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.

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

 

Follow @AskFilterMan on Twitter

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

Why Cleanable Media for Industrial Filter Processes is More Environmentally Friendly

Due to the new environmental regulations — and the costs associated with waste disposal — the manner in which industries filter to either recycle or eliminate filtration waste is constantly changing.

Selecting filtration equipment is the combined result of many considerations.

In addition to removing undesirable material from a liquid stream, the filtration method selected must also satisfy other requirement.

Installed costs must be weighed against operating costs. Waste disposal costs must be considered. Is continuous flow a requirement of the application, or can the filtration equipment be operated intermittently? Is worker exposure to the process liquid during filter cleaning or replacement a problem?

These and other factors must be weighed when choosing the right filtration method for a particular application.

Today, more than ever, self-cleaning filters (cleanable media) is the better methodology — and many times the right thing to do — for many reasons.

With cleanable systems, you enhance employee safety by minimizing worker and workplace exposure to process liquids.

You minimize or eliminate the unlimited cost and inconvenience of media replacement.

You minimize or eliminate the never-ending and ever-rising cost and hassle of media disposal.

You drastically reduce the labor costs to source, purchase, inventory, transport, change, and dispose of replacement media.

You increase the quality and consistence of filter performance and productivity.

To help reduce the confusion when you are evaluating different filtration methods/systems, I have compiled a list of questions you may want to consider:

Factors to Consider: When selecting a filter for a particular application, the following criteria should be considered.

1. How large is the process volume? What is the flow rate?

2. Is it a continuous or batch process?

3. What are the material characteristics of the solids being removed? How large are the particles? Is the material hazardous? Can the material being removed be recycled back into the process stream at another point?

4. What are the waste disposal costs? How often do bags or cartridges need to be replaced? Can the waste volume be reduced or eliminated by switching to a different filtration method?

5. What are the labor and downtime costs for filter or cartridge replacement? Can downtime be reduced or eliminated by switching to a different filtration method?

— Eaton Filtration

For questions about industrial filtration, please visit the Ask Filter Man page on Twitter at www.twitter.com/askfilterman

Learn how to figure the ratio of free area to pipe area from Eaton Filtration

We are often asked how to figure the ratio of free area to pipe area when a customer changes/requires different perforations or  mesh sizes  in a industrial strainer.  Here is a simple calculation to do this.

A. With perforated basket( s ), take the gross · screen area of the model and size strainer times the percent open area of the perforation required and divide by 100. This gives the new free area. Divide the new free area by nominal area to get the new ratio of free area to pipe. Ex.: 2″ #72 with 7/64 perf- gross area 50.9 X 46.0 the (% open area of 7/64″) divided by 100 =
23.4. 23.4 divided by 3.35 (nominal area) = ratio free area to pipe of 6.9:1.

B. With mesh basket(s)- the same calculation as for perforated baskets above but use 5/32 perf (standard with mesh lined baskets) having 63.0% open area. After
you get the free area of the perf, multiply it by the open area % of the mesh divided by 1 00 to obtain the free area of perf/mesh combined. Divide this answer by the nominal area of the pipe to get the new  ratio of free area to pipe. Ex.: 2″ #50 with 100 mesh- gross area 64.0 X 63.0 (the % open area of 5/32″ perf) divided by 1 00 = 40.3. 40.3 X 30.3 (% open area of 100
mesh) divided by 100 = 12.2. 12.2 divided by 3.35 (nominal area) = ratio free area to pipe of3.6:1.

After you try it a few times, you will see how really simple it is!

For more helpful tips follow Eaton Filtration on Twitter @AskFilterman or like us on Facebook

Quick Tip from AskFilterman: Strainers, Temperature and Pressure

Here is a quick tip from our very own Filterman:  Remember, there is a direct relation between temperature and presuure. As temperature goes up, the pressure the strainer can handle goes down! For more quick tips follow AskFilterman on Twitter today!

Eaton’s Filtration Business is now on Twitter

 We are excited to announce that Eaton Corporation’s filtration business is now on Twitter. This is a great resource if you have filtration questions, keep up-to-date on the latest news and products from Eaton’s Filtration Business.  Follow us on Twitter at AskFilterman