Imperial Tobacco resolves flanged filter headache
4 Sep 2009
Nottingham, UK - Imperial Tobacco in Nottingham were recently given a headache when insurance inspectors condemned two old 10” flanged filters in the main plant room, the filters were in excess of 15 years old and suffered from significant corrosion.
Simply replacing the filters with new standard items would have meant some major and time-consuming pipework alteration, and associated shutdown of the compressed air system. What was required were custom-made filters to fit precisely into the gap left by the old ones, which could therefore be exchanged in one shift, minimising downtime.
On-site compressed air contractor Airchannel was asked to come up with a solution, which was it developed in conjunction with BEKO Technologies' special product division, BEKO Systems. This included the manufacture of new filters that accurately replicated the existing items - the overall width being especially crucial for them to slot straight in.
The filters were installed in a single shift by the Imperial Tobacco maintenance team, headed by John Arris, who commented: “The new filters are superbly constructed- they even came with adjustable legs to ensure an easy installation," said Aris. "This project has been remarkably trouble-free thanks to our close cooperation with our service partners."
