Casestory – Schuite & Schuite

Schuite & Schuite Druckfarben GmbH manufactures high-quality printing inks for web offset printing.

Uwe Horstmann from UNI-FÖRDERTECHNIK (HiFlux business partner in Germany) contacted COO Mr. Thomas Fuß from Schuite & Schuite Druckfarben GmbH and wanted to inform about the possibilities with automatic self-cleaning filters for the ink production. Filtration is extremely important during production and top of mind for S & S in their state of the art production facilities. They had been looking for new filtration solutions to replace the bagfilters, which often led to frequent blockages, required many man hours to replace filter bags and performing service for each batch.

S & S was interested to hear about the possibilities with the Auto-line self-cleaning filter. They wanted to optimise the production, reduce waste

and minimise the time spent when perfoming maintenance on the bagfilter installation.

Test for rent solution
To get started Uwe H. suggested a ”test for rent” solution, which was received with great interest by COO Mr. Thomas Fuß and the first test was performed the same month with the Auto-line XLR-E self-cleaning filter.

During the test it turned out that the XLR-E filter was too small for the application. The targeted flow rate of 9 m³/h was not achieved and the medium with 10,000 mPas was a real challenge.

A new test was arranged and this time with an XXLR-E filter with a higher capacity. The expectations were high and the filter was tested over a longer period with full capacity. The test result was flawlessly and showed, that the Auto-line XXLR-E filter could even handle 11 m³/h.

Reduced waste
S & S wanted to reduce the 2 tons of printing ink waste and disposal of filter bags pr. week to a minimum. Not only are the costs high for ”lost ink” due to the use of bagfilters, but it also leads to an enormous burden on the environment.

Impressive results
The test result showed that the Auto-line XXLR-E filter was able to reduce the waste quantity to approx. 60 kg/week,which is great for the environment.

It is a fact, that the Auto-line filter could not only remove the total costs for filter bags and the disposal of the bags, but also reduce the loss of ink (waste product), which could be sold for other use.

COO Mr. Thomas Fuß was very satisfied with the Auto-line self-cleaning filter and ordered 8 Auto-line XXLR-E self-cleaning filter solutions for the production facilites.

Information about the previous bagfilter installation
S & S previously required two backflush filters and 8 bag filters for each ink production machine.
• The filter bags were changed 2 times in some cases
• This resulted in a consumption up to 16 filter bags per batch
• The daily output per machine is 1-2 batches
• Up to 32 filter bags had to be replaced every day for each machine depending of ink type and shade

This resulted in an annual consumption of several thousand filter bags for the 8 ink production machines. These filter bags represented a high cost in purchase and the costs for disposal of them after use was also a significant post in the total costs.

Advantages with the Auto-line self-cleaning filter:
• Increased production capacity – non stop production
• Reduced waste – Great for the environment
• Costs for filter bags is completely removed
• Better protection for operators
• Reduced loss of ink
• Eliminates down time
• Ensures the quality

Auto-line XXLR-E self-cleaning filter – Drain

Auto-line XXLR-E self-cleaning filter installed
in the production and filtering ink.