Filter media processes

Deep Bed Filters. Deep bed filtration is fundamentally different from cake filtration both in principle and appHcation. The filter medium (Fig. 4) is a deep bed with pore size much greater than the particles it is meant to remove. No cake should form on the face of the medium. Particles penetrate into the medium where they separate due to gravity settling, diffusion, and inertial forces attachment to the medium is due to molecular and electrostatic forces. Sand is the most common medium and multimedia filters also use garnet and anthracite. The filtration process is cycHc, ie, when the bed is full of sohds and the pressure drop across the bed is excessive, the flow is intermpted and solids are backwashed from the bed, sometimes aided by air scouring or wash jets. 

By filtration mechanism. Although the mechanism for separation and accumulation of solids is not clearly understood, hvo models are generally considered and are the basis for the apphcation of theoiy to the filh ation process. When solids are stopped at the surface of a filter medium and pile upon one another to form a cake of increasing thickness, the separation is called cake filtration. When solids are trapped within tne pores or body of the medium, it is termed depth, filter-medium, or clarifying filtration. 

F1G. 18-123 Cake discharge and medium washing on an EIMCO helt filter. (EIMCO Process Equipment Co.)... 

When the pressure rises to the permissible maximum, the cartridge must be opened and the element replaced. Micronic elements of the fiber type cannot be cleaned and are so priced that they can be discarded or the filter medium replaced economically. Stone elements usually must be cleaned, a process best accomplished bv the manufacturer of the porous ceramic or in accordance with the manufacturer s directions. The user can clean stainless-steel elements by chemical treatment. 

Process Concept The application of a direct elecdric field of appropriate polarity when filtering should cause a net charged-particle migration relative to the filter medium (electrophoresis). The same direct electric field can also be used to cause a net fluid flow relative to the pores in a fixed filter cake or filter medium (electroosmosis). The exploitation of one or both of these phenomena form the basis of conventional electrofiltration. 

A filter removes particulate matter from the carrying gas stream because the particulate impinges on and then adheres to the filter material. As time passes, the deposit of particulate matter becomes greater and the deposit itself then acts as a filtering medium. When the deposit becomes so heavy that the pressure necessary to force the gas through the filter becomes excessive, or the flow reduction severely impairs the process, the filter must either be replaced or cleaned. 

From an industrial viewpoint, the objective of the unit operation of filtration is the separation of suspended solid particles from a process fluid stream which is accomplished by passing the suspension through a porous medium that is referred to as a filter medium. In forcing the fluid through the voids of the filter medium, fluid alone flows, but the solid particles are retained on the surface and in the... 

Note that filter aid selection must be based on planned laboratory tests. Guidelines for selection may only be applied in the broadest sense, since there is almost an infinite number of combinations of filter media, filter aids, and suspensions that will produce varying degrees of separation. The hydrodynamics of any filtration process are highly complex filtration is essentially a multiphase system in which interaction takes place between solids from the suspension, filter aid, and filter medium, and a liquid phase. Experiments are mandatory in most operations not only in proper filter aid selection but in defining the method of application. Some general guidelines can be applied to such studies the filter aid must have the minimum hydraulic resistance and provide the desired rate of separation an insufficient amount of filter aid leads to a reduction in filtrate quality — excess amounts result in losses is filtration rate and it is necessary to account for the method of application and characteristics of filter aids. 

When the space above the suspension is subjected to compressed gas or the space under the filter plate is under a vacuum, filtration proceeds under a constant pressure differential (the pressure in the receivers is constant). The rate of filtration decreases due to an increase in the cake thickness and, consequently, flow resistance. A similar filtration process results from a pressure difference due to the hydrostatic pressure of a suspension layer of constant thickness located over the filter medium. 

The most favorable filtration operation with cake formation is process whereby no clogging of the filter medium occurs. Such a process is observed at sufficiently high concentrations of solid particles in suspension. From a practical standpoint this concentration may conditionally be assumed to be in excess of 1% by volume. Filtration is frequently accompanied by hindered or free gravitational settling of solid particles. The relative directions of action between gravity force and filtrate... 

Proper filter medium selection is based on understanding these mechanisms and analyzing the impact each has on the filtration process. 

In the case of multiparticle blockage, as the suspension flows through the medium, the capillary walls of the pores are gradually covered by a uniform layer of particles. This particle layer continues to build up due to mechanical impaction, particle interception and physical adsorption of particles. As the process continues, the available flow area of the pores decreases. Denoting as the ratio of accumulated cake on the inside pore walls to the volume of filtrate recovered, and applying the Hagen-Poiseuille equation, the rate of filtration (per unit area of filter medium) at the start of the process is ... 

The filter structure consists of a stack of plates attached to a hollow shaft which are mounted inside a pressure vessel with each plate covered with a suitable filter medium. The slurry is fed under pressure into the vessel and the cake, which is retained by the filter medium, forms on the top of each plate whilst the filtrate passes through the hollow shaft further to the process. Filter sizes may vary but generally the maximum is 60 m area and designed for a 6 bar operating pressure. Each circular plate in the stack is constructed with radial ribs that are welded to the bottom and support a horizontal coarse mesh screen which is covered with a finer woven metal screen or filter cloth to retain the cake. The bottom of the plate slopes towards the hollow central shaft which lets the filtrate flow freely through circumferential holes and further down the shaft to the filtrate outlet. The clearance between the plates is maintained by special spacers with "o" rings to positively seal between the slurry that surrounds the plates and the shaft that collects the filtrate. The height of the spacers determine the clearance for cake build-up and may be replaced to meet various process conditions. 

The physical nature of the precipitate must be such that it can be readily separated from the solution by filtration, and can be washed free of soluble impurities. These conditions require that the particles are of such size that they do not pass through the filtering medium, and that the particle size is unaffected (or, at least, not diminished) by the washing process. 

Filter aids are widely used in die fermentation industry to improve the efficiency of filtration. It is a pre-coated filter medium to prevent blockage or blinding of the filter by solids, which would otherwise wedge diemselves into the pores of the cloth. Filter aid can be added to the fermentation broth to increase the porosity of the cake as it formed. This is only recommended when fermentation product is extracellular. Filter aid adds to the cost of filtration. The minimum quantity needed to achieve the desired result must be established experimentally. Fermentation broths can be pretreated to improve filtration characteristics. Heating to denature proteins enhances the filterability of mycelial broths such as in penicillin production. Alternatively, electrolytes may be added to promote coagulation of colloids into larger, denser particles, which are easier to filter. The filtration process is affected by the viscosity and composition of the broth, and the cell cake.5... 

Filtration is the separation of solids from a fluid. While various filtration processes do, in fact, include separation in the ionic and molecular ranges, here we are primarily concerned with particulate filtration. Traditionally, a filter medium is employed to remove particles in the range of 1 to 1,000 micron ( x). 

In conclusion, the following experiments on filtration-washing-deliquoring should be performed to produce data (viscosity of liquids, effective solid concentration, specific cake resistance, cake compressibility, etc.) that are necessary to evaluate times of individual steps of filtration at an industrial scale, i.e. to obtain the proper basis for scale-up of filtration processes measure the filtrate volume versus time make marks on your vacuum flask and take down the time when the filtrate level reaches the mark => no more experiments are needed for preliminary evaluations of filtration properties of slurries initially fines pass the filter medium => recirculate them to the slurry,... 

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