The Filtration of Process Water and Its Importance in the Petroleum Industry, Section 4: How to Select the Right Filter and Reduce Your Waste Disposal Costs
The objective of any filter is not to remove all particulate from the fluid stream. The size of particulate to be removed should be determined by the quality objective or system protection requirements. Removing particulate below the level identified for a specific system is a costly and unnecessary exercise with little or no return on investment.
(PRWEB) August 16, 2005 -- Will the stream be reintroduced into the process? If so, what contaminate levels will yield cost effective efficiency? The residual level of solids in the product filtrate will vary for each application. Understanding the limitations that varying solids levels will impose on the process is essential to determine the cost benefits of filtration systems. It is important to utilize filtration expertise along with process knowledge to gain the most from a filtration system.
Protecting a process through filtration has many more variables to consider. A fundamental question is what size particle can cause erosion in downstream equipment. Another is at what level of solids will deposits build up in the low, slow flow areas.
Two other important factors to consider when designing or selecting a filtration system are environmental/safety concerns and waste disposal costs. Environmental regulations governing fugitive emissions have become much more stringent in recent decades, and will be even more rigorous in the future.
In the United States, ultra low sulfur diesel and gasoline fuel requirement become effective in 2004/2005. Companies are also faced with increasing worries over lawsuits from workers exposed to hazardous materials and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Waste disposal costs have risen dramatically in recent years, partially because of the stricter environmental regulations. The following discussion provides an overview or current technologies available for both disposable and cleanable filter systems.
The next article (section 5) will examine disposable and cleanable filter media, and what the differences are between the two.
by Ask Filter Man
For questions about industrial filtration, please visit the Ask Filter Man at http://www.Ronningen-Petter.com/Ask-Filter-Man-Blog.asp
If you would like to discuss this filtration solution with one of Ronningen-Petter's highly-trained Applications Specialists, please contact us at http://www.Ronningen-Petter.com/ContactUs/Contact-Us.asp
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