To lower differential pressure and extend the life of its filter bags, Basin Electric Power Cooperative has purchased Powerwave acoustic cleaning systems as a retrofit for all the baghouses at one of its plants.

The move comes after Basin Electric noticed the local coal used by its plant near Beulah, ND, had different characteristics — higher ash and sulfur content. That led to higher differential pressure, a higher likelihood of a shorter life for its filter bags, and potential for reduced power generation. Basin Electric tested GE’s acoustic horns in one compartment for about a year and saw a beneficial drop in differential pressure. After Basin Electric calculated the potential savings, the company asked GE to provide Powerwave acoustic horns, drawings, and technical assistance for all four of the plant’s baghouses.

“Our Powerwave acoustic cleaners are pneumatically operated horns that produce low frequency, high-energy sound waves that resonate and gently dislodge particulate deposits that have bonded to mechanical parts and other surfaces in your system,” said GE’s David Chapin, Powerwave lead product manager. “That means unlike other methods of cleaning, sound waves generated by Powerwave horns do not cause structural damage, they can reduce the frequency of traditional cleaning cycles and they have proven to be effective even in the harshest operating environments.”

The Basin Electric filter bags are GE’s expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) bags, which are known to have longer bag life and known for their ability to help reduce emissions.

“While only having experience with ePTFE membrane filter bags for the past eight years, they have performed better than our standard OEM filter bags,” said Duane Miller, scrubber supervisor at Basin Electric. “The use of acoustic horns will augment their performance and enhance our baghouse cleaning cycle capability.”

To learn more about Powerwave, click here.
To calculate how much you would save based on a drop in differential pressure, click here.