Seven inputs, and what each one changes
Most inquiries arrive with one of two things: a drawing of an element that is already running, or a process that needs filtering and no drawing at all. Both routes reach the same question — what is this element actually being asked to survive? Seven inputs answer it, and each one changes something concrete in the design.
1. Operating temperature
Continuous temperature, peak temperature, and whether the element is cleaned in service. This is the first filter on the alloy list, and it decides the weld procedure: what holds at 300 °C may not hold at 600 °C.
2. Medium and corrosion
What flows, at what concentration, and which aggressive species are present — chlorides and acids matter most. This is what selects between 304 or 316L stainless steel, titanium and nickel alloys.
3. Pressure and differential pressure
Operating pressure, plus the differential pressure the element sees in service. Both feed into the mechanical design of the element and the support layers behind the filtration medium.
4. Contaminant and particle size distribution
What is being removed, at what concentration, and the particle size distribution if it has ever been analysed. This fixes the pore size and the number of filtration layers.
5. Required rating and test targets
The micron rating the duty calls for, plus any bubble point or air permeability target already written into your specification. That figure becomes the one every batch is measured against.
6. Flow rate and duty
Flow per element, whether the line runs continuously or in batches, and how many elements the housing holds. This sets the filtration area and the geometry — pleated, cylindrical, disc or plate.
7. Drawing, OEM part number or sample
Geometry and connection detail. A drawing is the fastest route. A part number works when the element is a standard one. A used element we can measure works when neither exists.
What each media route can hold
Two media routes cover most duties, and they differ in more than price:
- Sintered fiber felt — filtration rating 0.5–50 μm, built into pleated cartridges and cylinders. Chosen where dirt-holding capacity matters and the medium is finer.
- Sintered wire mesh — filtration rating 2–200 μm, built into rigid cylinders, cones and discs. Chosen where the element has to hold its shape under backwash or pulse-jet cleaning.
- Both routes run in 304 / 316L stainless steel, titanium and nickel alloys, and both serve up to ≤600 °C.
What we make, and what we buy in
It is worth being exact about this, because it is the first thing a buyer should verify about any element maker:
- Made in our plant: the wire mesh is woven on our own looms; forming (pleating, rolling, discing, flanging), welding of end caps, adapters and support layers, and the batch testing all happen on one site.
- Bought in: the metal fiber sintered felt and the multi-layer sintered mesh are purchased to our specification from qualified producers. There is no sintering step in our plant — the pore structure inside those media is set by the producer, and we say so before quoting rather than after.
What arrives with the elements
- Bubble point, air permeability and precision measured on every batch in our own testing lab, with the record travelling with the dispatch.
- ISO 9001 is the quality management system we hold.
- EN 10204 3.1 material certificates are not something we issue. SEMI-grade cleanroom packaging, 9-log documentation and ASME U-stamp work are outside our scope. If your project needs any of them, say so early and we will tell you plainly whether it is a fit.
Cross-referencing an element you already run
Roughly 70% of the elements we build are replacements: the customer sends a drawing, an OEM part number or a used element, and we match the geometry, the medium and the connection so it drops into the housing already on the line. We cross-reference Pall (Profile II, Ultipleat), Porvair, Fuji Filter, Nichidai Filter and Norman Filter elements among others. Send the part number and we confirm the equivalent before quoting.
Send the inputs, or send the drawing
Either route reaches the same engineering review. Drawing review takes 3–5 working days, samples run 20–30 days and first production 30–60 days. Send your inputs through the contact form and an engineer will come back with the media route we recommend and a quotation.