October 29, 2019
Compressed air is a vital asset to many companies and industries for daily business operations, and creating products. While compressed air is important, it is also dirty and almost always needs to be cleaned. Depending on the application, you will need your compressed air to be cleaned at a certain level. Some applications don't require much contaminate removal, while others follow strict OSHA standards to reach a certain quality of air.
How do I know if I need a filter for my application?
It is almost always recommended to have some level of filtration for any compressed air application. Regardless of the application, the contaminates in compressed are are harmful to some type of equipment, tool or product that is downstream of the air compressor. In an automotive shop, compressed air powers pneumatic tools and fills tires. There is a common misconception that it doesn't matter if this air contains dirt or other small particles. However, over time the contaminates and dirt will rust and corrode tools that are constantly using the dirty air. It is also less efficient to fill tires with air when it is contaminated. If there is a paint booth in your automotive shop, you will also want further filtration in the form of oil-removing filters that keep the oil that is inside of your compressor from mixing with the paint.
How do I know what type of filter I need for my application?
There are 4 main filter styles that Pneumatech offers: threaded filters, flanged filters, carbon filters and high-pressure filters.
Threaded filters are basic filters that are easy to maintain that have die case aluminum housings with special anodized treatment outside and inside to protect against corrosion. Pneumatech's line of threaded filters come in coalescing, particulate and adsorber options.
Flanged filters are higher grade filters that have a special coating insuring a housing lifetime of at least 20 years and also have higher performance. These filters also come in coalescing, particulate and adsorber options and have up to 10,594 nominal cfm flow.
Carbon filters are high-efficiency filters that are capable of removing hydrocarbons, odors and oil vapors from compressed air. When combined with Pneumatech oil coalescing filters, these filters can prodce Class 1 air according to ISO 8573-1:2010.
High pressure filters handle high PSI levels coming from the air compressor and are used in high pressure applications. These filters have the maximum contaminant removal using highly efficient glass fiber and fleece media. These filters allow low pressure losses, increased energy savings and lower operating costs.
Within these 4 categories, there are 6 filter types for removing different types of contaminates:
General purpose/coalescing filters should be used for operating pneumatic tools, packaging machines, actuators and other similar tasks. High-performance coalescing filters and oil vapor/odor removal filters should be used for operating paint booths, air bearings, air gauging equipment, bottling actuators, etc. Carbon filters should be used when the air needs to be oil-free for the most sensitive of operations. This would include pharmaceutical applications, food packaging, electronics manufacturing and food manufacturing.
If you have questions on which filter would be best for your application, please Contact Us. You can browse all of Pneumatech's compressed air filters HERE.
Give us a call at 803-817-5738 or email us at [email protected]