COMMON SENSE

DUST COLLECTOR SYSTEM

MAINTENANCE
AND TROUBLESHOOTING
ANDY WINSTON, BWF ENVIROTEC, USA, OUTLINES HOW
WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE IN THE DUST COLLECTION SYSTEM
OF A CEMENT PLANT, THE BEST SOLUTION IS USUALLY TO
MAKE MINOR CHANGES TO SEVERAL COMPONENTS.

A
cement operation has many systems
working together. When problems arise,
detailed troubleshooting usually pinpoints
several areas to address. So why is it
whenever there is an airflow problem, a dusting
problem, or an emissions problem, the dust collector
alone is blamed? Is the system bottleneck just the
dust collector or the dust collector filters? In most
cases the answer is no.
In a cement plant, the dust collection system has
five major components: collection hood(s), ductwork,
dust collector, fan, and material handling or discharge
equipment. If any of these areas are poorly designed
or operating inefficiently, the entire system will not
perform properly. Instead of making major changes
to one component (often the dust collector), usually
the solution is to make minor changes to several
components.
Collection hoods (the entrance to the dust
collector system)
It is very easy to tell if you do not have adequate
airflow at a collection hood, because there is dust
everywhere. However, a collection hood can be
designed and located to deliver too much airflow or
suction, resulting in heavier than desired dust loading
into the dust collector system. To design an efficient
collection hood, capture velocity and duct velocity
must be understood.
l Capture velocity is the speed of the air at any
point in front of the hood or at the hood opening
necessary to overcome opposing air currents and

