When the food industries produce milk and juice products or other liquids, they often need a liquid separator or something to filter out the particles. Frequently, this is done by spiral membranes, which are densely packed in special membrane housings. There are many types of membranes and membrane housings, in which the size of meshes and the appropriate pressure from liquids are the two most essential factors for this function. Very acutely meshed membranes, placed in the correct membrane house up to 64 bar pressures, are even able to filter out microscopical units from the product.

Wila is specialized in membrane housings, made by stainless steel of superior quality for the dairy and beverage industries, because Wila knows how important they are. Each membrane housing is milled and welded at a high precision, just as the materials are carefully selected. Indeed, the casing, which is delivered to Wila, has been manufactured in a supreme condition with a properly hygienical surface.

“We dare say that we are among the two best European companies which supply membrane housings of superior quality”

says the CCO at Wila, Steen Nordmark

A strong team

This particular quality is the key word when Wila is being approached by a customer, requesting membrane housings for a facility. This is primarily due to the employees.

One of them is the Mechanical Engineer at Wila, Hjalmar Thorvaldsson. When the team and he receive a request from a customer, it frequently requires a tailormade solution. Nevertheless, regardless of the customer’s requests, the team and he ensure that this customer receives membrane housings in superior quality.

“We have invested a lot of time and money in optimizing the welding and production processes. It is important for us that our work is consistent, and we will try again and again until we have the optimum process. In this case, our qualified employees mean everything”, says Hjalmar Thorvaldsson.

Combined, materials, processes, designs and qualified employees mean that the customer is left with a membrane housing, which has been manufactured in a way that the cleaning process meets the highest standards. In addition, it is possible to get the membrane housings certified for the demanding 3-A Sanitary Standards. Finally, the end flanges have been designed while focusing on the user-friendliness, so they easily and safely can be attached and detached.

”Our employees take great pride in the products we deliver, just as we are very proud of our strong team”, says Hjalmar Thorvaldsson.

The devil is in the detail

Wila also produces ATDs (Anti Telescopic Devices), which help equalize the pressure, while being the connectors between the membranes in membrane housings. Some companies use plastic ATDs because it is a cheaper product. However, Wila’s ATDs in stainless steel are much easier to clean and have a long durability. This means that it takes a longer time until they need to be replaced, and that the money is well spent. They have also been designed so that it is easier to inspect the membranes with a camera.

Another matching element are tubular heat exchangers, which Wila also produces. This will be elaborated further in one of the upcoming articles about products. Meanwhile, Wila offers a total assembly of the complete production facility.

“A membrane housing is hardly ever alone. There is often a matching set of membrane housings in need of fitting together with other components. Therefore, we specialize in consistency and overall solutions, just as we continuously control our production for any deviations. We know that the devil is in the detail”, says Steen Nordmark.