SIEBEC will be introducing new filter technology at the Surface World show this year. Finishing found out what is on the horizon SIEBEC has been manufacturing filtration equipment for the Electroplating and Metal Finishing industries for over 50 years, and has grown into one of the foremost brands worldwide. From the very beginning the focus of the company’s products was for use with the aggressive acid and alkali processes within these industries, specifically the electroplating and anodising processes themselves, as well as pickle tanks in the Steel & Galvanising industries, and the very aggressive chemical-etching acids and very strong & hot caustic “Ardrox” cleaners in the Aerospace industries. However, within these industries there frequently arose the need to filter other processes, often less arduous and aggressive and predominantly water based or mildly acid/alkali, but for which SIEBEC’s core product range was simply over specified and consequently hard to justify on grounds of cost.

SIEBEC has always had a range of filtration products, under the brand name of WELTICO, marketed specifically to the continental water industry.  Now SIEBEC combines the high performance specification of its core products with the simplicity and economy of the WELTICO brand to produce a completely new range of simple, economic, and very cost-effective filter systems and pumps known as the Aquafiltre range specifically designed for the ever increasing need for process filtration within the Metal Finishing industries but now at a fraction of the cost.

The Aquafiltre range has been over two years in development, is probably the most extensive range commercially available today, and has been designed to offer a complete and interchangeable range of filtration and treatment methods.
The range of models start from just £295 for a complete filter system having a max flow rate of 5.5 m³/h through a single Aqua-Tec high-capacity re-usable pleated cartridge of 2.5 m² surface area, up to the very largest single filter system having a flow rate of 52 m³/h with a massive filtration capacity of 80 m² total surface area. The Aquafiltre range encompasses more than 30 system models based on the Aqua-Tec pleated cartridges alone, the largest single Aqua-Tec cartridge having a surface area of 20 m², offering huge dirt-holding capacities for very long service intervals.

In addition to the Aqua-Tec cartridges many of Aquafiltre system models are also capable of using a very wide range of alternative filtration and treatment methods including:

• Standard-size disposable filter cartridges, either Wound or Spun-bonded, in grades from 1 – 100 micron, in lengths of up to 30” long.
• Standard-size premium pleated, “absolute-rated” filter cartridges, from 1 up to 50 micron.
• Standard-size premium-Plus sub-micron “absolute-rated” pleated filter cartridges, from 1 micron down to 0.2 micron.
• Filter bags, from 1 micron up to 1000 micron for coarse pre-filtration and granular separation.
• The L-TECH high-capacity re-usable pleated cartridge in grades from 1 to 50 micron.
• Standard-size Carbon cartridges, either carbon block or carbon impregnated, for purification of organics contamination by adsorption, and removal of VOC’s and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
• A new range of Water Treatment Cartridges, for chlorine and chloramines reduction, hydrocarbon removal, heavy metal reduction, iron and nitrate removal, water softening and resin cartridges for potable and ultra-high purity water production, and bacteria removal including Cryptosporidium and Giardia cysts removal.
• Refillable canisters filled with either granular carbon for organics removal, or Ion Exchange Resins for removal of dissolved metals, water softening/treatment, high and ultra-high purity water production.

The Aquafiltre chambers themselves have been ergonomically designed for maximum simplicity, having a minimum number of parts, as a result of a huge investment in plastic moulding technology. Many of the filter chambers are a one-piece polypropylene moulding, having no welded or glued sections, with either an easy- to-remove screwed down lid or having a single vee-clamp. No multiple lid clamp-bolts, no internal compression springs. All multiple standard-size cartridges inside an Aquafiltre chamber are individually secured and sealed on knife-edge seats for minimum risk of bypass. The chambers themselves have been designed specifically with large bore inlet and outlet ports for minimal pressure drop making the Aquafiltre chambers ideal for in-line filtration where pressure drop is critical.

For use with the Aquafiltre range of filter systems SIEBEC have specifically developed a new range of self-priming, low-cost, plastic centrifugal pumps, the Aquafiltre^® Pumps, in a wide range of models having flow rates from 7 to 77 m³/h, all of which are fully capable of being installed on their own anywhere where water and mild acids/alkali’s need to be pumped from A to B, and are available with a chemical-duty upgrade package for more severe/aggressive chemicals and including operating temperatures up to 90˚C. In addition, and to improve and extend their service life, most of the Aquafiltre^® Pump models incorporate an easy-to-remove suction strainer within the pump body itself, to protect the impeller and internals from damage caused by objects being sucked into them. Plus, the Aquafiltre Pumps have been designed with simplicity in mind, for easy servicing and maintenance, by again involving a minimum number of parts and with no special tools required. The entire pump body is a single one-piece plastic moulding which is attached to a back-pullout standard metric motor by just four bolts.

Among the many applications to which the Aquafiltre range is the cost-effective choice are:

• Water Rinse Tanks.
• Effluent Discharge.
• Water Treatment for process needs.
• Spray Rinse tanks/Washing plants.
• Machine Tool Coolants.
• NDT plants.
• EDM.