Poorly designed collection hood: Small area, high
capture velocity.
Poorly designed dust collector inlet duct.
to capture the dust laden air at that point by
causing it to flow into the hood.
ll Duct velocity is the speed of the air once in the
ductwork. In order to move air and particulate
to the dust collector, the duct velocity must be
equal to or slightly greater than the minimum air
velocity required to move dust particles in the air
stream.
The collection hood must generate a flow
pattern and capture velocity sufficient to control
dusting without collecting excessive dust. In cement
application such as conveyor belt transfers, bucket
elevators, air slides, vessel loading and crushing and
grinding, the goal is to de-dust the area without
moving material off the conveying equipment.
If the capture velocity is too high at the collection
hood, excessive particulate will be introduced
into the hood, ductwork and eventually to the
dust collector. Inside the dust collector the filters
will be subjected to heavier than designed dust
loading. This leads to the dust collector operating at
higher than desired differential pressure, requiring
accelerated filter cleaning. Under these conditions,
the filters wear out faster and require more cleaning
energy.
The solution to this problem is to make sure all
collection hoods are designed and located properly.
The area around the collection hood should be
enclosed as much as possible. This prevents excessive
outside air being pulled into the system, requiring
greater air flow to de-dust the area. The hood
area needs to be large enough to maintain capture
velocities of 200 ft per minute (fpm) to 250 fpm
(1 m/sec to 1.3 m/sec).
By correcting the poorly designed and located
hoods you will improve the dust collector system by
reducing the grain loading.
Once the collection hoods are designed and located
properly, blast gates need to be installed to achieve
system balance. Due to changing airflows through
the system, adjustments are needed to ensure proper
capture velocity at each hood.
Ductwork (dust highway)
The ductwork is the highway of the dust collection
system. Proper duct velocity for most cement
applications should be between 3500 and 4000 fpm
(18 – 20 m/sec.) Speeds lower than 3500 fpm will
allow dust in the airstream to fall out, causing dust
buildup in the duct. Speeds higher than 4000 fpm
could result in duct abrasion, especially in duct
branches and elbows. If the ductwork is sized too
small, the result is high velocity in the duct. This is
evident in the large percentage of ductwork with
holes and patches in almost all plants. The average
plants spend a lot of time and money patching
holes rather than correcting the design of the duct
work. An increase in grain loading mixed with high
velocities in ductwork only speeds up the wear. If
the ductwork is sized too large, the velocities will be
too low and result is dust fallout and build-up in the
duct. Dust build-up in the duct creates a maintenance
headache. In addition if enough dust build-up occurs
it reduces the cross sectional area of the duct which
affects overall air flow and air velocities at the
collection hoods.
Adding additional vent hoods and ductwork to
an existing system must be evaluated. Can the system
handle the additional air requirement? Do I have to
resize the ductwork in order to maintain the proper
velocity based on the air flow increase? If not done
Reprinted from August 2016
World Cement
 Table 1: Air-to-cloth Ratio Guidelines
Pulse Jet
Application Air-to-cloth Ratio
Nuisance Dust Collectors < 6:1
Drying and Grinding < 5:1
Cement Kiln < 3.5:1
Alkali Bypass < 3.5:1
Clinker Cooler < 4:1
Reverse Air (All Applications) < 2:1
Principles of duct design.
properly the add-on collection hoods and ductwork
can create an imbalance in the system.
Ductwork into the dust collector should have a
straight run of at least eight diameters. This ensures
the air and dust loading to the dust collector is
evenly distributed over the whole dust collector.
Uneven loading can cause abrasion of the filters and
in extreme cases wear through the dust collector
hopper walls. This is a very common mistake on small
and large dust collector systems. In some instances
the duct cannot be changed, resulting in the use
of turning vanes in order to evenly distribute the
dust and air. The turning vanes can correct design
flaws, but unfortunately they will wear and require
maintenance and replacement eventually. It is much
easier to design the ductwork correctly, avoiding
adding to the work load of the maintenance
department.
Dust collector
If we have corrected the collection hood design and
location and we are transporting the dust and air to
the dust collector at the right speed our dust collector
has a better chance of working properly. With that
said we can’t just throw any dust collector into the
system and expect it to function properly.
Dust collector sizing is critical to a proper
operating system. The air-to-cloth ratio must be
right for the application. The air-to-cloth ratio is
the relationship between the amount of air flowing
Reprinted from August 2016
World Cement
through the dust collector and the total amount
of filter media in the dust collector. The correct
sizing (air-to-cloth ratio) of a dust collector
is based on dust loading, dust particle size,
temperature, moisture and dust weight.
Velocities are also important inside the dust
collector. The velocity at the bottom of the filter
bags, can velocity, has a bearing on how well filter
bags clean. The recommended velocity is less than
300 fpm (1.5 m/sec). When a row of filters are
cleaned, the dust on the filter surface is blown off
and moves down the filter, some falling into the
hopper. If the can velocity is too high the dust will
not effectively fall from the filter bags, creating
re-entrainment of dust on the filter were it was
before cleaning. High can velocity results in higher
than desired differential pressure and cleaning
cycles. If the can velocities are excessively high it
will also lead to filter bag abrasion. The high can
velocity is caused by too much airflow through the
dust collector housing. The solution to excessively
high can velocity is to increase the housing
size of the dust collector or reduce the airflow.
Slightly high can velocity dust collectors can see
an improvement of bag cleaning by replacing
the filter bags and cages with shorter pleated
filters. The shorter filter creates a lower velocity
below the bags and aids the dust to fall in the
hopper before it reaches the filters. This should be
addressed on a case by case basis.
Dust collector cleaning controls play a critical role
in dust collector operation. All dust collectors in a
cement plant should be cleaned based on differential
pressure. It is the only way to maintain consistent
differential pressure in a dust collector. Consistent
differential pressure yields consistent air flow and
velocities through out the system. Cleaning on demand
ensures the filter bags are only cleaned when necessary
to maintain set differential pressure, thus prolonging
filter life. The start and stop cleaning differential set
points should never be more than ½ in. WC (13 mm)
apart. Each dust collector will be different, but the
average dust collector will operate very well between
5 in. and 6 in. WC (127 and 132 mm). Changing the
cleaning controls to differential pressure is simple and
inexpensive.
It is recommended to monitor all aspects of the
system, including mechanical operations, differential
pressure, emissions, hopper levels, number of cleaning
cycles, and temperature. Example: Installing a sound
monitoring system on a dust collector will alert
personnel when a problem occurs, instead of waiting
for a disaster.
The fan (the engine)
The fan is the engine that supplies energy to the dust
collector system. An improperly sized fan can hinder
the performance of the other components (hood,
ductwork, dust collector). The fan must be sized to
handle a calculated volume of air at a calculated
system pressure. If the fan is undersized, it cannot
move the desired air volume. If the fan is moving
more air volume than needed, it puts unnecessary
stress on the whole system, which leads to numerous
maintenance problems.
If the fan is not sized for the correct system
pressure, it will not move the desired air volume.
This usually occurs when existing fans are used on a
new application with only the air volume capacity
taken into consideration. Just speeding up a fan
will not always result in more air volume. System
pressure must be calculated and matched to a fan
curve.
Dust handling equipment
At this point in the dust collector system, the dust
has been captured (hood), transported (ductwork),
filtered and collected (dust collector). Now the
collected dust in the hopper must be conveyed
away from the dust collector. To do this properly
conveyors and air locks must be sized correctly
to evacuate the hopper(s). Once the dust has
been collected in the hopper, it should be taken
completely away from the dust collector. If hoppers
are allowed to stay full of dust, the air steam coming
into the hopper lifts the dust and it is collected
back on the filters. This creates a circulating dust
load in the dust collector and causes the filters to
be cleaned at an increased pace, raising differential
pressure and shortening filter life.
Air locks must be on the bottom of each hopper
before the conveying equipment.
If there is no air lock there will be a flow of air
up through the hopper against the flow of material
you are trying to discharge from the hopper. This
will create another re-entrainment of dust that has
been already collected. Once again this requires
the filter bags to clean more and most likely raise
differential pressure. Airlocks must be installed and
used as they are intended. In practical terms, do not
take rotors out of rotary air locks and do not wire
double flap valves open.
Summary
When experiencing airflow or dusting problems with
your dust collector system, check all of the system’s
components first. Do not settle for a quick fix in one
area. Usually a quick fix just moves the problem to
another area of the system. Understanding and using
sound guidelines on all system components, and
properly fixing the real problem areas, is the best way
to create and maintain a reliable dust collection system
and reduce maintenance cost.
Reprinted from August 2016
World Cement