The industrial baghouse manufacturing landscape is always evolving. Whether you own an Pneumafil dust collector, MikroPul baghouse, Pangborn dust collector or a custom dust collection system from IVI, Father Time is undefeated.

Is it time to replace your aging baghouse?

Even if you’re keeping a close eye on common issues in baghouse maintenance, an aging baghouse can expose your operation to employee health and safety risks, production shutdowns, regulatory compliance issues and more. And, if you’ve fallen behind on baghouse maintenance—and plugged ductwork, leaking pulse valves, damaged bags or other problems persist—it’s likely accelerating baghouse wear and tear and the risk your company is taking. If your dust collection system brand has changed manufacturers, regular maintenance becomes even more critical to avoid significant issues.

Aging baghouse indicators that affect all baghouse brands

While the lifespan of a baghouse is influenced by environmental conditions, particulate removal demands and maintenance, a typicaal baghouse lifespan is 20 years or longer. Whether you own a Pneumafil baghouse, MikroPul dust collector, Pangborn baghouse or ��һ��ݶ�custom solution that is more than two decades old, these indicators can help you assess whether it may be reaching its end of life.

• Overall deterioration: You may see rust, cracks, corrosion and other deterioration to your industrial dust collection system, hear unexpected noises or experienced reduced efficiency in particulate removal. This deterioration may indicate it is time for a baghouse replacement.
• Replacement parts access: Common parts that need replacing include bag filters, timer boards and diaphragm valves. Changes in the baghouse industry can lead to availability issues for critical system components for baghouse brands that are no longer manufactured. If finding baghouse parts or supplies for your aging baghouse is becoming more difficult, it may be time to consider a baghouse replacement.
• Maintenance costs: If your baghouse has been in use for decades, the costs to keep it running effectively and efficiently may add up. If maintenance costs are on the rise, a baghouse replacement may be needed.

Explore replacement options before a problem risks employee health and safety or causes a shutdown, further cutting into your bottom line.

Current system evaluation

If questioning whether a replacement is the best path forward, the first step is to evaluate the current dust collection system—whether it be an IVI, Mikropul, Pangborn or Pneumafil baghouse—or another brand manufactured during the last century. An evaluation can help you determine your baghouse’s current capacity and whether modifications can be made or a full replacement is necessary.

When replacement is needed

If modifications can extend the life of your baghouse, the ��һ��ݶ�team can explore the available options. If not, our experienced team can provide turnkey solutions. Across any industry and ranging from 50 to 1 million cubic feet per minute, the ��һ��ݶ�team is ready to design and engineer, fabricate and install a new long-lasting industrial baghouse solution for you.

MIKROPUL is a registered trademark of MENARDI MIKROPUL LLC, 4404-A CHESAPEAKE DR, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA UNITED STATES 28216

PANGBORN is a registered trademark of PANGBORN LLC, 4630 COATES DRIVE, FAIRBURN, GEORGIA UNITED STATES 30213

PNEUMAFIL is a registered trademark of NEDERMAN CORPORATION, 4404 CHESAPEAKE DRIVE, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA UNITED STATES 28216

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��һ��ݶ�Engineers Explain the Importance of Baghouse Leak Detection Testing

Transcript

Who needs to do a baghouse leak detection test?

Anyone who owns or operates a dry-type dust collector, such as a baghouse or cartridge collector, needs to do a baghouse leak detection test.

How often do you need to do a leak detection test?

Leak detection tests should be done every time you do a filter change. Some regulatory requirements dictate that leak detections need to be done on an annual basis, or a six-month basis, and then also any time you suspect a leak in your system, a leak test is good to help diagnose where that leak is coming from.

What are the risks of not doing a leak detection test?

Filter changes are a fairly expensive operation, so not doing a leak detection test could mean all the money you spent on that filter change is thrown out because of an improper installation.

Additional reasons to conduct these tests, and reasons to mitigate the risk by doing them, is because a hole in your filter could mean a failure to comply with regulatory requirements.

