Compressed air management for dedusting systems reduces costs
The use of compressed air to clean filters in industrial dedusting systems is widespread. The cleaning of filter cartridges or pocket filters is usually carried out by a targeted, regularly recurring blast of air onto the filter in order to blow off unwanted impurities and dust and to maintain the filter performance.
Compressed air is therefore a very important, but often also a quite costly operating supply. We have therefore looked into possible measures
- of cost saving,
- of extension of the operating times of the systems and the service life of the filters,
- as well as of reduction of downtimes for maintenance work.
Measure one: Cleaning on demand
Most dedusting systems are equipped with an automatic pulse controller that initiates the cleaning of the filters in fixed cycle times. This happens regardless of the operating status of the filter. However, especially in plants where the load on the filter is not continuously the same, but conditions change constantly, on demand cleaning is usually more cost-effective. On demand pulse control takes the operating status of the filter into account and thus does not waste expensive compressed air. Experience has shown that in most cases considerable savings in the amount of compressed air are possible.
Measure two: Optimum treatment of compressed air
With compressed air, the savings potential usually starts with the intake. If the cleanest possible air reaches the compressor, the performance of the compressor will be maintained for a many times longer period and maintenance will also be less expensive. With regard to the compressed air used in dedusting systems, however, our focus is primarily on the purity of the compressed air downstream of the compressor. Both in the compressor and afterwards in the dryer or the pipelines, there is often unwanted contamination due to oil and water condensate or abrasion. IMEX Filtertechnika therefore recommends an analysis of compressed air before it reaches the filters of the dedusting system. Depending on the requirements, a wide range of condensate and particle filters can then be used to ensure optimum cleanliness of the compressed air. This prevents an undesirable introduction of dirt into the operation of the dedusting system, protects filters of the large equipment, extends their service life and reduces expensive downtimes for maintenance work.
Suitable filter systems and regular control measurements before and after compressed air treatment pay off in a short time through less maintenance and wear.
Measure 3: FMS - (Remote) Filter Monitoring System
The FMS (Filter Monitoring System or Remote Filter Monitoring System) developed by IMEX Filtertechnika monitors filter contamination, pressure and also the cleaning function of the system in real time. The automatically transmitted technical data log records the operating status of the extraction system and makes it possible to see immediately whether the extraction system is working properly. It also collects data about how efficient the extraction capacity of the system is, the current filter condition, what pressure is used for cleaning and how often. Recorded data provide information about the quality of extraction and filtration performance. This means that maintenance work, changes to the pressure output or to cleaning intervals can be carried out easily and accurately, before the system is overloaded. In case of machines, delayed action always leads to very high costs. FMS is a contribution to reduce these costs. Filter performance can be monitored easily and conveniently from any workstation using the remote function.
In summary, compressed air is critical to many industrial dedusting systems. Demand management and good condition of compressed air (clean, dry compressed air) can reduce costs and plant maintenance work.
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Experts at IMEX Filtertechnika will be happy to analyse the actual need for cleaning your filters and/or develop the entire process of dedusting, all from a single source.