Filtration

• In filtration processes the solids are separated from the liquid by

passing (filtering) the slurry through some form of porous filter
medium
• The most commonly used filter medium is woven cloth, but a great
variety of other media is also used
• Filter aids are often used to increase the rate of filtration of difficult
slurries. They are either applied as a precoat to the filter cloth or
added to the slurry, and deposited with the solids, assisting in the
formation of a porous cake
• Flocculent increased filtration rate
• Industrial filters use vacuum, pressure, or centrifugal force to drive
the liquid (filtrate) through the deposited cake of solids
• Most important factor is filtration
characteristics of the slurry; whether it is
fast filtering (low specific cake resistance)
or slow filtering (high specific cake
resistance)
• The filtration characteristics can be
determined by laboratory or pilot plant
tests
• Common types of filters:
• Plate and frame press filter: Pressure
• Leaf filter: Pressure/vacuum
• Rotary drum filter: Usually vacuum
• Belt filter : Vacuum
• Centrifugal filters: Centrifugal filters use
centrifugal force to drive the filtrate through Rotating drum filters are essentially continuous in
operation. They can handle large throughputs, and are
the filter cake widely used for free filtering slurries
Rotary drum filter

• The filter is a large diameter rotating drum around

the horizontal axis
• The perforated surface of the drum serves as
filtering surface
• It works under vacuum, 25 to 40 KPa
• Cake is removed by adjustable scraper
• Mud pool is continuously agitated
• The principal factors to be considered when selecting
filtration equipment are:
1. The nature of the slurry and the cake formed
2. The solids concentration in the feed
3. The throughput required
4. The nature and physical properties of the liquid:
viscosity, flammability, toxicity, corrosiveness
5. Whether cake washing is required
6. The cake dryness required
7. Whether contamination of the solid by a filter aid is
acceptable
8. Whether the valuable product is the solid or the
liquid, or both
Screens

• Stainless steel or copper

• Punched (0.5 mm diameters)
or wire frame (0.4 mm)
screens
• General standard:
• filter area rating, 0.56 m2 per 1t/h crushing rate
• Mud solids loading (excluding fibers) of 1t/h per 100 m2 filter area
• Rotational speed, 1.5 to 5 min/rev, pick up time, 13 to 42 seconds
• Mostly 80% of the filtrate is drawn within 60 seconds
Centrifuges
• Centrifuges are classified according to the mechanism used for solids
separation:
• Sedimentation centrifuges: in which the separation is dependent on a
difference in density between the solid and liquid phases (solid heavier).
• Filtration centrifuges: which separate the phases by filtration. The walls of the
centrifuge basket are porous, and the liquid filters through the deposited cake
of solids and is removed
• The choice between a sedimentation or filtration centrifuge for a
particular application will depend on the nature of the feed and the
product requirements
Centrifugal Filtration
• When filtration is carried out in a centrifuge, it is necessary to use a
perforated bowl to permit removal of the filtrate
• The driving force is the centrifugal pressure
• The resulting force must overcome the friction caused by the flow of
liquid through the filter cake, the cloth, and the supporting gauze and
perforations
• The resistance of the filter cake will increase as solids are deposited
although the other resistances will remain approximately constant
throughout the process
• Considering filtration in a bowl of radius R and suppose that the
suspension is introduced at such a rate that the inner radius of the
liquid surface remains constant, then at some time t after the
commencement of filtration, a filter cake of thickness l will have been
built up and the radius of the interface between the cake and the
suspension will be r’
• If dP’ is the pressure difference across a small thickness dl of cake, the
velocity of flow of the filtrate is given by:

• If the centrifugal force is large compared with the gravitational force, the
filtrate will flow in an approximately radial direction, and will be evenly
distributed over the axial length of the bowl. The area available for flow
will increase towards the walls of the bowl. If dV is the volume of filtrate
flowing through the filter cake in time dt, then:
• If the resistance of the cloth is negligible, -ΔP' is equal to the
centrifugal pressure
• If the cloth resistance is significant and equivalent in resistance to a
cake of thickness L, the pressure drop -ΔP" across the cloth is given
by:
• After rearranging:

Where v is the bulk volume of the cake,  density of the filtrate and t is the filtration time
Example
• How long will it take to filter a slurry using a centrifuge with a
perforated basket, 300 mm diameter and 200 mm deep? The radius
of the inner surface of the slurry is maintained constant at 75 mm and
the speed of rotation is 65 Hz. It may be assumed that the filter cake
is incompressible, the filter cake volume that corresponds to the
operating pressure drop is 0.00225 m3, assume the liquid in the slurry
has the same density as water and that the resistance of the cloth is
𝑟𝜇
equivalent to 3 mm of cake, and take as 3.25 x 1012 kg m-3 s-1
𝑣
In the centrifuge
• What is the capacity of the filter in kg/h if the wet sugar has a
porosity of 0.4, take the density of the solid (sugar) as 1500 kg/m3