Influence of pleated geometry on the pressure drop of filters during dust loading process: experimental and modelling study

Abstract

In this study, a pressure drop model was developed through numerical simulation and experimentation for optimizing the design of the pleated structure of the filter media to extend the service life of the filter and reduce the ventilation energy consumption. The effect of the Stokes number on the dust deposition on the pleated filter media was revealed through numerical simulation. On this basis, a pressure drop model during dust loading was developed. The model suggests that under the same mass of dust deposition per unit area (W), the greater the pleat ratio (α), the greater the dust cake thickness and the effective filtration velocity in the effective filtration area. In addition, for V-shaped and U-shaped filters, the relative mean deviations between experimental and modeling total pressure drops are 3.68% and 4.82%, respectively. In other words, the proposed model accurately predicts pressure drop during dust loading. Furthermore, under the same α and W, the total pressure drop of the U-shaped filter is lower than that of the V-shaped filter, demonstrating the superior filtration performance of the U-shaped filter.