Influence of different cleaning conditions on cleaning performance of pilot-scale pulse-jet baghouse

In this study, a pilot-scale pulse-jet baghouse is utilized to control the particulate emission of an oil-fired boiler. The operating and design parameters, such as filtration velocity, initial tank pressure, and nozzle diameter, were varied to evaluate the cleaning effect of the pulse-jet baghouse. Two different cleaning types, (1) high initial tank pressure and one bag cleaning; and (2) low initial tank pressure and two consecutive bag cleanings, are used to compare the bag-cleaning performance in this study. It is found that the cleaning effect increases with the initial tank pressure. However, the cleaning intensity (overpressure) does not increase with the nozzle diameter. There exists an optimum nozzle diameter to achieve higher cleaning intensity and a better cleaning effect. This phenomenon results from the small volume of the baghouse compartment in this study. If an industrial size baghouse was used, it suggests that a nozzle diameter larger than 13 mm and initial tank pressure greater than 2.5 kg/cm² should be adopted to achieve a higher cleaning effect. Between the two cleaning types, type 2 is found to be more effective to clean the bag and the energy consumption for compressed air is reduced significantly from type 1. Therefore, type 2 bag cleaning is suggested to be a better method to clean the baghouse.