Current situation and innovation breakthrough of domestic filter element welding technology

Current Status and Innovative Breakthroughs in Domestic Filter Element Welding Technology

Although domestic filter element welding technology has made significant progress, there still remains a gap compared to international brands. Currently, hot plate welding is the primary method for sealing domestic filter elements. This technique involves heating a thermal template to a predetermined temperature, pressing it against the welding surfaces of components, maintaining heat for a set duration, then quickly retracting the template and pressing the heated surfaces together. The bond solidifies upon cooling to complete the welding process.

Advantages of Hot Plate Welding

Hot plate welding offers unique benefits. The heating and melting time of welding surfaces can be monitored and controlled in real time using standard timers and temperature sensors, while parameters are easily adjusted via PLC software. Additionally, the process is fast and cycle-efficient, making it ideal for mass production.

Challenges of Hot Plate Welding

However, challenges persist. Direct contact heating often leads to plastic adhesion issues. While high-temperature-resistant Teflon anti-stick coatings can isolate welding surfaces from the thermal template, sealing welds demand extremely precise temperature and fluidity control. The molten layer’s temperature tolerance is narrow, and the surface hardening layer is exceptionally thin. At room temperature (22°C), if the system’s response time exceeds 3 seconds due to mechanical limitations, maintaining stable welding parameters becomes difficult. To compensate, higher template temperatures are often used, but this accelerates Teflon coating degradation, adhesion problems, and premature aging, compromising weld quality.

Innovative Solutions

To address these issues, our company introduced a novel end-cap heating method. After years of research and extensive trials, we developed a groundbreaking welding technique for filter elements. This innovation significantly enhances welding technology for microporous membrane folded filter elements, improving both production consistency and overall performance metrics. Furthermore, the new method is adaptable to both single-station small-batch and multi-station automated mass production.

Case Study: Single-Station Welding Equipment

For example, our redesigned single-station welding equipment optimizes hardware and integrated control software specifically for filter element sealing. It replaces traditional dual-cylinder push welding with a synchronized mechanism, eliminating issues like low precision and poor speed controllability. The upgraded system ensures tighter mechanical-electrical coordination, offers user-friendly debugging modes, and guarantees that final parameters meet stringent welding requirements.

This breakthrough elevates both the quality and scalability of filter element manufacturing in China.