Membrane computing is widely used in many areas, however, there are several limitations in its structures and rules. Although many researchers are engaged in the study of P systems, seldom focus on improving membrane structures. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new kind of communication P system on lattice (LTC-P systems). We describe membrane structures on lattice with communication rules. The computational completeness of the new P system is proved by simulation of register machine. The new P system is used in solving clustering problems. It is combined with the thought of density-based, partition-based and hierarchical clustering algorithm. Clustering is implemented by supremum and infimum rules. The result is obtained through output membrane. All the processes are conducted in membranes. Cluster result via a $$20$$ 20 points data set verifies that the proposed new P systems cluster data set accurately and reduce time complexity. Wine data set are also used in testing the influence of parameters. More suitable $$\varepsilon $$ ε and $${ MinPts}$$ M i n P t s are found to gain less missing data which are seen as noise. Comparative results in various aspects indicate LTC-P system based clustering algorithm consumes less time than traditional algorithms significantly. It also uses less rules and gives more simple membrane structures than conventional cell-like P system. The new P system provides an alternative for traditional membrane computing.