Design of filter cloth analyser : Development of a portable filter cloth selection tool for filters used to regenerate the acid used in the pickling process during the production of  stainless steel

Abstract: The stainless steel industry is an industry which manufactures one of the most used ma-terials in the world. Even though the vast size of the industry many might not reflect werethe steel comes from when buying their IKEAcutlery etc. But in fact this industry is moreintricate and complex than one might think.During the manufacturing process, the steelgoes through several processes. One of thoseprocesses is done by treating the steel withstrong acid. This chemical process is calledpickling. The pickling process is what createsthe characteristic smooth and shiny surface ofa product made in stainless steel.This thesis is about the development of a testunit that is able to effectively test the ASRA(Acid Sludge Removal Apparatus) filter cloths.The ASRA is a filtration system developed by Scanacon in Stockholm that filtrates and puri-fies acid that is used during the pickling pro-cess of a steel manufacture process. Today, it is complicated, time consuming and dangerous totest and evaluate different filter cloths in orderto find the cloth that provides the best result,since the tests has to be conducted on the realsystems. The aim of this thesis was therefore tosolve these problems. Scanacon wanted to findan alternative solution, that would not includeinteraction with the real filtration system. Theyalso wanted a portable and safe solution. To solve the problem a iterative design pro-cess called RDCD which stands for research, design, create & delivery was developed. Theprocesses was heavily influenced by the CDIO process (Conceive, Design, Implement & Ope-rate). After the research phase was conducted it was decided that a small filter analysis productwould be the best way to solve the problem. The product was then developed one com-ponent at a time. During the project several prototypes and test was created and conductedin order to validate the design.The result is a small filtration unit speciallydesigned to simulate the ASRA system. Theproduct is able to rapidly test various filtercloths in an easy way, without putting the user in harm’s way. After the tests has been perfor-med can the user can identify which cloth that worked the best. The product is small enoughto be possible to be carried in a hard case bag,which in turn affords portability.