One widely used commercial design for removing particulate matter (dust) from gas streams utilizes a method which has been designated as the "outside bag" dust collection principle. In this design, dust-containing gas flows into a large compartment containing a plurality of long, substantially cylindrical filter bags, each bag being suspended by its ring-shaped top. A cylindrical wire cage internally supports the bag and prevents collapse of the filter bag when the gas is flowing into it. The dust collects around the outside of the bag, while the cleaned gas flows into and upward through the bag and out the top of the bag into the clean air outflow conduits. The dust collected on the outside surface of the bag is periodically removed by releasing a split-second reverse-flow pulse of compressed air into the top of the bag. The compressed air travels down the length of the bag, causing it to expand. When the pulse of reverse-flow air is stopped, the bag contracts against the cylindrical wire support cage. The expansion and the contraction of the bag causes the collected particles to fall off the bag and be collected. The pulses of reverse-flow air may also cause the bag to "grow" (increase in area of the fabric) over a number of cycles. The contraction against the cage causes the bag to abrade, and the abrasion becomes more severe if the bag grows irreversibly. The pulse of reverse-flow air is usually applied to one row of bags at a time in sequence so that the main flow of dust-containing air into the baghouse and clean air flow from it are not interrupted.
It is known to make the filter for "outside bag" filtration devices of poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide)--see Forsten U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,439, or poly(tetrafluoroethylene), or glass fiber, or blends of these and other fibers--see Forsten et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,619.
Various means have been proposed in the past to increase operational life of the filters, for example, it has been suggested that the filter be made thicker so that it would take longer to wear through, and it has been suggested that the pulse of air that is released into the filter bag to shake off the particles be released through a multi-perforated hollow metal cylinder located inside the filter bag--this latter system is known commercially as the "Staclean" diffuser system.