October 07, 2021 | yourfilter GmbH
PTFE or polyester fleece?
Which filter material should be preferred for filter cartridges for welding fume extraction? In general, you can choose between two materials that are available in different qualities on the market:
- PTFE / ePTFE
- Polyestervlies
When it comes to PTFE materials, a distinction is made between PFTE and ePTFE. PTFE filter material consists of polyester fleece, which is coated with PTFE (also called Teflon). An ePTFE material differs in that the PTFE fibers are oriented. The "e" stands for "expanded" or "expansion". Teflon, or PTFE, has very good non-stick properties, which means that the material is easy to clean. "Expanded" PTFE, so ePTFE has very good non-stick properties due to the "specially" arranged Teflon fibers.
Polyester fleece has no coating. The material therefore absorbs more dirt in the depth and is more difficult to clean off. But: PTFE / ePTFE is not suitable for dusts containing oil. The Teflon coating sticks and the function of the filter cartridges are severely impaired and are difficult to clean. Here it is recommended to use polyester fleece cartridges. Likewise, if there are manageable amounts of dust and not a large number of cleaning cycles are necessary.
In terms of price, the polyester cartridge has a clear advantage. The filter medium is much cheaper to manufacture and thus the polyester fleece filter cartridges can be offered much more cheaply.
Fig. 1: PTFE or polyester fleece filter cartridges
The difference is not directly recognizable - but you can feel the difference - PTFE or ePTFE feels a bit "smoother" than polyester fleece filter material.
In the next BLOG article: Filter system? I don't need it.