The industrial sector is one area that often has difficulties finding ways to go green.
Finding new ways for companies to reduce their environmental impact is vital in today’s ever-increasingly “green” conscious world. While many are able to employ a number of popular methods to decrease their environmental impact, others are limited in their applications of many of these methods due to the nature of their business. The industrial sector is one such area that often has difficulties finding ways to go green.
Often they are not able to directly cut back on their electricity usage due to the nature of their process. Perhaps safety regulations interfere with their efforts to trim incandescent light usage, or the manufacturing process itself cannot operate without a large amount of electricity (e.g. heavy metals smelting).
Are there any methods these companies can use to lessen the impact they have on the environment, while still providing these essential products and services?
Decreasing Environmental Impact Through Dust Collection System Efficiency
An easy way for companies to decrease their environmental impact is by making efficiency improvements to their dust collection system.
Un sistema de recolección de polvo is used to collect dust particles that are generated in industrial processes before they escape into the atmosphere. It does so by using a large system fan to create a powerful vacuum in the ductwork throughout the plant.
Diagram showing dust collection system from the dust pickup to the fan on the clean side of the ductwork
At each location where dust is generated (hammer mills, transfer points [bucket elevators, conveyor belts, etc.], exhaust stacks, etc.) the air is sucked up through venting hoods to transfer the dusty air to the dust collector. Once in the collector, the dirty air is forced through a series of filter bags to remove the dust particles from the air. Finally, the now clean air can be exhausted to the outside atmosphere.
These systems are required by law to be installed in almost every industrial facility for safety and environmental reasons. In most cases the dust generated by industrial processes are treated as pollutants and cannot by law be allowed to exhausted into the outside air. This is especially true of processes that generate polvos peligrosos, (containing chemicals, heavy metals, etc.) or that are dangerously combustible (such as food products like flour and sugar, powdered metals like iron dust, etc.).
The mechanics of this process require a large amount of energy. By working to maximize the efficiency of the entire process, plant operators can at times drastically reduce the amount of energy needed to operate the system, reduce the amount of maintenance needed, and reduce wear and tear while all the while increasing overall capacity, and even increasing the plant’s operating potential.
Ways to Increase Dust Collector Efficiency
You might think that a system as complicated as this would require massive investments in capital and manpower to see any improvement in efficiency. “The reality is that there are a number of simple things plants can do to increase their baghouse efficiency by up to 20%” says Dominick Dal Santo, Sales Director of Baghouse.com. “Some [things that can increase efficiency] are as simple as installing gauges to measure things such as pressure, airflow, and filter status in the baghouse. Others involve using that data to adjust the cleaning cycles on the baghouse to be more efficient.” He went on relating the cost of installing these instruments was minimal, stressing that in-house electricians and other personnel can easily install the equipment.
“In most cases, the best return on investment is fine-tuning the cleaning system’s settings” says Dominick. Most baghouse dust collectors use a series of compressed air bursts to clean off excess dust build-up from the surface of the filters. “The more dust that builds up on the surface of the filter, the harder the fan has to work to pull the same amount of air through them.” A balance must be found between cleaning filters often (to keep resistance low), limiting the number of cleaning pulses (to minimize the use of often-expensive compressed air) to avoid lowering collection efficiency (a certain amount of dust buildup is needed to capture the maximum amount of particles) and minimize wear and tear on the filters (the more often and more aggressively cleaned the filters are, the shorter their service life).
“Fine-tuning the cleaning system is a very difficult balancing act, but finding that optimum balance is the key to decreasing the cost of operating a dust collection system” relates Dominick. Often times a facility will have outside dust collection technical advisors come out to their plant to help them find the best setting for each particular situation.
Other simple methods of optimizing the system include making sure the correct filters for the application are being used. “Many plants cut corners [initially] and buy cheaper filters that are not sufficient to meet their needs.” Dominick says that many plants could stand to switch to the latest filter technology that includes high-tech filter fabrics and treatments. “A lot of plants will see huge operational improvements when they switch to bag filters with PTFE membrane technology. These filters last many times longer than traditional fabrics, are easier to clean (therefore requiring less energy to clean them), and capture more particulate than others.”
Another solution that at times is very effective is switching from standard filter bags to pleated filter elements. These are essentially filter bags that have pleats that allow them to fit more filter fabric in a smaller amount of space than traditional filter bags. Among the host of benefits that they offer, they can allow a plant to increase its filtering capacity without building a new collector, reduce wear and tear, increase collection rates, and lower installation and maintenance costs.
