May 15, 2023

Patented in 2000, the Vincent Fiber Filter is a unique machine featuring fine filtration at high flow rates. It operates continuously with a cylindrical fabric filter sleeve that is vibrated clean by the process flow, requiring only occasional backflush cycles.

For many years the Fiber Filter line consisted of three units, the FF-6, FF-12, and FF-30, offering different throughput capacities. A 2017 addition to the range, the little Model FF-3 Fiber Filter has proven quite useful. With only a 1.5 hp motor the FF-3 is extremely handy to use because it can be equipped to plug into a 110-volt wall outlet. And unlike its larger siblings there is no need to supply compressed air to actuate the backflush system. In the FF-3 the backflush spray nozzles are stationary, mounted directly to the body shell of the machine. In most instances city water pressure is sufficient to backflush the filter sleeve, so a pump set is not required.

Since its introduction in 1994, our smallest screw press, the CP-4, has allowed Vincent to offer no-cost in-house testing of products with small (often only a single 5-gallon pail) samples. However, until the introduction of the FF-3, we couldn’t make that offer for filtration applications. Now we can perform laboratory scale testing that is not feasible with even the next largest Fiber Filter.

A 5-gallon pail of sample is often sufficient to test with the FF-3. By contrast, a 5-gallon sample is likely to pass through an FF-6 in as little as 10-15 seconds, if not faster. That leaves no time for adjusting angle of inclination, the feed rate, and other relevant parameters. Nor does it provide enough flow to generate a solids output. With too small a sample it becomes necessary to partially disassemble the machine to see what the filter sleeve has captured. These problems are avoided when testing with the FF-3.

The selection of sleeve micron ratings is the same for the FF-3 as it is for our other Fiber Filters. The common sizes are 31, 45, 85, 118, 150, and 300 microns.

Operation of the FF-3 is similar to that of our larger Fiber Filters. As such, it is practical to scale the results from the FF-3 to a larger unit. Consistency of the solids output is primarily adjusted by changing the machine’s angle of inclination. A steeper angle usually produces a thicker solids output. The speed at which product is fed to the machine can also affect output consistency, with lower flow rates often producing a dryer solids. Lastly, coarser filtration (using a sleeve with a higher micron rating) tends to produce a higher consistency solids output.

There are no adjustments on larger Fiber Filters that are not also on the FF-3. Nor are there any adjustments on the FF-3 that are not on the other machines. So anything learned at the laboratory scale with an FF-3 can be confidently applied to an FF-6, FF-12, or FF-30.

It should be mentioned that the FF-3 is designed to be robust enough to run continuously in a production environment. It is not limited to small-scale laboratory testing.

ISSUE #348