Description of the clogging and cleaning cycles of filter media

The filter media used in industrial air cleaning, if they are regenerable, are subjected to clogging and cleaning cycles. Their performance is closely linked to these two operating phases. A model of the phenomena based on the assumption of patchy cleaning is presented. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of a parameter representative of cleaning, namely the cleaned fraction, from experimental values of the residual pressure drop of a filter medium subjected to given filtration conditions. This characterisation then allows the pressure drop pattern of the filter medium over a number of cycles to be determined. A comparison was made with the experimental results obtained on a laboratory test rig. Close agreement was observed, which confirms the hypothesis of patchy cleaning in this approach to describe the filtration and cleaning phenomena of a filter medium.