Following the sale of industrial filtration products manufacturer Mahle’s industrial filtration division to US-headquartered filtration specialist Filtration Group Corporation in August, engineering components and services provider – and exclusive distributor of the Mahle range in Southern Africa – BMG filtration is optimistic about Filtration Group’s plans to expand its product portfolio.

“The Southern African market will benefit from Filtration Group Corporation’s plans to offer filter solutions to diverse sectors, including health and process technologies, and for liquid and ambient air applications,” says BMG national product manager Steven Louw.

In order to assist industries in the prevention of costly equipment failures and downtime, BMG’s fluid technology filtration solutions focus on the prevention and control of contamination by water and particulate to ensure optimum performance, improved reliability and extended service life of machinery, equipment and vehicles.

“BMG recognises the importance of following international filtration trends, including compliance with ISO 4406 cleanliness specifications for fuels and oils. Hence, the company’s extensive range of quality branded filtration systems is supported by engineering solutions and technical services to ensure fluids – including oil, fuel and lubricant oil – are within the required cleanliness standards,” stresses Louw.

He adds that optimum filtration performance, combined with lower differential pressure of the system, significantly reduces energy consumption in BMG’s filtration systems, which is critical to maximising production efficiencies. “These benefits are all realised in the Mahle range of filtration systems, which are produced especially for machine manufacturers and operators of mobile and stationary hydraulic equipment.”

Louw highlights that a key offering in the Mahle range that has proven highly successful in the South African market since its introduction in 2002 is the Mahle duplex filter. The filter is designed with two filter housings, allowing maintenance work, including the replacement of elements, to be carried out without suspending production.

“Properly maintained hydraulic systems demand routine servicing of filter elements and this normally requires the shutdown of the system, resulting in loss of production. BMG’s Mahle duplex pressure filters, however, allow continuous operation during element change-out.”

Louw explains that the two filter housings can be switched on and off interactively during operation through a changeover unit in the filter head with no disruption to filtration by using a selector valve, which diverts the oil flow to the clean element while the contaminated element is being changed. As a result, there is no interruption to production during maintenance procedures.

The original design of the duplex filter has been enhanced by Mahle’s improvements to its range of premium select elements – known as Premium Select Plus – to increase their dirt-holding capacity and incorporate an element design that is resistant to pressure impulses.

The filters are, thus, fitted with highly efficient glass premium select filter elements, with a fineness of up to 3 µm, which have a higher dirt absorption capability and pressure difference stability, compared with standard filter elements. Visual electrical and electronic maintenance indicators also ensure optimum use of the dirt-holding capacity of filter elements, as well as clearly indicating issues such as clogging to simplify maintenance procedures. These pressure-resistant filter elements are also specifically matched to the required cleanliness class, pressure ratio and medium properties to ensure failure-free, economical operation.

The duplex filters further feature a patented, ergonomically designed switch-over lever that enables three functions to be performed with one hand. When the lever is activated, a pressure equalisation valve opens, ensuring an equal pressure level in both filter chambers. The filter can, thus, be switched from one filter chamber to the other, without having to shut down the system. A safety lock secures the lever and prevents inadvertent switching.

These modular systems, which can be used as in-line filters and tank-fitted return filters, moreover, have an optimal flow design for improved pressure differential stability and offer leak-free switching of media flow. The multilayered design also offers high differential stability and ample dirt-holding capacity to provide constant filtration performance and maximum protection in diverse applications, even under pulsating loads.