“With our solutions, we really have our finger on the pulse.” That’s how Peter Wirtz, Head of Industrial Weave at GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG (GKD), sums up GKD’s appearance at the FILTECH trade fair in Cologne. Never before has the company received such a good visitor response at this leading trade fair for filtration and separation technology. In particular the solutions exhibited for water processing with ever finer meshes, for microplastic retention, and for energy conservation during hot gas filtration were in such demand that many visitors had to come back several times before a member of the sales team was available.
The environment was a key topic in many discussions. The GKD filter media and systems made from recyclable stainless steel generally impressed in this area with their mechanical robustness, wear resistance, weldability, and the possibility of rescreening. Customers’ increasing sensitivity for any use of plastics or adhesives drew several conscientious developers to the stand of the technological leader among technical weavers. In terms of the different processes for water processing, interest centered around the mesh ranges Optimized Dutch Weaves (ODW) or Porometric mesh. For Optimized Dutch Weaves, GKD presented further gradations in the aperture ranges from 15 to 5 µm. Excellent dirt holding capacity, minimal clogging tendency, and exceptional cleaning properties qualify them for numerous key applications in industry. In micro sieving, the ODW with a geometric pore size of 5 µm are unsurpassed in terms of separation rates and permeability. These properties also see the meshes setting new benchmarks in large-scale water processing. Porometric mesh is a multi award-winning further development of the Optimized Dutch Weaves. It is considered to be one of the best-performing filter media there is in process and ballast water filtration, as well as in oil and gas filtration. Its designed porosity of up to 80 percent and above with correspondingly higher permeability and top marks for cleaning unlocks previously unknown potential for efficiency. Most visitors to the stand seeking discussions with GKD about these two mesh ranges were already convinced of the advantages of these meshes for their applications. What they were primarily interested in was the process and engineering competence of the filtration experts. They discussed matters of processing, welding, or constructively supporting the thin mesh against backwashing pressure. The task at hand now is to work out the details of solutions broached at the fair.
In great demand: integrated solution competence
GKD’s renowned expertise in the field of retaining microplastics also generated many new contacts at the trade fair. The sampling basket for fractionation of particulate material developed by GKD under the RAU research project (Tire abrasion in the environment) was a subject that also came up repeatedly. The basket is characterized by filter media of different degrees of fineness, which allow the particles to be recorded and sampled automatically by an integrated online measurement system. Yet GKD’s integrated solution competence also attracted a variety of development managers to the stand for completely new approaches in areas like medicine, automotive, and environmental protection. One innovation that drew this attention was the high-performance Trimetric filter media laminate for hot gas filtration, which was revealed to the public for the first time at the fair. This four-ply, highly porous, yet inherently stable construction consisting of three different stainless steel filter media combines retention rates that are otherwise only typical for PTFE filter media with temperature resistance of up to 600 degrees Celsius. “With this metal-based solution, we are responding to the need to conserve energy, which is a central challenge in hot gas filtration,” says Peter Wirtz. The Trimetric filter media laminate dispenses with energy-intensive reheating of the gas and reduces the load on downstream units. Thanks to its mechanical stability, it also does not require a support basket. Plus, it withstands vibrating or pulsing loads. This robustness even enables external cleaning of the laminate using a high-pressure cleaner if necessary. The innovative Trimetric filter media laminates can be integrated in existing cartridge filter systems without alteration. Use in existing bag filter systems requires only a slight modification to the fastening elements in the filter housing. The innovative filter media laminates combine this previously unknown wealth of benefits with a high dirt-holding capacity, good cleaning properties, and excellent cake release.
Despite the strong attraction of these three highlights, visitors to the stand also showed a good deal of interest in existing products. Whether it was the MAXFLOW automatic compact filter system with integrated briquetting for the filtration of cooling lubricants or Neverleak filter leaves as rescreenable vertical pressure leaf filters for precoat filtration, demand was such that GKD was able to send out quotations the day after the trade fair. Peter Wirtz confirmed the quality of the conversations held at the fair. “We held real specialized talks with relevant players about our solutions for key future topics.”
5.408 characters incl. spaces
GKD WORLD WIDE WEAVE
As a privately owned technical weaver, GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG is the world market leader in metal, synthetic and spiral mesh solutions. Four independent business divisions bundle their expertise under one roof: Industrial Mesh (woven metal mesh and filter solutions), Process Belts (belts made of mesh and spirals), Architectural meshes (façades, safety and interior design made of metal fabrics) and Mediamesh® (Transparent media façades). With its headquarter in Germany and five other facilities in the US, South Africa, China, India and Chile – as well as its branches in France, Spain, Dubai and worldwide representatives, GKD is close to markets anywhere in the world.
