Synder V6 UF Membrane 
Background 
Ultrafiltration membranes are the standard mechanism for the concentration and purification of paint in the electrocoating industry.  During operation, if paint supply is unexpectedly reduced to a point where there is little or no flow in the membranes for any period of time, irreversible fouling will usually occur. As a leading supplier of ultrafiltration membranes, systems, and anode cells to the electrocoating industry, Synder provided a complete UF system for the filtration of cathodic paint to American Showa in 2007. During operation in 2011, the paint weir feeding the system ran dry for a period of 36 hours, which would typically cause irreparable damage to standard UF membranes.  However, after a strong acid cleaning, Synder’s membranes actually recovered to acceptable permeate rates, which allowed American Showa to maintain its operation without requiring immediate replacements.  Such a recovery shows an uncommon fouling resistance to cathodic paint by Synder UF membranes.

Customer Testimonial 
“The paint weir feeding my Ultrafiltration system from Synder Filtration ran dry for a period of 36 hours, leaving the membranes stagnantly filled with cathodic paint.  From my knowledge of the usual damage caused by little or no paint flow in ultrafiltration membranes, I assumed the membranes would be fouled beyond repair.  In an effort to try and salvage any life left in the elements, we flushed the membranes with the remaining permeate in our storage tank and cleaned the membranes for 5-6 hours with a sulfamic acid solution.  After restarting the system, the resulting permeate was initially low (10GPM), but enough to run our paint line.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that over the next few hours the membranes actually recovered to produce over 18 GPM of permeate.  Given the length of time the system was shut down, this was an incredible recovery and serves as an excellent example of these membranes’ resistance to fouling from cathodic paint.”  

Chuck C., Senior Paint Line Technician, American Showa Inc.