Bag Leak Detection Blog

Do you monitor your dust collectors?

Baghouses and dust collectors have the reputation for being neglected or a source of constant maintenance problems. Some facilities have to monitor their dust collectors based on their local, state or federal reguations. Thrugh the years it has been common to simply monitor the differential pressure, or just visually inspect the outlet stacks. Triboelectric broken bag detectors and bag leak detection systems have been around for decades now. Let’s take a look at how a triboelectric dust collector monitoring system can bring benefits to your facility.

Many may feel that modifying or renewing an air permit can be a time consuming task, a new permit provides an opportunity to incorporate new monitoring technology that has other benefits. For instance, some may ask whether they should continue using opacity monitoring for their CAM requirements or if can they eliminate much of their manual monitoring by taking the opportunity to review their current practices.

First Emissions Monitoring Methods

Best Reasonable Solution for Emissions Monitoring

Many plants continue to use EPA Method 9 visual observations as their primary dust collector monitoring methodology. Even as newer plants have already moved on to modern monitoring technologies, such as triboelectric dust monitoring, these plants continue to hold fast to their Method 9 CAM plans. Does triboelectric dust emissions monitoring really provide a realistic alternative to visual observation? In many cases, visual observations were the most accurate and feasible solution at the time the air permit was written. And many are still following this method today. But technology has advanced significantly and today visual observation is less reliable, less accurate and substantially more labor intensive compared to electronic instruments.

Updating your bag leak detection system with today’s innovative, more efficient technologies doesn’t have to be rocket science; in fact, it’s quite easy to justify the investment, and find the ideal monitoring solutions for your facility. It all comes down to knowing what to look for in a new system, and how to treat the buying decision.

In this blog, we’ll focus on 5 major steps for installing the perfect emissions monitoring system in your facility, as well as how to overcome common barriers that many engineers face when making a purchase decision and integrating these technologies.

1) Determine Areas in Need

The "Alphabet Soup" of Industrial Dust Detection

Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems (COMS) for dust detection form an integral part of many facilities’ environmental control systems. While we don't sell COMS dust detection systems, we field a lot of questions from engineering and maintenance teams about how they compare to other solutions. This article will answer a few of the common questions.

In many facilities, COMS systems were required by early permits to monitor particulate matter emitted from the facility. They were the "go to" CPMS (Continuous Parameter Monitoring System) for several years until USEPA first amended the MACT standards to incorporate triboelectric instruments.

Most COMS dust detection systems are placed after the emissions control system(s) such as a fabric filter dust collector to monitor its operation and efficiency at all times. They were an early technology, however, and in recent years, the limitations and inherent drawbacks of COMS for dust emissions detection have led some to investigate new technologies. One such technology mentioned is PEMS or Predictive Emissions Monitoring System. 

As air quality inspections by federal and local agencies, such as those by the U.S. EPA, are typically done without prior notice, preparing for one can be a challenge. These agencies may just show up at your facility’s door, with intent to inspect your emissions control on an individual facility, company or industry basis; there’s often no telling when, or even why, an inspection may take place.

It’s because of this that the best way to prepare for an air quality inspection is by optimizing monitoring processes universally, throughout your facility, and training your maintenance team in the best monitoring, baghouse upkeep and reporting techniques.

Invention born of a mishap

Often we discuss the advantages of triboelectric dust monitoring technology over other particulate emissions monitoring methods for plants covered under MACT standards. For the most part, the majority of these advantages come from the much greater detection range and sensitivity of triboelectric technology. Triboelectric detectors can register changes in dust concentration down to 0.000002 g/dscf or 0.005 mg/m3. The next most sensitive detection device (opacity meters and other optical based monitors) can only reach down to 5 -10% opacity, which in most applications equates to about 10 - 20 times less sensitive. Even so, many industries continue to use opacity based systems despite this and other shortcomings of opacity monitoring solutions compared to triboelectric technology. 

From Opacity Hassles to Operational Value

With such a disjointed set of strategies and devices used for environmental compliance today many wonder how things ended up like this. Let's explore the history of environmental compliance monitoring technologies and see how we ended up where we are today. 

And then, given today's capabilities, explore how some companies turn the traditional regulatory headache into an opportunity for legitimate operational value creation.

Early Days - Visual Observations 

New solutions for air permit monitoring

For generations opacity monitoring was essentially the only monitoring option for dust collector operators across all industries. Many plants continue to operate that way, allowing older air permits to just renew without any changes if possible. Because of this, opacity monitoring still forms a key part of their compliance monitoring, even though there may be better methods of monitoring available.  But when it comes to opacity monitoring what kind of options are available? 

Stack Monitoring for Air Permits

The basic idea of a stack observation of opacity is to try to quantify how much particulate is emitted from the stack by determining how much light it blocks from passing through the plume. This measurement of the plumes light blocking power is called opacity. The more dust in the air the more light is scattered/blocked. Prior to 1974 all emissions monitoring was based on the Ringelmann system first developed in the late 19 century to monitoring coal emissions. This system outlined a set of procedures on how an observer could take a visual reading of opacity by viewing the emission source (e.g. stack) from a distance during daytime.  In 1974, the EPA revised the test into the current EPA opacity observation standard methods in an attempt to make the test more reliable and less prone to observer bias. These methods or instructions for conducting the test are known as EPA Methods 9 and 22. 

One thing engineers in countless industries often discover when integrating dust monitoring systems in their facilities is the need for an advanced software system for managing and organizing emissions data. Many monitoring suppliers actually produce their own data management software tools, compatible with their detection systems and others, that serve just this purpose.

When evaluating dust monitoring data software options, your best bet is a system that both meets your compliance reporting needs and your company’s individual needs; similar to selecting monitoring hardware, this shouldn’t be a bottom-line, “check-the-box” compliance decision.