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Pressure Filters, with the exception of the Rotary Drum Pressure Filter, are semicontinuous type machines that enter a wash and cake discharge mode at the end of
the filtration cycle. The filtration cycle may extend from 5-10 minutes on cake
filtration applications and up to 8 or even more hours for the polishing of liquids.
Since the operation is in batches, that are usually fed from and discharged to a
continuous process, a surge tank is required upstream the filter and batch collection
of cake downstream the filter. The collection of filtrate depends on the operating
mode of the filter which can be constant flow rate, constant pressure or both with
pressure rising and flow rate reducing as for a centrifugal pump.
Most Pressure Filters are batch operated but continuous filters are also available.
However, owing to the difficulty in removing the cake they are mechanically complex
and expensive so mainly applied in fine chemical processes where the added value to
the product is high.
There are two constraining factors that determine the duration of the filtration cycle:
For cake filtration it is the volume available for cake build-up and once the
volume is filled the cycle must terminate even if the permissible pressure was
not reached.
For polishing, or when the solids are fast blinding, the cycle must terminate
once the permissible pressure has been reached regardless of cake thickness.
The filtration rate is influenced, in broad terms, by the properties of the slurry. The
trend is that the rate goes up with increased pressure, coarser particles, particle
distribution with high uniformity, non-slimy or non-gelatinous solids, noncompressible cakes, lower liquid viscosity and higher temperatures.
Body aid is used when the slurry is low in solids content with fine and slimy
particles that are difficult to filter. To enhance filtration coarse solids with large
surface area are added to the slurry and serve as a body-aid that captures
and traps in its interstices the slow filtering particles and produce a porous
cake matrix. The amount added depends on the nature of the solids and
varies from for non-compressible and up to 5 times for gelatinous solids.
All the material above are produced to specification in a controlled process. However,
for applications that do not require high quality any other solid that is readily
available and has similar properties may be used as body-aid.
The block diagram for a typical filter station and its components may look like this:
Disadvantages
Cloth washing is difficult and if the solids are sticky a 3 mm precoat from
diatomite or perlite is required. This adds another step prior to filtration and if
not done carefully and a too thin precoat is formed it may leave areas with
exposed cloth which will blind rapidly. Conversely, if a too thick precoat is
formed since the operator seeks to be on the safe side, such a precoat
consumes effective cake volume.
The operator can hardly see the forming cake and is unable to carry out an
inspection while the filter is in operation.
The internals are difficult to clean and this may be a problem with food grade
applications.