10 Common Industrial Filtration Problems and How to Solve Them

Every plant that has a filtration facility faces abrasive problems sooner or later. Most times, it is a filter that gets clogged too soon. Sometimes, it is a pressure gauge that keeps increasing numbers regardless of what goes on. The trouble with many of these problems is that they lose their secrecy once you know how to cope with them, but they can be quite expensive if neglected for a long time.

This time, I’m sharing a list of ten problems that keep cropping up in industrial filtration. I’ll also present the reasons for these troubles and ways of solving them.

1. Filters Clogging Too Fast

This is likely the most prevalent complaint. You put a new filter into practice only to find out that it gets clogged very quickly.

The main reason behind this tendency is that the filter’s micron rating doesn’t match the level of contamination in the facility. It means that if there’s more dirt, dust, or solid particles collecting inside the system than the filter can handle, then it’s going to be clogged regardless of how great the media is.

The first step to fix this issue is to check the contamination levels again to figure out if something has changed in your operations. If yes, you may need another stage of pre-filtration to remove most of the dirt before it reaches the main filter.

2. Pressure Drop That Won’t Level Off

It is normal for pressure drop to happen when the filter continues to be loaded up. However, it is considered abnormal to see a pressure drop increase steadily from the start, or observe that the pressure drop does not decline to the expected level.

This could imply that the filter used is underperforming, as it is not able to accept the flow rate passing through it. It can also suggest that the filtering medium does not suit this application or that there is some kind of minor blockage in the filtering line causing excessive flow through the filter.

Revisit your flow parameters. Air filtration systems use CFMs, while liquid filtration systems use GPMs. If your filter housing does not meet the specifications needed for the filtration system used, you will see that indicated in pressure drop data every single time.

3. Short Filter Life in Humid or Wet Environments

Cellulosic media tends to suffer in conditions of high humidity. It absorbs moisture, expands, and loses mechanical strength, and sometimes it simply disintegrates inside its casing.

If your application takes place in a humid atmosphere or in a process involving moisture, cellulosic media is probably not the right material to use. Synthetic media perform much better in humid conditions and do not deteriorate in this way. Although it is more expensive initially, it will save you a lot of money in the long run as well as avoid unexpected failures due to collapsed cellulosic media during the operation.

4. Chemical Damage to Filter Media

Certain acids, solvents, or oils can’t be processed by some media. The materials degrade, crack, or break down over time, resulting in fine-looking filters that no longer filter any particles.

In this case, you have to look into the issue before purchasing and installing the filter. Manufacturers provide information about the chemical compatibility of media. It’s not enough to know that a media is resistant to solvents; you have to find out the grades of media and the specific chemicals used in the processes.

The Bottom Line

Most filtration problems trace back to one of a few root causes: wrong media for the environment, wrong sizing for the flow rate, or a filter spec that hasn’t been updated since conditions changed. None of these are hard to fix once you know where to look. Checking your application details regularly, not just at initial setup, will catch most of these issues before they turn into downtime or damaged equipment.