Success Stories

Our challenge was to come up with a media that could work with the existing polymers in the water. The plant only needed a 200-micron filter as the solids in question were floating pulp stock.

We created a solution to work with the polymers in the water which delivered a maximum flow rate of 70 GPM. Our solution reduced the plant’s waste treatment costs and the filter saved the plant $25,000 in the first year. The management and engineering team also reached out to inform us that our filtration solution has run flawlessly since we installed it, using only two rolls of media per year. This solution has opened doors for K Factor Filter in other plants with the same process.

The plant’s existing filtering system consisted of a number of screens, backwashing filters, strainers, and other filtration devices. This ad hoc system was in need of constant maintenance and the nozzles kept plugging, allowing solids to pass through distorting the colour of their paper product.

K Factor Filter engineered and designed a custom filtration solution for this client that could respond to the varying flows in the plant and irregularities in solids loading. The customized filtration system now delivers a consistent 2800 gallons per minute to the plant and successfully filters out solids below 50 microns. Our filtration system has significantly reduced downtime, reduced maintenance, and filtered out solids that affected paper colour.

This was a challenging project because the pulp and paper plant needed to filter out solids down to 11 microns. The contaminants in the canal were notoriously challenging to filter out. The client sought the opinion of 15 other filter manufacturers before they entrusted their project to us at K Factor Filter.

We created a filtration solution that achieved the 11 microns the client was looking for and delivered a flow rate of 450 gallons per minute. Our team was responsible for handling the piping, prefabrication and installation. In the first year after we installed our filter, the client saved $125,000. Additionally, the plant managers tell us that their savings have skyrocketed to $600,000 per year as the municipality has increased the cost of purchasing canal water. The engineering and management teams were so pleased with our filtration solution that they installed two more systems in other plants. They frequently allow us to bring in our new customers to showcase how effectively the filter works.

The engineer’s centrifugal filters were under performing, unable to filter below 30 microns with a low flow rate under 100 GPM. The existing flat bed filter was also leaking, flooding, and passing solids. Was there a way to increase the performance of these filters without replacing them outright?

K Factor Filter improved the centrifugal filters by purging more often and creating a unique solution to improve the flow. The filters now achieve a 150 GPM flow rate and filter solids down to 18 microns. The facilities engineer saw a return on investment in less than four months. "I recommend the K Factor Filter for all automotive pretreatment filtration," he acknowledged.

The client was sold a "self-cleaning" filter by one of our competitors. However, the high turbidity and conductivity rates of the water resulted in high levels of particulate still present in the water after running through this filter. Additionally, the filter was not cleaning itself properly and was increasing costs daily.

The engineers at K Factor Filter set out to create a superior filtration system. We used our K-600 filter at a flow rate of 500 GPM, which can filter down to 25 microns nominal. In a nine-hour shift, this filter pre-rinsed 440 vehicle bodies. That is 48.9 units per hour with a nine-inch media advance every hour. The result was a truly self-cleaning filter that could keep up with the demands of the plant, finishing more vehicle bodies in less time, which increased productivity and reduced costs by saving water.

For this project, our team of engineers were asked to create a solution that filtered down to 25 microns to remove:
- Sealer
- Kevlar
- Metal sludge
- Sand
- Grit
- Ear plugs
- Tie wraps
- Floating and sinking weld balls
- Other debris

The filter needed to maintain a flow rate of 600 GPM to meet demand.

Not only did K Factor Filter create the perfect, customized solution, we also dramatically reduced the manufacturer’s operating costs . Out of the gate, the manufacturer saved $225,000 on tank cleaning alone. Within six months the filter had paid for itself and still continues to save the manufacturer $300,000 per year. These savings come from reusing water, reduced dirt count per unit, and reduced materials and downtime. The filter proved so valuable that a second was installed in their new plant. The facilities engineer in charge of the project emphasized, "I would recommend the K Factor Filter for every automotive pre-treatment process."

An efficient filtering solution was needed that would capture welds between 1 to 20-micron range, which are balls of ferrous material. The solution would need to self-purging to prevent filter clogs and plant downtime.

To meet this client’s needs, the K Factor Filter team installed a K-MAG and connected it to their deluge weir. The filter system purges out up to 5-micron weld balls. Each K-MAG filter collects an impressive 907 grams of ferrous materials in 15 hours. Then, the filter returns the clean water to the system, eliminating liquid loss and cutting costs.

In nine hours, this filter system cleans 440 frames, and collects 1.24 grams of dirt per unit. While this client only needed a 20 GPM flow rate, this system has the capacity to remove even more dirt at a faster flow. The result is properly cleaned frames ready for paint, and a plant that runs with less downtime and reduced costs.