Eaton’s Filtration business launches new website!

Eaton’s Filtration business launches its new website today and reinforces its brand as an industry leader in filtration solutions. The new site, as the largest communications andmarketing engine, showcases Eaton’s broad product offering, strong filtration expertise, and high quality services.

 

The site also features a dynamic design that is easy-to-navigate and creates a positive user experience. Begerow depth filtration and Internormen hydraulic and lubrication oil filtration products are prominently featured on the site.

 

To further enhance the website, the EMEA version will launch later this year.

 

 

 

 

How to Easily Avoid Filter Installation Problems

Correctly installing your Eaton industrial filter is the first step in ensuring the life expectancy of your unit – as well as optimal performance. Incorrect installation can affect the filter’s systems, cause it to operate poorly or physically damage the equipment.

The following list is a brief collection of easily-avoidable installation conditions that may cause problems during filter installation:

Low System Pressure

Since DCF and MCF™ filters rely on a purge operation to clear captured solids from the filter, having enough system pressure is important to successful purging. Eaton  recommends a minimum of 30 psi of system pressure to ensure an adequate purge. This pressure may need to be higher when the process liquid has high viscosity or the solids are sticky. The Stealth Purge option with external water flushing is an alternate solution that is independent of system pressure.

Purge Line Plumbing

A common error when installing mechanically-cleaned filters is incorrectly plumbing the purge line. The best situation for a purge line is to make it short in length, placing it on a downhill grade from the filter, and draining it into a collection tank. Since typical purge operations are less than 1 second in duration, there is very little flow in a purge line due to system pressure.

If the line runs uphill, solids will collect in the line and never flush away. In addition, a water flush line on the purge header may be needed if the purged materials are especially challenging.

Check Valves On Filter Outlet Plumbing

Running an outlet line into long, head-high runs (such as uphill) is an uncommon, yet potentially damaging situation. When the filter purges, a water-hammer situation may develop if flow reverses from the outlet side of the filter.

In the worst case scenario, this may cause the elements to collapse. However, this situation is easily prevented by placing a flow check valve on the outlet line from the filter.

Filter Placement Around Pumps

Since Eaton filters are pressure filters, they should always be placed on the outlet side of pumps. Placing the filter on the suction side of a pump may result in erratic operation or damage to the filter elements.

Backpressure on outlet lines Eaton filters will always work best when there is some backpressure on the filter’s outlet. The worst performance scenario for a filter is when the outlet runs directly to an atmospheric tank. For this reason, we recommend the installation of a flow orifice or control valve on the outlet header of the filter. By providing a slight amount of back pressure, the system will operate much more evenly and avoid pressure blinding.

Backwash Filter Media

When your filter’s backwash outlet line runs to an atmospheric tank, Eaton recommends using a flow orifice sized to prevent excessive differential pressure across the filter media during the backwash operation. This will prolong the life of the filter media.

External Backwash Liquid

The fluid source used in external backwash filter systems should be clean – and have particles smaller than the rated retention of the filter elements in the system. If these conditions are not met, the backwashing process can actually plug the elements instead of cleaning them.

Questions?  Just #AskFilterman on Twitter!

Eaton Filters Curb Water Consumption, Feed Sustainability

Eaton Filters Curb Water Consumption, Feed Sustainability

The state of California was having a beef with a major meat packing company regarding the amount of water it was using. Perhaps more so than in any other area of the U.S., water is the lifeblood for social and economic wellbeing in this essentially arid state. Because of that, numerous legislative initiatives have been  implemented over the years to  better conserve water covering everything from the installation of more efficient sprinklers, the planting of draught-tolerant landscaping, to the upgrading of some 10 million public and private toilets.

Challenge
Flushed with the need to do its part to help curb water usage, the meat packing company sought recommendations from Eaton’s Filtration business on how to more efficiently reuse and recycle water at one of its facilities in central California. Engineers at the company and Eaton representatives eventually identified one area of the processing – known as a hide-on wash station – where water usage was especially high. Recycling the rinse water, they concluded, from the hide-on stations would significantly reduce consumption. However, recycling the rinse water required an especially robust filtration system due to the extremely harsh operating conditions at a hide-on station, where the filters had to dealwith high quantities of dirt, hair, fats and other impurities. High flow rates further complicated the formidable task.

