Thermo-fluid-dynamic characterization of pulse jet cleaning of fabric filter bag units through computational fluid dynamic simulations

Publisher FILTECH

G. V. Messa, Politecnico di Milano; C. Maggi*, L. Montanelli, Clean Air Europe S.r.l., Italy

In this study, numerical simulations based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) were performed to characterize the thermo-fluid-dynamic behavior of the pulse jet cleaning process in filter bag units. The technical objective was to preliminarily evaluate the feasibility of exploiting the cooling effect of the expanding pulse jet to regulate the temperature of sensor equipment installed at the top of the filter bag collar within the clean air zone. One of the main challenges addressed in this work concerned the development of a simulation strategy capable of providing meaningful engineering indications while ensuring an adequate level of accuracy and an acceptable computational cost. To this end, a two-stage, decoupled computational methodology was proposed. In the first stage, the airflow within the entire purge tube equipped with multiple nozzles was simulated, followed by a more detailed analysis of the flow dynamics in the vicinity of a single filter bag. The fluid dynamic model, based on the compressible Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations, along with the numerical settings for grid generation and time-step discretization, was adopted from a previous project. Preliminary results yielded useful insights, particularly regarding the optimal positioning of the sensor equipment along the purge tube and the identification of key environmental and process parameters affecting the jet cooling potential.

Published in: FILTECH 2026 Conference

Date of Conference: 30 June - 2 July 2026

DOI: -

Presenter's Affiliation: Cleanair europe srl - Politecnico di Milano

Publisher: FILTECH Exhibitions GmbH & Co. KG

Country: Italia

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-941655-25-6

Conference Location: Cologne, Germany

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Emission Control, Nonwovens, Online Monitoring, Pulse-Jet Cleaning, Pressure Drop Prediction, In Situ Sensor, Patented Filter Bag, Pulse-Jet Baghouse, Jet-Induced Sensor Cleaning