The XFM Factor

March 14, 2023 | Janice Johnston | News, What's New

Finally – a fine filtration solution with minimal capex

OCM Products and Flocell have been developing filtration solutions for more than 20 years. We have recently established a dedicated aquaculture business unit to bring together some main pillars of our business, namely performance, sustainability and value.

Very high retention capacity
Flocell XFM filters are high performance, high capacity filtration units designed to capture large quantities of fine particles and are not subject to the typical restrictions of particulate filters. We spent two years developing a proprietary open-cell HDPE media element which is optimised for fine particle mechanical filtration.

These systems are maintenance-free and capable of very high retention capacities. Users can expect to recover over 100x the load normally associated with granular filters between cleaning cycles.

Low cleaning frequency
Due to much higher retention capacity, cleaning is far less frequent than with other technologies, therefore increasing operational efficiencies.

Air cleaning

No hydraulic pressure loss
They do not suffer hydraulic loss and will continue to filter at low head until they reach retention capacity and require cleaning.

Low operating costs
Flocell XFM filters have much lower operating costs associated with power and water use. Whilst not typically used for absolute, single pass filtration, XFM filters instead work by constantly removing a percentage of the particles present. In situations where single pass filtration is the only option, multiple filters are installed in series/parallel, or alternatively a screened balancing tank or sump is present in order to continually filter a body of water.

Low water use and air-cleaning
Flocell XFM filters are cleaned by air sparging (a technique to strip the water of organic compounds) for a short period of time before a single volume of concentrated filtrate is sent to waste having first isolated the units. They require either a pumped or gravity supply.

Low capex
Complete control of UK manufacturing in-house means capital expenditure is significantly lower than similar sized filters.

Maintenance free
Simple operation and zero maintenance mean higher margins and no downtime.

Integrates well with other technologies
Flocell XFM filters allow retention of biological slough associated with MBBRs (moving bed biological reactors). They help with fish tank maintenance, as part of a recirculating loop to condition water, reduce ammonia and remove load from other systems.

By integrating the filters with drum-filters, XFM units are able to effectively concentrate particulates enabling over 95% water re-use within systems
For sump water, constant low-energy cleaning reduces sludge buildup, downtime and maintenance, therefore improving profit margin.

Sand filters use large amounts of power, suffer clogging issues and require regular upkeep. XFM filters can effectively reduce the load on other systems.

Unique solution
Flocell XFM filters are able to manage a large spread of suspended particle sizes from 1um (one micrometre) upwards, and there is no requirement for screen fitting or changing.

They are cost effective, with payback periods of a few months on power use alone when compared to similar sized particulate filters.

Cleaning does not need to be carried out frequently, and it can be simply automated if required.

No media replacement is needed and there is no internal maintenance under normal conditions.

Flocell XFM filter

XFM filters have the ability to recycle the vast majority of waste water back to the clean side of the system when used for water recovery and removing solids from other waste streams.

XFM filters use a much smaller volume of water when cleaning – no backwashing is required.

Flexibility
Flocell technology can be readily and very cost-effectively be retrofitted to existing inoperative large filter units or larger civil installations.