Capral Aluminium

A 25-year-old screen filter at Capral's Campbellfield plant was due for replacement, but the pipework around it could not move. An FW200 High Pressure filter went in at 212 m³/hr and 12 bar — with fabricated "S" bends doing the fitting.

Capral is Australia's largest producer and distributor of aluminium plates, sheets and coil treadplate, and manufactures windows, doors, framing systems, security products and curtain wall systems. The Campbellfield plant filters its process water at 212 m³/hr and 12 bar.

The existing automatic screen filtration system was around 25 years old and had reached the end of its service life.

Replacing it was not a straight swap. The surrounding pipework and electrical cabinets were fixed in place, and the replacement filter had to sit elevated above them. Bringing the new filter in at the existing height would have meant redesigning the pipework — expensive, and disruptive to a plant that needs its process water.

The other constraint was pressure. The line runs at 12 bar, which rules out most screen filters.

A Filtaworx FW200 (8") Fully Automatic Self-Cleaning Filter, High Pressure variant, rated to 16 bar — comfortable margin over the 12 bar line.

Specification as installed:

• 200 micron fine screen
• 316 stainless steel construction with a stainless steel cover lid
• Electric controls, backwashing on pressure differential and time
• Rated operating pressure 16 bar against a 12 bar system

To solve the elevation problem without touching the existing pipework, two "S" bends were specially fabricated for the installation — Table "F" flange to match the existing pipework, Table "E" flange on the outlet at the mating face of the new filter. The filter sits at the height the site required, and the original pipework stayed where it was.