General Considerations for Process Engineers

A more flexible option from an operational viewpoint is the implementation of process-oriented enhancements that intensify particle separation. This can be achieved by two different methods. In the first method, the suspension to be separated is pretreated to obtain a cake with minimal resistance. This involves the addition of filter aids, flocculants or electrolytes to the suspension. 

A further recoimnendatioti, depending on the application, is not to increase the pressure difference for the purpose of increasing the filtration rate. The cake may, for example, be highly compressible thus, increased pressure would result in significant increases in the specific cake resistance. We may generalize the selection process to the extent of applying three rules to all filtration problems  

Physical and/or chemical pretreatment options should be evaluated for the intended application based on their availability, cost, ease of implementation and ability to provide optimum filterability and Final filtration equipment selection should be based on the ability to meet all objectives of the application within economic constraints. 

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