Potentially Lower Energy Costs By 20%
While cutting 20% of the dust collection system energy costs may not sound like much, on the industrial scale, its potential savings can be massive. Let’s take two examples to see how much we could save.
Let’s say that a plant decides to implement a few of the methods described above to improve the baghouse cleaning cycle, specifically, they manage to increase the amount of time between each cleaning pulse (thereby lowering their compressed air use and fan brake horsepower). Just how much can they expect to save each year in energy costs alone?
Cleaning Efficiency
Size of Collector
Bags#: 144
Rows: 12
Valves: 1 1/2 double diaphragm
Electricity Cost $0.07
Fan energy Costs
System flow (ACFM): 11,000
Current SP (Inches w.c.): 12
Compresses Air Costs
Pulse Pressure (psig): 100
Number of pulses at the same time: 1
time between pulses (Sec): 5
BHP used: 33.3
Pulse pressure: 100
Number of pulses at same time: 1
Time between pulses (sec): Current 5 – New 7.5
BHP: 5.00
Savings per day: $5.82
Compressed air per year: $2,094.77
Fan savings per year: $2,539.00
By improving just one aspect of their system’s operation, this plant can expect to see savings of $4633.77 each year. This does not include the added benefits of longer filter life, better collection rates, and lower maintenance costs. Imagine if this example were scaled up to a large plant with a system 100 times larger (easily the case in many larger plants), these simple improvements could easily translate into millions of dollars per year for this plant.
Everyone, including industrial plants, can find ways to increase their energy efficiency and reduce their environmental impact. While identifying ways to do so might be harder in certain sectors of the economy, there are still ways out there. For industrial plants, whose options are at times quite limited, improving dust collection system efficiency is often a surprisingly easy way to reduce their environmental impact, while simultaneously increasing production, reducing plant downtime, and lowering operating costs.
Traditional Filter Bags vs. Pleated Filters
Los filtros tradicionales suelen ser los más baratos por unidad, pero con los filtros plisados el costo total —a corto y largo plazo— para reemplazar y mantener tu colector de polvo puede bajar muchísimo.
Switching from traditional filter bags to filtros plisados can significantly reduce both energy costs and overall maintenance expenses. Here’s why the numbers make sense.
First, energy consumption drops dramatically: in our comparison, the filter bag system consumes about $72,392 in energy over the same period, while the pleated filter setup uses only $43,659. That’s a 40% reduction in energy use. The main reason is that pleated filters have a larger filtration area within the same space, which allows air to flow more easily through the media. With less resistance to airflow, the system’s fan doesn’t have to work as hard, so it draws less power. Lower fan load = lower energy bill.
Second, pleated filters are cheaper to maintain in the long run. Although their initial cost is higher ($6,336 vs. $4,480 for filter bags), you save on labor and replacement frequency. Pleated filters often last longer and are easier to install, cutting labor costs almost in half ($900 vs. $2,700). Plus, because they maintain stable airflow longer, they reduce strain on the cleaning system, lowering wear on components like valves and compressors.
Altogether, the monthly operating cost drops from $1,658 to $1,060, saving nearly $600 per month (over $7,000 a year) all while improving system performance and reducing downtime.
Filtros de manga o bolsa
Activity 0 12 24 36 48 total
Fabric buy 2,240 2,240 4,480
Labor (install) 1,350 1,350 2,700
Energy 72,392 72,392
Monthly cost 1,658
Pleated Elements
Activity 0 12 24 36 48 total
Fabric buy 6,336 6,336
Labor (install) 900 900
Energy 43,659 43,659
Monthly cost 1,060
Benefits of Switching to Pleated Filters
Reduce costs by up to 60%.
Many think older filters save money… they don’t.
Pleated filters can:
✅ Cut energy and operating costs by up to 50%.
✅ Require fewer filters overall.
✅ Lower labor and replacement expenses.
✅ Use less compressed air.
Built for modern, heavy-duty production. They replace existing bags and cages, no expensive system rebuilds required.
Capture more dust thanks to their larger filter area, and last up to twice as long as standard bags.
Fewer filters, less work. Lower maintenance time and labor costs.
No system modifications needed, just install and start saving.
There are many additional ways to reduce energy consumption and improve the performance of your dust collection system beyond the methods discussed here. The key is knowing where to look, and that’s where expert guidance can make all the difference.
En Baghouse.com, our team specializes in helping plants identify and implement the most cost-effective improvements for their specific systems. Even small adjustments can translate into massive annual savings, reduced downtime, and a cleaner, safer working environment.
