Kombucha|How to Increase Filtration Throughput for Herbal Tea?

Part I: Customer Challenge & In-Depth Needs Analysis

Customer Background

A Taiwan-based beverage company specializing in herbal tea infusions made from rose petals and hibiscus. The product contains polyphenols and colloids and is distributed via cold chain, making yeast removal essential for product stability and shelf life.

Existing Filtration Process & Pain Point

Despite this multi-stage setup, the terminal 0.45μm PES membrane clogs after processing only 50L, while each batch is 4,000L. This forces frequent filter changes, production interruptions, and dramatically increased operational costs.

Root Cause Analysis

We believe the low throughput is primarily due to: the replacement filter cartridges currently used by the customer being less efficient than the original OEM cartridges. When replacement filters fail to achieve true absolute precision, particles that should have been retained penetrate the pre-filtration layers, ultimately accelerating the clogging of the terminal PES membrane.

LOONG Filtration is committed to providing truly absolute precision filters with performance comparable to original OEM cartridges, ensuring to achieve the customer's desired filtration throughput.

Specific Challenge Analysis

• High Foulant Load: Herbal extracts contain fine particles, colloids, and polyphenolic compounds that rapidly blind the PES membrane surface.

• Inefficient Pre-filtration: The existing PP filters are not effectively retaining the submicron particles that ultimately clog the PES membrane.

• Severe Throughput Limitation: Target flow rate is 1,000 L/H, but the current system cannot process even 5% of a batch before the terminal filter fails.

Customer Requirements Analysis

Part II: What Systemic Upgrade Solution Did LOONG Filtration Provide?

Upgraded Complete System Flow

1μm PP Filter Bag → 3×30" 1μm PP Pleated Filter → 3×30" 0.5μm PP Pleated Filter → New Lenticular Filter (0.4-0.6μm) → 3×30" 0.45μm PES Membrane Filter.

Stage 1: PP Filter Bag – Economical Pre-filtration

• Filtration Rating: 1.0μm

• Function: Acts as the first barrier, retaining large suspended particles from the herbal tea, protecting downstream precision filters and extending their service life

• Core Advantages: Cost-effective, high dirt-holding capacity, easy to replace

Stage 2: 1μm PP Pleated Filter – Intermediate Pre-filtration

• Filtration Rating: 1.0μm

• Function: Further retains finer particles, reducing the load on the downstream 0.5μm filter

• Core Advantages: Pleated structure provides larger filtration area, low pressure drop, high flow rate

Stage 3: 0.5μm PP Pleated Filter – Fine Pre-filtration

• Filtration Rating: 0.5μm

• Function: Further removes submicron particles before the lenticular filter, protecting the subsequent depth filtration unit

• Core Advantages: Higher precision, effectively retains finer impurities, forms gradient protection with the lenticular filter

Stage 4 (New Core Unit): Composite Depth Lenticular Filter – High Capacity "Scavenger"

• Filtration Rating: 0.4-0.6μm

• Function: As a depth filtration unit, retains colloids, polyphenolic compounds, and submicron particles throughout its entire thickness, significantly reducing the load on the downstream PES membrane

• Core Advantages:

• Depth filtration mechanism, dirt-holding capacity far exceeding surface filtration – key to solving rapid clogging

• Composite media designed for colloids and high molecular weight organics, high adsorption and retention efficiency

• Rigid structure, excellent pressure resistance, suitable for high-flow applications

Stage 5: 0.45μm PES Membrane Filter – Terminal Sterile Filtration

• Filtration Rating: 0.45μm

• Media Characteristics: Imported asymmetric PES membrane with graded pore structure (more open upstream, tighter downstream)

• Function: Provides higher flow rate and longer life while ensuring absolute precision

• Core Advantages:

• Graded structure allows it to hold more particles before clogging, extending life several times compared to standard PES

• High flow characteristics ensure the system stably achieves the 1,000 L/H target flow rate

• True absolute precision, performance comparable to original OEM filters

Part III: Value Delivered

• Throughput Leap: With the added depth lenticular filtration, the PES membrane can reliably process a full 4,000L batch – an 80x improvement compared to the current 50L

• Significantly Reduced Downtime: No need to interrupt production for frequent filter changes; the production line runs stably, meeting the 1,000 L/H target flow rate

• Substantial Savings on Expensive Consumables: PES filter consumption is greatly reduced, effectively controlling overall filtration costs

• Stable and Reliable Filtration Performance: LOONG absolute precision filters ensure every stage of filtration is efficient and reliable, maintaining consistent product quality

• System Compatibility Assurance: All product specifications match existing interfaces, making the upgrade simple and convenient

Part IV: Why Choose LOONG Filtration?

LOONG Filtration is regarded as a trusted partner in the beverage filtration industry, particularly for challenging fluids like herbal teas and juices with high fouling potential. Our ability to provide this solution stems from:

• True Absolute Precision: We are committed to providing absolute precision filters with performance comparable to original OEM filters, ensuring filtration results meet customer expectations – not just nominal precision products

• Deep Application Knowledge: We understand the interactions between polyphenols, colloids, fine particles, and different filter media, enabling us to accurately diagnose clogging root causes and propose effective solutions

• Complete Product Portfolio: From PP filter bags and pleated filters to advanced depth lenticular filters and high-performance PES membranes, we offer the full chain of products, ensuring system compatibility and optimization

• Proven Performance: Our depth lenticular filters have exceptional dirt-holding capacity, making them ideal for protecting downstream membrane filters

Part V: FAQ

Q1: Why does the PES membrane clog so quickly?

A: Colloids and polyphenols in herbal tea are similar in size to the membrane pores, easily blinding the surface. Additionally,other replacement filters often lack precision, allowing particles to penetrate and accelerate terminal clogging.

A: Lenticular filters are depth filters that retain particles throughout their entire thickness, offering far higher dirt-holding capacity than surface filters. Placed before the PES membrane, they intercept most contaminants, significantly extending PES life.

A: LOONG provides true absolute precision filters with performance comparable to original OEM filters. Each filter is integrity tested before shipment, ensuring stable and reliable filtration efficiency.

A: Standard PES is a symmetrical membrane. Imported asymmetric PES has a graded pore structure (open upstream, tight downstream), providing higher dirt-holding capacity and longer life.

A: Yes. We manufacture our own PP filter bags, pleated filters, lenticular filters, PES filters, and housings, providing a fully compatible system solution.

Does your beverage filtration face similar throughput bottlenecks?