---
title: "Dust catcher"
description: "A dust catcher is a large vertical inertial separator at the front of a blast-furnace gas-cleaning train. Top-gas from the blast furnace enters at the top, the gas slows as it expands into the large vessel, and coarse particulate falls out under gravity into a discharge hopper at the base."
canonical_url: "https://sylio.co/glossary/dust-catcher"
last_updated: "2026-06-28T02:29:33.653Z"
---

A **dust catcher** is a large vertical inertial separator at the front of a blast-furnace gas-cleaning train. Top-gas from the blast furnace enters at the top, the gas slows as it expands into the large vessel, and coarse particulate falls out under gravity into a discharge hopper at the base.

## Where it sits in the cleaning train

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Step
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Equipment
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      1 — coarse separation
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Dust catcher
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      2 — fine wet cleaning
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <a href="/glossary/venturi-scrubber">
        Venturi scrubber
      </a>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      3 — final polish
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Wet <a href="/glossary/wet-esp">
        ESP
      </a>
      
       or <a href="/glossary/baghouse">
        baghouse
      </a>
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Cleaning the dust catcher

The dust-catcher hopper accumulates large quantities of coarse iron-bearing dust and is prone to [bridging](/glossary/bridging). [Sonic horns](/glossary/sonic-horn) at the hopper outlet keep the dust flowing and reduce interruptions to the gas-cleaning train.

## Related terms

- [Cyclone separator](/glossary/cyclone-separator)
- [Venturi scrubber](/glossary/venturi-scrubber)