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Clean Air
Bakery & Confectionery Industry

Cartridge filters in the bakery and confectionery industry

A cartridge filter is an efficient dry filter system to separate suspended solids as well as vapors and mist from air, thanks to micro-perforated pleated textile filter cartridges. Cartridge filters are also used in the bakery and confectionery industry to de-dust air. The rectangular design of the filter installation enables the treatment of a wide range of pollutants and air volumes. A cartridge filter is very efficient for fine dust (< 500 micron).

The aerodynamic filter inlet consists of a pre-chamber, which reduces the air velocity by widening and thereby minimizes the wear of the cartridges. A series of plates ensures that the larger coarse dust particles are separated immediately. Depending on the degree of contamination, an additional cyclone can also be used as a pre-separator. The air flow is distributed over the entire filter element surface and crosses it from outside to inside. Once filtered and cleaned, the air is transported to the filter outlet. The dust deposited on the external surface of the filter elements produces a uniform layer of dust that improves filtration efficiency.

In order to achieve very low dust emissions, the cartridge filter can be additionally equipped with a HEPA (H13) absolute filter. It is also possible to select the most optimal height to width ratio of the filter installation by placing the filter cartridges horizontally or vertically in the filter. A cartridge filter is therefore assembled and configured according to customer specific requirements.

From an aerodynamic point of view, the pressure drop will gradually increase due to the contamination, a sensor measures this differential pressure over the filter elements and controls the filter cleaning system. This periodic cleaning of the filter elements is done by a strong compressed air pulse, this way the differential pressure stays within the selected limits. This compressed air pulse cleaning system blows the cartridges clean from the inside out. As a result, less compressed air is consumed and the filters will last longer.

The bakery and confectionery dust, detached from the filter element surface, falls by gravity to the bottom of the filter funnel and is then collected in a bin, which will be emptied periodically. Depending on the application, the hopper at the bottom of the filter can be equipped with a rotating sluice to continuously discharge the powder and collect it in a big-bag, for example. It is also possible to use a screw conveyor to continuously discharge the dust into a container.

An Air Solutions cartridge filter is equipped with a high filter surface, is compact, easy to install, move and transport. In many bakery and confectionery products explosive substances are used, flour or starch to prevent sticking and mixing of sugar and cacao powders for example. Therefore our cartridge filters are also available in an ATEX version. The installation is then equipped with extra earthing lugs, anti-static cartridge filters, non-return valve, explosion venting panel and optionally a flame arrestor. It is also possible to equip the filters with an explosion suppression system. Explosion suppression is an active system that works with optical and pressure sensors, a control box and extinguishing units. In many cases where passive explosion protection does not succeed, this is possible with the HRD system. The HRD system can be used for explosion suppression and as an explosion barrier.

The complete housing of the filter can be executed in :

- Steel coated in the desired RAL colour

- Galvanized steel

- Stainless steel - AISI 304

- Stainless steel - AISI 316

Air Solutions Holland engineers, builds, assembles and carries out maintenance on cartridge filter installations in the bakery and confectionery industry varying in size from 2.000 to 200.000 m3/h. In addition to cartridge filters, Air Solutions Holland also supplies compressed air cleanable bag house filters and static filters: