Chemical Filters

What are Chemical Filters?

A "chemical filter" can be any device that distinguishes between two substances, which makes the phrase "chemical filter" somewhat vague. The phrase could refer to a wide range of liquid filters, including hydraulic filters, biodiesel filters, industrial water filters, and many more in the context of liquid filtration. One common type of liquid filter is the carbon filter. Because they are used in household water purification systems, carbon filters are among the most well-known filtration systems.

Although water filters may differ in capacity and performance, they are used to soften water and remove pollutants like fluoride and chlorine. Home water filters, for instance, are mainly used to make water taste better, but industrial water filters may purify water to an extremely high quality, making them useful in labs and other specialized settings.

There are several more kinds of liquid chemical filters in addition to water filters. Gas filters filter fuel to reduce the build-up of sediment in engines. Gas filters are found in cars and other equipment that employs combustion engines. Engine coolant is filtered using a process known as coolant filtration, a type of chemical filtration. Another crucial piece of chemical filtering equipment is hydraulic filters, which remove pollutants from hydraulic fluid.

All liquid chemical filtration systems are designed to remove undesirable particles from a flow of liquid. This avoids harm caused by pollutants being exposed to people or equipment, as is the case with industrial chemical filtration. Chemical filters work best when they combine sound mechanical design with efficient filter media design.

Filter flow speed affects a filter’s effectiveness. A filter might be less effective the faster a liquid is filtered through it. The converse is true for slow-flow filters; the amount of filtration will be higher the slower the flow of liquid through a filter.

Types of Chemical Filters

The different types of chemical filters include:

Granular Activated Carbon Filters

This is one of the most commonly used chemical filters. This type of chemical filter is known for efficiently removing pesticides, chlorine, and a range of organic contaminants. The granular activated filter is simply carbon, treated to be extremely porous with an increased surface area.

Carbon is made highly adsorptive by these characteristics, meaning that the chemicals that have been dissolved in the water get attracted to the carbon and stick to it. Backwashing carbon chemical filters are good choices for whole-house systems due to their good flow rates and affordability.

Granular activated carbon filters are stored in large tanks. They can be reused multiple times because they are automatically cleaned by the system. In many cases, the chemical filtering media can last for years before it is replaced.

Catalytic Carbon Filters

Granular activated carbon filters can remove many organic chemicals, including chlorine, but there are other contaminants they are less effective at removing. One of these contaminants is chloramine, a derivative of ammonia.

Chloramine is becoming a popular alternative to chlorine disinfection in many water treatment plants. This chemical is capable of killing fish and damaging plants, and it must be removed from water used by dialysis patients.

Since a standard granular activated carbon filter is not effective in removing chloramines, there is a need for a catalytic carbon filter to remove these chemicals from the water. Catalytic carbon is similar to granular activated carbon and can remove all of the same contaminants. However, since catalytic carbon is typically made from coconut shells, the electronic structure of its surface is modified.

It can attract chloramines much more effectively. Like regular GAC (Granular Activated Carbon), a catalytic carbon chemical filter requires regular backwashing to clean the media and rinse away all of the accumulated chemicals. Typically, the media lasts for many years before it is replaced, although this varies by how much the water system treats as well as the chemical concentration of the chemical contamination.

Other Filtering Options

Carbon filters are one of the most effective chemical filters available, but they cannot remove all contaminants. Carbon filters are therefore combined with additional water treatment methods so that the best water quality possible is obtained. For example, reverse osmosis is very effective at removing a range of bacteria and cryptosporidium cysts, but exposure to chlorine effectively ruins the membrane.

It’s very common, therefore, to find a reverse osmosis system that includes many carbon filters before the membrane, catalytic carbon is combined in a system that has a bone char filter for also removing fluoride from the water.

Applications of Chemical Filters

• Chemical filters are used for separating solids from liquids and removing contaminant particles from dispersing fluid.
• Chemical filters are used to purify pharmaceutical water.
• Chemical filters are used in the chemical industry for separating various substances including pesticides, dyes, glycerine, silicic acid, white carbon, etc.
• Chemical filters are utilized in the food industry for removing unwanted matter from fruit juices, wine, vegetable oils, soft drinks, etc.
• Chemical filters are used in environmental engineering for separating mining wastewaters, chemical wastewaters, domestic wastewaters, etc.

Benefits of Chemical Filters

• Chemical filters help by removing contaminants from water
• These filters have a large absorption area due to the large invisible pores that are available in carbon materials.
• Chemical filters help in the purification of water
• Chemical filters are an efficient way of removing contaminants from liquids
• These filters are very long-lasting and can be repeatedly used before they need replacement

Choosing the Correct Chemical Filter Manufacturer

To make sure you have the most productive outcome when purchasing a chemical filter from a chemical filter manufacturer, it is important to compare at least four manufacturers using our list of chemical filter manufacturers. Each chemical filter manufacturer has a business profile page that highlights their areas of experience and capabilities and a contact form to directly communicate with the manufacturer for more information or request a quote. Review each chemical filter company website using our proprietary website previewer to get an idea of what each business specializes in, and then use our simple RFQ form to contact multiple chemical filter companies with the same quote.