Solution
The puzzle was soon solved with the installation of three Eaton DCF-1600 filters with twin pneumatic actuators. “We were asked to make a recommendation on the conditions we saw during a site visit,” says David Peterson regional sales manager for Eaton.

“Based on what I witnessed, no other filter was capable of handling the severe operating environment.”

Ideal for a variety of food applications, Eaton DCF-1600 filters are designed for the rigors of processing highly viscous, abrasive, sticky or otherwise hard to process substances. The filters, which operate at low differential pressure, easily accommodate a wide range of flow and retention requirements.

Additional features include:

• Elimination or reduction of disposable filter bags and cartridges for reduced operator handling, inventory costs and landfill waste.
• Reduction in product loss and more thorough containment purge in a highly concentrated waste stream.
• Reduction or elimination of operator intervention for safer operation.
• Virtually maintenance free with nearly 100 percent uptime.
• Compact design and lower capital cost to fit most installations.
• Stainless steel screens ranging from 15-micron slots to ¼-inch perforations to handle a wide range of filtration needs.
• Available with most popular cleaning discs.
The dual actuators on the DCF-1600 filters isolate the actuation mechanism from the filtrate with a bridged system resulting in a long operating life in just about any challenging condition.

Results

“The systems have been operating perfectly from the day they were installed,” says Peterson, “and the savings from water conservation have been huge.”
Because of the conservation, the company should also be safe if future restrictions develop for incoming water, which have occurred in California in the past due to ongoing water shortages. Meanwhile, discharged waste water has been effectively minimized with the reuse of recycled water.
Visitors from sister facilities have observed the DCF-1600 filters operating in California and have been impressed enough to investigate ordering their own installations, adds Peterson.

“Water reuse and recycling in the food processing industry is a recurring challenge,” says Peterson. “Thankfully, there are many areas where water can be filtered and reused with the right filtration system, including incoming water from wells, as well as water used in wash stations, cooling towers, storage tank cleaning and more.”

Less disposal of waste water also brings about important benefits to the environment, he notes.

Due to the flood of benefits still occurring today, accolades continue to pour in from all interested parties on the new beefy filters from Eaton.

Read more of our customer success stories on our website.

Download  PDF Version of this success story

How Manufacturing Companies Can Generate Less Waste

The filtration of process water can play a critical role in optimizing production lines due to its ability to protect downstream equipment and piping; as well as its role in the quality and value of finished goods. The right filtration equipment can affect a company’s environmental impact through the reduction of emissions and waste generation. It can also safeguard employees by minimizing their exposure to hazardous materials. These factors, in turn, affect the company’s productivity and bottom line.

Despite its significance, many manufacturing facilities have not realized the benefits of optimized filtration for process water. This is because installing a filtration system — where none has previously existed — can be difficult to justify with tight capital budgets. In addition, decision makers face the same challenge when a filtration system is in place and operating. However, a careful look at key cost factors can quickly justify an investment that will generate a significant return — whether it is a new investment or an upgrade — with an up-to-date filtration system.

Important: When exploring water treatment filtration options there is a growing area of concern pertaining to water conservancy and water supply — especially freshwater. When this is combined with an increased emphasis on reducing the environmental impact from waste creation and disposal, it is important that all industries take a second look at their manufacturing processes, and determine if it is time to evaluate newer filtration technology. The cost reduction resulting from a new system may surprise you.

There are two ways to achieve this. One method is to use equipment that requires less fresh water. The second method is water reuse when the amount of water used is mandated by the process requirement. This trend is fueled by several economic benefits that can be broken down into separate and specific areas of cost savings:

• Reduced cost for purchase and treatment of fresh water.
• Reduced cost for heating process streams or money saved through energy recovery.
• Reducing waste treatment costs.

Any decision regarding filtration of water should be weighed against the relative importance of each of these factors.

In addition to minimizing overall maintenance costs, other factors include labor costs, the potential costs of lost production, conversion, and recovery of valuable products during scheduled and unscheduled downtime. While much of this can seem intimidating, there are a few easy methods to determine whether your current filtration system needs an update to a more state of the art filtration system.

