Looking for a filter

[Willengos]

I am working on a soil disinfection system that injects steam into the soil. The steam is vacuumed using pipes to force it all the way through the soil.
As you would expect the soil particles block the pipe within minutes. I am looking for a filter that can stop this happening
Any suggestion would be most valuable.

Thanks

Will

 

[Barry1961]

Maybe you can swap the in and out, like on a heat pump. This could be triggered with a vacuum switch so when the intake gets clogged it swaps to discharge and purges until the other side clogs.

Barry1961

 

[aspearin1]

There are numerous filters, generally stainless steal, which are employed for steam or corrosive chemical service. These filters can generally be reused after a chemical clean or backwashing. I have seen some pleated woven stainless steal filters go down as far as 8 microns (nominal)as well as sintered composite stainless steal. There are also some self-cleaning filters, one of which is made by my company, but it is only rated for 40m microns (which is the visible limit of the human eye). It is more commonly used for steam filtration, but it's intended to take out very large particles in steam lines to protect against pitting, fowling and downstream equipment.

I'd consider Barry1961's idea. Bottom line is, if your pipes are clogging now, a filter will clog ~100 times faster. But they do exist.

ChemE, M.E. EIT
"The only constant in life is change." -Bruce Lee