Voith, Germany, has brought to market a new screen element for the screw press. SplitScreen is the first screen element consisting of a supporting structure and a screen plate, enabling maintenance and inspection time to be significantly reduced compared with conventional cylindrical screen baskets. In addition, investment costs over the lifetime of the screw press are much lower than for conventional screen elements.

 

SplitScreen has a split supporting body with two removable screen plates instead of one cylindrical basket. This design enables direct access to the individual screw press components without having to dismantle it completely. Whereas with previous technologies the entire press screw including screen baskets had to be lifted out using an indoor crane to get to the cylindrical screen elements, SplitScreen allows the top half of the SplitScreen to be disconnected after lifting the hood to check the condition of the plate. If the screen plate, which is a wearing part, does actually need to be replaced, the lower half can also simply be turned to the top. This then gives easy access to exchange the upper and lower screen plates. At the same time, this makes the press screw accessible for inspection.

 

With SplitScreen, the time necessary for replacing a screen element is only three to four hours instead of the average 24 to 48 hours that were previously needed. Moreover, procurement costs can be cut up to 40% per year after first installation, as in the event of wear only the screen plate and not the entire SplitScreen has to be changed. The large, open design of the screen area also helps improve the dewatering efficiency of the screw press.

SplitScreen is a standard feature of Voith's new InfiltraScrewpress. All conventional screen elements of Voith’s Thune screw press as well as screw presses from other manufacturers can be converted to SplitScreen, which is a component of Voith’s BlueLine product range that has been developed for stock preparation. BlueLine products are known for their low consumption of energy, fibers and water.