Fiber Bundle Filter Media · Technical Reference & Specifications

1. What fiber bundle filter media is

Fiber bundle filter media is a deep bed filter material made from staple fibre — polypropylene (PP) or polyester (PES) — drawn into strands and gathered into bundles of 100–150 mm diameter. Rather than lying loose in the filter like sand or anthracite, the bundles are suspended in an ordered array from a support frame, so the media occupies the filter volume as a curtain of fibre hung in the water.

The strand diameter is 20–50 µm and the surface area reaches 3500 m²/m³, which brings the effective filter surface into the micrometre range. A granular bed works at millimetre scale and cannot shrink its grain size indefinitely; fiber bundle media removes that limit, exposing far more contact surface to the water for the same bed volume and holding the fine suspended solids and oil that pass a conventional granular filter. The published filtration rate is 35–85 m/h — several times that of a quartz sand bed.

The fibre itself is light, strong, elastic, wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant and non-hygroscopic. It is chemically stable in service, releases no harmful constituents into the filtered water, and does not break up or wash out under the friction, impact and shear of high-intensity air–water washing.

2. Filtration and backwash cycle

Filtration

Water enters at the top of the filter and leaves at the bottom. Under gravity and the flow itself, the fibre density adjusting device drives the bed downward, so the bed compresses and its packing density rises along the flow path. Porosity and pore diameter therefore decrease gradually with depth, and the media forms a graded, variable-pore deep bed on its own — no artificial media grading is needed, as it is with granular filters.

Because the pore structure narrows with depth, the bed removes solids by both transverse and longitudinal (deep bed) filtration. That combination is what raises filtration accuracy and gives the media its solids-holding capacity, published at 8 kg/m³.

Backwash

To clean the bed, water and air are passed upward through it. The disturbance loosens the fibre bed, the density adjusting device carries the bed upward and the bundles extend, so the layer opens and the solids held through the full bed depth are released and flushed out. Wash water can be taken from the raw water supply in most installations, and the cycle can be automated.

This is the essential difference from loosely packed fibre: the bed filters in a compressed, ordered state and backwashes in a loose, ordered state. The bundles stay hung in sequence, so the bed cannot stratify, knot or lose media, and high-intensity air–water combined washing is tolerated.

3. Published parameters

Parameter	Value
Media form	Bundle of fibre strands, hung on a support frame
Filament material	Polypropylene (PP) staple fibre · polyester (PES) staple fibre
Modified (grafted) types	Available — confirm the duty when enquiring
Fibre diameter	20–50 µm
Fibre filament length	15–25 mm
Bundle diameter	100–150 mm
Bundle length	1.00–2.00 m; longer lengths made to order
Bundle weight	200–400 g per bundle
Surface area	up to 3500 m²/m³
Porosity	98%
Packing density of the bed	20–40 kg/m³
Filtration rate	35–85 m/h
Solids retention	8 kg/m³
Typical duty — coarse filtration	Filtration rate around 35 m/h; inlet 120 mg/L → outlet SS ≤5 mg/L
Typical duty — fine filtration	Inlet 25 mg/L → outlet ≤2 mg/L
Backwash	Air–water combined washing; bundles stay in place and are not lost
Service life	On request — confirmed against the duty
Packing	On request
MOQ / price	On request — confirm filter model, bed volume & destination

Values above are the published reference figures for fiber bundle filter media. They describe the media type rather than the measured performance of any one plant: fibre grade, bundle dimensions, bed design, filtration rate and packing are confirmed against your filter model and water quality before quotation.

4. Installation notes

• The bundles hang between a lower and an upper support plate. Published practice uses a 20 mm steel plate or ABS engineering plastic plate, drilled with 10 mm holes at approximately 10% open area.
• Fibre bundle length is selected from the clear space between the water distribution main and the lower edge of the drainage trough; the usual net length is 1.00–2.00 m, and longer bundles are made to order.
• The lower plate sits directly on the distribution main and is welded or fixed as one piece, level to within ±5 mm; the plate must be anchored to the floor and wall so backwash cannot lift it.
• Gaps between the plate and the filter walls are packed and sealed so that neither media nor water bypasses the bed.
• An upper plate carries the bundles and a mechanical adjusting device regulates bed compression; a manhole in the upper plate gives access to hang the bundles in sequence during installation.
• Because the bundles stay fixed to the frame, the media does not need the topping up and periodic replacement that granular beds require.

5. Applications

• Drinking water: potable supply, purified and high-purity water production.
• Industrial water: power generation, petrochemical, chemical, metallurgy, electronics and electroplating high-grade water, and high-efficiency filters for these duties.
• Circulating water: side-stream filtration, cooling water and air-conditioning cooling water, cooling system make-up and side-stream purification.
• Wastewater: direct filtration of municipal sewage and industrial wastewater effluent after physical–chemical or biological treatment.
• Water reuse: miscellaneous water recovery, hotel and residential grey water treatment.
• Recreation and aquaculture: swimming pool water treatment, aquarium recirculation, artificial landscape water and freshwater aquaculture.
• Upgrading: replacing or supplementing quartz sand and other granular media in existing rapid gravity filters to raise flow rate and effluent quality within the same tank.

6. Ordering information

To quote fiber bundle filter media we need the filter model or tank dimensions, the bed volume or number of bundles required, the filtration rate, the influent suspended solids and oil content, and the target effluent quality. Bundle diameter, bundle length and fibre grade (standard or modified) are then confirmed and the export packing agreed. Price and minimum order quantity are quoted on request and depend on the fibre grade, bundle dimensions and destination.

Compiled from published specifications for fiber bundle filter media with installation guidance from filter retrofit practice. Parameters are confirmed against the specific filter design before order.