An integrated approach to filter media combines specialized services, intelligent cloth analysis and advanced cloth replacement.
In today’s industrial environment, filtration efficiency depends on more than just mechanical performance. Choosing and managing the right filter cloths, reducing downtime during cloth changes and using intelligent monitoring systems can all improve productivity, lower operating costs and increase process reliability.
These topics were discussed at a recent webinar hosted by Italy-based Diemme Filtration S.r.l., a brand of Germany-based Aqseptence Group GmbH. The event explored how filter media expertise, automated cloth replacement and digital intelligence can work together to support more efficient, reliable and data-driven filtration solutions.
Integrated Filter Performance
Wallace Bacelar, global business development manager, Filter Media, described how filter cloths directly affect the key performance indicators of the filter press, in particular cake moisture, throughput and equipment availability.
He said the main things to consider are:
- Slurry behavior during filtration and its impact on final cake moisture;
- Pressure distribution across the filter plates and its influence on filtration capacity;
- Cake formation and discharge dynamics, which are essential for stable cycles and high availability; and
- The impact of filter cloth selection on overall productivity and equipment service life.
Filter cloth issues directly affect filter press efficiency and uptime, Bacelar said. Customers face challenges such as downtime issues, filter cloth performance and high operation costs.
He explained that Diemme offers a comprehensive portfolio that is tailor-made to the customer’s application by selecting the right filter cloth, offering both remote and on-site technical support, using process data for continuous monitoring to improve filtration performance. “All this is part of an integrated solution aimed at reducing costs, improving reliability and maximizing performance,” he said.
The company’s approach combines expertise, technology and intelligence to provide “real value for customers,” added Andrea Pezzi, director of Marketing and Sustainability Manager.
Image Analysis In Real Time
Filter cloths have a limited service life, such as 1,000 filter cycles, and when damage occurs immediate replacement is essential. “A strategy is therefore needed to minimize the operational impact and avoid over-conservative practices,” said Francesco Dalmonte, AI solution developer. “An effective inspection system will optimize cloth usage, enable rapid damage localization and minimize downtime and operator workload.”
Standard filter presses, such as the GHT-F filter press unit, include a motorized trolley carrying a high-pressure (HP) washing system that travels longitudinally on the beams, deploying a washing bar between the plates.
Optycare is an intelligent, vision-based cloth inspection system from Diemme that provides simultaneous scanning and washing, with no impact on cycle time. In this system, a vision box is added between the HP bar to acquire high-resolution linear scans of the filter cloths. This provides real-time analysis and results in a resolution of 0.2 millimeters per pixel, enabling visibility of fine, 3D details.
Using multi-light technology, the system captures a full cloth image in less than 20 seconds. A machine-learning model can be trained to detect anomalies, with the algorithm passed to AIDA, Diemme’s IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) platform designed to transform data, technology and application knowledge into concrete decision-support tools.
“The Optycare technology provides effective early-stage damage detection that enables a reactive maintenance strategy,” Dalmonte said. “This maximizes cloth lifetime while minimizing downtime and operator workload. This type of system will be the foundation for a fully automated cloth maintenance approach.”
In principle, Optycare can be retrofitted on any existing GHT-F filter press unit, he added. As of May 2026, the first Optycare system has already been installed with more in the planning stage, according to Diemme.
Automated Rapid Media Replacement
Diemme Filtration’s X-Change advanced cloth replacement system completes the company’s integrated approach to help minimize plant downtime and improve operational continuity.
“X-Change is a robot installed on a smart overhead crane that automatically executes cloth replacement in total safety,” said Davide Collini, director of R&D and innovation. “Depending on the filter press layout it can serve multiple machines, completely unattended.”
Currently available for the GHT2500F and GHT5000F Domino filter presses, X-Change enables a total cloth replacement of around 10 minutes.
The Diemme Filtration brand was established in the early 1970s when the filter press moved on from the food industry to establish itself in other industrial sectors as a process technology for solid-liquid separation.
Wide Range Of Filters
The Diemme Filtration brand was established in the early 1970s when the filter press moved on from the food industry to establish itself in other industrial sectors as a process technology for solid-liquid separation.
Since then, the filter press has become the machinery of choice for the treatment of industrial and municipal sewage sludge, a role that it still maintains today in applications such as the mining and the chemical industries, power plants and the oil and gas sector, where high dewatering performance, low operational expense and reliability are key drivers in the selection of technology.
Diemme Filtration offers a wide range of filters in terms of size, design and technical characteristics. The equipment is tailor-made and designed according to the needs of the specific application.
