Automatic Self-cleaning Filters and Industrial Strainer Overview

Self-cleaning filter systems for worry-free operations

Access to Clean water is a basic need of every individual. Today a huge amount of wastewater is produced in industrial cities around the world. Ultimately wastewater is added to the environment polluting natural water bodies like rivers, lakes, and oceans. Hence wastewater filtration & water final purification should be given major attention.

In conventional filter types, we must handle everything manually including cleaning the filter when strainers get clogged. This process is time consuming & filtration processes stop during the cleaning process. Therefore, improved technologies were introduced to the industry to make life easy. Automatic self-cleaning filters and industrial strainers are examples where technologies are used in order to have worry-free operations.

What are Automatic self-cleaning filters and industrial strainers?

Self-cleaning filters or self-cleaning strainers are innovative and efficient filtration systems that utilize their own system pressure to clean the clogged particles or dirt after a period of time. Self-cleaning filters/strainers allow clean fluid to flow through the system while removing particles or dirt. Typical self-cleaning filtration systems include a fine screener, coarse screener, particle remover, piston, flush valves, differential pressure gauge, and a controller. These devices can successfully remove unwanted particles from a stream of water in the 5-4,000 micron range and at flow rates ranging from 10gpm up to many thousands of gpm in larger applications.

Self-cleaning strainers provide ideal filtration solutions with money, water, maintenance, equipment replacement, and energy savings. These filtering systems are also referred to as automatic self-cleaning filters/strainers, as this improved technology requires no routine maintenance. An automatic self-cleaning filter/strainer, will not require constant changes in operational parameters, and system shutdowns like in conventional filtration systems where they require frequent inspections and shutdowns for maintenance like backwashing.

Key features of automatic self-cleaning filters / Self Cleaning Suction Strainers

  • Continuous back flushing during the process lifecycle
  • Constant differential pressure monitoring
  • Full rotation of cleaning element
  • Replaceable straining and filtering elements
  • Light rotating element
  • Water-lubricated rubber lower bearing
  • Large blow-down connection
  • In-line nozzles

How filters and strainers are different

Although both strainers and filters are capable of capturing particles in fluids, the key difference between strainers and filters is the size of the particles they remove. Typically, strainers capture visible, larger particles in a liquid or gas, while filters capture sub-micron particles/ contaminants that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

How Filters and Strainers Are Similar

Filters and strainers are more or less the same, as both products are designed to remove suspended particles from a liquid or gas. They also both provide similar benefits by safeguarding downstream equipment and removing contaminants and impurities that might disturb the quality or integrity of the unit processes.

Classification of Self-Cleaning Filter

Classification of Self-Cleaning Filters depends upon the application that you are going to use.

  • Automatic self-cleaning water filters- suitable for the removal of contaminants from water.
  • Self-cleaning oil filter/ Strainer-  for continuous filtration of oil
  • Automatic self-cleaning air filter

Self-cleaning Filter Working Principle

During normal operations, the fluid enters the system through the inlet and passes through the coarse screener. The coarse screener has the ability to capture large debris in order to protect the fine screener.

Water then flows down the center of the filter and passes through the fine screener where the fine screener will capture fine or sub-micron level particles by ensuring that only the clean water exits from the filter. 

With time, the debris gets clogged on the filter and differential pressure starts to develop between the inlet and the outlet of the filter, and it is sensed by the differential pressure gauges. Once the differential pressure reaches up to 7 psi the automatic controller in the self-cleaning filter system opens the flush valve by initiating the backwash process.

When the flush valve opens the pressure inside the hydraulic motor chamber starts to lose by activating the particle remover in order to vacuum inside of the screener with the help of several suction nozzles. The flow of water through the hydraulic motor drives the particle remover’s rotation and particles around the screen will flow away while cleaning the entire surface of the screen when the piston along with the particle remover slowly moves backward. Once all the debris exit the system through the flush valve, and the screener is completely clean, the flush valve goes to its original position by closing. Then the piston pushes the particle remover to its original position. The entire backwashing process is performed without interrupting the normal water flow throughout the filter and when the screener cleans the filter continues its normal operation.

Key features to be considered when Buying Self-cleaning Filters

There are different varieties of automatic self-cleaning filters available in the market. Hence choosing a suitable automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer that will work for you can be a challenge. Here are some tips to consider.

The Operating conditions of your application

It is very important to match your operating conditions of the fluid such as temperature and pressure with the operating limits of the automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer in order to determine or pick the best automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer that will satisfy your operating conditions.

Kind of contaminant

Identification of the type of contaminant present in your fluid is very important when choosing an automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer. Because depending on the sizes of contaminants present in the fluid, the type of automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer will vary.

A large self-cleaning filter must be used for the fluids with large size contaminants, while micro self-cleaning filters must be used to remove micro contaminants.

Cost-effectiveness

Consideration should be given to the labor and the cost of installing and replacing the self-cleaning filter.

The quality of filtration

Your expectation on the quality of filtration must be considered when buying an automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer. Different self-cleaning filters will give you different fluid filtration quality.

Nature of the process of your application

It is very important to determine the nature of the filtration process of your application such as a batch process or a continuous process.

You need to install a self-cleaning filter that will not stop the function during the process if your application is a continuous process. Further, if your application is a batch process you need to consider about the duration of the batch in order to choose a suitable automatic self-cleaning filter/ industrial strainer that will work efficiently during this period

Applications of Self-cleaning Filters

  • Sewage Treatment
  • Water Treatment
  • Farming Application
  • Food Processing Industry
  • Electricity Generation

Advantages

  • Frequent cleaning is unnecessary, which will save money on labor
  • Provide better safety to the operators Since this system is completely enclosed no hazardous product such as fumes can escape while functioning. Hence it limits the operator’s exposure to hazardous products.
  • Improve your product quality – Since this is an enclosed system the risk of contamination entering your production line is eliminated.
  • Reduce operation costs and waste –  The need of replacing filter media, labor costs, and disposal costs, are eliminated in this system.
  • As the cleaning process is automatic, no damage can be done to the strainer.
  • Variable loading rates could occur during the process. Hence scheduling a manual cleaning can be problematic, if the unit is not automatic;

FLTR provides Automatic self-cleaning filters and industrial strainers that protect most process functions, leading to increased life expectancy, the enhanced service life of components, Efficient production runs. Here are various Automatic self-cleaning filters and industrial strainers available in FLTR with numerous materials and configurations to help meet the many applications;

The AFC-Series tubular backwash filter is ideal for applications that demand high-pressure operation, up to 1,000 psi, and scalable flexibility.

Systems are available in single, duo, and multiplex configurations for solids removal from 1 to 1,700 microns.

The AFR-Series is ideal for high volume, low viscosity applications with retentions as low as 2 microns. It also uses cleanable media that reduce life cycle costs and maximizes productivity.

The Clear Amine automatic self-cleaning system provides an efficient method of removing harmful solids to protect and extend equipment life, and maximize amine systems’ effectiveness.

The DCF 2000 motor-driven self-cleaning filter system is specifically designed to address the challenges associated with filtering coatings and slurries for the paper-making industry.

The DCF 3000 mechanically cleaned filter is ideal for highly viscous, abrasive, or sticky liquids with flow rates of up to 500 gpm. For water-like liquids, it can handle flow rates up to 1500 gpm.

DCF 400/ 800/1600 mechanically cleaned filters are ideal for highly viscous, abrasive, or sticky liquids.

DCF Hot Fry Oil Filter  is for commercial cooking oil recycling.

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