FILTRATION

Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Engineering & Technology,
Peshawar
 Introduction
Filtration is the removal of solid particles from a fluid by
passing the fluid through a filtering medium, or septum,
on which the solids are deposited

The fluid may be liquid or gas,

A pressure generated across the filter medium is the
driving force for filtration

the valuable stream from the filter may be fluid, or the

solid, or both, or none of these
 Pressure Gradient Generation in Filtration
Operations
The pressure gradient in filtration can be
produced in a variety of ways including:

• Gravity
• Vacuum
• High Pressure
• Centrifugal forces
 Classification of Filtration Processes

Filtration

Using density as a driving force Using pressure gradient as a driving force

Sedimentation centrifugation flotation Deep bed filtration Cake filtration Crossflow filtration

Fixed wall centrifugation Rotating wall centrifugation

 Filtration Mechanism
• cake filtration
• filter cake is formed by the substances that are Feed Flow Direction
retained on a filter. The filter cake grows in the
course of filtration, becomes "thicker" as
particulate matter is being retained. With
increasing layer thickness the flow resistance of the
filter cake increases. After a certain time of use the
filter cake has to be removed from the filter, e.g. by
backflushing.
• clarifying filtration
• Any filter, such as a sand filter or a cartridge filter,
used to purify liquids with a low solid-liquid ratio; in
someinstances color may be removed as well.
• crossflow filtration
• Crossflow filtration is different from dead-end
filtration in which the feed is passed through a
membrane or bed, the solids being trapped in the
filter and the filtrate being released at the other
end. Cross-flow filtration gets its name because the
majority of the feed flow travels tangentially across
the surface of the filter, rather than into the
filter.The principal advantage of this is that the filter
cake (which can blind the filter) is substantially
washed away during the filtration process,
increasing the length of time that a filter unit can
be operational.
 Cake filtration
Rotary Drum Vacuum filter
• Rotary vacuum filter drum consists of a drum
rotating in a tub of liquid to be filtered.The
technique is well suited to slurries, and liquids
with a high solid content, which could clog other
forms of filter. The drum is pre-coated with a
filter aid, typically of diatomaceous earth (DE) or
Perlite. After pre-coat has been applied, the
liquid to be filtered is sent to the tub below the
drum. The drum rotates through the liquid and
the vacuum sucks liquid and solids onto the
drum pre-coat surface, the liquid portion is
"sucked" by the vacuum through the filter media
to the internal portion of the drum, and the
filtrate pumped away. The solids adhere to the
outside of the drum, which then passes a knife,
cutting off the solids and a small portion of the
filter media to reveal a fresh media surface that
will enter the liquid as the drum rotates. The
knife advances automatically as the surface is
removed.
 Cake Filtration
Vacuum belt Filter
 Cake Filtration
Horizontal belt Filter
 Cake Filtration
Plate and frame filter press
 Cake Filtration
Plate and frame filter press

1 suspension inlet, 2 press forces, 3 filtrate outlet, 4 separating chambers, 5 filter

cloth, 6 filter frame, 7 filter plate, 8 filter cake
 Deep bed filtration
Clarifying filters, sand filter
 Centrifugal Filters
(Top-Suspended Basket centrifuge)
Air/Gas cleaning filters
(Pulse jet bag filters)
Air/Gas cleaning filters
(Pulse jet bag filters)
Air/Gas cleaning filters
(Pulse jet bag filters)
Electrostatic Precipitator
Electrostatic Precipitator
 Filter Media
The septum in any filter must meet the following
requirements:

• It must retain the solids to be filtered, giving a

reasonably clear filtrate
• It must not plug or blind
• It must be resistant chemically and strong enough
physically to withstand the process conditions
• It must permit the cake formed to discharge cleanly
and completely
• It must not be prohibitively expensive
 Filter Aids
“Filter Aids” is a group of inert materials that can be used
in filtration pretreatment
There are two objectives related to the addition of
filter aids
• To form a layer of second medium which protects the basic
medium of the system. This is commonly referred to as “precoat”.

