Side Stream Filtration Solutions for Chilled Water and Water Glycol Cooling Systems

Water glycol solutions have a hard life. They start off as clean translucent fluids and, in many cases become a dirty, brown suspension within minutes of being introduced into a contaminated system.

The particulate matter that makes up the contamination can come from a variety of sources. Predominantly it tends to be ferrous particles from rust deposits, but can also be bacterial build up, other metallic particles such as plating corrosion, aluminium or brass, and plastic/rubber seal material.

Filtertechnik offers mobile and static side stream filtration solutions for cleaning up and maintaining cooling systems using water/ethylene glycol/propylene glycol mixes.

Our systems are designed as offline (side stream) filter systems and are self-contained “plug and play” solutions requiring minimal setup once located on site.

   FRB GLY240

Whilst heavily contaminated water/glycol-based cooling systems don’t really exhibit any major loss in thermal efficiency over a clean glycol, the risk associated with dirty glycol lies in the hidden maintenance costs, these include;

   Hard contaminants can cause impact damage to sensitive components such as heat exchangers and valves.
   Soft contaminants can cause build-up on pipe walls and components, blockages in heat exchangers, and increased load and wear on pumps.
   Organic contamination can lead to acrid smelling coolant and bacterial growth.
   Erosion of pipe walls, especially on 90° bends.
   Higher running costs.
   Increased risk of unscheduled downtime.

Our solution uses self-priming pumps, staged filtration, powerful magnets and UV treatment to remove dirt, contaminants and bacterial growth from the glycol mix.

The systems can be used in both open and closed-loop applications.

We have 3 standard designs, and also offers a bespoke design and build service for any application that doesn’t quite fit the “standard” offering.

The standard units are sized by flow rate:

50 L/min – suitable for systems up to 25,000 L

100 L/min – suitable for systems up to 50,000 L

250 L/min – suitable for systems in excess of 50,000 L

The filter housings used in our systems allow for tailoring of the filter element grades in order to achieve the quickest and most cost-effective clean-up of the fluid.  For example, in a heavily contaminated system, a low-cost bag filter used in conjunction with a powerful rare earth magnetic separator will remove the bulk of the large contaminant before employing a finer-grade cartridge filter to polish the fluid to the desired cleanliness level.

All units have multiple layers of safety built-in including electrical and mechanical over-pressure devices, filter-blocked indicators interlocked with the pump, and optional dry-run prevention.