A high-flow fabric filter cartridge with a high pleat ratio, along with a large diameter, and a large filtration area, showed increased susceptibility to incomplete cleaning, caused by the greater variation of pulse airflow in the filter cartridge. In order to investigate the cleaning characteristics of high-flow pleated fabric filter cartridges, a pleated fabric filter cartridge (Phi 325 x Phi 215 x 1000 mm) was used to the experiment. Then, the peak pressure distribution along the height of the filter cartridge with five measurement locations was recorded using five pressure transducers. The process of dust cake born off the filter cartridge was photographed using a high-speed camera. The cleaning process of a high-flow filter cartridge was examined, and the peak pressure variation on the filter cartridge was determined during the pulse cleaning. The results show the following: the process duration of the dust cake born off the filter cartridge was 372 ms. The maximum peak pressures were 4932, 14,026, 3998, 8813, and 1962 Pa from the top to the bottom along the height of the filter cartridge, respectively. The peak pressure and duration formed by the pulse airflow are indicative of the cleaning process of dust cake born off filter cartridge. Although a peak pressure high to 673 Pa appears at location one with the first transient time, only a minor amount of dust particles was born off filter cartridge. Therefore, the process of quartz particles born off the entire filter cartridge was not only related to the peak pressure, but also to the duration. Meanwhile, the experiment shows that an increase in the pulse width can decrease the likelihood of dust particles being reattached on the bottom of the filter cartridge. The peak pressures increase on the filter cartridge when the pleat number decreases from the 155 to 125. This can decrease the incidence of incomplete cleaning. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.