Croft Additive Manufacturing Uses 3D Printing to Create Innovative New Filters for Various Industries
While filtration is not something that most of us stop and think about on a daily basis, if it wasn’t for advanced filtration systems, our lives would not be what they are today. Whether it is the filter in your swimming pool, the filters used in your local sewage plant, or the simple filtration system that your coffee maker utilizes to make you that perfect cup of Joe every morning, our lives are greatly improved by these devices and systems that most of us completely take for granted.
One company, Croft Additive Manufacturing (CAM), was approached by clients looking to advance the technology behind their filtration systems, and additive manufacturing was just the solution.
“We were recently approached by a pharmaceutical company looking for a filter disc that could be cleaned to specific, high standards,” Neil Burns, Director at CAM, tells 3DPrint.com. “Many applications use a disc of mesh to create a filter, which is secured in place by a rolled steel ring. However, there are gaps between the steel ring and mesh, and the weft and warp strands of the woven wire, known as ‘bugtraps’, where bacteria and dirt can gather, and these areas cannot be easily accessed. As a result, cleaning them, especially to standards required by the pharmaceutical or food and drink industries, can lead to increased downtime or the complete replacement of a part.”
CAM used 3D printing (additive manufacturing) to produce a more intricate design that did not contain any “bugtraps” in the latticework of the mesh or the rim. At the same time, the end product proved to be just as strong as more traditionally manufactured filters. The 3D printed version could be cleaned much easier, thus decreasing downtime for customers, and reducing the risk of material accumulation and the potential for hazardous biochemical contamination.
“In addition to making it more suitable for a wide range of industries, the new design reduced the requirement for replacement parts, delivering considerable long-term cost savings,” Contrill tells us.
This isn’t the only filter that CAM has created using additive manufacturing though. They have also created what they call the “Straightliner Filter,” which is geared at delivering energy savings when compared to the more conventional filters on the market today.
The Straightliner Filter offers a much lower pressure drop and resistance than filters created using traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques.
“This is because, when manufactured conventionally, the holes in the perforated plate are at an angle to the filtrate flow, changing the flow characteristics and causing turbulence in the functionality of the filter,” explains the company. “Using additive manufacturing to build the filter holes at the same angle as the flow allows the filtrate to pass through the filter with much less resistance, resulting in both energy and cost savings.”
It all comes down to more efficiency, better filtration results, and costs, when manufacturing filters for any industry, and CAM’s methods for using additive manufacturing to do so provides better end results in all of these instances. When you add in the fact that there is less waste and greater customization through the use of additive manufacturing, there is no reason to not believe that this will be the technology of the future.
What do you think? Should additive manufacturing be used more in the production of industrial level filters? Discuss in the CAM 3D Printed Filters forum thread on 3DPB.com.
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
You May Also Like
3DPOD 252: What’s Really Happening in Bioprinting, with Mark Skylar-Scott, Stanford University
Mark Skylar-Scott is an experienced bioprinting researcher now working at one of the foremost bioprinting labs in the world at Stanford University. We talk about inexpensive desktop bioprinters and their...
Printing Money Episode 28: Recent M&A and More with Joris Peels, 3DPrint.com
Welcome to Episode 28 of Printing Money. For this one Danny is joined by our own, Joris Peels (Executive Editor, 3DPrint.com). This crossover-pod is indeed quite meta-level but it’s not...
3DPOD 251: 3D Printing for Football Helmets with Kodiak Brush, LIGHT Helmets
Kodiak Brush grew up playing football before working on crash testing. Sometimes someone’s career can seem like it is inexorably building up to one goal. And with Kodiak now making...
3DPOD 250: Dieter Schwarze, Nikon SLM Solutions
Dieter Schwarze is a true 3D printing icon. Here we get the twisting, arduous tale of Dieter’s journey into additive. Starting with inkjet, SLA and lots of other technologies, Dieter´s...