Filter-presses

Filter presses give maximum cake dryness and lend themselves readily to different types of sludge. However, they usually require some manpower for operation and this may hinder continuous use and increase the costs. 

When substantial amounts of oil are present (over 15% dry solids), the cloth may quickly become fouled. Despite prior lime conditioning, a considerable fraction of the oil can migrate into the filtrate and require recycling. 

The cloth is cleaned by steam in a few hours or by detergent solutions. 

The leaf and plate filters are batch filters, and a critical element in their selection is the capacity of the filter for the amount of cake to be treated in a single batch. Flow through the filter will depend upon the nature of the suspended soUds and their concentration, the liquid viscosity, the pressure available, and a number of other variables. The acceptable value for the flow rate through the filter medium will normally be measured in a test rig. Then the filter can be sized from the calculation of required area  

Filtration area = Required feed rate/Medium filtration rate 

A filter with sufficient filtration area to handle the required flow rate or suspension may still fill up with cake too quickly. This may raise the required pressure drop too far or overfill the spaces between neighbouring filter elements. An acceptable cake thickness must be determined by test, whereupon the required filtration area is found from  

Filtration area = Total cake volume per cycle/Maximum cake thickness 

The larger of these two measures of filtration area is then the one to be used. 

Typical uses Batch processing of solids forming incompressible and moderately compressible filter cakes. 

Typical particle size and feed concentration range 1-100 pm and 1-30+% w/w. 

Recessed plate press Here, the functions of the plate and frame are combined such that cake is formed within a recess on each plate. Unlike the plate and frame press, cake thickness is restricted to 32 mm unless additional 

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Solution Filtration. The polymer solution, free of unacetylated ceUulose, rigid particle contaminants, and dirt, must pass through spinnerets with holes of 30—80 ]lni diameter. Multistage filtration, usuaUy through plate-and-frame filter presses with fabric and paper filter media, removes the extraneous matter before extmsion. Undesirable gelatinous particles, such as the hemiceUulose acetates from ceUulose impurities, tend to be sheared into smaller particles rather than removed. The solution is also aUowed to degas in hoi ding tanks after each state of filtration. 

The dark blue solution containing 5—10% of cellulose with a DP of 1000—2000 is filtered through a series of plate-and-frame filter presses using fine mesh metal screens to remove any particles that might block the spinneret holes. It is then deaerated under vacuum and stored ready for spinning. Unlike viscose dope, the cuprammonium cellulose [9050-09-3] solution is relatively stable. 

Filtration is the separation of two phases, particulate form, ie, soHd particles or Hquid droplets, and continuous, ie, Hquid or gas, from a mixture by passing the mixture through a porous medium. This article discusses the more predominant separation of soHds from Hquids. Filtration of soHd particles or Hquid droplets from gases is dealt with elsewhere (see Airpollution controlmethods). The oldest recorded appHcations of filtration are the purifications of wine and water practiced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Cake filters, such as the rotary vacuum filter and the filter press, were developed much later from the necessity to filter sewage. 

Plate-and-Frame Filter Presses. In the conventional plate-and-frame press (Fig. 14), a sequence of perforated square, or rectangular, plates alternating with hoUow frames is mounted on suitable supports and pressed together with hydrauHc or screw-driven rams. The plates are covered with a filter cloth which also forms the sealing gasket. The slurry is pumped iato the frames and the filtrate is drained from the plates. 

Some attempts have been made to reslurry the filter cake without having to open the filter press. However, a number of problems appear, eg, bending of the plates due to uneven cake deposition or cavitation, uneven dewatering and washing within the frames, and plugging of the inlet ports. 

The typical operating pressure of filter presses is 600 or 700 kPa, although some manufacturers offer presses for 2000 kPa or higher. As the pressure increases during filtration, it forces the plates apart this maybe offset by a pressure compensation faciHty offered with some large mechanized presses. 

The automation of filter presses has affected several other advantages and developments. Plate shifting mechanisms have been developed, allowing the cloths to be vibrated filter cloth washing, on both sides, has been incorporated to counteract clogging from the expression and downtimes have been reduced with automation, thus increasing capacities. 

The vertical recessed plate automatic press is shown schematically in Figure 15. Unlike the conventional filter press with plates hanging down and linked in a horizontal direction, this filter press has the plates in a horizontal plane placed one upon another. This design offers semicontinuous operation, saving in floor space, and easy cleaning of the cloth, but it allows only the lower face of each chamber to be used for filtration. 

