Filter materials: types, characteristics, purpose

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

For the needs of industry, agriculture and individual households, new materials are constantly being developed to filter water, oil, gases and other substances. For cleaning to be of high quality, such products must have certain characteristics.

Last generation filter materials were made from natural ingredients. But today, the production of filters from synthetic substances has become more relevant. This approach allows you to create inexpensive materials, the filtering capacity of which is an order of magnitude higher than that of cotton, wool, etc.

Constantly increasing requirements are put forward for the modern production of such products. They must filter various substances as finely as possible, and also be suitable for a wide range of industries. Versatility and quality characterize modern cleaners. What types of filter materials exist, you need to consider in more detail.

General concept

Modern filter material for water, gas, aerosols and other substances can be created from woven, non-woven and polymer membranes, metal meshes, etc. Similar productswidely used in mining metallurgy, chemical, engineering industry, manufacturing, processing industry. Also, consumers of cleaning structures are medicine, the food industry, as well as ordinary households.

The scope of filter materials is wide. Therefore, there are no universal cleaners that would suit every substance and process. Some fibers withstand the influence of an aggressive chemical environment well, while others allow even the smallest particles of contaminants to be more thoroughly filtered out. According to the operating conditions, various cleaners are created.

Types of woven fabrics

There are many popular substances that act as a cleaner. They are characterized by certain qualities. The most common are: belting fabric, polyamide, polyester thread, filter cloth, sickle. Fiberglass is also used. They are made from natural, synthetic, combined components.

In the first case, cleaners are not afraid of the aggressive influence of the filtering medium. However, the degree of their purification is low. Due to their natural origin, it is not possible to create sufficiently thin threads.

Synthetics, on the contrary, allows you to more thoroughly filter out small particles of contaminants. The thickness of threads produced today can reach 20-200 nm. But such substances are easily destroyed in an aggressive environment, under loads.

Combined materials have absorbed the qualitiessynthetics and natural ingredients.

Natural materials

Belting is a cotton fabric filter. It is most often used in the food industry and pharmacy. The material is intended for cleaning substances with a temperature not exceeding +100ºС.

Glass fabric also falls into the group of natural materials. The characteristics of this substance allow it to be used as a heater. Depending on the weaving of the fibers, a certain degree of filtration is achieved. The more threads, the stronger the fabric.

Also, sickle is a natural cleansing material. It is made from cotton or linen. This material features a rare weave.

Outwardly, it looks like gauze. Serpyanka is used in the food industry to filter milk, thick syrups.

Filtromitcal also consists of cotton. This is a coarser fabric that is a bit like belting in its properties.

Synthetics

Synthetic cleaners are most often used for industrial needs. One of the most famous fabrics is polyamide fabric. It removes impurities from iron ore concentrates. Filter materials of this type are used at operating temperatures not exceeding +90ºС and pH 4-10.

Synthetic fabrics are polyester cleaners. There are many types of them that differ in density and conditions of use. All synthetic fibers use a special weave pattern.

It affects the filtering qualities of similar products. These types of cleaners are used by both industry and the food industry.

Depending on the weave configuration, the filters can handle both liquids and gases, slurries and oils.

Using synthetics

Polyamide fabric is known for its special appearance. The nylon thread is intertwined, forming diagonal stripes on the surface. Such material is most often used in the mining and processing industries.

Polyester cleaners have a wider scope. This is due to the difference in web density (from 316 to 980 g/m²). Technical heat-treated polyester is the best-known filter material for ventilation.

One of the fabrics that can claim to be universal is milk lavsan. It is water repellent and sun resistant. This material prevents the formation of harmful microorganisms and, if properly processed, does not deform or sag. Due to these qualities, it is used both in the food industry and for gas filtration.

Non-woven fabrics

There are combined types of fabrics that use both synthetic and natural fibers. The best known in this field is the needle-punched type nonwoven fabric. Its base is polyester.