• To improve the flow rate by decreasing cake compressibility and

increasing cake permeability. This type of usage is termed as
“admix” or "body feed"
Filtration without filter aid, with precoat,
and with precoat and body feed
 Common Filter Aids

• Diatomaceous earth

• Perlite

• Cellulose
Calcined rice hull ash and fibers from used newspapers
are relatively new filter aids. They are used for
wastewater sludge dewatering.
 Principles of Cake Filtration
Two resistances i.e. filter medium and cake
The overall pressure drop can be calculated as:
ΔP = Pa – Pb = (Pa - P`) + (P` - Pb) = ΔPc + ΔPm (1)
Where

ΔP = Overall pressure drop

ΔPc = Pressure drop over cake
ΔPm= Presssure drop over medium
 Analysis of Cake Filtration
In the nineteenth century Darcy observed that the flow of water
through a packed bed of sand was governed by the relationship:

(Pressure gradient) α (Liquid Velocity) or (ΔP/L) α u

where:
u: superficial fluid velocity through the bed
ΔP: is the frictional pressure drop across a bed
L: bed depth
The superficial (or approach) velocity is defined as the velocity
of the liquid as it flows through a cross section equal to that of
the tank (or filter vessel) in the absence of the cake.
It is also equal to the:
volumetric filtrate flow rate / the total cross-sectional area normal to flow
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
The flow of a fluid through a bed of
solid particles (e.g. filter cake) may
be analyzed in terms of flow
through tubes.

The starting point is the Hegen-Poiseuille equation for

laminar flow through tube:

P 32V 
 2
(2)
L D
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
From the previous knowledge:
6 / DP SP 6
S  (3)  (4)
S P / VP VP  S DP
The volume fraction of particles in the bed is:(1-ε)
Where ε is the porosity or void fraction:
VV
 (5)
VT
VV is the volume of void-space (such as fluid)
VT is the total or bulk volume of bed or cake
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
To determine the equivalent channel diameter Deq

6
nDeq L  SO L(1   ) (6)
 S DP
SO L(1   ) is the particle volume
N is the number of parallel channels of length L
So is the cross-sectional area of the bed
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)

The void volume in the bed is the same as the

total volume of n channels:
1
SO L  nDeq2 L (7)
4
Combining the two equations gives an equation for Deq:

2 
Deq   S DP
3 1  (8)
Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)

The pressure drop depends on the average velocity, V̄

in the channel which is proportional to the superficial
velocity V̄O and inversely proportional to the porosity:


VO
V 

(9)
Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
Putting the values of V̄ and Deq in Hagen-Poiseuille
equation for laminar flow with a correction factor ʎ1
for the fact that the channels are actually tortuous
and not straight and

parallel:

P 32V  321 VO  (1   ) 2 (10)
 
L gc D2 4
g c S DP
2 2  2

9
OR

P 721 VO  (1   ) 2
 (11)
L g c S DP 
2 2 2
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)

P 721 VO  (1   ) 2
 (11)
L g c S DP 
2 2 2

Several studies have shown that the form of the above equation is
correct ,and the experiments give an empirical constant of 150

P 1501 VO  (1   ) 2 (12)

L g c S DP 
2 2 2

The equation is called the Kozeny—Carman equation and is applicable

for flow through beds at particle Reynolds numbers up to about 1.0.

The constant 150 corresponds to ʎ1 = 2.1 which is a reasonable value

for tortuosity factor
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
Often the pressure drop is expressed as a function of the surface-volume
ratio instead of the particle size. Substitution of 6(vp/sp) for ΦsDp gives:

dp 4.17u (1   ) 2 ( S p / V p ) 2
 (13)
dL g c 3

• where dp/dL = pressure gradient at thickness L

• µ = viscosity of filtrate
• u = linear velocity of filtrate, based on filter area
• sp = surface of single particle
• vp = volume of single particle
• ε = porosity of cake
• gc = Newton's-law proportionality factor
 Analysis of Cake Filtration (continued)
The linear velocity u is given by the equation
dV / dt
u (14)
A
where V is the volume of filtrate collected from the start of the
filtration to time t.
The volume of solids in the layer is A(1 - ε) dL, and if ρp is the
density of the particles, the mass dm of solids in the layer is:
dm = ρp(l - ε)A dL (15)
Elimination of dL from Equationss (13) and (15) gives

k1u ( S p / V p ) 2 (1   )
dp  dm (16)
g c  p A 3
where k1 is used in place of the coefficient 4.17 in equation 13
Compressible & Incompressible Filter Cakes
In the filtration under low pressure drops of slurries containing
rigid uniform particles, all factors on the right-hand side of Eq.
(16) except m are independent of L, and the equation is
integrable directly, over the thickness of the cake. If m, is the
total mass of solids in the cake, the result is
pa
k1u ( S p / V p ) 2 (1   ) mc
 dp 
p
g c  p A 3  dm
0
(17)

k1u ( S p / V p ) 2 (1   )mc (18)

p a  p   pc
g c  p A 3

Filter cakes of this type are called incompressible

Compressible & Incompressible Filter Cakes
pc g c A
 (19)
umc

α is the resistance of a cake that gives a unit pressure drop when

µ, u, and mc/A all equal 1.0.

