Abstract
To model the behaviour of a fabric filter it is essential to be able to predict the amount of cake removed as a result of the force applied to the filter medium by a cleaning pulse. Experimental measurements have been made of the fraction of cake removed as a function of the force exerted by an impulse tester designed to simulate the conditions experienced in a pulse jet filter. These experiments have shown that the force required to remove a given quantity of cake depends upon the areal cake density. The nature of this dependence has been predicted from theoretical consideration of the role of adhesion and cohesion forces, assuming that the cake breaks away in spalls of a regular shape and uniform size.