Most often, these cleaners are used in the filtration system of cars. This material is also widely used inindustry. Needle-punched non-woven cleaner is an environmentally friendly product. It does not harm the environment and human he alth. It does not cause allergic reactions.

Also one of the advantages of this fabric is its resistance to high loads. In some industrial cycles, it is required to provide a margin of safety for the cleaner. If the load on the system increases, the material must withstand such conditions.

Improved nonwoven fabrics

Felt was the first non-woven material for cleaning appliances. He was not without certain shortcomings. To increase its strength and filtration quality, the fibers were treated with resins. At the same time, synthetic non-woven filter materials were pierced with needles of a certain diameter.

In recent years, significant changes have taken place in the production of these materials. Felt was replaced with extruded air-filled polymer fibers. They have a much thinner thickness than the modified natural filler. This made it possible to finely purify various substances.

This material is used to create multi-layer "sandwich" canvases. This allows you to increase the strength of the cleaners. Such canvases have a three-dimensional structure in which the layers have different properties and are held together in a certain way. These are complex materials.

Production of fabric filters

The largest domestic production of fabric-type filter materials is located in Moscowareas. This is CJSC Voskresensk-Tekhnotkan, which began work in 1858. The enterprise produced technical fabric, and over time, the production of filter cloth was established.

The company produces a wide range of synthetic, combined natural materials. The latest technologies are used in technological cycles. This allows CJSC Voskresensk-Tekhnotkan to take a leading position in the market. The production uses modern technology, which allows to produce products with a surface density of 250 to 2500 g/m².

The company's products are used in various areas of the national economy. But most of all, his paintings are in demand in the sugar sub-industry.

Production of nonwovens

The manufacture of non-woven cleaners is a complex, high-tech process. It is successfully used in our country. The most famous enterprise of this profile is the Inza Plant of Filter Materials. The manufacturer uses mechanical technology. Cloths are made in a needle-punched, canvas-stitched way.

The scope of such products is very wide. Non-woven materials are used starting from the filtration of substances in non-ferrous metallurgy and ending with air purification in the production of cement, flour.

The second largest enterprise of the presented profile is Komiteks OJSC. Its range includes more than 50 types of non-woven fabrics. They are actively used to filter water, gas, technical liquids, wastewater, lubricants.materials and food liquids.

Membranes

Non-woven material due to its qualities is increasingly used by modern industry. However, membrane-type materials are becoming more and more popular. Their production began relatively recently.

Membranes are used in microfiltration processes. With their appearance, the use of reverse osmosis technology is associated. To eliminate the phenomenon of pressure drop, the membranes are made from durable polymers.

These are complex devices. Their development took place in two directions at once. On the one hand, materials were required with minimum pore size, fixed size and uniform distribution over the surface.

On the other hand, scientists have been looking for technologies that allow membranes to work at different pressures. Most often they are used to purify water. But in parallel with this, technologies for the production of such membranes for aggressive media and high temperatures are being developed. Cleaners for such purposes are made of metal and ceramics.

Air, gas filtration

Filter materials for air and gas purification are very diverse. Strict requirements are put forward for this category of canvases. Legislation is constantly raising the standards for cleaning up such an environment, due to which the development of technologies in this direction has taken place at a rapid pace.

Most often, melts of polyphenylene sulfide rubbers are used for such purposes. Antistatic type filters received great attention from scientists. Dust in a gaseous environment is electrified. ATin some cases, it causes an explosion.

Filters that purify hot gases are also being developed. For this, materials such as ceramics and metal are used. Also, modern production requires removing not only solid particles of dust from the gas, but also toxic substances. For this, a combination of materials with absorbents (activated carbon) is used. This allows you to achieve a high degree of purification of air masses and gaseous environments.

Having considered what filter materials are, you can understand the main trends in the development of such technologies. They are constantly being improved to meet the requirements of modern production.