2026-10-29
A major chemical manufacturing facility in Sumatra, Indonesia, specializes in liquid resins for exterior waterproofing and epoxy flooring. The facility’s raw material circulation system handles a total flow rate of 1,100 m³/h, conveying viscous resin raw materials mixed with curing agent residues and polymer gel particles.
Previously, the plant relied on disposable melt-blown cartridge filters upstream of the reactors. Because resin is inherently viscous, unfiltered solid particulates rapidly eroded pump impellers and clogged narrow reactor feed nozzles. Moreover, particulates trapped inside the resin led to uneven curing and surface imperfections in finished products, depressing market value.
Driven by booming construction demand across Southeast Asia, the facility’s resin lines operated at continuous full capacity. This strain exposed severe operational bottlenecks:
High Operational Overhead: Rapid cartridge clogging required frequent replacements and generated heavy waste disposal expenses.
Costly Production Interruptions: Line shutdowns during filter changes led to batch scrapings of partially polymerized resin.
Labor Shortages in Harsh Conditions: On-site maintenance was exceptionally difficult under Sumatra's high-temperature, high-humidity tropical environment with local technician shortages.
To solve these challenges, the client sought an automated, self-cleaning metallic filtration solution to deliver zero-downtime operation, eliminate single-use cartridge consumables, reduce manual maintenance, and safeguard resin quality.
Frequent Line Shutdowns & High Material Scrap Rates: Disposable cartridges had low dirt-holding capacity and blinded completely every 8 hours. Replacing cartridges required isolating the circulation loop and halting the line for 5 hours per event. Static resin left inside reactors over-polymerized and had to be discarded, resulting in massive raw material losses.
Prohibitive Consumable & Hazardous Waste Costs: Cartridge replacements cost approximately $20,000 per month. Additionally, resin-contaminated used cartridges qualified as hazardous waste, incurring substantial local disposal surcharges.
Intense Manual Labor in Tropical Environments: Cartridge replacement and manual vessel cleaning required two dedicated operators per shift. High heat and humidity created harsh working conditions, while hiring and retaining skilled local technicians posed a continuous challenge.
Safety Risks & Lack of Monitoring: Legacy vessels lacked differential pressure (DP) monitoring. Operators gauged filter clogging solely by visual outlet flow. Complete blockage risked line over-pressurization, resin leaks, and chemical spills that were hazardous and difficult to remediate.
To handle Sumatra’s tropical environment and viscous resin properties, LEFILTER’s overseas engineering team configured a parallel filtration system comprising three LFZS Series Automatic Brush-Type Self-Cleaning Filters.
Acid and Alkali Corrosion-Resistant Build: Constructed from single-piece forged AISI 316L stainless steel housings to resist long-term chemical corrosion from resins and curing agents under tropical ambient conditions.
High-Precision Wedge Wire Screen: Equipped with 100 µm precision stamped wedge wire metallic screens featuring high mechanical strength and exceptional differential pressure tolerance to capture curing residues and gel particulates.
Continuous Online Brush-Cleaning Mechanism: Features a 360-degree rotating stainless steel brush driven by an electric motor. When screen loading reaches a pre-set differential pressure of 0.14 MPa, the system automatically initiates a 30-second brush-cleaning and bottom-flushing cycle without interrupting main line flow. While one unit flushes, the other two continue full operation, guaranteeing continuous 24/7 supply to the reactors.
Smart DCS Integration: Includes a bilingual (English/Chinese) PLC control cabinet with a standard Modbus interface, connecting into the plant’s central DCS. Managers can remotely monitor real-time DP, backwash logs, and system alarms while adjusting cleaning thresholds on the fly.
Rapid Overseas Delivery: LEFILTER completed design verification, resin-immersion testing, anti-corrosion coating, pressure testing, and ocean freight shipment in just 10 days, seamlessly matching the client's plant retrofit schedule.
Operating continuously for over 14 months, the LFZS automatic brush filtration system has delivered outstanding operational and financial performance:
Equipment Protection & Material Savings: Solid particulate interception stabilized at 96%, reducing pump impeller wear and reactor nozzle clogging by 92%. Reduced batch scrapings yielded over $108,000 in annual raw material savings.
Eliminated Consumables & Lowered Overhead: Fully automated online self-cleaning eliminated manual cartridge replacements entirely. Dedicated site labor was reduced by 50%. The combined savings from zero consumable purchases, eliminated hazardous waste disposal, and reduced labor total $61,000 annually.
Durable Capital Investment: The heavy-duty 316L wedge wire screen is fully cleanable and reusable, with an engineered design service life of 12 years, delivering a rapid return on investment.
Improved Product Quality: Stable particle retention minimized surface defects on finished resins, boosting overall product yield and enhancing market competitiveness across Southeast Asia.
sales02@xxfilter.com
