In terms of manufacturing, a dust collector bag is a device that can be connected to a dust collection system and is used to gather and trap any dust that enters them. The dust collector bag then allows for easy containment and retrieval of the dust. Beyond this, the dust collector bag can also used as a particulate filtration system for certain gases. The gas is passed through the bag, which catches any dust in the air while allowing the gas to go through.
A dust collector bag can come in a variety of sizes, from large bags designed with industrial factories in mind to smaller bags that can be attached to the end of a hand-operated table saw. Large manufacturing plants and smaller, more personal projects both use the bags to maintain cleanliness and prevent machines getting clogged with the dust. The bag collects the refuse of the work and stores it, keeping the area clean. After the dust has been collected and stored by the bag, it can be cleanly disposed of, or sometimes repurposed by the owner as sawdust or another similar product. For this reason, bags are vital for any dust collection system.
Apart from being used to maintain cleanliness, a dust collector bag is also used by certain industries as a filter to remove dust and other airborne particulates from gases in order to make them purer. This method of filtration is one of the most efficient gas-purifying techniques available. Depending on the material used to make the dust collector bag, it can achieve a collection efficiency of up to 99 percent in some cases. This is because of the dust cake collected on the inside of the bag, which increases the dust collecting properties of the material.
The efficiency of a dust collector bag is measured in terms of how small the filtered particulates can be before slipping through and how much air can be filtered per minute. The size of the particulates is measured in terms of microns, with most dust collector bags being able to filter anything from 1 micron to 30 microns in size. The amount of air filtered through the bag is the bag's "permeability" and is measured in cubic feet per minute or cubic meters per minute. The higher the permeability, the more air that can be filtered per minute compared to other bags.
Dust collector bags need to be replaced periodically, so they can be expensive to maintain, depending on the material. The bags can be made out of woven or felted cotton, synthetic fibers or glass-fiber material, and the choice of material will affect how costly it is to maintain the system. On top of this, the different materials each have different properties, with differences in the filtration size of the particles and differences in permeability. Of course, different industries and different uses require different properties, so there is no recognized "best" material from which dust collector bag are made.