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Home / Blog / The Nuts and Bolts of Shaker Baghouses: Basics, Cost, and Advantages

The Nuts and Bolts of Shaker Baghouses: Basics, Cost, and Advantages

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What is a Shaker Baghouse?

This shaker type is one of the three most common forms of industrial baghouses, designed for cleaning manufacturing facilities, along with jet pulse and reverse air baghouses. What a shaker does is employ a mechanical process powered by an electric motor that shakes the dust collecting bags, typically after shutting off the machine to periodically clean them. The bags are suspended at the top and tied to a tube sheet at the bottom of the system with no internal cage. Shakers use round envelope bags made of woven fabric and are best suited to larger particles without excessively high temperatures. Their diameter is usually 4 to 8 inches and they range from 10 to over hundreds of inches long. One of the central aspects of any baghouse is the ratio of air to the material. In shakers, the optimal range is 2.0:1 to 2.5:1.

How Shaker Baghouse Work

Air is vacuumed from the bottom, dust is captured along the bags on the inside, and then clean air exits out the top. A lot of the dust “cakes” on the bags and force is needed to remove them. After being shaken, the dust then falls downward into the hopper at the bottom of the machine. The principle is very similar to the way people clean their floor mats at home. In fact, with some small machines, the manual cleaning method is indeed used when companies wish to minimize the cost of investment in the machine.
Automatic Shaker Baghouse Diagram
Automatic Shaker Baghouse Diagram

Why and Why Not to Get a Shaker Baghouse

One of the downsides of shakers is they take up more space and cleaning has to be done on a schedule. On top of that, a shaker baghouse filter requires more frequent maintenance, shakers aren’t as well-suited to higher temperatures and smaller dust particles, and don’t last as long as jet pulse as well as reverse air baghouses. On the upside, they are the most economical and consume the least energy.

The traditional limitations of shakers have been addressed more recently by some innovative companies, combining the best of both worlds. One such example is Torch-Air’s Vortex Vibro OP.
How Does a Vortex Vibro OP Work
The system is a pressure baghouse without the need for an enclosure or to ever power off the cleaning system during operating hours. It handles all types of fine dust, is air-permeable, and boasts a maximum air temperature of up to 536 degrees F with the ability to take in air flows north of 300 degrees F. It’s closed frame counterpart, the Vibro CP Automatic Shaker Bag Filter, protects the bags from sediments, under necessary conditions, and is well-suited for installation outside as well. These machines come with zero downtime, no need to feed compressed air into them, and without the requirement for someone to spend time learning a special program to operate it. Their very low energy consumption leaves less of a carbon footprint on the environment and saves money in the long run. The Vortex Vibros can be easily dismantled, moved from location to location, and reinstalled in a matter of a few hours with easy to snap in dust bags.
Commentary by air purification expert Michael Klepik

Shaker Baghouses

Manual Shaker Baghouse

How Much Shaker Dust Collectors Cost

Shaker baghouse costs are typically a few thousand for the smallest baghouses, and about 8,000 to 70,000 USD for medium sized ones. If they are custom designed to meet the special needs a factory has, with intricate parts and multiple sections, they can cost as cheap as ordinary medium sized ones for slight modifications all the way to the millions of dollars for the most extravagant and extensive systems.

The latest evolutions of the mechanical shaker baghouse have rendered systems much more adaptable to reduce the cost, however. Such as our universal Vortex Vibro BIG Baghouse, which while performing at 5000-120000 cfm (8,500-200,000 m³/h), can be designed in many variations for a bargain initial investment, all the while producing considerable efficiency savings both initially and long-term. Since the system is closed type, it is also well protected from any sort of harmful contaminants that could harm and corrode the dust bags and can be used both on inside and the outside.
Vortex Shaker Baghouse
Vortex Shaker Baghouse
Here are some of the other benefits the Vortex Vibro BIG shaker style baghouse features:
  • easy to control and maintain;
  • the system’s modular design renders the amount of power produced scalable as additional modules can be added to the device according to the client’s needs;
  • permits dust loads of up to 50 ppm;
  • handles air of up to 300 degrees F;
  • the system is very quick to install and dismount as its large-node, bolt-mounted assembly can be done based on instructions without having to hire a professional to weld it or perform any expert-level manipulations.
  • takes up much less space than the average shaker type baghouse;
  • a range of other parts can also be added to it, such as maintenance hatches and doors that can be installed for easy servicing.

Determinants of Shaker Dust Collector Cost

Shakers must be budgeted for both up-front and long-term. The initial cost entails mainly the purchase of the system itself while the long-term cost consists of things like energy consumption, continually having to replace parts that go bad, and performing state-imposed testing.

Some of the factors determining the cost of your system include:
  • the form of contamination contained in your environment;
  • how many separate modules you will need;
  • the velocity of the airflow in your cleaning system;
  • the wear and tear that the type of dust on your premises will cause;
  • whether the gases on your premises pose a fire or explosion hazard;
  • how remotely the machine will have to be shipped;
  • how powerful of a fan you’re going to need;
  • the type of bag cleaning system you will need;
  • the amount of moisture on your premises.
One of the most economical, efficient, best bang-for-your-buck, space-saving devices you can get is Torch-Air’s convenient Vortex Compact, suitable for regular nock-sticky, non-fibrous particles of medium size and exhaust ventilation. The system consists of two different stages of aggregate cleaning. Replacing the bags is a no-brainer. Simply reach in and remove them through the external panel. The system handles a dust load of 3 ppm and its SKD assembly with bolt fixtures is as straightforward as installing regular furniture without any need for welding or cumbersome alterations. As a result, it packs up and ships in no time as well. On top of that, since the air is fed back into the device, the factory saves a lot of money. To make the dust bags last as long as possible, they are protected by special metallic lamellae. It also features a reverse air fan, proper economical air speed ensuring the best filtration time around for a shaker baghouse, and the option of producing a modified design according to the client’s wishes. A large selection of additional package elements is offered as well.

Whatever your baghouse needs are, Torch-Air is always prepared to adapt to meet your specific needs to the fullest, with 99.99% air cleaning efficiency and sky-high savings.

Get in touch with Torch-Air to get started with your first shaker dust filter today!
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Head of Engineering,
Vladimir Nikulin
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