Many branches of industry carry out production processes that require the treatment of various types of liquids, ranging from ordinary water, through fuels, paints, oils and alcohols. For this, devices called filters are commonly used, the main task of which is to clean the liquid flowing through them from the impurities contained in it.
The most popular devices used for industrial filtration are, among others candle filters, magnetic filters, bag filters and basket filters. They differ not only in the mechanism of action, but also in the method of assembly, efficiency and effectiveness of filtration. For this reason, choosing the right type of filter is of great importance for the quality of liquid purification and obtaining the best filtration results. What are the most popular types of filters?
– Candle filters – filters with periodic operation. In their housing there are filtering elements, the so-called candles (these filters are also called cartridge filters) of cylindrical shape. Filtration is done by the flow of liquid from the outside to the inside of the candle. Any impurities caught by the filter settle on the outside of the cartridge. There may be up to several dozen candles in the filter housing. Candle filters are widely used in the food and chemical industries;
– Bag filters – their main task is to trap contaminants inside the filter bag, which can be made of various materials with different capacity, e.g. nylon, polyester, felt, polypropylene or viscose. One of the biggest advantages of this type of filter is its low price and high efficiency. They are primarily used to clean various types of viscous liquids, for example varnishes, paints or resins, they are also successfully used in the food industry;
– Bag filters – their main task is to trap contaminants inside the filter bag, which can be made of various materials with different capacity, e.g. nylon, polyester, felt, polypropylene or viscose. One of the biggest advantages of this type of filter is its low price and high efficiency. They are primarily used to clean various types of viscous liquids, for example varnishes, paints or resins, they are also successfully used in the food industry;
– Basket filters – their characteristic structure enables the accumulation of impurities on the stretched filtering surface of the sieve. The mechanism of their operation is based on the simple principle of retaining liquid contaminating particles on the surface of a wire mesh or other perforated element inside the filter. Thanks to this, these devices are especially used for the filtration of liquids characterized by high viscosity and a large number of mechanical impurities.
Self-cleaning filters are an alternative to basket and bag filters. They can be equipped with manual, pneumatic or electric drives. Their advantage is that the sieve cleaning procedure does not interrupt the filtration process, so there are no production downtime related to the replacement and cleaning of the filter element. Automatic self-cleaning filters are equipped with an electric cabinet with an operator panel, thanks to which their operation is reduced only to the task of operating parameters by the operator. These types of devices work well with higher media flows, even up to 1000 m3 / h.
Due to their high efficiency, effectiveness and relatively low operating costs, filtration devices have become a permanent part of the mandatory equipment lists of most industrial plants.