Subscribe to our blog or follow us on twitter at @AskFilterMan for more tips and information on everything filtration.

Eaton Creates Waves of Innovation at ACHEMA 2012

Frankfurt … No, this isn’t a typing error in the heading! Let us explain. Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation today announced it will be presenting its filtration products at this year’s ACHEMA at not one but two booths –both visually linked by a bright, rippling wave.

At the world’s largest trade show for chemical engineering, environmental protection, and biotechnology the company will be exhibiting a veritable firework display of technical systems for liquid filtration. Eaton’s filtration’s product portfolio has never been so comprehensive. By integrating the German companies Internormen and Begerow into the Eaton family, clients now have access to extremely diverse competence in filtration.

The focus will be on filtration applications for pharmaceutical technology, industrial process and utility, and the chemicals and fine chemicals industries in particular. Each application will have its own product display, where visitors are invited to come and talk shop with Eaton’s filtration specialists. The company will not only enhance the tactile experience of product presentation, but will also make use of modern media to answer questions on the technologies and products presented in full detail.

For the industrial sector Eaton has a number of innovative solutions that redefine operating times and set new standards in the classification and maintenance of hydraulic and lubricating oil liquids. These include unique complete solutions, measuring technology for analysis and diagnostics, and filter systems that guarantee that equipment operates with the maximum efficiency thanks to lower maintenance times and longer service intervals.

Depth filtration will be another topic at the trade show. The innovative BECOPAD product, the only mineral-free depth filter medium worldwide, and BECODISC stacked disc cartridges serve filtration applications primarily in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. Depth filter cartridges, membrane filter cartridges, and presentations of filter systems and housings of the highest quality round off our filtration portfolio.

Lastly, Eaton’s new pleated filter bag will be on display. This series of products is distinguished by its high dirt holding capacity and long service life compared to similar standard filter bags and cartridges. Eaton will also present a broad spectrum of application solutions and products for use in process filtration.

Experience the power of one with Eaton’s filtration business.

Eaton’s international filtration team is looking forward to plenty of interesting discussions.

ACHEMA 2012 from June 18 to 22 2012
Exhibition center (Messe Frankfurt) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Hall 5.0 | Booths D59 and D62

Why Spray Nozzle Protection is Important During Your Manufacturing Process

WHAT IS SPRAY NOZZLE PROTECTION? Spray Nozzles are specifically engineered for four critical functions: flow control, cleaning, coverage, and atomizing. It is important to filter solids from water, or any industrial liquid, before they reach your spray nozzles.

Unwanted and oversized particles can block the inside of an orifice, which in turn restricts water flow, impairs spray uniformity, and allows debris to pass through which in turn ends up in your process or on your product.

The proper filtration will help keep the nozzle clear of debris enabling them to provide uniform and consistent spray patterns.

For spray nozzle protection, careful media selection is essential. The primary factor to be considered is orifice size and shape of the nozzle opening. Other factors include solids content, type of contaminant, particle size, and shape, amount of contaminant to be removed, liquid temperature, and required flow rates.

For liquids other than water, knowing the liquid’s viscosity, corrosiveness, abrasiveness, and adhesive qualities are essential in specifying the nozzle protection filter.

EXAMPLE — FLUE GAS SCRUBBER SPRAY NOZZLE PROTECTION
To prevent fly ash and sulfur dioxide from venting into the atmosphere, flue gas scrubbers uniformly spray a sorbent into the dirty, hot flue gas. These sorbents, however, often contain oversized particles that can plug spray nozzle orifices. When this happens, the spray becomes uneven, and fly ash and sulfur dioxide can escape from the scrubber.

The key to spray nozzle protection is to filter the liquid before sending it to the spray nozzle. This eliminates the excess and oversize particles, which ultimately plugs the nozzle orifices. Once plugged, the spray becomes uneven, and the output quality becomes compromised. All at an additional and unnecessary expense to the bottom line.

The pro-active approach to this problem is to protect the spray nozzles, which is to filter the solution before it reaches this stage of the process. While there are many different filtration options, the most cost effective is to use self-cleaning filters. This is why incinerator systems manufacturers regularly contact Eaton to analyze their filtration methods in hopes of protecting their expensive spray nozzles while lowering their process costs.

