When he learned that Donaldson® Torit® Dura-Life™ filter bags are designed to maintain low pressure drop (DP), the maintenance manager at this arc furnace company decided to try them in a Whiting dust collector that filters burn fumes and metal alloys from the furnace.

The standard polyester bags he had been using would last for 300 heats, 5 hours per heat, or about 1500 hours, and the crew had to perform extra pulse-cleaning cycles regularly during downtime to get DP below 6 “wg. Because of the hazardous materials generated, filter changeouts were costly.

The Dura-Life filter bags surprised him! The crew ran 600 heats, about 3000 hours, and found that the DP continued at a stable 4 “wg without downtime cleaning. He said he could have left them in longer, but they were so surprised and pleased about twice the life, he had the crew change them anyway. He says he plans to leave the new set in even longer this time.

Lower DP and twice the life!  Because Dura-Life bags stabilize at a lower DP sooner, they don’t need to be pulse-cleaned as often and therefore are not as often subjected to the abrasive action — so they last longer. 

 The maintenance manager says he is “very happy with the Dura-Life performance” and will be switching to Dura-Life for his other collectors as well.