Optimizing Filtration Capabilities while Reducing the Pressure Budget Burden

The latest groundbreaking research in porous metal filter technology deals with the amount of pressure drop that a material exhibits with a given amount of permeability. It has been determined that permeability is thus the determining factor in characterizing the quality of filter media due to the pressure buget allowable for a particular application. When dealing with pressure-budget limitations, permeability is therefore more important than porosity, pore size, wire size, wire count and weave type characteristics. Rick Kenney of Porous Metal Filters (phone 407-682-1494) is currently conducting this research and is available for consultation.

Air permeability testing is a quick, inexpensive, non-destructive testing method that correlates to the more expensive procedure of liquid permeability testing. The worldwide defacto standard for air permeability testing is the Frazier Differential Pressure Air Permeability Tester. The Frazier Tester is the ideal method recommended by Rick Kenney (of PMF) for characterizing metal filters when optimizing most types of filtering systems to meet pressure budget requirements. The Frazier Permeability Tester can be used 2 ways — the pressure drop can be set and the permeability determined or the permeability can be set and the pressure drop or differential pressure (delta P) determined.

This research applies to porous metal gas filters, porous metal fluid filters, porous metal air filters, porous metal water filters, porous metal oil filters, multilayer media filters, multiphase flow filters, radial flow filters, pressure gradient filters, reservoir fluid filters, sintered metal fiber filters, and sintered metal powder filters.

Information about this research can be obtained by contacting Rick Kenney of Porous Metal Filters (phone 407-682-1494).

Rich Kenney has additional information about filtraton and how it relates to permeability, porosity, viscosity, saturation, water, gases, air, and liquids.

Rick is currently involved in consulting with the wire cloth weaving and metal filter production industries in relation to the oil drilling and oil extraction industries. He is conducting cutting edge research in the importance of permeability in the selection of filter media for these industries to produce filter elements that have the greatest permeability and corresponding lowest pressure drop giving the lowest impact on the overall pressure budget of the pumping system and therefore having the lowest energy consumption and cost expenditure.

This research may provide critical answers in the emerging fields of oil sands and heavy oil extraction.