Step by step: The baghouse leak detection system

Before conducting the test, you’re going to want to consult your safety department to ensure that all lockout, tagout and confined space procedures are followed for this procedure.

Step one is we are going to be inserting the dye into the system. In this case, we’re going to insert the dye (or baghouse leak detection powder) into the hopper here. [In your system, dye may need to be inserted into the collection ductwork.]

Now that our dyes have been added, we’ve ensured that our filters are evenly coated, we are going to do an inspection of the clean-air side of our bags to ensure that none of the dye made it through or around the filters and ensure we have a nice, good installation.

Now we’re up on the clean-air section of the baghouse. Because this thing is so small, we can actually lift off the entire roof of it. So first I’m going to do a quick initial inspection to see if I see any dye. Usually, if there’s a major leak, you’ll see it instantaneously. But now that we don’t see any, we’re going to actually do the blacklight portion and turn off the lights and see what we can see.

All right. Since in our test we didn’t see any leaks, we wanted to show you we scattered some dye around here and wanted to show you what it would look like if there was a leak and how vividly that shows up.

Whether you purchased your baghouse from ��һ��ݶ�or not, ��һ��ݶ�can assist in these leak detection tests and help diagnose problems and come up with long-term solutions.

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Transcript

Reasons For Engineering Studies

There’s a couple reasons why customers should contact us to do these evaluations and what the benefit from those are. After time goes on they realize or they notice that some areas of then plant just seem more dusty or there’s more smoke than there used to be. That could be that there was a process change. Or secondly, they call us in and we look at the ventilation and we might get into the system doing the evaluation and come to find out that a blast gate or an orifice plate was changed. And the volume that they think that they have at current equipment really isn’t true.

The Engineering Study Process

Each branch has to be balanced at the beginning of the system startup and that plays a role at the volume and the static pressure. So as soon as you touch one piece of this entire network, it directly affects every branch. When you’re changing the volume going to a certain piece of equipment, you could see a lot of dropout in your ductwork. And over time, that material drops out and fills up in your ductwork. You’re adding a lot of weight to a suspended piece of ducting that may or may not have had a hanger properly designed to support that weight.

Engineering Studies Ensure Optimal Operation

For us to get in there and see exactly what’s going on with the system and make sure that everything’s clean and clear, each branch has good volume, the fan is operating at a good point in the curve. It all kind of ties together just to make sure that it’s operating the way it should be.

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Doing regular industrial ventilation maintenance can increase bag life, improve your dust collector’s effectiveness and extend the life of your ductwork. Maintaining dust collectors also lowers the amount of particulate emitted in your facility. Even if a baghouse is running well, preventive maintenance is crucial. Because the ��һ��ݶ�team understands the type and volume of material going through the system, our industrial ventilation maintenance programs are designed to help systems achieve peak performance.

The Most Common Dust Collector Maintenance Issues

When the ��һ��ݶ�team visits a facility to troubleshoot dust collection issues, some of the most common problems we see are:

• Low air flow at the hoods
• Broken ductwork or holes in the ductwork
• Plugged ductwork
• Premature bag wear or leaking bags
• Leaking pulse valves

We often see that dust collection systems get a lot of attention when installed. Yet, a lack of staff resources or staff turnover can prevent systems from being properly maintained. We bring decades of experience in a wide range of industrial settings with us aswe service dust collectors and develop a preventative maintenance plan.

Industrial Ventilation Maintenance Checklist

The ��һ��ݶ�team conducts a maintenance review on every point in the system to ensure it’s operating at peak performance and meeting air quality standards. Our general checklist includes:

• Differential Pressure Readings: These readings speak volumes about dust collection issues. If pressure is too high, bags are likely beyond their lifecycle or are handling too much capacity. If it is too low, that tells us the tube plate may be leaking.
• Ductwork: We evaluate whether it was designed to effectively transport particulate as well as whether it has holes or significant wear and tear.
• Fans: We check that fans are rotating at the proper rpm and that the number of amps the fan is drawing is not overloaded, which can lead to motor failure.
• Air Quality Survey: A complete air quality survey that involves a complete testing and balancing checklist may also be included at the start of the process. If included, you will be provided with a detailed report of findings and a plan.

