Filters System

It is inherent in the cement manufacturing process that dusts are produced during the quarrying of material,
and the grinding, burning, cooling, conveying, storage, packing and dispatch processes. In order to prevent
the occurrence of uncontrolled dust emissions, filter systems are installed in the individual machines of the
various process stages. However, this has the disadvantage that enormous quantities of exhaust gas have to
be de-dusted during the cement manufacturing process. In the process equipment there are three main dedusting tasks: raw mill/kiln system, clinker cooler/kiln bypass and cement grinding plant.

Bag filter
Baghouse use filtration to separate dust particulates from dusty gases. They are one
of the most efficient and cost effective types of dust collectors available and can
achieve a collection efficiency of more than 99% for very fine particulates. Dust-laden
gases enter the baghouse and pass through fabric bags that act as filters. The bags
can be of woven or felted cotton, synthetic, or glass fiber material in either a tube or
envelope shape.

Figure (1): Pulse Jet Baghouse

HOW IT WORKS:
The dust-laden air goes into the filter's separation chamber (1) through the inlet duct
(2). The baffle plate (3) at the chamber inlet directs incoming dusty air downward into
the bottom hopper, making heavy and gross dust to be fallen, at the outlet (4), at
which we can install flap gate, butterfly valve, rotary valve, or screw conveyor. From
there the dust returns back to the production process .The superfine dust particles are
moved to the needle felt bags (5) by the air flow. The bags are hanged inside the filter
to a cell plate (tubes sheet) (6) and distributed in rows. The cages (7a) are used to
keep the bags opened, also used as a method of fixing the bag on the cell plate to
make a support for the bags. The dustless air (clean air) moves up through the inside
of the filter bags to the clean gas chamber (8) and leaves the filter through the clean
air duct (9). During filtration process, the bags must be cleaned at timed intervals,
this procedure occurs by injecting high pressure compressed air (jet pulse) coming
from air tank (10) through a diaphragm valve (11) into holes at the bottom of blow
pipe (12) which is fixed along over each row of bags. The water trap (13) keeps the
compressed air dry & clean. The venturi (7b) at the top of the each cage directs the
jet air along the bag. This makes the bag to be inflated which forces most of dust
stacked to the outer surface of the bag to fall down to the bottom hopper leaving the
bag clean.
Design variables of Bag filters
1. Surface area of filtration

Where :
SF=Surface area of filtration (m2)
F = Gas flow at 25 C given in m3/min
c = Concentration of dust given in g/m3
= Average diameter of the particle, in m
2. Air to Cloth ratio
Air-to-cloth ratios describe how much dirty gas passes through a given surface area
of filter in a given time. A high air-to-cloth ratio means a large volume of air passes
through the fabric area. A low air-to-cloth ratio means a small volume of air passes
through the fabric.
G/C=2.878*A*B*T-0.2335 *L*0.06021 (0.7471+0.0853xlnD)
A=Material factor; for cement A=10

B=Application factor
T=Temperature in Fahrenheit
L=Dust loading factor in g/ft3
D= mean diameter of particle in m

Packaging
The packaging of cement is an important factor for improved productivity and
maintaining the quality of packed cement. Because of steady growth of demand,
supply and requirements of quality packed cement with right quantity, more emphasis
should be given on packaging system and it is necessary to modernize the packing
system of a cement plant.
Manual versus automated
Manual cement packaging lines are labor-intensive, relatively slow and often entail
manual calibration of weighing scales when switching to a different bag size or
product type. Typically, the packaging operator sits close to the filling spouts and is
exposed to airborne dust and debris, requiring the use of goggles and a dust mask.
Nearby workers also must wear protective gear.
The speed of manual operations is limited. During packaging, the operator reaches
for an empty bag and places the bag on to a filling spout. The task is tiring and
repetitive, and operators are usually rotated out after a two-hour shift.
Automated filling machines, in contrast, operate at a much faster rate and exert
precise control over the bag-filling process. The automated fillers come as inline or
rotary systems with multiple filling spouts and are equipped with electronic weighing
systems. Depending on the material, a rotary packer can fill up to 6,000 bags per
hour.
Using Rotary packing machine has many advantages during packing operation as well as some
disadvantages, which are given below.
Advantages:
1. High rate of packing.
2. High weight precision.
3. No defects during packing.
4. Better quality of packing.
5. Less manpower requirement.
6. No dust at packing place.
7. Less downtime of packing machine.

8. Easy and fast erection into an existing building in limited space.

9. Low power consumption.
Disadvantages:
1. High initial cost.
2. Significant idle time in packing operation due to improper filling of some filing spouts.