Dust collection systems play a vital role in many commercial and industrial facilities. Whether part of a system process, used to capture harmful pollutants from furnaces/boilers, to convey dry bulk product or to maintain a clean and safe work environment, dust collection systems need to function at near constant peak efficiency for facilities to operate safely and productively. While maintenance and proper operation play a large role in keeping these systems running properly, many facilities face challenges due to improper system design and engineering.

Many users rely on outside vendors or so-called “experts” with little to no actual dust collection experience to design and engineer a system for them. Other times vendors may purposefully undersize a system in order to undercut other potential suppliers regardless of how it actually performs in the end for their customer. Still others design their own system in-house thinking it an easy process that just any engineer can accomplish with little to no outside guidance. These cases frequently end with an inadequate dust collection system that cannot meet the needs of the process, resulting in high emissions, lowered productivity, hazardous work environments or all three! So what can facilities do to ensure they do not encounter these same issues?

In our experience, an educated user benefits the most and becomes best customer. With that in mind, we have prepared this guide (broken into 4 major sections) to assist users in designing and properly sizing a dust collection system. By following the direction in this guide closely, you can effectively estimate what kind of system you require and then use this information as a basis for gathering quotes and additional assistance.

This guide is NOT an exhaustive course on dust collector design. Each system presents unique circumstances that affect the general operation of a baghouse system. As such, the guidelines present in this guide should be used only to estimate the sizing of your system. A qualified, and experienced dust collection system OEM should be consulted before purchasing any equipment or making design changes.

Now let’s get right into it! First we start with the four key dust collector design variables.

Next Section – Part 2 – The Four Key Baghouse System Design Variables

 Baghouse Design Guide Overview

• Series Introduction + Full Guide Download
• Part 1 – Why You Need to Properly Size Your Baghouse System
• Part 2 – The Four Key Baghouse System Design Variables
• Part 3 – Design Process for Your Baghouse Dust Collection System
• Part 4 – Additional Considerations for Dust Collection System Design

Key Points to This Guide

• Many So-called “Baghouse Experts” know little about proper dust collection design and operation OEMs and sales reps frequently undersize systems to win contracts leaving customers with a system that does not work
• Educated clients can determine the general size they need and use it as a basis to compare quotes from multiple sources
• Understanding principles of dust collection system design enables facilities to make better decisions regarding baghouse maintenance, operation and safety