k1 ( S p / V p ) 2 (1   )
 (20)
 p 3

For incompressible cakes a is independent of the pressure drop

and of position in the cake.
Compressible & Incompressible Filter Cakes

The cake resistance α may also be expressed in terms of the

particle size Dp with a new coefficient k2

k 2 (1   )
 (21)
( s D p ) 2  p  3

Equation (21) shows that α is influenced solely by the physical

properties of the cake, especially the particle size Dp and the
porosity ε
Compressible & Incompressible Filter Cakes
Most cakes encountered industrially are not made up of individual
rigid particles. The usual slurry is a mixture of agglomerates, or
flocs, consisting of loose assemblies of very small particles, and
the resistance of the cake depends on the properties of the flocs
rather than on the geometry of the individual particles.
The flocs are deposited from the slurry on the upstream face of
the cake and form a complicated network of channels to which
Eq. (16) does not precisely apply.
The resistance of such a sludge is sensitive to the method used in
preparing the slurry and to the age and temperature of the
material. Also, the flocs are distorted and broken down by the
forces existing in the cake, and the factors ε, k2 , and sp/vp vary
from layer to layer.
Such a filter cake is called compressible
Compressible & Incompressible Filter Cakes
• In a compressible cake, α varies with distance from the
septum, since the cake nearest the septum is subject to the
greatest compressive force and has the lowest void fraction.
This makes the pressure gradient nonlinear.
• The local value of α may also vary with time. In consequence,
Eq. (18) does not strictly apply.
k1u ( S p / V p ) 2 (1   )mc
p a  p   pc (18)
g c  p A 3

• In practice, however, the variations in α with time and location

are ignored. An average value is obtained experimentally for
the material to be filtered, using Eq. (19) for the Calculation.
pc g c A
 (19)
umc
 Filter-Medium Resistance
A filter-medium resistance Rm can be defined by analogy with the
cake resistance αmclA. The equation is
( p  pb ) g c pm g c
Rm   (22)
u u
The dimension of Rm is L-1

From equations 19 & 22, the total pressure drop:

u  mc 
p  pc  pm    Rm  (23)
gc  A 
 Analysis of Cake Filtration
In using Eq. (23) it is convenient to replace u, the linear velocity of
the filtrate, and mc the total mass of solid in the cake, by
functions of V, the total volume of filtrate collected to time t.

Equation (14) relates u and V

dV / dt
u (14)
A

A material balance relates mc and V.

cF
c
1    mF / mc   1 cs / 
(24)
 Analysis of Cake Filtration
If c is the mass of the particles deposited in the filter per unit
volume of filtrate, the mass of solids in the filter at time t is Vc and

mc  Vc (25)
Substituting u from Eq. (14) and mc, from Eq. (25) in Eq. (23) gives

dt   cV 
   Rm  (26)
dV Ag c (p )  A 
 Constant Pressure Filtration
• When Δp is constant, the only variables in Eq. (26) are V and t.
When t = 0, V = 0 and Δp = ΔPm; hence

Rm  dt  1
   (27)
Apg c  dV  0 q0
• Equation (26) may therefore be written as
dt 1 1
  K cV  (28)
dV q q0
• Where

