What are the different types of dust bags?

The Different Types of Dust Bags, Explained

The different types of dust bags are classified primarily by the fiber material used to make the air filtration filter cloth — not by their shape or size. The most common categories are polyester, anti-static, acrylic, aramid, glass fiber, PPS, PPS+PTFE blended, PTFE, P84, basalt, and pre-oxidized fiber dust bags. Each material has a distinct operating temperature range, chemical resistance profile, and dust collection efficiency, which is why selecting the right one is the single most important decision in any baghouse system.

A dust bag that is rated for 130°C will fail quickly if installed in a furnace exhaust running at 250°C, while an expensive high-temperature bag is unnecessary overkill for a low-heat woodworking dust collector. Matching the filter felt type to actual flue gas conditions is what determines service life, filtration efficiency, and total cost of ownership.

Dust Bags Classified by Fiber Material

Below is a breakdown of the eleven main fiber types used in industrial dust bags, along with the operating conditions each one is built for.

Polyester (PET) Dust Bags

Polyester needle punched filter felt is the most widely used general-purpose dust bag material. It offers high porosity, good air permeability, and strong dust collection efficiency at a moderate price point. It withstands instantaneous temperatures up to 130°C and has medium acid and alkali resistance, making it suitable for everyday industrial dust collection where heat and chemical exposure are not extreme.

Anti-Static Dust Bags

Anti-static dust bags incorporate conductive fiber woven into the base cloth to dissipate electrostatic charge. This is essential wherever combustible dust — such as flour, coal, or chemical powder — could ignite from a static spark once airborne concentration reaches the explosion limit.

Acrylic Dust Bags

Acrylic filter felt uses high-strength, low-elongation industrial filaments as its base cloth, giving it strong tensile strength for high air-volume flue gas filtration. It maintains a smaller filtration pore diameter while keeping shrinkage under control at elevated temperatures, and it offers good hydrolysis stability for moist gas streams.

Aramid Dust Bags

Aramid (Nomex-type) fiber retains roughly 80% of its original strength at 200°C and around 65–70% after 100 continuous hours at 260°C. It resists both acid and alkali exposure and is commonly used in chemical, steel, cement, and asphalt mixing dust removal systems where heat and chemical attack occur together.

Glass Fiber Dust Bags

Glass fiber felt is a high-temperature filter material with stable dimensions, very low elongation, and high strength. Its three-dimensional fiber structure gives it high porosity and low gas filtration resistance, making it a common choice for high-temperature flue gas in steel, smelting, carbon black, power generation, and cement plants.

PPS Dust Bags

PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) felt is built for continuous operation at 160°C with instantaneous spikes to 180°C, and a limiting oxygen index of 34–35%. It performs well in flue gas containing sulfur oxides or moisture, and is well suited to environments with oxygen content below 15%.

PPS+PTFE Blended Dust Bags

Blending PPS with PTFE (and in some formulations, P84) combines the chemical resistance of polyphenylene sulfide with the surface release properties of Teflon fiber. These blended bags are designed for long-term use under 180°C in high-oxygen, high-sulfur, high-humidity flue gas, and are commonly applied in waste-to-energy plants, carbon black production, and cement kilns.

PTFE Dust Bags

PTFE (Teflon fiber) felt is made through a three-dimensional needle-punching process and offers strong temperature resistance, abrasion resistance, and chemical stability. It is widely applied across steel, power generation, glass, chemical, and waste incineration filtration, where corrosive and abrasive flue gas would degrade lower-grade materials faster.

P84 Dust Bags

P84 felt is made from polyimide fiber and can be used continuously at up to 260°C. It combines high temperature resistance with strong chemical resistance, giving it particularly high dust collection efficiency on acidic or alkaline dusty gas — a profile that makes it a frequent choice in waste incineration filtration.

Basalt Dust Bags

Basalt fiber felt is produced by melting basalt rock at high temperature and drawing it into fiber. It withstands operating temperatures of 250–300°C and combines mechanical strength with acid and alkali resistance, making it useful for high-temperature gas filtration and fireproofing applications.

Pre-Oxidized Fiber Dust Bags

Pre-oxidized fiber is an intermediate product in carbon fiber manufacturing, formed by partial cyclization of black fiber under controlled air oxidation. On its own it resists temperatures up to 300°C; when combined with glass fiber or basalt base cloth, the resulting felt can handle 350–400°C, covering the small number of processes where standard filter materials would shrink and fail.

Dust Bag Types Compared at a Glance

The table below summarizes the operating temperature and primary advantage of each dust bag material, making it easier to shortlist candidates before testing.

How to Match a Dust Bag Type to Your Process

Choosing among the different types of dust bags comes down to four operating variables. Checking each one against the gas stream prevents premature bag failure and unplanned downtime.

1. Measure the peak and continuous gas temperature, not just the average — instantaneous spikes are what actually shrink or melt a felt that is rated too close to its limit.
2. Identify whether the gas stream is acidic, alkaline, or contains sulfur oxides, since chemical attack degrades fiber strength even when temperature stays within range.
3. Check the moisture content and dust concentration, as high humidity combined with fine particulate accelerates blinding on standard felt and may call for a blended or membrane-treated cloth.
4. Confirm whether the dust is combustible, in which case an anti-static variant of the chosen base fiber is required regardless of temperature class.

Surface Treatments That Refine Dust Bag Performance

Beyond the base fiber, surface treatment is a secondary classification that fine-tunes how a dust bag behaves once installed.

• Singeing burns off surface fuzz to reduce dust penetration into the felt structure and improve the smoothness of the cake-release surface.
• Calendering compresses the felt surface under heat and pressure, tightening pore size for higher capture efficiency on fine particulate.
• PTFE membrane lamination bonds a microporous film to the felt surface, allowing dust to release more easily and extending bag life in sticky or high-moisture dust.

These treatments are chosen based on operating conditions, so the same base fiber can be supplied in several finished variations depending on the specific dust collection task.

Sourcing the Right Dust Bag for Your System

Industrial dust filter cloth plays a core role in gas-solid separation, flue gas filtration, fine material recovery, and general air purification across iron and steel making, waste incineration, cement and building materials, metal smelting, chemical processing, and mining. Jiangsu Dongwang Environmental Protection Technology Group Co., Ltd. manufactures the full range of needle punched filter felt described above — including polyester, anti-static, acrylic, aramid, glass fiber, PPS, PPS+PTFE blended, PTFE, P84, basalt, and pre-oxidized fiber materials — and supports customers with surface treatment options to match specific flue gas conditions.

Working with a manufacturer that produces the full material range, rather than a single fiber type, makes it easier to switch dust bag types as process conditions change without changing suppliers.