Preventive Maintenance Prevents Disaster and Penalties

Baghouses have been in existence for over 80 years. However, when you ask maintenance or an environmental manager about his baghouse, you won't get much sentiment. All you may hear is a few snarls and some unique adjectives. Why? Typically, baghouses do not make money for a company. In fact, they can represent a large percentage of a plant's maintenance costs. Moreover, given the increasing environmental compliance requirements, the baghouse (if not operated correctly) can lead to monetary fines and jail time. Never before has the government regulated baghouses with such scrutiny. Most of the dust collected is labeled hazardous. Another concern is safety, as baghouses are typically considered a confined space. No wonder then that people have tried to find alternate ways of collecting dust. Despite all the more and less desperate innovations, baghouses are still the primary and most efficient manner of capturing dust. In every industrial plant, the abatement process begins with a source that creates dust. Then there is energy to move dust to a baghouse in the form of ductwork and a large industrial fan. Next, there are the filters that collect the dust, followed by a device within the baghouse that cleans them.