Filter provides maintenance cost saving during product testing

25th August 2016
Posted By : Anna Flockett
Filter provides maintenance cost saving during product testing

A global oil and gas corporation has put together a trial report in which Amazon SupaPleat FFC Filter was evaluated against the existing supplied filter. Operating a Water Maker system utilising Reverse Osmosis, this offshore site, has existing pre-filters protecting the RO membranes, however these achieved unacceptable short filter operational runs of two to five days.

Alternative filters were sort in order to determine whether they could provide longer service life and therefore offer improved cost efficiency under similar conditions.

In order to ensure that the filter trial performed under similar conditions for each set of filters, the following steps were implemented in order to ensure illustrative results over the period of the trial:

  • Two out of three units kept on-line when possible to ensure similar operational conditions across all filter banks.
  • All pre-filters were replaced at the start of each of the three trial runs conducted to ensure similar starting conditions.
  • SDI was conducted daily to ensure consistency in fouling tendency of the feed water.
  • If existing pre-filters block before trial filters, there were replaced with new filters and the trial continued until the trial pre-filter blocked. The aim is to provide total service life comparative data.
  • No coagulant or polyelectrolyte dosed during the period of the trial work.
  • Flow totaliser figures were recorded per filter in use to determine throughput before blockage occurs on each set of filters.

The Trial filter – Amazon SupaPleat FFC 24XP005-40XEA:

The trial filters as provided by Amazon Filters were an exact match physically to the incumbent product with no installation issues when installed in the existing vessels.

The SupaPleat FFC design incorporates an advanced pleated media which provides low clean differential pressure and high dirt capacity therefore offering exceptionally high flow capabilities.

The cartridge is manufactured using polypropylene hardware, end caps and internal support core. Thermal welding processes ensure the complete sealing of all components, thus eliminating adhesives and extractable and optimising cartridge integrity.

In-house developments have optimised the pleat pack ensuring rigidity is maintained at all flow rates. The filters have an absolute rating at 5µm (Beta ratio of 5000 (99.98% efficiency)).

Existing filter:

Little information is available on this filters performance; the filter is the original as supplied on the Italian built RO plant. Identified as a 5μm nominal filter offering Beta 100 (99% efficiency), concerns were raised as to its effectiveness in removing particles entering the downstream system.

The filter was shown to have a limited surface area and therefore minimal dirt holding capacity. In operation the pleats are found to stick together which prevents full utilisation of the filtration media.

The overall conclusion of the trial carried out reported that the Amazon SupaPleat FFC cartridge exceeded the life expectancy resulting in three to five times the volume passed before blockage.

Although the Amazon trial filter recorded a slightly higher clean dP than the incumbent filter, the Amazon SupaPleat FFC cartridge maintained the starting dP for an extended period before a dP increase was noticed.

The Amazon trial filters lasted three times longer than the incumbent filters therefore they presented a significant operational and maintenance cost saving.


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