RONNINGEN-PETTER UNVEILS HIGH-FLOW FILTRATION SYSTEM.

Ronningen-Petter, Portage, Mich., a division of the Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV), has introduced a new high-flow filtration system, in an unusual circular configuration, for removing solid contaminants from water and water-like fluids.

The new system, designated the AFR Series, can process flow rates as high as 2,000 gallons per minute (7550 l/m) per system at pressures up to 250 psi (17 bar). According to the company, the new AFR Series filter design offers greatly increased capacity in a compact structure that also lowers installation and operating costs, compared to conventionally designed filters for the same applications.

The unique circular configuration features an indexing flow diverter that rotates from station to station, as required, to take a single station off-line for backwash cleaning. After a station is cleaned it is returned to service and the diverter rotates to the next station. This arrangement allows a single drain valve to serve the entire multi-element filter, rather than separately controlled valves at each filter element as in conventional backwashing filters.

According to Pete Scovic, president of Ronningen-Petter, the AFR design was driven by customer demand for an automated clean-in-place system with large volume capacity that involved fewer components and a smaller footprint. "In the past," Scovic said, "the norm was to arrange filter elements in a linear fashion, often involving banks of multiplexed elements. Each bank contained its own complement of valves, fittings and other components. The AFR changes all that; a rotary actuated assembly revolves to backwash a single element while the other elements remain on line. By eliminating all these dedicated valves and fittings, we've been able to pare the cost way down without compromising system operation."

The new AFR Series filters can accommodate Ronningen-Petter's exclusive seven-tube-cluster ACCUFLUX(TM) media, in retentions ranging between 2.0 and 600 microns, which dramatically increases filter capacity. The seven tubes that make up the ACCUFLUX media element have a combined surface area total of 791 square inches (5100 cm2), which capture more particulate matter to extend the time between required backwashing and increase productivity.

In addition, greater open area increases process fluid flow through the filter by as much as 30% over conventional wedge wire or perforated screen media. The AFR Series filters can also accommodate traditional single tubular media elements, or the Ronningen-Petter tri-cluster (three tube) filter element in retention ranges from 1.0 to 1650 microns.

For additional information on the new AFR Series of high-flow backwashable filters, contact Ronningen-Petter, P.O. Box 188, 9151 Shaver Road, Portage, MI 49081-0188, USA, telephone [phone] or [phone]; Fax [phone];