Rate Filtration

5 Effect of Solvent Dilution Ratio 19.5.1 Filtration Rate 

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The most important feature of the pressure filters which use hydrauHc pressure to drive the process is that they can generate a pressure drop across the medium of more than 1 x 10 Pa which is the theoretical limit of vacuum filters. While the use of a high pressure drop is often advantageous, lea ding to higher outputs, drier cakes, or greater clarity of the overflow, this is not necessarily the case. Eor compressible cakes, an increase in pressure drop leads to a decrease in permeabiUty of the cake and hence to a lower filtration rate relative to a given pressure drop. 

Results of test work with this filter, producing cakes of 1 mm thickness using a 3 mm clearance, have been pubUshed (33,34). The cake formed on the medium was generally stable, giving high filtration rates over long periods of time, and the precoat type cake did not blind with time. There was no evidence of any size selectivity of the process the only exception was conventional filter aids which were preferentially picked up by the rotating fluid. This... 

Vacuum filters are usually simulated with a Buchner funnel test or filter leaf test (54). The measured parameters are cake weight, cake moisture, and filtration rate. Retention aids are usually evaluated using the Britt jar test, also called the Dynamic Drainage Jar, which simulates the shear conditions found on the paper machine and predicts performance (55). 

Filtration. In many mineral processing operations, filtration follows thickening and it is used primarily to produce a soHd product that is very low in moisture. Filtration equipment can be either continuous or batch type and either constant pressure (vacuum) or constant rate. In the constant pressure type, filtration rate decreases gradually as the cake builds up, whereas in the constant rate type the pressure is increased gradually to maintain a certain filtration rate as the cake resistance builds. The size of the device is specified by the required filter surface area. 

A number of synthetic polymers having the abHity to control filtration rates at high temperature and in the presence of calcium and magnesium have also been developed (88). Such materials include vinyl sulfonate—vinyl amide copolymers (89,90), a copolymer of AMPS and A/,A/-dialkyl (meth) acrylamide (91) and a sulfonated hydroxylated polymer (92). AppHcation levels for these materials range from 5 to 18 kg/m (2—6 lb /bbl). Sulfonated asphalt is also used for high temperature filtration control. 

Two main categories of the wet process exist, depending on whether the calcium sulfate is precipitated as the dihydrate or the hemihydrate. Operation at 70—80°C and 30% P20 in the Hquid phase results in the precipitation of CaSO 2 filterable form 80—90°C and 40% P20 provide a filterable CaSO O.5H2O. Operation outside these conditions generally results in poor filtration rates. A typical analysis of wet-process acid is given in Table 4. For more detailed discussion of the wet-process acid, see Fertilizers. 

Kidney Function. Prostanoids influence a variety of kidney functions including renal blood flow, secretion of renin, glomerular filtration rate, and salt and water excretion. They do not have a critical role in modulating normal kidney function but play an important role when the kidney is under stress. Eor example, PGE2 and -I2 are renal vasodilators (70,71) and both are released as a result of various vasoconstrictor stimuli. They thus counterbalance the vasoconstrictor effects of the stimulus and prevent renal ischemia. The renal side effects of NSAIDS are primarily observed when normal kidney function is compromised. 

The overall effect in most animals is to stimulate intestinal absorption of calcium with a concomitant increase in semm calcium and a reduction in parathyroid hormone (PTH). Modest hypercalcemia allows the glomerular filtration rate to remain stable and hypercalciuria to occur because of increased filtered load of calcium and reduction of tubular resorption of calcium with reduced PTH. However, with further increases in semm calcium, the glomerular filtration rate decreases, resulting in an even more rapid increase in semm calcium and the subsequent fall in urinary calcium. 

Although filtratioa rates can be much faster with flocculants, the final cake moisture is often higher ia a flocculated cake (60—63). Ia coatrast, usiag flocculants optimized for filtration, coal, and other mineral slurries can be dewatered to moisture contents significantly lower than the untreated cake (64—68). The advantages of rapid filtration rates can also be preserved. Flocculants that provide better filtration tend to form floes having the foUowiag characteristics (65) ... 

Feed Slurry Temperature Temperature can be both an aid and a limitation. As temperature of the feed slurry is increased, the viscosity of the hquid phase is decreased, causing an increase in filtration rate and a decrease in cake moisture content. The limit to the benefits of increased temperature occurs when the vapor pressure of the hquid phase starts to materially reduce the allowable vacuum. If the hquid phase is permitted to flash within the filter internals, various undesired resiilts may ensue disruption in cake formation adjacent to the medium, scale deposit on the filter internals, a sharp rise in pressure drop within the filter drainage passages due to increased vapor flow, or decreased vacuum pump capacity. In most cases, the vacuum system should be designed so that the liquid phase does not boil. 

Pretreatment Chemicals Even though the suspended solids concentration of the slurry to be tested may be correct, it is frequently necessary to modify the sluriy in order to provide an acceptable filtration rate, washing rate, or final cake moisture content. The most common treatment, and one which may provide improvement in all three of these categories, is the addition of flocculating agents, either inorganic chemicals or natural or synthetic polymers. The main task at this point is to determine which is the most effective chemical and the quantity of chemical which should be used. 

It is difficult to plan a filtration leaf test program until one test has been run. In the case of a bottom-feed test, the first run is normally started with the intention of using a 30-s cake formation time. However, if the filtrate rate is very high, it is usually wise to terminate the run at the end of 15 s. Should the filtrate rate be very low, the initial form period should be extended to at least 1 min. If cake washing is to... 

Where the resistance of the precoat bed is significant in comparison to the resistance of the deposited solids, the thickness of the precoat bed effec tively controls the filtration rate. In some instances, the resistance of the deposited solids is veiy large with respec t to even a thick precoat bed. In this case, variations in thickness through the life of the precoat bed have relatively little effec t on filtration rate. This type of information readily becomes apparent when the filtration rate data are correlated. 

Dry Solids or Filtrate Rate Filtration rate, expressed either in terms of diy solids or filtrate volume, may be plotted as a function of time on log-log paper. However, it is more convenient to delavthe rate calculation until the complete cycle of operations has been defined. 

Scale-Up on Rate Filtration rates calculated from bench-scale data shouldbe multiplied by a factor of 0.8 for all types of commercial units which do not employ continuous washing of the filter medium and on which there is a possibility of filter-medium bhnding. For those units which employ continuous filter-medium washing, belt-type drum and horizontal units, the scale-up fac tor maybe increased to 0.9. The use of this scale-up fac tor assumes the following ... 

For most apphcations, the actual area of a drum filter will generally be no less than 94 to 97 percent of the nominal area, depending upon the size and number of sections. This variation is generally not accounted for separately and is assumed to be taken care of in the scale-up factor on filtration rate. 

Overall Scale-Up Factor The final design filtration rate is determined by multiplying the bench-scale filtration rate by each of... 

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