A. Wiegmann, L. Cheng, E. Glatt, O. Iliev, S. Rief

• Four aspects are important in the design of hydraulic lters. We distinguish between two cost factors and two performance factors. Regarding performance, filter eciencynd lter capacity are of interest. Regarding cost, there are production considerations such as spatial restrictions, material cost and the cost of manufacturing the lter. The second type of cost is the operation cost, namely the pressure drop. Albeit simulations should and will ultimately deal with all 4 aspects, for the moment our work is focused on cost. The PleatGeo Module generates three-dimensional computer models of a single pleat of a hydraulic lter interactively. PleatDict computes the pressure drop that will result for the particular design by direct numerical simulation. The evaluation of a new pleat design takes only a few hours on a standard PC compared to days or weeks used for manufacturing and testing a new prototype of a hydraulic lter. The design parameters are the shape of the pleat, the permeabilities of one or several layers of lter media and the geometry of a supporting netting structure that is used to keep the out ow area open. Besides the underlying structure generation and CFD technology, we present some trends regarding the dependence of pressure drop on design parameters that can serve as guide lines for the design of hydraulic lters. Compared to earlier two-dimensional models, the three-dimensional models can include a support structure.