Any of our projects begins with the design of the filtration equipment. This part is the most important to correctly define various aspects, such as how the filters are going to be dimensionally and how their manufacturing process will be.
For this reason, it is very important to have data of the process where the equipment is going to be installed. We must have at least the following information:
- – Design pressure and temperature -> Information necessary for the mechanical design
- – Fluid -> To evaluate suitable materials and chemical compatibility
- – Flow -> To size correctly the equipment for an efficient operation
- – Filtration -> To evaluate the necessary filtration grade for the application based on the process needs
- – Process -> Know where the equipment will be located and what its function will be
These are the basic data necessary to begin the design of all our filtration equipment, although the more input data available (material, Ap max., pipes, fluid characteristics, etc.), the better it will allow us to evaluate the need and adjust design.
Once the above information has been defined, we begin with the selection of the most appropriate type of filtration equipment for the application based on the defined parameters and our expertise.
After defining the type of filtration equipment, we begin with the mechanical calculation and dimensional design.
In the calculation part, we carry out mechanical calculations of thicknesses and loads to verify that the selected materials meet the pressure-temperature requirements. We also perform finite element calculations (FEA) for stress or fluid dynamics to optimize the design in parameters such as the pressure loss. All this calculations using the appropriate software and based on the best-known pressure vessel design standards such as ASME VIII Div.1 and 2 or EN13445.
The parameters considered in the calculations also define how the equipment will be manufactured:
- · What welding procedure and method we are going to use (if it is a fabricated equipment)
- · What NDT tests are going to be carried out on welded joints
- · How the pressure test will be carried out to verify tightness
- · What manufacturing processes will be involved in manufacturing (machining, welding, testing, assembly, painting, etc.)
After the calculation we continue with dimensional design, where in addition, we also consider pipe sizes, “face to face” and base to “centreline” dimensions, space available for installation, anchors, insulation, space for maintenance, etc. For this part of the design we use 3D modeling software, which allows us to accurate design and verify any aspect to ensure components fit together perfectly.
Once the general design is finished, we create general drawings to be sent to the client and receive their approval.
Once the client’s approval has been received, we begin with the detailed design, we make all the detail drawings for each component individually, necessary for the manufacture of the assembly, as well as our production documentation, where we define the tests to be carried out and quality controls during the manufacturing process.