A SELF-CLEANING SOLUTION
Eaton typically determines that the solution to this problem is twofold. To begin, many manufacturing facilities are throwing out more cartridges than necessary with disposable media. That is because disposable media are typically changed on a time cycle (e.g., once a shift, once a day, or once a week), regardless of whether the media needs replacement. To effectively filter when needed — and not when convenient — it is important to use automation when at all possible.

With the use of automation, the filters can be cleaned at precisely the right time, rather than when it is convenient. That is because the cleaning is controlled by the pressure differential between inlet and outlet headers as contaminants build up on the filter screen. When the pressure reaches a predetermined level, the screens are cleaned automatically — only as needed, and when needed.

The second problem was their use of processing liquids (sorbent) with unwanted and prior supposedly ‘filtered’ particles in it, which resulted in fouling and clogging of the spray nozzles. The consequence of this dynamic was uneven spray and fly ash/sulfur dioxide escaping from the scrubber.

Once identified, the incinerator systems manufacturer eliminated this problem by using Eaton self-cleaning filters. This meant less waste in the process. It also limited the unwanted particles in the process stream, which eliminated the spray nozzle clogging. Therefore, the process line did not have to be stopped to clean the nozzles.

RESULTS
The incinerator systems manufacturers are extremely pleased with the reliable operation of the filters, the elimination of spray nozzle plugging and fouling, as well as the fact that there are no spent cartridges to dispose.

–by Ask Filter Man

 

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How does Backwash Efficiency Affect Your Catalyst Bed Protection Filtration System?

Filtration systems are generally regenerated through a backwash cleaning cycle. The primary factors effecting backwash efficiency are • Available pressure differential • Backwash flow • Filter media characteristics  

Available Pressure Differential:  During backwashing, the backwash differential pressure (between the backwash source and drain) should ideally be three to five times greater than the differential pressure across the dirty media.  In a feedstock filter, the maximum dirty differential pressure should not exceed 15 PSID, meaning the backwash liquid should be delivered at 45 – 75 PSID to maximize the cleaning efficiency.

Backwash Flow:
A sufficient flow rate of backwash liquid will also be required to regenerate the filtering media. The required flow rate will be primarily dependent upon the type of media selected. Sufficient backwash flow along with sufficient backwash pressure will lead to hydro-shock cleaning effect and completely regenerate the media to its clean differential pressure.

Filter Media Characteristics:
The final component of filter regeneration is the media characteristics. By their very design, slotted wedge wire and woven wire mesh allow particles to be captured on the surface of the media, providing optimum particle release and media regeneration.  Sintered metal is multi-layered and can offer higher per-cake efficiencies, but can be difficult to regenerate.  This leads to shorter run times and increased downtime.

In summary, feedstock filtration is an important aspect in efficiently refinery operation.  Protecting catalyst beds from particulate contamination prevents bed plugging and increases catalyst life. Several factors affect filtration system efficiency and should be carefully considered when selecting a feedstock filtration system.

For more articles, tips and information on industrial filtration products and solutions visit our blog at eatonfiltration.wordpress.com or simply follow @AskFilterman on Twitter

Soap Maker Bubbling Over on Eaton Filters

Eaton’s DCF-800 Mechanically Cleaned Filter has helped this soap maker achieve a final product that consistently meets purity goals and has allowed for a more productive and cost-efficient manufacturing process.

Problem: Impurities in the soap due to an outdated filtering process
Solution: Eaton’s DCF-800 Mechanically Cleaned Filter
Results: The final product consistently meets purity goals and the manufacturing process is more productive and cost-efficient

Background
While maybe not quite as frightening as the famous Alfred Hitchcock shower scene, just imagine the shock of stepping into a hot shower, unwrapping your favorite bar of soap, and discovering that it’s already dirty. It can happen. That’s because soap contains glycerin, which brings with it important moisturizing properties. During the manufacturing process, glycerin is heated and added to the soap formulation before it goes to final production. However, the heating needs to be precise with little margin for error. When it is not heated properly, the soap can turn brown and even form brown specks that are small but still very much noticeable, hardly the 99 and 44/100% pure that a good soap needs to be.

