Duplex Cartridge Filter Cuts Saudi Cement Plant Oil Costs by 70%
Country: Saudi Arabia
Project: [Africa Infrastructure Project] 5,000 TPD Cement Production Line – Centralized Lubrication Station for Ball Mill Heavy-Duty Gearbox
Technology: Duplex Cartridge Filter
The Challenge
Our customer, a Saudi cement company operating a 5,000-ton-per-day clinker production line, faced persistent filtration issues in the lubrication system of their ball mill's heavy-duty hardened gearbox. The system required high-flow oil circulation cooling, utilizing ISO VG 46 industrial gear oil. The piping was designed for 2 MPa, with an actual operating pressure of 0.3–0.5 MPa and a circulating flow rate of up to 1,500 L/min.
Two critical challenges emerged:
1. Extremely High Dust Load Driving Up Filter Element Replacement Costs: The Saudi region is subject to year-round sandstorms, compounded by heavy clinker dust inside the cement plant. High-hardness micro-particles continuously invaded the lubrication system, causing filter clogging at alarmingly short intervals. Relying entirely on disposable glass-fiber filter elements meant the plant faced prohibitively high international procurement and logistics costs for consumables.
2. High Differential Pressure Risk Under High-Flow Operation: At a flow rate of 1,500 L/min, even a slight increase in internal flow resistance within the filter could cause severe back-pressure on the low-pressure circulation pump outlet. This led to insufficient oil supply, triggering high-temperature alarms on the gearbox bearings.
The Solution
After reviewing our filtration design proposal, the customer introduced YUBO's SSBF-QGK200 Duplex Cartridge Filter.
1. Low-Resistance Flap-Type Diverter Valve Structure: To accommodate the low-pressure (1.6 MPa), high-flow operating conditions, the design abandoned narrow ball-valve configurations in favor of a large-channel flap-type linkage mechanism. A handwheel at the top drives the internal flap valve, enabling smooth oil flow switching. The generously sized internal flow passages keep the full-load initial pressure drop to approximately 0.02 MPa.
2. Multi-Stage Complementary and Cleanable Filter Elements: The system is equipped with 25-micron SUS304 stainless steel five-layer sintered mesh filter elements. These elements resist deformation under medium-to-low pressure and high-flow scouring conditions. When a clogging alarm is triggered, on-site personnel can simply remove the elements and clean them repeatedly using an ultrasonic cleaner for reuse.
The Results
The wide-flow-channel design completely eliminated the risk of bearing high-temperature trips caused by flow resistance under high-flow conditions, while significantly reducing system operating energy consumption.
The cleanable, reusable nature of the filter elements saves the Saudi plant over 70% annually on filter element procurement and international shipping costs.
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