Tissue Manufacturer Replaced Two Basket Strainers with One Self-Cleaning Filter, which Resulted in Greater Profits

(PRWEB) May 19, 2006 -- The basket strainers limitations required constant operator attention (24/7) due to the need to manually clean the unit. This took precious time out of the employee's day to exclusively monitor the basket strainers, and then clean them whenever necessary.

In addition, the chances of large glue particles migrating into the product stream were increased due to the inability of the screen to automatically detect the unwanted material, and then make internal adjustments to remove them.

This many times required the raw material to be filtered several times to ensure the large particles would not migrate into the spray nozzles. The combination of all factors resulted in lower profits for the entire facility.
   
The Tissue manufacturer discovered that one self-cleaning filter could replace their costly, maintenance intensive basket strainers. They found that the filter eliminated the need for an employee to monitor and clean the basket screens, which increased the length of their run time.

In addition, due to the implementation of the self-cleaning filter, the raw materials only needed to be filtered once, rather than multiple times. This permitted them to increase their profitability!

SITUATION
   
To begin, a Tissue Manufacturer had been having problems with their spray nozzles clogging due to large glue particles migrating through the production line. In addition, due to the clogging of the spray nozzles, lesser quality end product was sneaking through which mandated the need to filter the raw materials time and time again.

At first they thought the answer was the use of two basket strainers positioned within the manufacturing line to reduce glue particle migration. However, once the strainers were placed they noticed shorter run times, lesser end product, as well as another escalating cost -- employee overhead.

Unfortunately, the company had only succeeded in transitioning the issue of the glue particles clogging from the spray nozzles to the clogging of the basket strainers. Worse yet, the strainers had to be constantly monitored 24/7, as well as require a dedicated employee to manually clean each screen when it became clogged. They also had to filter the raw material several times to ensure a well-filtered (clean) stream. Therefore, they were out the cost of the employee, valuable raw materials, as well as the fact that overall production time was lengthened.

* Run time: The run time of the line was decreased due to the need to clean the screen each time the filter screen was clogged. This resulted in lengthening of overall production time, which flew in the face of their lean manufacturing process goals.
   
* Costs: The need to designate one employee to monitor -- and subsequently clean -- the screens increased the cost of production. And, they had to re-filter materials several times to catch the unwanted glue particles. If this is not bad enough, if some larger particles slipped thru the system the spray nozzles would clog which triggered additional costs.

* Profits: The Company had to continuously monitor the basket strainers; which was taking away much needed resources from other areas of production. It was necessary to clean the basket screens several times per day, and consequently employees had to establish whether the raw materials that were just filtered, required additional filtering.

When all the issues were analyzed together they identified a significant decrease in their profitability. Subsequently, it was determined that they needed the advice of a filtration expert. The company turned to Ask Filter Man at Ronningen-Petter to determine if there was a better filtration solution that would address their concerns.

SOLUTION

Ronningen-Petter analyzed their situation, and determined that one DCF-800 self cleaning filter could replace their two basket strainers.

The Ronningen-Petter DCF self-cleaning filter is a closed system that is not open to the atmosphere, relying on pump pressure (not gravity) to filter liquids. This filter would tackle their shortened run time, monitoring issues, and escalating employee/raw materials costs that resulted in lower profits. Their headaches could be handled with one self cleaning filtration unit.

The DCF self-cleaning filter is based on a simple concept: cylindrical stainless steel housing contains a filter screen; unfiltered liquids enter the inlet; solids are deposited on the interior surface of the filtration media; and filtered fluid exits at the outlet. This enables the filter to be completely enclosed, and run automatically with minimal operator intervention.

The Paper Processing application details are as follows:

Model:    DCF-800
Liquid:    Water Based Glue
Retention:     230 micron
Pressure:     10 psi (0.69 bar)
Flow Rate:     5 gpm (18.9 l/min)
Viscosity:     1.4 cps
Contaminant: Paper Fiber

RESULTS

Due to this new self-cleaning filtration system, the need for basket strainers was eliminated, as well as the need for employees to monitor them. And, the secondary filtration of raw materials was unnecessary. This resulted in approximately 10/hours/week labor savings and enabled their run times to be longer.

Most importantly, because the Ronningen-Petter DCF-800 was placed prior to the glue application nozzles it eradicated any large glue particles filtering thru to the next stage, which were the spray nozzles. The costs for extra spray nozzles, employee overhead, and re-filtration of raw materials were eliminated.

Impressively, the customer ended up purchasing a second DCF-800 because of the success of the first.

-- by Ask Filter Man

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