In terms of particle removal from gases with surface filters, the periodic building and detachment of particle layers decisively determine the operating behaviour and the performance of the filter. The surface structure of textile filter media including the near-surface, porous transition area between the dust cake and the filter medium is of fundamental importance in view of dust cake formation and detachment. In practice, various surface finishes like singeing, calendering, etc. are used on empirical basis to improve the operating behaviour of textile filter media by modifying the surface texture. For targeted development and implementation of new filter media there is a need for a systematic investigation into the correlation between the surface structure of textile filter media and their operating behaviour on a quantitative basis.

In the current study, the structure of generated dust cake on model fabric filters is investigated by simulation for cake forming dust filtration via calculation of particle trajectories. The changes in the dust cake structure and in the operating behaviour of the filters are evaluated and analysed by systematic variation of the filter surface structure. For comparison, results of corresponding experimental investigations with differently structured needle felts are presented and discussed together with the simulation calculations...