Method and apparatus for rapidly testing the integrity of filter elements
AssigneePall Corporation
InventorsHorst Randhahn, Hartmut Vogelman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of testing the integrity of a filter element in a falter assembly includes a) wetting filter material of a filter element having an inlet side and an outlet side connected to an outlet conduit, b) subjecting the inlet side of the filter element to a gas pressure, c) measuring the pressure in the outlet conduit as a function of time, with a downstream outlet valve for the outlet conduit being closed, and d) determining whether the pressure measured at a preselected time exceeds a reference pressure by a predetermined amount, or determining whether the time required to reach a preselected pressure is shorter than a reference time by a predetermined amount.
Claims30
A method of testing the integrity of a filter element in a filter assembly comprising the steps of:
- a) wetting filter material of a filter element having an inlet side and an outlet side connected to an outlet conduit,
- b) subjecting the inlet side of the filter element to a gas pressure,
- c) measuring the pressure in the outlet conduit as a function of time with a downstream outlet valve for the outlet conduit closed wherein the gas pressure at the inlet side of the filter is held at a constant value during said pressure measuring step, and
- d) determining whether the pressure measured at a preselected time exceeds a reference pressure by a predetermined amount.
A filter assembly for use in testing the integrity of a filter element comprising:
- a plurality of filter elements sub-divided into a plurality of sections, each section containing a portion of the filter elements, each filter element having an outlet side,
- a plurality of outlet conduits each connected to the outlet sides of the filter elements in one of the sections,
- pressure sensing means for measuring the pressure in each outlet conduit,
- a plurality of valves each arranged in the outlet conduit of one of the sections downstream of the pressure sensing means, and
- a common vessel in which the plurality of filter elements are arranged and containing a fluid to be filtered, each filter element having a filter material surface in direct contact with the fluid to be filtered.
A method of testing the integrity of a filter element in a filter assembly, the filter assembly comprising a plurality of filter elements divided into a plurality of sections and a plurality of outlet conduits each connected to one of the sections, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) wetting filter material of each filter element,
- b) applying a gas pressure to the inlet side of each filter element,
- c) measuring the pressure in each outlet conduit as a function of time with a downstream outlet valve for each outlet conduit closed wherein the gas pressure at the inlet side of each filter element is held at a constant value during said pressure measuring step, and
- d) determining the integrity of each section by comparing a relationship between the measured pressure and time for each section with a reference relationship including comparing the time required to reach a preselected pressure with a reference time corresponding to the preselected pressure according to the reference relationship.
A method of testing the integrity of a filter element in a filter assembly comprising the steps of:
- a) wetting filter material of a filter element having an inlet side and an outlet side connected to an outlet conduit,
- b) subjecting the inlet side of the filter element to a gas pressure,
- c) measuring the pressure in the outlet conduit as function of time with a downstream outlet valve for the outlet conduit closed, wherein the gas pressure is held at a constant value during said pressure measuring step, and
- d) determining whether the time required to reach preselected pressure is shorter than a reference time by a predetermined amount.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.