Many times, our engineering and maintenance teams collaborate based on your dust collector’s performance. By conducting an engineering survey—which reviews the entire system based on its design—we can dig deep into possible issues.

Why Choose ��һ��ݶ�for Dust Collector Maintenance

Because we design, fabricate and install dust collection systems, we have a complete understanding of how systems should be designed and can identify why systems may have issues. Our engineers, fabricators and field technicians are a well-integrated team with high standards for the systems we design and build.

Our multi-talented staff, located in Wisconsin, the Carolinas and Oklahoma, travel to locations throughout the United States for industrial ventilation maintenance. Experience less downtime and have problems resolved quickly with regular maintenance. Contact us today to learn more about scheduling a maintenance team visit to your facility.

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Transcript

Common Dust Collector Maintenance Issues

When we approach a plant, a lot of the most common maintenance issues we see, and the easiest to find, are going to be the worn out duct work or low velocities, low volumes in the system. Holes in the ductwork can compromise the performance of the dust collection system.

What you’re going to look for is where those holes are, what the sources are, what the total volume on the system is, see if there’s blanking in any of the filters. Then, take it back to the collector and check to make sure that all the filters are working, not leaking through the tube sheet, and then take it back even as far as the fan or the exhaust. We want to keep everything running as designed and that the volumes are where they need to, otherwise it can just further compromise the ductwork.

Routine Maintenance Matters

The dust collection systems, a lot of times, are a project that’s put in, they get a lot of attention when they get put in, and then there may be turnover of staff, there may be a long period with no maintenance, so it’s not high on the radar. It’s just something that sometimes just goes by the wayside.

A Team With Vast Dust Collector Maintenance Knowledge

What sets ��һ��ݶ�apart in our maintenance services is basically our knowledge of the systems. We do build our own dust collectors, we build a lot of our ductwork, we handle everything from the design, through the fabrication, through the installation, and then as well the maintenance.

Having a diverse staff, we have the ability to react quickly. Having our own fabrication shops in three different states also allows us to get anywhere in the U.S. within a fairly short turnaround.

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When to replace baghouse filters

For the most part, there are only three reasons to change baghouse filters:

• When they can no longer be cleaned because dust has accumulated to the point of plugging the fabric’s air passages, keeping the vacuum from pulling in unwanted dust.
• When the bags have developed holes.
• When the regulates your company or industry to change bags.

While some facilities change bags once per year because their dust collectors capture large quantities of especially fine, hazardous dust, most of ���ձ�’s customers can go two to 10 years before having to schedule dust collector bag replacement.

Facilities that change bags more than once a year may be doing so because of a unique situation—the collector is capturing an especially tough material, like a wet, corrosive or abrasive dust. Facilities that change bags often but are not in this situation likely have a dust collector that doesn’t correctly match their manufacturing process.

Checking your industrial dust collection system

If you’ve just installed a new industrial dust collection system, it’s best practice to check the system regularly to ensure it’s running efficiently and the bags have been installed correctly.

Here’s how to tell whether dust collector issues may be related to the bags:

• High differential pressure: Bags that haven’t been installed correctly, or are retaining excess amounts of dust, will lead to high differential pressure within the baghouse. As it becomes more difficult to pull air through the bags, the difference in the pressure before air enters the bags and after exiting the bags increases.
• Baghouse dusting: Dusting is noted by a visible emissions plume coming out of the stack or by dust in the clean air section of the collector. Bags that are the wrong size or fabric for the particulate may not be installed correctly, may not be sealed or have holes that are contributing to the dusting.

Replacing baghouse filters

Dust collector bag replacement: A quick tutorial

Before removing filters:

• Obtain and follow a Confined Space permit, if required.
• Manually pulse down existing filters.
• Allow the screw auger and rotary air lock to remove waste.
• Conduct proper lockout-tagout per or requirements.
• Ensure employees are trained on hazards associated with the task and are wearing the proper personal protective equipment.

Removing old filters (pertains to top-load bags only):

• Open clean air section doors and remove pulse tubes and cages. (Note: ���ձ�’s baghouses do not use hold-down hardware, but if your baghouse does, remove this hardware before proceeding.)
• Flex the bag’s seal toward the center of the tube sheet hole and drop the bags into the dirty air section.
• Remove all the old bags that were dropped by accessing the hopper. Count the bags to verify you have removed them all to avoid damage to your dust collector.
• Dispose of dirty bags in a dust-tight bag or sealable waste container.
• Close and bolt or screw shut access doors.

Installing new filters:

• Vacuum the clean air section to remove accumulated dust and debris.
• Drop new filters—one at a time—through the tube sheet.
• When the filter is unfolded into the dirty air section, flex the snap band toward the center of the tube sheet hole. Do not bend the snap band at the seam.
• Place the filter snap bands on either side of the tube sheet, and push the band toward the perimeter of the tube sheet hole. You’ll hear the snap when it’s properly sealed.
• Slowly drop the cage down the center of the filter until the venture sits snug on the filter. Gently step down on the venture to seat the cage. If you have hold-down hardware, reinstall it.
• When all bags have been replaced, reinstall all pulse tubes.
• Inspect all the bags for uniformity.

We also recommend testing your system using a fluorescent powder. Starting your industrial ventilation system using this powder will allow you to see whether it is making its way through to the clean side of the bag. If it is, the bag has not been installed properly.

When, and if, you need to replace bags, we also recommend taking the following steps to prevent maintenance and reduce production downtime:

• Keep a bag location replacement chart.
• If you have consistent bag failures, retain a typical bag for inspection.
• Retain bags with unusual or non-characteristic failures.
• Maintain an adequate supply of replacement bags.

By maintaining and changing your baghouse filters when needed, your dust collector will run more efficiently at a lower cost.

Contact ��һ��ݶ�for assistance

Unfortunately, many things can go wrong during a dust collector bag replacement procedure. Improperly seated bags can lead to poor dust collection, which can lead to failing government regulation tests and to excessive dust in your facility, which can adversely affect product quality.

If you are unsure about changing your own baghouse filters, contact us. We will not only change dust collector filters, we also can help analyze your system to help extend bag life, thereby reducing how often you’ll need to do one of the dirtiest maintenance jobs in industrial ventilation.

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Why balancing your system is important

Well-designed industrial dust collection systems will achieve ideal airflow and improve the process performance. See our “Industrial dust collection design strategies for optimal industrial airflow” blog for more information.

However, plugged filters or even changing weather patterns can affect the airflow in your dust collection system. In a facility with a ventilation system having to 25 pickup points on a single-fan system, each of those points may need adjustment to provide adequate airflow.

Your system’s air velocity needs to match the range required for the particulates you are capturing:

• Too high of air velocity may decrease filter life; erode the ductwork; coat duct walls with dust in the case of moist or sticky particulates; and waste energy.
• Too low of air velocity may cause dust to drop and build up in the ductwork.

Dampers ensure the fan is pulling the air volume needed, so that adjusting the dampers creates resistance. By creating this resistance, it’s easier to pull air from the different branches of the system.

Benefits of running your ventilation system on a VFD

Fans that run at a fixed speed are controlled with dampers. But, by running your ventilation system using a variable frequency drive (VFD), you can change fan speeds at the push of a button. There are three reasons VFDs should be considered:

• Energy conservation: Because you are using the correct amount of horsepower needed to run the system, you’ll conserve energy and lower operating costs.
• Flexibility: VFDs give you easy flexibility to adjust fan speeds.
• Reduces maintenance: VFDs increase equipment life because they lessen the wear on motors.

Some people correlate VFDs to the cleanliness of a baghouse. They monitor differential pressure across the baghouse and adjust the fan speed to maintain the correct volume even when the filter media gradually deteriorates and creates more resistance.

Installing VFDs is more expensive than manual dampers, but you will save on operating costs and maintenance in the long run.

��һ��ݶ�analysis

���ձ�’s airflow analysis method, ��һ��ݶ�Flo, identifies areas for improvement within an industrial ventilation system. Once we identify these areas, we can adjust dampers to provide proper airflow, or we will discuss with you the benefits of installing a VFD. Learn more about our Airflow Analysis and contact us for more information.

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Types of pulse controllers

Pulse controllers come in two types—a simple timer and an on-demand timer.

• Simple timer: With this pulse controller, an operator sets a timer for how often the pulse valve will pulse. With this type of controller, the bags are cleaned at the set interval even if they do not need cleaning. Typically, trial and error is used to set the frequency. This pulse controller is a lower cost option because its design is simple, and it is easier to set up. This controller works best with predictable or consistent loading, and it’s ideal for baghouses that need to be cleaned continuously.
• On-demand timer: For this pulse controller, the timer reads the differential pressure across the baghouse and initiates a pulse sequence once the differential pressure reaches a high set point. It continues to pulse until the pressure across the baghouse reaches the low set point. Once at the low set point, pulsing stops until the differential pressure reaches the high set point, and the sequence continues. Because filters are cleaned when needed, the advantages of an on-demand pulse controller are extended bag life and savings in compressed air.

Set up parameters for pulse controllers

Several parameters can be set on pulse controllers.

The simple timer has just two:

• Time the valve is open: This time correlates to how much volume of compressed air is released through the valve. A quick pop of air, for example, is just .05 of a second.
• Time the valve is closed: This is the amount of time between pulses. It can typically be set to anywhere from one second to several hundred seconds.

Besides high and low pressure, as well as those listed above, the on-demand timer also has the following parameters:

• Alarm pressure: Alarms can be set to tell an operator there is an issue with a bag. A high pressure alarm indicates a plugged bag. As an example, a high pressure set point may be six, and an alarm may be set for nine or 10. Conversely, a low pressure alarm indicates a bag needs to be replaced because of a leak or a bag has fallen off.
• Pulse sequencing: Operators can set the order that the valves release air. ���ձ�’s Ecollector™, for example, can have six to 16 valves, which can be programmed in sequence.

As an added note, when installing a pulse controller, avoid locations with direct sunlight or in close proximity to heat or an electromagnetic field as these can damage the controller.

Troubleshooting your pulsing system

If you experience issues with the pulse controller, there are several things you can check, depending upon the problem:

• Valves are not pulsing: Check the power to the timer, the differential pressure switch, header pressure, or the solenoid and/or diaphragm valve.
• Hissing sound from valves: This may indicate a possible compressed air leak.
  • If the solenoid air outlet is leaking, check:
    • The electrical connection
    • The sub assembly for debris
  • If the diaphragm valve outlet port is leaking, check:
    • The air line to the solenoid
    • Header pressure
    • The inside valve body for pitting and debris
    • The membrane for wear
• Bags are not cleaning adequately: Check the pulse pressure, on-time and off-time, and pressure set points. It may also indicate the need for a bag change.

We also recommend that you keep an adequate supply of dust collector filters and pulse valve kits on hand to avoid the cost that comes with having delays in production.

��һ��ݶ�can help with your pulse controller setup or troubleshooting. Contact us for assistance.

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Why Baghouse Maintenance is Important

Increasing Efficiency

With proper maintenance, the dust collection system as a whole will function more efficiently and have consistent air flow. That’s because it takes a greater amount of energy to pull air through dirty filters. Also, regular maintenance reduces the amount of compressed air used to clean the filters, thereby saving money.

Compliance

Regular filter cleaning will also help you maintain a dust collection system that functions correctly and that keeps you in compliance with regulations and permit standards issued by the , state Department of Natural Resources offices and the .

