At the request of Parlevliet & van der Plas, one of the largest fishing companies in the world, STC Trade designed and delivered an HDPE filter at the beginning of February 2020. Because the ship was in the Netherlands for a very short time, the project had to be completed within one week. STC Trade has made every effort to deliver the filter within the agreed term. An enormous achievement when you consider that there’s a standard 3-weeks delivery time, but above all: the enormous size of the filter. The STC Perfoplast™ filter is 4300 mm long and has a diameter of 500 mm.
Operation
The filter hangs in a Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) Tank, in which fresh fish is kept for processing. These tanks are approximately 5 x 5 x 5 meters. The function of the filter is to refresh seawater. The challenge: the suction draws the fish against the filter, which clogs the 8 mm holes. To solve this, the water flow is reversed. As a result, the filter, unlike a normal seawater filter, had to withstand suction and pressure forces.
Construction
To hang the STC Perfoplast™ filter in the tank, coupling pieces have been made, so-called spacers. The DN350 connection is located on one side through a loose flange. The other side is closed with a perforated plastic plate.The filter was brought into the tank in parts and assembled on-site, because it could not go through the hatch of the tank as a whole.
Benefits filter
The filter is seawater-resistant and is made entirely of HDPE – except for the stainless steel bolt connections. This will prevent corrosion in the tank filled with food: an important step!
Other advantages are the smooth surface, which makes the filter very easy to clean. Furthermore: the filter is durable. One day this filter will be easy to recycle!
Read more about these filters here.
The customer
The vessel, the Margiris, will shortly go to sea for 8 months before returning to IJmuiden. We wish the ship and crew a safe journey and good luck!
