Types of Dust Collection Systems

A dust collector is made up of a dust filter, a receptacle for handling the dust, a blower and a system that cleans the filter of the dust collector itself. The dust collector is used whenever there are heavy dust loads, such as in a factory. There are several types of dust collectors, including fabric filters, wet scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, unit collectors and inertial separators.

Fabric Filters

• Fabric filters use the process of filtration to separate the dust from the gases that are dusty. Fabric filters are commonly known as baghouses. Fabric filters are widely used for dust collecting because they are quite economical and also most efficient. In fact, the best fabric filters are known to have 99 percent efficiency when it comes to collecting fine particles. There are several types of baghouses depending on the type of collection and the types of cleaning methods that they follow.

Wet Scrubbers

• Some dust collectors use liquid to collect dust. These dust collectors are known as wet scrubbers. In these, the scrubbing liquid washes over the gas and removes the dust from the gas. The liquid used is generally water. As in the case of fabric filters, there are several types of wet scrubbers.

Electrostatic Precipitators

• Electrostatic precipitators are quite different from fabric filters and wet scrubbers because of how they work. In an electrostatic precipitator, direct current discharge electrodes are placed between collecting electrodes that are grounded at a high voltage. The contaminated gases pass through the passage that has been formed by the collecting electrodes; the particles in the air receive a negative charge as they pass through the field that has been ionized. The particles get attracted to a positively charged electrode and stick to the positive charge.

Unit Collectors

• Unit collectors are made up of a dust collector and a fan. The unit collector is different from other types of dust collectors, because the unit collector tries to stop the contamination of the gas at the very source. There are mainly used for portable types of dust collectors.