c
Kc  2 (29)
A pg c
 Constant Pressure Filtration
• Integration of Eq. (28) between the limits (0, 0) and (t, V) gives
t  Kc  1
  V 
V  2  q0
• Thus a plot of t/V vs. V will be linear, with a slope equal to Kc /2
and an intercept of l/qo. From such a plot and Eqs. (27) and
(29), the values of α and Rm may be calculated.
 Empirical Equations For Cake Resistance
• By conducting constant pressure experiments at various
pressure drops, the variation of α with Δp may be found. If α
is independent of Δp, the sludge is incompressible.
• Ordinarily α increases with Δp, as most sludges are at least to
some extent compressible. For highly compressible sludges, α
increases rapidly with Δp.
• Empirical equations may be fitted to observed data for Δp vs.
α, the commonest of which is
   0 (p) s
(30)
Where α0 and s are empirical constants. Constant s is the
compressibility coefficient of the cake. It is zero for incompressible
sludges and positive for compressible ones. It usually falls
between 0.2 and 0.8. Equation (30) should not be used in a range
of pressure drops much different from that used in the
experiments conducted to evaluate α and s.
Example 30.2
Laboratory filtrations conducted at constant pressure drop on a slurry of
CaC03 in H2O gave the data shown in Table below. The filter area was 440
cm2, the mass of solid per unit volume of filtrate was 23.5 g/L, and the
temperature was 25°C. Evaluate the quantities α and Rm as a function of
pressure drop, and fit an empirical equation to the results for α.
 Solution
The first step is to prepare plots, for each of the five constant-pressure
experiments, of (t/V vs. V
The slope of each line is Kc/2. in
seconds per liter per liter.
To convert to seconds per cubic
foot per cubic foot, the
conversion factor is 28.312 = 801
The intercept of each line on
the axis of ordinates is 1/qo, in
seconds per liter.
 Table 30.3 shows the values of KC/2 and l/qo for each test, calculated
by the method of least squares or from graph.

 Also in Table 30.3 are the values of α and Rm.

The points closely define a
straight line, so Eq. (30.26)
is suitable as an equation
forαas a function ofΔp. The
slope of the line, which is
the value of s for this cake,
is 0.26.
The cake is only slightly
compressible.
Constant αo can be calculated by
reading the coordinates of any
convenient point on the line of
Figure and calculating αo by
Equation: For example, when
ΔP = 1000, α = 1.75 x 1011, and
 CONTINUOUS FILTRATION
 In a continuous filter, say, of the rotary-drum type, the feed,
filtrate, and cake move at steady constant rates.
 For any particular element of the filter surface, however, conditions
are not steady but transient.
 Follow, for example, an element of the filter cloth from the moment
it enters the pond of slurry until it is scraped clean once more.
 It is evident that the process consists of several steps in series-cake
formation, washing, drying, and discharging-and that each step
involves progressive and continual change in conditions.
 The pressure drop across the filter during cake formation is,
however, held constant.
 Thus the foregoing equations for discontinuous constant-pressure
filtration may, with some modification, be applied to continuous
filters.
If t is the actual filtering time (that is, the time any filter element is
immersed in the slurry), then from Eq.

t  Kc  1
  V  =
V  2  q0
where V is the volume of filtrate collected during time t. Solving the
above Equation for V, as a quadratic equation, gives

Substitution for 1/qo and K, from previous Equations and followed by

division by tA, leads to the equation

where V It = rate of filtrate collection

A = submerged area of filter
The above Equation may be written in terms of the rate of solids
production mc, and the filter characteristics: cycle time tc drum speed
n, and total filter area AT. If the fraction of the drum submerged is f,

The rate of solids production:

Since A/AT = f, the rate of cake production, divided by the total area of
the filter, is:

The filter-medium resistance Rm includes that of any cake not removed

by the discharge mechanism and carried through the next cycle.
When the filter medium is washed after the cake is discharged, Rm is
usually negligible and the previous equation becomes:

If the specific cake resistance varies with pressure drop may be modified
to:

Above Equations apply both to continuous vacuum filters and to

continuous pressure filters
Example 30.3

A rotary drum filter with 30 percent submergence is to be used to

filter a concentrated aqueous slurry of CaC03
containing 14.71b of solids per cubic
foot of water (236 kg/m
3
). The pressure drop is to be 20 in. Hg. If the filter cake
contains 50 percent moisture (wet basis), calculate the filter area required to filter
10 gal/min of slurry when the filter cycle time is 5 min. Assume that the specific cake
resistance is the same as in Example 30.2 and that the filter-medium resistance Rm
is negligible. The temperature is 20°C.
 CONSTANT-RATE FILTRATION
If filtrate flows at a constant rate, the linear velocity u is constant and:

As we know that:

And also

Substituting the value of u and mc in above equation we get: