UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL AND

BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

AIR POLLUTION

LAB REPORT
Particulate Emission Control by Pulse Jet Bag Filter
Prepared by,
1. SITI NOR HALIMATUL ZOHARA BT JHINKU
55201113506 (6BCP)

1.0

INTRODUCTION
In this experiment of particulate emission control by pulse jet bag filter, the
main objective in this experiment is to study the efficiency of pulse jet bag filter in
removing particulate matter from air. This experiment is using 200 g of kaolin powder
as initial weight of the particulate matter. A pulse jet is designed to effectively flush
the bag and reduces re-deposition of fine dust. As the flue gas passes from the outside
of the bag through the fabric, the particulate forms a cake on the surface of the bag.
Cleaning the filter bags is accomplished by introducing controlled pulses of
compressed air into each filter bag through a blowpipe and orifice assembly mounted
just above the filter bag. These short-duration pulses of air exit the blowpipe orifices
and travel down the filter bags. The accumulated dust cake is dislodged by the
resulting shock wave and falls into the hoppers. The dust is conveyed from the
hoppers away from the fabric filter by an ash transport system for beneficial re-use or
disposal. (Babcock & Wilcox, (2007))
Fabric filters collect particles with sizes ranging from submicron to several
hundred microns in diameter at efficiencies generally in excess of 99 or 99.9 percent.
The layer of dust, or dust cake, collected on the fabric is primarily responsible for such
high efficiency. The cake is a barrier with tortuous pores that trap particles as they
travel through the cake. Gas temperatures up to about 500F, with surges to about 550F
can be accommodated routinely in some configurations. Most of the energy used to
operate the system appears as pressure drop across the bags and associated hardware
and ducting. Typical values of system pressure drop range from about 5 to 20 inches of
water. Fabric filters are used where high efficiency particle collection is required.
Limitations are imposed by gas characteristics (temperature and corrosively) and
particle characteristics (primarily stickiness) that affect the fabric or its operation and
that cannot be economically accommodated. (James H. Turner, (1998))

During the experiment, particles of different size are removed by different

physical mechanisms in a pulse jet bag filter. There are five mechanisms can be
distinguished. The largest particles experience a gravity force that determines their
trajectories. Secondly, somewhat smaller particles will be removed by internal
impaction, not being able to follow the trajectory of the gas. These particles may also
be come in contact with the fibre collector by a third mechanism: the streamlines of
the gas flow are contracting when passing the fibre which leads to interception of the
particle. The finest particles are removed by a fourth mechanism, which is diffusion as
a result of Brownian motion. A fifth mechanism may be effective when electrostatic
forces are generated between the particles and the collector. This can be accomplished
by an electric field across the filter in combination with a particle charging process.
(Zevenhoven & Kilpinen, (2012))

Figure 1: The operation of the Pulse jet bag filter

Collection of efficiency,

Where:

Important process variables that affect particle capture include particle size and
mass, velocity, density and viscosity of the gas, electrostatic forces and the filter used.
Moreover, the different mechanisms are not independent but operate simultaneously.
In general, the highest removal efficiencies are obtained for the large particles at high
gas velocities and for the finest particles at low velocities.

2.0

OBJECTIVE
The objectives in this experiment that need to be focus are:
a) To study the efficiency of the pulse jet bag filter in removing particulate matter in
air.
b) To study the effect of varying total filtering area to the separation efficiency.

3.0

METHOD

Num
1

Picture

Description
Kaolin Powder was been
sieved

Kaolin

powder

was

weighed for 200g

The chamber was clean up

from any leftover

Secured

all

bolts

to

windows and the drawer

for air tight operation.

Switched

on

compressor.

air

Regulated

outlet to 2 bar.

The

dust

sample

was

loaded into feed vessel

with the outlet closed and
vibrator off.

Switched

on

the

main

panel. Switched on the

blower

and

set

the

frequency to 30Hz using

the

air

blower

speed

controller.

Switched on the Pulsed-Jet

Solenoid Valve, SV1.

The vibrator was set at

speed

to

1,

and

then

sample

were

switched it on

10

Once

all

finish

loaded,

let

the

system

were

run

for

another

minutes

to

ensure all dust trapped in

the piping are delivered
into the baghouse. Then
the blower were shut off,
while

maintaining

operation of pulsed jet

solenoid valve for another
10 shots to ensure the
bag(s)
properly.

are

cleaned

11

The dust collector was

pulled out, taking care that
the dusts would not spill
out.

The

dusts

were

carefully transferred into a

pre-weighed

container.

Then the weight of the

dusts was measured.

4.0

DATA AND RESULT

Number of Weight
Bags
2
4
.

Weight

Exp.

