In food and beverage manufacturing, liquids must be sterile and free of microorganisms to ensure product safety and protect consumers. This critical requirement has driven Atlas Copco to develop the next evolution of its process filter solutions with the launch of the PES PLUS range, featuring the sterilising grade SME+ with single-layer membrane, SME-X+ with double-layer membrane, and the BME+ for bioburden reduction.
Enhancing wettability for efficient water use
Part of the development focus has been to make the filter elements with improved wettability versus the existing range, as water use and reuse, particularly in food and beverage manufacturing, remains a key focus for maximizing output while ensuring a safe, clean final product. Using less water is better for the environment, ensures customers can get back into production quicker, and reduces associated running costs linked to this and the cost of out-of-production time.
The first step was to revisit the design and improve the hydrophilic properties of the materials to make the elements easier to wet. This step saw the move from polypropylene support media and end capping to PET support and copolymer sealing and end capping.
Measurable performance gains
These changes led to a nearly 70% reduction in the water required to fully wet a 10” element (comparing SME vs. new SME+). For customers, this means a time reduction from 2 ½ minutes to just 45 seconds for a 10” element based on testing.
Longer life, less waste
In addition to reducing water use, other aspects of the improved product design also contribute to environmental benefits. Another key criteria of the project was to extend the number of cycles the element could handle for steam sterilisation versus the existing product, so it can be used more by the customer with confidence in maintaining integrity. The goal: reduce waste, lower associated costs, and minimize the environmental impact of polymer disposal through longer service life.
The combination of carefully selecting and testing the materials of construction as well as the overall design, has been a big contributing factor, allowing the PLUS range to offer resistance to more cycles than the standard range and see this extended across all of the PES PLUS range, with pharmaceutical grades being launched later in 2025.
The new range is already helping brewers, winemakers, and food producers to improve their productivity whilst keeping the same level of safety and quality of their product. An important part of the product development was core to the whole process, and for customers to have a class-leading solution for their final filtration needs.
Looking ahead: the PLUS range expands
For Atlas Copco, the same guiding principles are behind the evolution of their solutions, with more PLUS range products to be launched later in 2025. These will be focusing on pleated polypropylene elements aimed at food and beverage and pharmaceutical applications with the aim of improving processing time, lifetime, and pressure drop. The aim here is to bring real benefits to customers, looking at the overall filtration spend and production cost.
Product manager Simon Finnigan comments, “With the expertise in our teams, we have a great mix that has allowed us to share ideas and experiences to develop our next range of solutions that have launched now and some to come for the future. Atlas Copco is known for product innovation, and that continues to drive us. Our goal is to empower the drive toward a healthier, safer, cleaner world through advanced filtration, protecting products, processes, and people with every solution.”
