filters with a 10:1 air to cloth ratio.  Air to cloth ratio is the volume of air allowed per square foot of media surface. For example, a process requiring 30,000 CFM, therefore:


·                     Drum Filter – 30,000 CFM/100 CFM/ft2 = 300 ft2 media requirement
·                     Baghouse – 30,000 CFM/8 CFM/ft2  = 3,750 ft2 media requirement

From a static pressure perspective, typical design pressure drop for a drum filter media is 3” w.g. verses 8” w.g. for a baghouse having equivalent volume.  Design pressure drop is considered to be the pressure drop point where the media should be changed.

Media Efficiency
 As seen above, a typical drum filter operates at 100:1 air to cloth ratio verses a baghouse at 6 to 10:1. With this in mind, media for a drum filter is not as efficient as a baghouse. As an example, a typical drum filter operating a synthetic yellow flat media has a nominal efficiency of 40% on 3 microns and greater.  However, a baghouse operating a 16 ounce polyester needled felt will have a nominal efficiency of 99.8% on 3 microns and greater.

Therefore, in today’s environment where the most air is re-circulated back to manufacturing using a drum filter requires backing up the primary drum filter with secondary passive filters.

Capital Cost
Our experience shows that capital cost for a baghouse is greater than a drum filter in most cases.  This is primarily due to two (2) factors:


·                     Baghouses require more media area, hence cost is higher
·                     To date, the drum filter industry has been able to circumvent NFPA standards for combustible dust (i.e. explosion venting / isolation and mechanical or chemical isolation), whereas it proves to be more a requirement for baghouses which again adds to the initial cost.    

Operating Cost
Our experience indicates that the ongoing maintenance cost is higher for a typical drum filter system due to the frequent changes to primary and secondary filters required (6 months for drum filter vs. 3 plus years for equivalent baghouse used in paper applications).



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