Dural-Life™ Filter Bags Handle Moisture in Glassmaking
Glass manufacturing is a particularly challenging application for dust collection, because any moisture can turn the soda ash & silica into a cement-like coating on the filter bags – quickly plugging them up.
One leading U.S. manufacturer of glass containers for the food and beverage industries knows all about these challenges. Their soda ash was housed in 100-ft outdoor silos with Flex-Kleen dust collectors – but the bags in the collectors were “cemented up solid” with hardened soda ash from continual moisture contamination. After spending close to a million dollars trying to fix their existing system,this customer finally gave Donaldson® Torit® a try.
Donaldson® Torit® Dalamatic® insetable (DLMV) dust collectors with Dura-Life™ filter bags were installed on top of each soda ash silo. The DLMV collector is an excellent bin vent because it has no housing; rather, it is mounted in existing ductwork or silos. This de-centralized methodology means dust is collected at the point of generation, instead of ducted to a central place.
Soda ash is very hygroscopic (moisture absorptive), but the surface-loading characteristics of Dura-Life™ filter media enable prompt pulse-cleaning before the ash can harden up.
The collectors ran 24/7 since the installation of Dura-Life™ filter bags. Even after 8700+ hours of continuous operation, the average pressure drop still ran between 2 and 4″ wg. After several years in operation, the same Dura-Life™ filters were still going strong!
Project Statistics
| Dust |
Soda Ash |
| Application | Glass Manufacturing |
| Collector | Donaldson Torit Dalamatic Insertable Collectors (DLMV) |
| Loading |
Heavy, hygroscopic |
| Duty Cycle |
24 hrs/7 days per week |
| Current ΔP |
2 – 4″ wg |