Challenge
For one of the world’s largest suppliers of bar, detergent and body soaps, meeting that lofty goal is imperative to success. Supplying virtually every type of soap made, the company on any given day will see some 25 different brands of soap rolling down its production line. Relying on an outdated heating and filtering process, the company often had to reroute soap back into the assembly line to remove the brown haze and specks caused by the improperly heated glycerin to ensure that quality objectives were always achieved.  The rerouting was necessary, but was inefficient, expensive and time-consuming.  Additional labor was also required. While the final product was eventually meeting purity goals, the soap giant very much wanted to clean up the process.

Solution
In doing so, they turned to Eaton Filtration and installed a DOFF 800 filtration system for a 90-day trial run. The DOFF 800, a forerunner of the newer DCF­800 filters, is often used for trials.
Both perform a self-cleaning action by mechanically scraping collected debris from the filter screen with a disc that moves up and down the screen, parallel to the liquid flow. Collected debris is then automatically purged from the collection chamber at the bottom of the filter.  This self-cleaning action is performed without halting production and provides the highest quality filtering under continuous demand. Because the screen is cleaned continuously, a consistently high flow rate is maintained.  Uninterrupted filtering by the DCF also helps ensure consistent temperatures— a feature essential to meeting quality objectives.

Result
Before the 90-day test was even completed, the soap company was already washing its hands of the brown mess and has since ordered two new Eaton DCF-800 filters.  “Removal of the glycerin impurities was very successful,” reports Bruce Law, regional sales manager for Eaton’s filtration business. “The test unit delivered everything that we said it would.”  As a result, Law believes the costly rerouting of soap will soon be virtually eliminated.  “It’s still too early to gather a measurable return on investment,” adds Law, “but based on the results of the trial, the number of bars of soap that the company produces, and the cost to rework an out of spec product, it strikes me that the payback is going to be pretty quick.”

DCF-800 – One actuator delivers simple, reliable operation with water-like liquids. Ideal where a low initial investment is a key Our unique circular cleaning disc design (MCF design shown) ensures intimate contact with the screen to thoroughly and uniformly clean the media

 
 Download the PDF

 

Eaton Filters are Can Do Solutions – Customer Success Story

Metal Food Packaging : Eaton Filters are Can Do Solutions

“Eaton has been right there with us and I have been very impressed with that.”  Quality Control Manager

Problem: Manufacturing facility was relying on an antiquated paper filtering process, which was expensive, hard-tomaintain, and time consuming.Eaton’s MCF 824-Series Mechanically Cleaned Filter.
Results: An easy to use filter that practically eliminated paper costs of approximately $60,000 per year, realized maintenance and labor savings, increased operator safety, and reduced landfill waste.

Background
The largest supplier of metal food containers in North America prides itself on quality,customer support, implementing leading edge technologies,sustainable business practices,and lowering costs whenever possible. Partnering with suppliers that can best help meet those goals is another primary objective. With annual sales in excess of a billion dollars, the company’s containers are used primarily by processors and packagers for foods such as soup, vegetables,fruit, meat, tomato-based products, coffee, seafood, adult nutritional drinks, pet food, and other miscellaneous food products. A wealth of well-known manufacturer brands, large and small, rely on the company’s cans for the consistent delivery of  high-quality, high-grade consumable goods.

Challenge
The cutting and shaping of metals is an important part ofthe manufacturing process. According to the quality control manager at one of the company’s 28 manufacturing facilities whose process requires the use of lubricants to keep the metal cool so that it can beshaped properly and precisely. The lubricant, or coolant, also picks up metal shavings, oils,and dirt that occur naturally. A filtering process is required to clean the coolant and return it to the manufacturing line.  For years, the facility was relying on an antiquated paper filtering process, which was expensive,hard-to-maintain, and time-consuming.Paper costs alone were running about $5000 per month, says the quality control manager. “On top of that, the changing of the paper filters would take the operator about a half-hour to 45 minutes of his time to cut offthe paper with a razor knife,carry it down stairs and put it on a pallet, dispose of it, and mopup the mess,” he adds.

