Vacuum filter operation

Rotary Vacuum Filter Operation A Ti02 slurry has the properties... 

Cheape, D. W., Jr., Leaf tests can establish optimum rotary-vacuum-filter operation. Chemical Engineering, 5 141-148 (1982)... 

A continuous rotary vacuum filter operating with a pressure drop of 0.7 atm is to handle the feed slurry of Prob. 30.3. The drum submergence is to be 25 percent. What total filter area must be provided to match the overall productive capacity of the filter press described in Prob. 30.4 Drum speed is 2 r/min. 

Vacuum filters are available in a variety of types, and are usually classified as either batch operated or continuous. An important distinguishing feature is the position of the filtration area with respect to gravity, ie, horizontal or non-horizontal filtering surface. 

The pressure versions of the nutsche filter, which falls into this category, are either simple pressurized filter boxes or more sophisticated agitated nutsches, much the same in design as the enclosed agitated vacuum filters described eadier. These are extremely versatile, batch-operated filters, used in many industries, eg, agrochemistry, pharmaceuticals, or dyestuff production. 

The KDF filter was first tested in prototype on a coal mine in northern Germany. It was installed in parallel with existing vacuum filters and it produced filter cakes consistendy lower in moisture content by 5 to 7% than the vacuum filters. Two production models have been installed and operated on a coal mine in Belgium. The filter is controlled by a specially developed computer system this consists of two computers, one monitoring the function of the filter and all of the detection devices installed, and the other controlling the filtration process. The system allows optimization of the performance, automatic start-up or shut-down, and can be integrated into the control system of the whole coal washing plant. 

A vacuum filter is a cloth-covered dmm which operates under an appHed vacuum. As the dmm passes through the sludge vat, soHds are deposited on the filter. As the dmm passes through the air, drying of the cake occurs. The cake is continuously discharged to a conveyor belt. 

Modem manufacturing processes quench the roast by continuous discharge into the leach water held in tanks equipped with agitators. At this point the pH of the leach solution is adjusted to between 8 and 9 to precipitate aluminum and siHcon. The modem leaching operations are very rapid because no or htde lime is used. After separation of the ore residue and precipitated impurities using rotary vacuum filters, the cmde Hquid sodium chromate may need to be treated to remove vanadium, if present, in a separate operation. The ore residue and precipitants are either recycled or treated to reduce hexavalent chromium to Cr(III) before disposal. 

Comparisons are available on the relative performance and costs for dewatering municipal sludges (2). The relative performance of different filters and conditioners on waste sludges is shown in Table 3. The same sludge was treated on two belt-filter presses, two different centrifuges, and rotary vacuum filter (75). In another study, a variable chamber filter press, fixed-volume filter press, continuous belt-filter press, and rotary vacuum filter were compared for performance, capacity, and capital and operating costs (69). 

In filter operation, it is essential that the gas be kept above its dew point to avoid water-vapor condensation on the bags and resiilting plugging of the bag pores. However, fabric filters have been used successfully in steam atmospheres, such as those encountered in vacuum diyers. In such cases, the housing is generally steam-traced. 

Since most batch-type filters operate under pressure rather than vacuum, the following discussion will apply primarily to pressure filtration and the various types of pressure filters. 

Pressure leaf filters are used to separate much the same lands of slurries as are filter presses and are used much more extensively than filter presses for filter-aid filtrations. They should be seriously considered whenever uniformity of production permits long-time operation under essentially constant filtration conditions, when thorough washing with a minimum of hquor is desired, or when vapors or fumes make closed construction desirable. Under such conditions, if the filter medium does not require frequent changing, they may show a considerable advantage in cycle and labor economy over a filter press, which has a lower initial cost, and advantages of economy and flexibility over continuous vacuum filters, which have a higher first cost. 

Rotary Drum Filters The rotaiy drum filter is the most widely used of the continuous filters. There are many design variations, including operation as either a pressure filter or a vacuum filter. The major difference between designs is in the technique for cake discharge, to be discussed later. All the alternatives are characterized by a horizontal-axis drum covered on the cylindrical portion by filter medium over a grid support structure to allow drainage to manifolds. Basic materials of construc tion may be metals or plastics. Sizes (in terms of filter areas) range from 0.37 to 186 m (4 to 2000 ft ). 

FIG. 18-122 Schematic of a rotary-drum vacuum filter with scraper discharge, showing operating zones. (Schweitzer, Handbook of Separation Techniques for Chemical Engineers, p. 4-38. Copqtight 1979 hq McGraw-Hill, Inc. Used with permission of McGraw-Hill Inc.)... 

Continuous Precoat Filters These filters may be operated as either pressure or vacuum filters, although vacuum operation is the prevailing one. The filters are really not continuous but have an extremely long batch cycle (1 to 10 days). Apphcations are for continuous clarification of liqmds from slurries containing 50 to 5000 ppm of solids when only very thin unacceptable cakes would form on other filters and where perfect clarity is required. 

The cost of the filter station includes not only the installed cost of the filter itself but also that of all the accessories dedicated to the filtration operation. Examples are feed pumps and storage facihties, precoat tanks, vacuum systems (often a major cost factor for a vacuum filter station), and compressed-air systems. The dehvered cost of the accessories plus the cost of installation of filter and accessories generally is of the same order of magnitude as the dehvered filter cost and commonly is several times as large. Installation costs, of course, must be estimated with reference to local labor costs and site-specific considerations. 

Disk Filters Disk filters consist of a number of concentric disks mounted on a horizontal rotary shaft. The operating principle is the same as that of rotary-drum vacuum filters. The basic design is illustrated in Figure 22. The disks are formed by using V-shaped hollow sectors assembled radially about a central shaft. Each sector is covered with filter cloth and has an outlet nipple coimected to a manifold... 

Depending on the type of filter device, additional requirements may be made of the cloth. For example, in a plate-and-frame press, the sealing properties of cloths are very important. In this case, synthetic cloths are more applicable staple cloths, followed by poly filament and monofilament cloths. In leaf filters operating under vacuum and pressure, the cloth is pulled up onto rigid frames. Since the size of a cloth changes when in contact with the suspension, it should be pretreated to minimize shrinkage. 

This family of filters consist of a vertical pressure vessel with a horizontal filter plate at the bottom. The filtrate from this equipment flows out a nozzle on the bottom of the filter. These devises are usually used for slurries where large amounts of solids are being collected. Variations of this equipment include equipment with removable lower heads for easy cake removal, ability to pressure or vacuum filter, ability to wash the filter cake, an agitator to break-up and rewash the filter cake, and heating or cooling jackets for the whole vessel. The Nutsche filter is the industrial version of the well known laboratory scale Buchner Funnel with the exception that it is designed to operate under either on vacuum or pressure. 

The operating cycle of a belt vacuum filter consists of filtration, washing and dewatering stages. The solids suspension in water is separated under the following set of conditions ... 

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