The Porvair Filtration Group has provided an offset printing ink manufacturer with the technical support and equipment to set up a digital ink filtration system as part of its new manufacturing line and product expansion strategy.
The manufacturer supplies inks to North African and Middle East regions and the inks are used to print on PET, PE, OPP, PVC films, aluminium foil and paper for food, pharmaceuticals, detergents, confectionary and cosmetics packaging.
The customer had rigorous requirements for a clean filtration system, which had to be free from the process, product and environment contamination from fibres, gels, agglomerates and oversized pigments.
Porvair's customer decided to develop a lab scale process from which it was able to develop the process to large-scale production.
The key function for Porvair was to offer the identical features in simple lab-scale filters. It provided the customer with lab scale filters (Microcap capsule filters with 5 and 10μm Klearfil and 1μm Polyfil) to simulate the full-scale production performance. The scaled-up process was a two-stage system comprising of either a 1 or 5μm Klearfil or Polyfil pre-filter stage and final polishing Polyfil 1μm stage.
The pressure filter vessels recommended were 316L SS to ensure thorough cleaning after every batch. All seals and critical components ensured compatibility with the solvent based inks.