The filter press separates the liquid from the solids at pressures of 100 to 600 bar. Various systems such as chamber filter presses, frame filter presses and membrane filter presses with differently designed filter plates are used. However, the basic principle is always the same. The filter plates are covered with a filter cloth, which allows liquids to pass and retains particles. At the end of the filtration cycle the remaining particles in the filter are removed.

Many filter presses are equipped with an automatic cleaning and washing device. It consists of a nozzle bar that automatically cleans the filter cloth. The manual cleaning with spray gun and special nozzle holder is also possible.

Industrial parts cleaning is used in all branches of industry. The metal industry removes rust, deburs or strips components for direct further processing. In the automotive industry and its suppliers, the preparation of engines, transmission components or body parts takes place before the assembly process. Further areas of application are the cleaning of molds, small parts or control panels.

High-pressure technology requires high working pressures of up to 3,000 bar for optimum cleaning effect. Pressure, flow rate and distance and angle of the water jet must be easily and finely adjustable. Controllable pump units and various nozzle systems are required. Since continuous cleaning of the products to be processed takes place in many industrial processes, the technology must be designed for continuous operation under extreme conditions.

With high-pressure technology and water, all materials can be cleaned in a solid state of aggregation, such as glass, stone, metal, plastic, wood, ceramics, food and more.

Tank and tank wagons are used in the chemical industry, for example for the production of adhesives, plastics, paints and varnishes or for transporting materials such as oil, bitumen or resins. Different methods can be used to clean the boiler and tank cars. Common are manual cleaning, cleaning with chemicals or high-pressure cleaning with water. 

Tank and boiler car cleaning requires technology that provides high pressure water. Water jets and nozzles must be flexibly controllable and adjustable.

The high-pressure technology offers many advantages over the other methods. It requires no chemical additives, uses environmentally friendly water as a cleaning medium and works quickly and gently. Even places that are hard to reach in the tank and boiler cars are easy to clean. The efficient systems have quickly paid for themselves.

The high-pressure water jet technology is applicable in explosion-proof areas. The cleaning staff do not have to get into the containers and do not come into contact with dangerous substances. With the possibility of evaporation, the cleaning time can be further shortened.

In order to manufacture products of consistent quality, constant and reproducible operating conditions are a prerequisite. Pumping capacity and operating pressure of the jet water must be precisely adjustable. Different products require specific configurations because no two processes are the same.

The number of nozzle beams and the operating pressure in the spray bars are different in each plant. Typical pressures are between 50 and 250 bar. Processes such as the production of geo mat of fibres require pressures of up to 400 bar. Modern machines can achieve production speeds of up to 400 m / min with a mat of fibre width of up to 6.5 meters.

Impurities in the high-pressure water must absolutely be avoided, therefore, gland housings, plungers and valves are made of high quality materials such as stainless steel, ceramic or bronze.

In order to press ammonia and the intermediate carbamate into the reactor, high pressure is necessary. The high-pressure pumps must deliver operating pressures of 140 to 240 bar. At the same time, large plants require ammoniac flow rates of 2,000 liters per minute or higher.

The pumps work in hard 24-hour continuous operation and require maintenance for long periods of time. Carbamate is very aggressive and corrosive. High process temperature up to is required to keep the carbamate in a liquid state of aggregation. Crystallation of the process media in the sealing area of the liquid end must be avoided at all cost.

The design of the ammonia pump must take into account the special properties of a liquefied gas. Liquid ammonia has poor lubricating properties and has higher compressibility than water. Operational reliability is extremely important. When ammonia is released, a huge volume of gas is created, displacing oxygen and freezing the surroundings. This represents an extreme risk to all persons in the immediate vicinity.

Hydrostatic applications confront high-pressure technology with great challenges. The pumps have to generate a pressure of up to 1,500 bar and work very reliably. The flow rate of the lubricant oil with a viscosity of up to 1,000 cSt can be up to 40 liters per minute.

Wherever high concentricity, low wear and high load capacity are required, hydrostatic bearings offer ideal solutions. In mechanical engineering and equipment, sliding bearings are the most commonly used bearing type in addition to anti-friction bearings. In particular, high-precision applications of measuring, testing and machine tool engineering benefit from the advantages of the hydrostatic bearing. Other applications include turbine and generator bearings in power plants.

High-pressure solutions in coal liquefaction are exposed to high process temperatures. These temperatures require a special seal design due to thermal expansion. Since the carbon particles can be up to three millimeters in size, a special valve design is required, which minimizes wear. The design requirements of the pumps limit their maximum speed, necessitating particularly large machines.

The solids content in the carrier oil is up to 50 percent. The solids must not come into contact with the packing rings of the pump as they will cause extreme wear. URACA has developed a patented demixing chamber specifically for this purpose.

In the spray-drying process, nozzles atomize the solutions, emulsions or suspensions to be dried into fine droplets. In the cocurrent or countercurrent principle, the drying then takes place with tempered air or inert gas. A cyclone separator then separates the dry particles from the drying air. URACA pumps spray the medium by pressing it through a single-fluid nozzle at a pressure of 50 to 250 bar.

The nozzle is usually located in the upper part of the spray tower, but can also be placed in the bottom of the tower and work much like a fountain. The droplet size is dependent on the surface tension and viscosity of the medium, the diameter of the nozzle opening and the spray pressure. By varying the nozzles and the pump pressure, a flexible adaptation is possible.

In order to produce the required pressure of the water one uses special oscillating high-pressure plunger pumps developed for the hard continuous use under difficult conditions. Pump units must be design to cover frequent circulation between high pressure and pressureless operation since the processing of the steel workpieces usually does not run continously.

Another challenge: The descaling water used is usually in a cycle and accumulates with solid particles. Despite pre-filtration, not all particles can be removed from the water. Solid particle accumulation in the process water can be harmful for the sealing in the liquid end and other wetted parts. This was taken into account developing our resistant high pressure pumps.

Important applications of descaling are hot rolling mills for forming steel. The scale scrubbers are an elementary component of the plants in steelworks and prevent the rolling in of the iron oxide.

Scale scrubbers are also used in the production of heavy plates, wires or metal profiles. Further areas of application are forging lines and fully automated production lines, as are customary, for example, in the production of railway wheels.

The fatty acid pumps used in oleochemistry must meet high requirements, because media to be pumped, such as fatty acids, are corrosive. Strict environmental and safety specifications apply to the various process steps. Pumps used in the further processing of fatty acids must often be explosion-proof.

Another challenge for the fatty acid pumps is the hard 24-hour continuous operation of the process-technical systems. Downtimes or maintenance work on the pumps immediately lead to production downtimes and economic losses. The pumps often operate over several decades and only limited service windows are available for maintenance work at certain times.

Many oleochemical media to be pumped are aggressive and have high temperatures. This must be taken into account when designing the process pumps. The materials and assembly groups coming into contact with the media must be designed accordingly.