Filter housing for pleated and wound cartridges: multi-cartridge ASME pressure housings with tubesheet, hold-down plate and swing-bolt lid
Multi-cartridge pressure housings for process liquids · how many cartridges a flow needs, the tubesheet and its seals, swing-bolt lids, and pressure ratings by vessel metal
A filter housing is the pressure vessel around the cartridges: a shell with inlet and outlet, a tubesheet that the cartridges seal into, a plate or spring that keeps them seated, and a lid that has to open quickly at every change-out and stay tight at full line pressure in between. Its size follows from how much flow each cartridge can take, and its rating from the vessel metal and code it is built to.
Pressure housings that hold filter cartridges for process liquids in chemical, water and industrial plants: single- and multi-cartridge (multi-round) housings for double-open-ended and single-open-ended cartridges, large-diameter high-flow cartridge housings, their tubesheets, hold-down plates, seals and swing-bolt or clamp closures. Bag filter housings used as a roughing stage are covered on the Pre-filtration unit page; pressure vessels for sand, multimedia and activated carbon beds on the Pressure filter vessels for media filtration page; skid-mounted solvent filtration systems on the Solvent filtration skid page. Filter cartridges sold alone and self-cleaning screen filters are outside this page.
CNFX editorial research · Sources checked October 13, 2026 · 3 sources
Number of cartridges from the flow each one can take
The housing is sized from the flow per cartridge. Shelco's USF series of ASME housings holds from four to fifty-two cartridges up to 40 in long, and rates each model on 7 gpm per 10 in of length with a 25 micron wound cartridge at 2 psid clean and a viscosity of 1 cP; it calls these flows guidelines, since actual flow depends on fluid, viscosity, cartridge type and micron rating. [2]
Pall's Ultipleat High Flow cartridge is a coreless, single-open-ended pleated element 152.4 mm (6 in) in diameter with inside-to-outside flow, so debris stays inside the element; it gives a suggested maximum water flow of 175 gpm for the 20 in length, 350 gpm for 40 in and 500 gpm for 60 in and 80 in. [1]
Editorial calculation: at Shelco's basis of 28 gpm for a 40 in wound cartridge, passing 500 gpm takes 500 ÷ 28 ≈ 18 cartridges, which Shelco's 22-round housing would hold; Pall's figure for the same flow is one 60 in high-flow cartridge in a 9 in diameter housing. The two figures rest on different cartridges and ratings, so the count must be checked against the actual cartridge and micron grade. [2][1]
Rosedale's cartridge housing catalogue covers housings from 1 to 205 cartridges and states that cartridge filters are selected so that clean pressure drop stays at or below 2 psi, with more tolerated when contaminant loading is low; it gives viscosity correction factors from 0.65 for water (1 cP) to 1.80 at 2,000 cP, and leaves the flow and pressure drop per cartridge to the media maker's data. [3]
State the flow, the viscosity at operating temperature, the cartridge type and micron grade, and the clean pressure drop allowed; ask for the cartridge count and the clean pressure drop of housing plus cartridges together.
02
Tubesheet, hold-down plate and cartridge seals
Pall's high-flow housings seat each cartridge into a perforated cage welded to the tubesheet, sealed by an O-ring on the cartridge's open end, which must sit below the tubesheet surface; a hold-down plate on locating pins then keeps the elements from being dislodged if flow reverses. The tubesheet is limited to 75 psid (5.17 bar) differential pressure, while the cartridges themselves are rated to 50 psid at 180 °F (82 °C) in polypropylene media. [1]
Shelco seals double-open-ended cartridges on knife edges to stop bypass, with spring seals on top that take up variations in cartridge length; its housings accept 30 in cartridges as 29¼ or 30 in and 40 in cartridges as 39 or 40 in, and 222 or 226 adapters for single-open-ended cartridges. [2] Rosedale lists V-posts with spring seals or threaded centre posts, and cartridge ends as double-open-end, single-open-end, 222 double O-ring and 226 bayonet lock. [3]
Editorial calculation: the gap between the tubesheet limit of 75 psid and the cartridge limit of 50 psid in Pall's data leaves the cartridge as the weaker part, so the cartridge's 50 psid, not the tubesheet's 75 psid, is the ceiling for any change-out set point. [1]
The image shows a technician lifting a large pleated cartridge out of a stainless multi-cartridge housing with its hinged lid swung open and swing bolts round the flange. Ask which cartridge end fittings the tubesheet takes, how cartridges are held down, and the differential pressure limits of tubesheet and cartridge.
03
Swing-bolt lids, davits and the clearance to change cartridges
Shelco's USF housings close with swing bolts and carry a lifting davit for the lid; the head and shell are 304L or 316L stainless steel, the swing bolts zinc-plated steel, and the cover gasket Buna N (FDA grade) with EPR, silicone, Viton, Teflon-encapsulated silicone as options. [2] Rosedale's housings open without special tools and without disturbing the piping, with an O-ring in a machined cover groove. [3]
Pall gives the space a lid needs: the cover swing of opening rises from 228.6 mm (9 in) on the single-cartridge 1HF to 1,138.8 mm (44.8 in) on the 19-cartridge 19HF, and the full-of-water weight from 282 kg to 5,045 kg. It notes that horizontal housings avoid a platform or ladder for element changes, that vertical housings save floor space but may need a platform, and that a centerpipe design brings the tubesheet closer to the lid at the cost of a larger, dearer vessel; a tool is supplied so that operators do not reach into the vessel. [1]
Ask for the cover swing, the headroom or davit reach for lifting cartridges, and the full-of-water weight for the foundation.
04
Pressure rating by vessel metal, flange class and code stamp
Pall's housings also carry a 1/8 in corrosion allowance, 1 in FNPT vents and drains and a spiral-wound 304 stainless gasket, with carbon steel exteriors blasted and coated with inorganic zinc. [1] Rosedale notes that ANSI B16.5 pressure–temperature tables decide the flange class for code housings. [3] The low-carbon grades (304L, 316L) carry the lowest rating in Pall's table, so the vessel metal chosen for corrosion also sets the pressure the housing can take. [1]
Housing
Design or rated pressure
Conditions
Pall high-flow, carbon steel vessel with 304 tubesheet
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Compiled and source-reviewed by the CNFX editorial team.
Each manufacturer above links to the page on that company's own website where the product is listed, with the date we checked it. How we source and review
· Page last updated 13 October 2026
Buyer questions
How many cartridges does a filter housing need?
Divide the flow by the flow per cartridge: Shelco rates 7 gpm per 10 in of wound cartridge, so 500 gpm needs about 18 cartridges of 40 in, while Pall rates one 60 in high-flow cartridge at 500 gpm. [2][1]
What pressure is a multi-cartridge housing rated for?
Shelco's USF housings 150 psig at 300 °F; Pall's high-flow housings 216 to 275 psig at 60 °C depending on vessel metal; Rosedale offers 150 or 300 psi. [2][1][3]
What clean pressure drop should a cartridge housing have?
Rosedale's guidance keeps clean pressure drop at or below 2 psi, with more accepted where contaminant loading is low. [3]
What keeps cartridges seated in the housing?
A hold-down plate on locating pins in Pall's housings, and top spring seals with knife-edge bottom seals in Shelco's. [1][2]
Sources and what still needs a direct check
Sources checked 2026-10-13. Housing datasheets and catalogues from three makers: Pall's Ultipleat High Flow system datasheet, Shelco's USF series datasheet and Rosedale Products' cartridge housing catalogue.
