Influence of air humidity on particle filtration performance of a pulse-jet bag filter

A pulse-jet bag filter, representative of those implemented in waste incineration plants for flue gas treatment, was studied at laboratory scale to evaluate the influence of air humidity on the filtration performance. Several cycles of clogging/unclogging were performed with non-hygroscopic submicronic particles with a nanosized fraction with on-line cleaning at operating conditions as similar as possible to those found in the flue gas treatment of waste incineration plants (150 degrees C - 73 g/m(3) of absolute humidity), and in dry conditions (150 degrees C). The results revealed a significant influence of air humidity on the bag filter performance: faster increase of bag filter pressure drop during clogging in presence of humidity due to water capillary condensation, lower efficiency of particulate cake unclogging and better collection efficiency of particles between 110 and 300 nm in diameter.