Longer Service Life and Finer Filtration
Increased filter area is part of the reason behind the superior performance of this polymer filter; uniform flow is another (1).  Pall Ultipleat Polymer Candle Elements yield 30-50% more filtration area than traditional fan-pleat filters thanks to Pall’s innovative design that maximizes the filter’s available space.  Higher area, coupled with uniform flow distribution, results in a significant increase in effective dirt-holding capacity.  All of this equates to an extended on-stream life and improved melt quality.  Alternatively, this area can be used to produce a filter element with finer medium that has the same dirt-holding capacity.

Features, Advantages & Benefits
Benefits:

· Improves quality	· Longer service life
· Reduces operating cost	· Extended thread life
· Enhances productivity	· Metal-to-metal seal

Features:

· Unique crescent-shaped pleats maximize the filter area per candle.  The pleat geometry is designed to create and maintain a uniform flow channel between the pleats during operation and reverse cleaning.  Conventional candles have limited purpose and limited open area, making the candle hard to clean. · Unique design to protect the media during handling, operation, and cleaning.  The outer wrap is designed to hold the pleat pack and thus maintain the flow channel between pleats during operation and reverse cleaning.  Conventional candles have limited purpose and limited open area, making the candle hard to clean. · Made from Nitronic(4) 60 material is the best anti-galling and wear-resistant stainless steel available.  Nitronic 60 material has outperformed 304 stainless steel in corrosion resistance and is superior to 316/316L stainless steel in pitting resistance.  The result is extended thread service life.  Conventional candles typically use 304 stainless steel or equivalent material for their adapters. · Facilitates element removal/installation and eliminates external wrenching flats and low flow areas at the mounting plate interface

· Spiral seam-welded, round-holed with maximum open area to prevent concentrated dead space which results in dead flow or longer residence time.  Conventional candles typically use straight-seam cores with dead space concentrated along the seam.

· Streamlined construction to allow smooth polymer flow

· All-metallic 316L fibers with other alloys also available

· Tapered pore structure

· Low pressure drop

· All fiber media manufactured by Pall Corporation

· 100% integrity tested in final configuration

· Standard and custom designs are available

(4) Nitronic is a registered trademark of Armco, Inc.

Advantages:
· Maximized element filter area
· Reduced flexing for improved resistance to cyclic/surge flows
· Uniform flow distribution over the media surface
· Excellent gel retention
· High flow capacity
· Ease of installation

Melt Quality:  Ultipleat vs. Traditional Candle

	Ultipleat Candle	Traditional Fan Pleat Candle
Flow Channel	Uniform flow channel with same width and length on both sides of the pleated filter medium	Non-uniform flow channel with larger opening at the top and much smaller opening at the bottom of pleat
Flow Distribution	Balanced flow as equal amount of polymer flows along along the entire uniform flow channel	Preferential flow as high flow at the bottom of pleats and low flow at the crown of the pleats
Residence Time Distribution	Equal residence time along the pleat and on either side of the pleat	Longer residence time at the bottom of the pleat, uneven residence time distribution
Gel Formation	Reduces the possibility of gel formation as the residence time distribution is even	Gel formation is directly proportional to the residence time distribution
Particle Removal	Consistent	Inconsistent
Effective Filter Area	Greatly improved	Can be seriously compromised if the element is not made properly of if pleats have been pinched over the course of use

Operating Cost:  Ultipleat vs. Traditional Candle

Title	Ultipleat Polymer Candle	Traditional Fan Pleat Candle
Filter Area & Onstream Life	Unique wave-shaped pleats with uniform flow channels results in area increase of up to 50%, and a life increase of more than 50%	Fan pleat candle has comparatively lesser area and has inherent non-uniform flow distribution between pleats which further reduces life
Clean DP	Lowers media portion of the DP by up to 50% due to increased filter area	Higher media DP due to lesser filter area
Cleaning Efficiency & Cleaning Cycle	Higher cleaning efficiency as the outer wrap facilitates easy cleaning and prevents pleat flexing in reverse pressure.  Allows rigorous cleaning.	Balancing act on guard design between ease of cleaning and reverse pressure capabilities.
Gel Retention	Uniform flow distribution results in consistent media loading and thus higher gel retention	Preferential flow results in inconsistent media loading and therefore, gel can be pushed out at lower DP in high flow areas

