Diatomaceous earth filters leaf filter

Filtration. Any type of clarification is foUowed by filtration through leaf-type vertical or horizontal pressure filters. Carbonatated Hquors, containing calcium carbonate, may require addition of diatomaceous earth as a filter precoat. Phosphatated Hquors are generally filtered with the addition of diatomaceous earth as precoat and body feed. 

Precoat Procedure Precoat filtration tests are run in exactly the same manner as bottom-feed tests except that the leaf must first be precoated with a bed of diatomaceous earth, perhte, or other shave-able inert sohds. Some trial and error is involved in selecting a grade of precoat material which will retain the filtered solids to be removed on the surface of the bed without any significant penetration. During this selection process, relatively thin precoat beds of I to 2 cm are satisfactory. After a grade has been selected, bench-scale tests should be... 

The material to be filtered is fed into the vessel under pressure, and separation takes place with the solids being deposited on the leaf surface, and the liquid passing through the drainage system and out of the filter. Cycle times are determined by pressure, cake capacity or batch quantity. Where particularly fine solids must be removed, a layer of precoat material may be deposited on the leaves prior to filtration, using diatomaceous earth, Perlite, or other suitable precoat materials. 

Filtration. Filtration in Washington wineries is performed almost exclusively with plate-and-frame filter presses. In some cases, these filters have wide frames so that they are capable of performing diatomaceous earth filtrations. There is only one stainless steel, screened, diatomaceous earth, pressure-leaf filter in use in the Washington wine industry. Two major wineries have found they can utilize a paper septum over a medium pad in their plate-and-frame filters. This allows them to precoat and body feed with diatomaceous earth as the wine is filtered. This accomplishes both a coarse and medium filtration in one movement of the wine. 

Filtration is the most straightforward, probably the oldest form of sugar liquor clarification process. Filtration is effected with plate and frame pressure-filters or some type of leaf pressure-filter such as Sweetland filters with stationary suspended circular leaves covered on both sides with filter cloth. A filter aid of some sort (diatomaceous earth, paper pulp, or kieselghur) is essential to the operation. The precipitated calcium carbonate serves as a filter aid in the carbonation process. The liquor is mixed with the filter aid and forced under pump pressure through the fabric, which retains the cake and allows the clear liquor to flow through. The retained sugar in the cake can be washed out with hot water. Filtration is no longer used as the sole means of clarification. The process is used for further clarification of the liquor from a carbonation or phosphatation process. 

The oil is mixed with diatomaceous earth through an in-line mixing system and filtered through a pressure leaf filter pre-coated with diatomaceous earth. 

Bleach Filtration. The discussion of brine treatment in Section 7.5 covered the characteristics of the particles formed by chemical precipitation and the types of filter used to remove them. As that discussion would indicate, the particles found in bleach solutions are not easy to filter. Filter aids are necessary, and pressure-leaf filters are commonly used. Figure 15.17 shows a typical skid-mounted unit. Pumps and bleach filter bodies and plates should be titanium. Nonmetallic components are PVC or PTFE. Other components of the system (e.g., filter aid tanks) may be FRP. Filter aids should be diatomaceous earth or Perlite (Section 7.5.4.2). 

Continuous layer filtration involves filtering the sugar syrup through a layer of activated carbon. Several types of filters are used, such as pressure leaf filters with metal frames on which a filter cloth that may be cotton, polyamide, or wire mesh is fixed rotary leaf filters or bed filters in which the filtering medium is a ceramic or sintered plate, wire mesh, or finely perforated metal plate. The latter filters are usually coated with a layer of filter aid that may be a diatomaceous earth. A suspension of active carbon in water or liquor is passed through the filter until a uniform layer of active carbon bed 10 to 15 mm thick builds up. The filter is then ready for filtration of the liquor that must flow to the filter at a uniform rate to avoid breaking the layer. 

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