Development of a qualitative test method for the cleanability of polymer woven filter media

•A cleaning method for filter media was developed to evaluate the cleanability of filter media.•Super-calendared filter media show a better cleanability than calendared filter media.•Filter media with satin weave have a better cleanability than filter media with twill weave.•The results were adapted to the law of mass transfer.

In this paper a new method for cleaning of filter media is presented, and the cleanability with different textures and surface finishes is compared. With the method described, it is possible to evaluate the quality of the cleaning process. According to the German VDMA standard cleaning test, riboflavin and malt extract are applied as model contaminants for evaluation of the cleaning results. To compare the cleanability of filter media with different properties and geometries the results are adapted to the law of mass transfer and to the Sherwood number, a dimensionless parameter describing the quality of a cleaning process.