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There are some very important parameters to consider when installing a sludge dewatering filter press, both in terms of the preparation operations and in terms of the area where it will be installed.
One of the most important operations to be performed on site is certainly levelling and squaring, a fundamental operation to ensure that the machine can operate correctly.
This passage ensures that the filter press is installed perfectly horizontally, so that the thrust of the hydraulic cylinder is straight and that there is no possibility of deformation due to thrust not aligned with the machine.
This is easily understandable and this operation must be done with the filter press which must be under pressure, in fact to simulate actual working conditions.
However, the aspect which is commonly missed or left out and which can affect the correct functioning of the machine is the way in which the feet of the same are fixed to the ground: in fact, it is profoundly wrong to fix all 4 (or even more in the case of long machines) feet on the ground.
Let’s see why:
During normal operation, the thrust exerted by the hydraulic cylinder causes a slight movement of the frame of a few millimetres. It is therefore advisable to leave the movable head side free to move.
Normally the feet on the fixed head side have holes for screws, while those on the mobile head side have slots.
The precautions that must be respected are:
-Block the feet of the fixed head side by fixing them to the ground
-Leave the feet on the mobile head side free to slide horizontally, but prevent the filter from moving transversely.
This precaution is necessary because otherwise, if completely fixed, the filter could be deformed in a dangerous way and this phenomenon is all the more accentuated the longer the machine is.
It is necessary to allow the filter press for sludge dewatering to move a few millimeters in order to completely inhibit this movement which can result in overstressing or deformation of the structure.
This is a fundamental precaution which however is often ignored causing problems for the machine itself (I have personally seen cases in which the feet have all been welded to the support structure – nothing could be more wrong).
It is much better to foresee the possibility of a small translation, asking the manufacturer (who must explain it in the manual) how to anchor the feet to the ground or even better ask the manufacturer for the special connection plates which are designed precisely to give the filter press this possibility of movement.
One of the fundamental things to pay attention to is, as we have seen, the place where it will be installed filter press.
In particular, the machine should be installed away from the sun to preserve its functionality and durability over time.
It sounds silly, but keeping your filter cloths and plates out of the sun will significantly extend the life of your machine.
In fact, both filter cloths and plates, which in most cases are made of polypropylene, can degrade quickly if exposed to direct sunlight.
Specifically, they can crystallize and become very fragile with devastating effects during the compression of the hydraulic cylinder, it is sometimes also possible that they can literally be destroyed if left too much time in direct exposure to light.
This is understandably a big problem, especially in those areas where the sunlight is very strong and the UV index can reach very high values.
In these cases, it may be sufficient to put a simple cover over the filter press in order to protect it from sunlight, being careful to leave sufficient space in height to extract the filter plates; in this way we significantly extend the life of both the plate pack and the filter cloths, saving a large amount of money for the possible replacement of both the plate pack and the cloths.