The Flat-bed pressure filter (Hydromation Engineering Co. Ltd.) (19) is based on the above principle. The pressure compartment consists of two halves, top and bottom. The bottom half is stationary while the top half can be raised to allow the belt and the cake to pass out of the compartment, and can be lowered onto the belt during the filtration and dewatering stage. The filter can be considered as a horizontal filter press with an indexing cloth in comparison with a conventional filter press, however, this filter allows only the lower face of the chamber to be used for filtration. 

Belt filter presses are made up to a width of 2.5 m and produce a final soHds concentration of the discharge sludge in the range of 35 to 60%. 

Since its conception, the dynamic filter has been widely reported and further developed. Most European designs are comprised of a multistage disk arrangement (Fig. 28) with both the rotating and stationary elements covered with filter cloth, thus utilising the space inside the pressure vessel. Such filters have been found (29) to be from 5 to 25 times more productive in mass of dry cake per unit area and time than filter presses for the same moisture content of the final slurry. In some cases, the moisture content with the dynamic filter was actually lower than with a filter press. The maximum productivity was achieved with peripheral disk speeds from 2.8 to 4.5 m/s. 

Clarified lime juice, made by mixing juice with filter aid prior to passing through a filter press, is the one clarified citms juice that is a significant article of commerce. The pasteurized bottled juice is popular for drink mixes, punch bases, and fountain drinks (13). 

AH ceUs ate bipolar having a filter-press or flat-plate constmction, except where otherwise indicated. 

The products of reaction are pumped to a filter press for separation into a sodium sulfate solution and a filter cake having a low moisture content. The filter cake is then ready to be processed for the recovery of lead. The filtrate from the process contains an excess of sodium carbonate, and can be neutralized using the sulfuric acid drained from the batteries. 

Bismuth vanadate can be produced by chemical precipitation, as weU as by high temperature calciaation methods. In the wet process, the acidic solution of bismuth nitrate, Bi(N02)3, is mixed with the alkaline solution of sodium vanadate, Na VO. The gel formed is filtered off on a filter, pressed, washed, and converted to a crystalline form by calciaation at low temperatures of 200—500°C for 1 h (37,38). 

Screw-pressed oil is aUowed to stand to settle out suspended soUds, filtered through plate filter presses, and then pumped to storage. The oil-rich solvent (miscella) from the solvent-extraction process is filtered or clarified, and most of the solvent is removed in a long tube evaporator. FinaUy, the concentrated oil passes through a stripping column where sparging steam is injected to remove the residual solvent. A metric ton of cottonseed yields ca 91... 

The product stream from the kilns is collected in storage bins. Black ash from the bins is fine-ground in a ball mill and fed to a leacher circuit, which is a system of stirred tanks, where it is dissolved in water and the muds are separated by countercurrent decantation. The solution from the decantation is passed through filter presses the muds are washed, centrifuged, and discarded. The filtered product, a saturated solution containing 12—13 wt % strontium sulfide, is sent to an agitation tank where soda ash is added to cause precipitation of strontium carbonate crystals ... 

A belt filter press consists of a gravity drainage belt, foUowed by a series of roUer presses which squeeze out water. 

A pressure filter is a plate-and-frame press which operates on an intermittent time cycle. Drier cakes are generally attainable from a filter press. Sludge drying beds are usually used for smaller sludge volumes, which drain and dry rapidly. Thein appHcation is usually restricted to the more arid climates. 

Aeration must be avoided since it can oxidize and resolubiUze the cemented (precipitated) impurities. Filter presses are used after each step and the cakes are leached to recover various values. For example, cadmium is dissolved, recemented with zinc, and recovered on site either electrolyticaHy or by distillation. A copper residue of 25—60% copper is sold for recovery elsewhere. The other impurities cannot be recovered economically with the exception of cobalt in some plants. 

Screw presses (Fig. 2) do not produce a clear liquid product. Frequendy, the product is further filtered in a filter press to give a clear Hquid product. Press aids are added to feed materials containing fine particles or particles that can deform and plug the slots in the edge of a screw press. Typical press aids include sawdust, rice hulls, perlite, and diatomaceous earth (see Diatomite). A vertical screw press is a continuous press that has been used for dewatering sewage sludge (2). 

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