Filtration
Self-Cleaning Starch Filter System Boosts Paper Product
By Del Williams*
Jun 16, 2004 - 10:37:00 PM

Westchester, IL -- Corn Products International, Inc., a major starch supplier to the corrugating and paper industries, recently introduced a technology in the U.S. that is a cost-effective starch spray solution that dramatically boosts paper strength while cutting fiber use by replacing much of the fiber with starch. In the starch spraying system, process water mixes with starch to create slurry that flows into a run tank, which is sprayed onto a sheet former.

One key to making the starch spraying system work, however, was implementing the proper filtering system. "Getting the filtering right was critical, especially for closed systems where process water contains a lot of suspended trash," said Doc Kinney, Corn Products International’s technical director for its U.S. business. "Dirt, grit, metal shavings, anything on the floor of a paper mill that goes into the drain winds up in process water and needs to be filtered. Otherwise, it will plug up the spray nozzles, and could degrade paper quality, destroy sheets traveling at 4,000 ft./min., or even the paper forming wire that can cost upwards of $100,000 to replace."

Initially Corn Products used two, basket screen, disposable filters at a commercial trial location, where fresh water was mixed with process water in a 50/50 ratio. The basket filters didn’t have the surface area to contend with the amount of trash in the water and required near continuous manual cleaning.

"We couldn’t keep the basket filters clean," said Kinney. "Their surface area was too small and their throughput too low. Every thirty minutes a basket strainer plugged."

In his search for a starch spraying filtration solution, Kinney turned to RPA Process Technologies. After discussing Corn Products’ process goals, Kinney - along with RPA Process - determined a number of criteria for the proper filtration system. The filters would have to be self-cleaning, self-contained, maintenance free, operated by PLC, and able to handle 150 gpm throughput as well as filter out any foreign material greater than 50 microns.

Based on these criteria, Kinney implemented two RPA Process DCF 1600 filters on each starch spraying system, one for primary filtering of water and another for secondary starch slurry filtration.

"The DCF self-cleaning filters are a night and day improvement over labor-intensive disposable filters," said Kinney. "The filters have a much higher throughput, a larger surface area, and automated PLC-programmable clean and purge cycles that can be tailored to specific water configurations at each paper mill. They are worry-free and virtually maintenance-free so there’s no lost production, and no need to have staff on hand to watch over them. That’s particularly important at low margin paper mills that need to operate efficiently 24/7 year-round."

For more information on self-cleaning filter technology, contact:
RPA Process Technologies, Inc.
9151 Shaver Road
Portage, MI 49024
Telephone: 866-867-2893 toll free
Fax 269-323-2403
Web site: www.rpaprocess.com

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