Ultipleat Polymer Candles Reduce Operating Cost by Promoting Longer Life
Click here for success stories in polymer applications

Applications:
· Acrylics · Aramids · Cellulosics · Engineered resins · Fluoroplymers	· Polyacrylonitrile · Polyamides · Polyaramide · Polycarbonate · Polyester	· Polyethylene · Polypropylene · Polystyrene · Polysulfone · Urethanes

Pall Media
Engineered for Polymer Service

Dynalloy® Sintered Metal Fiber Media
Ultipleat Polymer Candle filters are available with our depth-type Dynalloy® sintered metal fiber media.  The Dynalloy media is highly effective in removing hard and deformable gel-type contaminants.  With a porosity of up to 90%, it provides maximum dirt-holding capacity and longer on-stream life than other porous metal media.

Dynalloy media is engineered to withstand high differential pressures, high temperatures, and repeated cleanings.  It is available in absolute ratings from 1 to 100 microns and comes in 316L stainless steel as well as a variety of high-temperature, corrosion-resistant alloys.

While Dynalloy media can be custom-designed to your exact specifications, it is also available in two standard formulations.  The X Series is a proven performer with high permeability and dirt-holding capacity, offering consistent and reliable filtration.  Our advanced 1000 Series incorporates an “asymmetric” graded pore structure for applications requiring an even greater dirt-holding capacity and extended on-stream life.

Dynamesh™ features woven wire  mesh filter medium.	Dynalloy® deploys random fiber  type depth filter medium.

Dynamesh™ Woven Wire Cloth Media
Dynamesh™ media is our precision-woven wire cloth, surface-type filter media.  This media offers good permeability, narrow pore size distribution, and excellent corrosion resistance.  Dynamesh media is specially suited for applications with adverse pressure conditions, low-contaminant loading, and coarser filtration applications.  Dynamesh media is available in a variety of grades ranging from 5 to 400 microns.

The full line of Dynamesh media features a variety of weaves, including plain, square, twill, and dutch.  Dynamesh media is also available in a full range of stainless steels, as well as Monel(2) 4001, Inconel(2) and Hastelloy(3) grades.

Result:  Economical and reproducible filtration

(2) – Monel and Inconel are registered trademarks of Special Metals Corporations.
(3) – Hastelloy is a registered trademark of Haynes International, Inc.

Uniform flow distribution over the filter’s entire surface area
The fluid flow is completely uniform across the entire filter medium surface since each flow channel is the same width and length on either side of the pleated filter medium (see Figure 1).

Engineered upstream support and downstream drainage layers maintain uniform flow distribution, even as the candle reaches high differential pressures.  These layers, which sandwich the filter medium, hold the flow channels open.  An external helical wire wrap surrounding the outer diameter of the cartridge holds the pleats in place and prevents them from moving under pressure.  The external wire wrap also provides support to the candle during reverse pressure and offers protection to the medium during handling (see Figure 2).

Figure 1: Uniform flow distribution of an Ultipleat filter	Figure 2: Ultipleat filter element construction

Uniform flow distribution also facilitates a more thorough and complete cleaning of the element.  Because the contaminant is uniformly deposited on the medium and not driven into it, it is easily removed.  Contaminant removal is also easier as the space between each pleat remains the same over the filter’s entire life, even after multiple cleaning cycles.

In comparison, the flow channel ina conventional fan pleat polymer candle is non-uniform with the upstream of the medium being much more open than the downstream side (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Non-uniform flow distribution in a traditional fan-pleat filter

Consequently, the flow is highest at the bottom of the pleat.  Such non-uniform flow distribution results in rapid medium plugging where the flow is the highest.  In addition, non-uniform flow through a conventional filter medium causes inconsistent particle removal and poor gel removal.

The drainage and support material used in conventional polymer filters is generally light-strength meshes.  After prolonged use in operation and multiple cleaning cycles, these meshes usually weaken, causing the pleats to be pinched or pushed together.  The result is low flow through such grouped regions, reduced effective filter area, very short filter life, and difficulties cleaning the element (see Figures 4 & 5).

Figure 4: Conventional pleated filter element construction	Figure 5: Pleat instability in a poorly supported filter element

Click here for the Ultipleat Polymer Candle Technology brochure