Solution
However, that’s all changed now thanks to the installation of new Eaton MCF 824-Series mechanically cleaned filtration systems.The system features a cylindrical stainless steel housing that contains a cleanable, permanent filter screen. Unfiltered liquids flow from the top down and from the inside of the media toward the outside. Impurities are deposited on the interior surface of the filter screen, and the clean fluid exits through an outlet. When the media requires cleaning, a spring loaded cleaning disc travels top to bottom inside the filter media,directing collected contaminants downward, where they are concentrated in the purging chamber for easy expulsion. The whole cleaning process occurs while the filter remains in service, eliminating or reducing the use of disposable filter bags,decreasing operator handling,lowering inventory costs, and decreasing waste disposal. The innovative, magnetically coupled driving technology that moves the cleaning disc – without the need for shaft or drive external seals – adds additional appeal tothe unique design.

Result
The quality control manager reports significant financial gains by practically eliminating paper costs. The old systems are still used, but only as a backup when the Eaton MCF 824 units are undergoing scheduled maintenance.“We have been very satisfied,”adds the manager. ”We’ve been running the systems for four years and Eaton has been very helpful with us in making the original change over and later updating the equipment with new parts over the years.“They even came up with abetter way of cleaning the MCF824-Series filters. So we were able to extend the life of the filters even further. We originally had to change the filters every four or five days. Now we can stretch it out to once every eight days. “Eaton has been right there with us and I have been very impressed with that.” Not to be overlooked, he notes,are the additional gains being realized in maintenance savings,labor savings, and disposal savings – which deems that the responsible management of the environment plays a significant role in achieving success.“Now everything is pretty much automatic,” notes the manager. “It’s a much better system in a variety of ways.”He is confident other company manufacturing facilities around the country could also benefit with the Eaton setup, which has effectively turned the filtering process from a can of worms into a can of corn.

 

Read more customer success stories from Eaton’s Filtration Business.

How to Protect your Fixed-bed Reactors from Contamination

How liquid filtration systems protect fixed-bed reactors from contamination, leading to extended catalyst life and longer run lengths.

In the petroleum refining industry, catalysts represent a significant cost, so refineries are chiefly concerned with extending a catalyst’s life as long as possible. The simplest way to do this is to protect the fixed-bed reactor from becoming contaminated with dirt, carbon deposits, and other organic materials. These items can cause the bed to plug, resulting in decreased reaction efficiency, and potentially require the unit to be brought down early. Catalysts must then be regenerated or replaced.

In general, catalyst bed protection requires the filtration of all particles larger than 25 microns from the feedstock stream. Particles that are smaller than 25 microns will pass through the reactor bed without plugging the catalyst.

Three major factors must be taken into consideration when selecting a proper filtration system:

• Flux rate
• Filtration media
• Clean ability

Flux Rate:
The size of the filtration system is dependent on the flux rate, which is defined s the flow rate per unit of filtration area.
For example, 100 gpm of VGO flowing through a filtration system with 50 ft2 of filtering area represents a flux rate of 2 gpm/ft2. It can be seen from this flux rate formula that an increase in filtration area will lead to a lower flux rate, which will in turn result in a lower velocity of the fluid as it passes through the media.

Lower flow velocity across the filtering media allows the formation of a porous cake on the surface of the media. This leads to longer run times between backwash cycles and increases efficiency in particle removal.

This cake formation also has the added benefit of preventing particles from becoming embedded in the media, allowing for easy removal of particulate during the backwash cleaning cycle.

Filtration Media and Clean ability:
When selecting a feedstock filtration system, another important consideration is media type and its clean ability.

Possible media choices include slotted wedge wire, woven wire mesh, and multi-layered sintered metal. Each one carries its own advantages and disadvantages, but perhaps the most critical consideration when choosing a feedstock filtration system is the ability to completely regenerate the filtration media to its original clean state.

If the media is not sufficiently cleaned, the result is shorter run times and will eventually require the filter to be bypassed for manual cleaning or media replacement.

In summary, feedstock filtration is an important aspect in efficiently refinery operation. Protecting catalyst beds from particulate contamination prevents bed plugging and increases catalyst life.  Several factors affect filtration system efficiency and should be carefully considered when selecting a feedstock filtration system.