What is a Cartridge Dust Collector

A cartridge dust collector is a very common style of dust collector used across many industries. Instead of filter bags, it uses cartridges that are usually cylindrical or oval shaped and open on one or both ends lined with a pleated nonwoven filtering media. Once installed, one end of the cartridge is sealed off and the open end is used for the clean exhaust. Similar to a baghouse, the gas stream is forced through the outside of the cartridge to the inside where it then exits back into the system. The collector cleans the cartridges using a jet of compressed air blown back into the cartridge that dislodges the built up dust causing it to fall into the hopper below.

What Applications Should Use Cartridge Collectors Instead of Baghouses?

Generally cartridge collectors work well with low to moderate temperature applications with very fine and light dusts and that have light to moderate dust loading such as powder coating, metalworking, bulk material handling, sanding, laser/plasma cutting, blasting, fume collection, pharmaceutical manufacturing, thermal spray, welding, and certain woodworking processes among others. Even some heavy loading applications can use cartridges is the dust releases easily and temperature and moisture is not a problem.

In these applications, cartridge collectors offer a more economical option compared to traditional baghouse designs. They provide a much greater airflow in a smaller sized unit, and use fewer filters (average of 350 ft/2 of filter area per cartridge vs. less than 20 ft/2 for traditional pulse jet filter bags), which reduces the cost of the unit significantly. The smaller footprint allows for easier installation and take up less space. Maintenance personnel can also replace cartridges much more easily than filter bags while also reducing physical contact with the collected dust and without entering any confined spaces, which reduces downtime required for changeouts and safety considerations for maintenance. Additionally, spunbond and nano fiber filter media commonly used in cartridges provides excellent filtration efficiency for their intended applications with some filters carrying up to MERV 16 rating.