Regardless of what industry you're involved in, saving money is often a priority. While there are plenty of ways that you can cut costs and save money in your business, many of them end up hurting you or your employees. Therefore, it's best to look for cost-saving methods that help other aspects of your business.
If your work involves any type of filtration, the best way to save money while improving your business is by optimizing filtration processes. When you optimize your filtration systems, it leads to increased efficiency, less energy consumption, significant cost savings, and a better product.
Whether you're in the food and beverage industry, petroleum production, pharmaceuticals, or a number of other industries, you rely on filtration systems to do your job. If your current filtration process and system lack operational efficiency, durability, and environmental sustainability, you've come to the right place.
What Does Optimizing the Filtration Process Entail?
Industrial filtration systems are responsible for removing dirt, dust, and other sources of contamination from whatever is flowing through the filter. That could mean purifying gases, chemicals, air, or liquids such as water, petroleum, chemicals, dyes, and more. Proper filtration plays a critical role in protecting machinery and producing the purest product possible, regardless of what it is.
Because the filtration process largely falls to the filters, you need to start the optimization process with them. Filter optimization includes choosing the right type of filter for your needs and properly installing and maintaining said filter.
Optimization can also mean adding extra filters or pre-filters where necessary. While extra filters cost slightly more up front, they result in cost reduction down the road. You may even find it beneficial to use multiple types of filters, depending on the intended use.
Benefits of Optimizing Filtration in Industrial Processes
There are a number of benefits to optimizing the industrial filtration process, including:
Better Filtration Efficiency
The first benefit you'll notice with an optimized filtration system is increased efficiency. Better filters and an optimized system will capture more impurities, resulting in a cleaner product without compromising time or energy.
Performs Better in Rough Environments
The second major benefit is that optimized filtration systems are designed to increase efficiency, even in rough environments. Environments where you filter petroleum, chemicals, machining fluids, and more are often rough and rugged. Optimized filters will hold up in these environments, while operating at peak performance.
Keeps the Process Moving
Additionally, optimized filtration systems will not reduce pressure, no matter how high demand is or how rough the environment is. This will keep the process moving and minimize downtime.
Increased Safety For Your Workers
Finally, in addition to protecting critical machinery, better filters mean a better and safer environment for your employees.
How to Choose the Right Filter For Your Needs
As we said before, the optimizing the filtration process starts with choosing the right filter for your needs. There are more than a dozen different types of filters. While they all serve the same general purpose of removing contaminants and purifying something, different jobs require different filters. Here's how to choose the right one for you:
- The type of contaminants you're dealing with, whether they're large, small, or microscopic, is the first factor to consider.
- Flow rate will determine how effective your filters are at removing contaminants without reducing pressure.
- Air pressure and pressure drop are two additional factors to consider on top of flow rate.
- The filter should be the right size for your needs.
- The cost of the filters should also factor into your decision.
Your Industry
In addition to each of these factors, the industry you're involved in plays the biggest role in what type of filter is right for you. For instance, the automotive, food, and beverage industries rely heavily on liquids. Therefore, it's imperative that you choose high-quality filters and strainers to remove particles and contaminants of all sizes.
When you're filtering petroleum, dyes, resins, and manufacturing liquids, however, the liquid is thicker, and you'll need a different type of filtration system. Therefore, rather than simply choosing what most consider to be the most optimized filtration system overall, it's important to choose the one that's optimized for your industry.
How Does Filtration Optimization Help Reduce Operational Costs
Now, to the crux of the matter - how filtration optimization can result in cost reductions across the board, ultimately saving you money.
Less Energy Consumption
The first way that optimization saves you money is because an optimized filtration system will enhance efficiency. As a result, there will be less energy consumption, thereby reducing operational costs. Over time, saving money each month on the energy it takes to filter your product will pay dividends down the road.
Improved Product Quality
The most obvious savings you'll see is in your monthly energy bill due to less energy consumption. However, you will also soon find that the product you are creating increases in quality. Because you're filtering more waste at a more effective rate, whatever you are producing is cleaner and better than that of the competition. As a result, you can charge more for your product, resulting in increased profitability.
Equipment Longevity
In addition to saving energy and producing better products, the machinery you use to produce and process your goods will also thank you. Because fewer contaminants and particles are getting through your filters, your machinery takes much less of a beating.
In addition to helping them operate at maximum efficiency, your equipment will experience fewer breakdowns. As a result, your equipment will last longer, and you will have fewer replacement costs.
Less Maintenance is Needed
Finally, on top of increased durability and not having to replace your equipment as often, you will also have fewer minor and temporary breakdowns with your machinery. And, as you well know, maintenance and repairs on production equipment can be quite expensive. Therefore, the savings you'll incur with fewer maintenance and repair costs is highly beneficial.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, optimizing your filtration systems depends on choosing the right filters for the job. If you can't make this decision on your own, contact Commercial Filtration Supply for advice. CFI can perform a filtration audit and help you optimize your systems and processes for maximum cost savings.