Surface filtration is an established procedure for separating particles from particle-laden gas streams. After an initial depth filtration phase, during which the particles are mainly collected on the fibers inside the filter medium, the main separation of particles is located on the surface of the filter medium and the further accumulating dust cake on the medium surface. This filtration mechanism enables a high collection efficiency of particles for emission reduction or product recovery.

Different surface filter designs, such as bag filters, cartridge filters, and filter panels, are commonly used in industrial filtration processes. The geometry of the filter medium and the filter element can vary depending on the intended application. The use of pleated filter media enables the application of a larger filter media surface in the same installation space, if compared to its flat counterpart.

Pleated filter elements are also applied when space restrictions occur to allow the implementation of the necessary filter media surface area. Nevertheless, the pleating of the filter media can result in problems concerning the stable operating behavior of surface filters.

Existing standards (e.g. DIN ISO 11057, VDI 3926) are commonly used to evaluate and characterize cleanable filter media in a flat, coupon geometry. The findings of these standardized test are often transferred to pleatable filter media and their operating behavior in pleated filter elements without questioning the appropriateness.

This contribution presents an experimental procedure for the direct evaluation of the operating behavior of differently pleated filter media using a test-rig in accordance with DIN ISO 11057, with harmonized experimental conditions (filter media face velocity, raw gas dust concentration and cleaning intensity) applied to each geometry. This direct characterization enables a clear assessment of the influence of filter medium geometry on operating behavior.