Baghouse Maintenance Improves Overall Performance

You’ll know baghouse filters are beyond their use when the differential pressure across the filters changes dramatically or when a regulatory body dictates that a filter’s lifecycle is complete. Certain factors indicate when a filter is clogged or leaky:

Clogged Filters

Some particulate build-up on the filters is preferred because the “cake” holds and filters contaminants more effectively. However, when there is too much cake buildup, air becomes more difficult to move through the filter and differential pressure rises. In this case, cleaning is required. If the differential pressure remains high after cleaning, the filters should be replaced.

Leaky Filters

A simple test checks the differential pressure across the baghouse to determine whether it is operating inefficiently due to leaky filters. Holes can develop in a filter, as indicated by a sudden drop in differential pressure. A broken bag detector or particulate sensor can be installed to notify you when a leak develops.

���ձ�’s TraceAir solution tests airflow by injecting a fluorescent dye powder into the air stream. After this powder has coated the baghouse’s interior, the fan is shut down in order to examine the clean air side for traces of color under a black light. This provides accurate and expedient identification of leaks in the baghouse.

Considerations When Using Compressed Air

Using the correct amount of compressed air through the filters to clean them is important to ensure the particulates loosen from the filter—too much and the filter web expands, allowing contaminants to pass through the filters. Too little compressed air results in filters that won’t be cleaned as effectively and need to be replaced more frequently.

Also, if your facility has excessive moisture or oil in the ambient air or in the compressed air, those materials will affix to and blind off the filters, negatively impacting filter life.

Other Considerations When Replacing Filters

When it is time to replace your baghouse filters, you need to take into consideration a number of factors.

Matching the bag type with the application, including:

• • Dust collector type
  • Material being collected
  • Hours of use
  • Operation temperature
  • Tube sheet dimensions

Using pleated filters that are shorter, providing more space under the filters for a larger drop out area. Pleated filters also may increase air-to-cloth ratio and filtration efficiency.

Working with IVI

��һ��ݶ�can evaluate your ventilation system to determine whether its filters need to be maintained or replaced. We also offer monthly, quarterly or annual maintenance plans. Contact IVI to learn how we can help you keep your ventilation system running efficiently.

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The importance of optimal industrial airflow

Proper airflow is an important element of any dust collection system. Benefits include:

• Extended dust collection filter life
• Increased energy savings
• Reduced maintenance and replacement costs
• Better overall fume and dust collection

Risks of poor airflow

The consequences of improper airflow and system maintenance include:

• Too much airflow can pull valuable product out of the process and into the waste stream.
• Too high transport velocity can increase wear on ductwork.
• Too little airflow can allow dust to escape the process and increase the dust hazards in the facility.
• Poor duct routing or low transport velocities can cause dust and particulates to settle in ductwork.

Proper industrial airflow requires a balanced approach. Optimization keeps a facility, people and equipment working at peak performance.

Techniques to maintain proper industrial airflow

Manually adjust the industrial fan’s outlet damper, inlet damper or variable frequency drive:

If the fan’s outlet damper, inlet damper or variable frequency drive (VFD) is adjusted properly, airflow can be controlled.  If done improperly, this adjustment can create a shorter filter life, product quality issues and increased operating costs.

Best practice: Monitor differential pressure readings regularly. Once an initial air reading is complete and it is known how the system should operate – a differential pressure benchmark can be set and the operators will be able to easily see when the system is not operating within acceptable limits.

Manually adjust the industrial fan’s inlet damper or blast gates at collection points:

Making sure airflow is balanced is a critical maintenance step.

Best practice: Keep an eye on airflow. Settling dust could indicate slow airflow. Wear spots could indicate high airflow.

For more details on maintaining airflow for an industrial dust collection system, reference the . Reference ���ձ�’s blog: “Design strategies for optimal industrial airflow” to learn more about optimizing airflow with the correct dust collection type and design.

���ձ�’s Flo Air Analysis

��һ��ݶ�can do a complete airflow analysis on any air ventilation system. Our proven airflow analysis method, called ��һ��ݶ�Flo, uses state-of-the-art modeling technology to visualize the flow of air within a system to identify opportunities for improvement. Learn more about our Airflow Analysis and contact ��һ��ݶ�today.

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