Loaded (g) Calculated (g) Efficiency,

(%)
200
157
78.5
200
170
88

DPT2

5.0

DISCUSSION
The objective of this experiment is to study the efficiency of the pulse jet bag
filter in removing particulate matter in air and the effect of varying total filtering area
to the separation efficiency. The beginning of the experiment was weighing 200 g of
kaolin powder as the initial weight particulate matter. The particulate matter was trap
at the fabric with jet compressed air to remove the dust cake by the resulting shock
wave and falls into the hoppers. The amount collected of the kaolin powder after the
experiment for 2 beg was 157 g and for 4 beg was 170 g. Based on data, the collection
efficiency that been get by using the efficiency calculation for 2 beg was 78.5 % and
for 4 beg was 85 % which is considered as low efficiency compare to the theory which
is can be more than 99% of efficiency. However, the 4 beg is more high than 2 beg.
Then increase of efficiency for 4 beg compare to 2 beg because the increase in the
number of beg inside the beghouse cause the particulate matter form more dust cake
when particulate matter touch the fabric which is more than 2 where will collecting
more removing particulate matter in the dust collector.
According to the theory, the main key for beghouse is to determine the face
velocity that produces the optimum balance between pressure drop (operating cost that
increases as pressure drop increases) and baghouse size (capital cost that decreases as
the baghouse size is reduced). Baghouse size is reduced as the face velocity (or gas-tocloth ratio) is increased. However, higher gas-to-cloth ratios cause higher pressure
drops. Although collection efficiency is another important measure of baghouse
performance, a properly designed and well run baghouse will generally have an
extremely high particulate matter (PM) collection efficiency (99.9+ %). Baghouses are
particularly effective for collecting small particles. For example, tests of baghouses on
two utility boilers, showed efficiencies of 99.8 % for particles 10 m in diameter and
99.6 % to 99.9 % for particles 2.5 m in diameter. Because high efficiency is assumed,
the design process focuses on the pressure drop. (James H. Turner, (1998))

When conducting the experiment, when the kaolin powder is inject/jet inside
the body of beghouse there is a lot of kaolin power is stuck inside of the body of the
beghouse where this is affecting the efficiency because the amount of untrapped kaolin
powder is high. Besides, after done doing the experiment, before we collecting the
dust inside the dust collector, we have to clean up the walls and bag(s) with a suitable
brush or broom using the cleaning windows located at both sides of the baghouse but
we did not do it. Moreover, when we pull out the dust collector and collect the dust,
there are a few is spill out where it is affecting the efficiency of the experiment.

Picture 1: At the body

Picture 2: At the window

Picture 3: In front of dust collector

Furthermore, when conducting the experiment, some possible errors might

have occurred during we pour the kaolin power inside the feeder. When we handle the
dust for weigh, we might have loss some weight of the sample due to negligent
handling. Result of the collection efficiency might be less efficient because of these
errors.

6.0

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion for this experiment, it is been proved that the pulse jet bag
filter or beghouse is high in the collecting the particulate matte according to the theory.
However, we have facing a little bit twisted from the theory because of some error
when conducting the experiment where we only get 78.5 % for 2 beg and 85 % for 4
beg which is considered as low efficiency. However, 4 beg are higher than 2 beg. Then
increase of efficiency for 4 beg compare to 2 beg because the increase in the number
of beg inside the beghouse cause the particulate matter form more dust cake when
particulate matter touch the fabric which is more than 2 where will collecting more
removing particulate matter in the dust collector. Furthermore, to get a higher
efficiency, the parameter such as rate of air blower and do not negligent handling the
dust should be considered. That is mean; we did not achieve our objective where we
cannot get a high efficiency of the pulse jet bag filter in removing particulate matter in
air and we cannot determine the effect of varying total filtering area to the separation
efficiency.
For the recommendation, the experiment can be improved by cleaning each of
the pipes to be smoother. Beside than that, some modification on the pulse jet bag
filter could be done such as fixing the air flow rate for inlet. By doing that, higher
efficiency of the venturi scrubber could be get.

7.0

8.0

REFERENCES
1.

Babcock & Wilcox Power Generaon Group, Inc., (2007), Pulse Jet Fabric

2.
3.

Filters, 20 S. Van Buren Avenue Barberton, Ohio 44203 USA.

James H. Turner,(1998), Baghouses and Filters, Research Triangle Institute.
Zevenhoven & Kilpinen, (2012), Particulates.

APPENDIX

*2 begs
Collection efficiency (%):
= collected mass
Mass in
= 157 g

200 g
= 78.5 %

100%

100%

*4 begs

Collection efficiency (%):

= collected mass
Mass in
= 170 g

200g
= 85 %

100%

100%