- 14 February 2007 -

Whalebone inspires filter technology

A self-cleaning filter based on the attributes of a 'baleen', or whalebone, is now commercially available.

The Baleen Filter, which was patented by the University of South Australia , filters materials in the same way that some whales collect plankton, small fish and other marine organisms from the water during feeding. It uses the natural technique used by whales to keep their baleen clean and free from long-term deposits by combining a sweeping action of the tongue and the reversing of the water flows as the whales dive and re-surface during feeding, enable the whale to capture and strain food, then clean their baleen prior to the next dive.

According to the company's website, Baleen filters are very fine sieves designed to effortlessly separate matter from virtually all types of water streams including sewage, storm water and trade waste. The sieves are made from stainless steel and uses a specially selected woven wire screen-mesh within its design presented in planar form. The screen's mesh size gives the aperture size (or micron rating) of the filter unit.

The Baleen Filters can be used in traditionally difficult applications for removing any troublesome matter and 'bio-foulants' such as meat and byproducts industries - to remove paunch, hair, blood, fats and grease, food and beverage industries - to remove visible suspended matter and/or biomass, sewage & sewerage, to remove organic solids, tissue pulp and oil, town and city water supply - to prevent clogging of downstream filters or to polish treated waters and manufacturing and textile industries - to separate out lint and grit, precipitate or 'floc' inline.

The filter can remove 100% of suspended solids from the influent stream with a particle size greater than the screen aperture, excluding aggregate filtrate constituents and remove BOD from the influent stream that is directly associated with screened matter. It can also capture suspended solids from industrial and municipal wastewater streams in a spade-able or 'naturally' de-watered consistency.

www.baleenfilters.com