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FilterPress

Filter Press
Lab Project 2: Filter Press
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Lab location: Dupuis B22 - Pilot Plant Project Supervisor: TBA Click here to download: Project Memo Multimedia file: Steve Hodgson talks about the experiment Background Information Filtration is a common operation for the separation of suspended solids from a liquid (the original mixture is referred to as a slurry). There are numerous types of filters for continuous and batch operations (Luyben and Wenzel, 1988). The particular type that we will examine, a plate-and-frame filter press (for a typical commercial example, see Fig. 1), is used for batch operations.

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Fig. 1: A Typical Commercial Filter Press A plate and frame filter press comprises a cloth filter stretched across a metal frame. A suspension flows against on side of the filter cloth and a pressure drop across the filter causes some of the liquid to go through the filter cloth (at which point it is referred to as the filtrate). The solid material is left behind and forms a cake on the filter. The schematic cross-section of a typical plate-and-frame filter press, shown in Fig. 2, shows the path followed by the slurry and filtrate.

Fig. 2: A Typical Plate-and-Frame Filter Press (Foust et al., 1980) A positive displacement Moyno pump permits the plate-and-frame filter to be fed with a suspension at either a uniform rate or, by adjusting a bypass valve, with a constant pressure. As filtration proceeds, layers of solids build up in the frame while the filtrate passes through the press. However, as more and more solid builds up in the frame, filtration becomes slower and slower. When a sufficient thickness of solids or cake has built up in the frames, filtration is stopped, the press is dismantled and the cake is removed from the frames. At any instant in time, the rate of filtration, q (= dV/dt), depends upon the pressure drop across, and the resistance of, the cake and filter. Or looking at it "backwards", the pressure drop across the filter is a function of the filtration rate and the resistance to flow, as given by cloth (Bennett and Meyers, 1982):

(1) The filtration constants K1 and K2 are lumped parameters which reflect the resistance to the flow of filtrate caused by the cake and filter, respectively. The filtration constants can be estimated from:

(2) and

(3) The resistance of the cake increases with time as the cake builds up in the frame (i.e. it becomes harder to force the filtrate through the cake, as the cake becomes thicker). At any time, this resistance to the flow of filtrate is proportional to the volume of filtrate that has passed through the cake and is represented by the term K1 V. The rate of filtration is dV/dt and the rate expression given by Equation (1) may be integrated for various modes of operation (either constant pressure drop across the filter or constant volumetric flow rate of the filtrate). Operation at constant pressure For operation with a constant pressure drop across the filter, Equation (1) is integrated with respect to time with constant pressure. At time t = 0, V = 0. The result is:

(4) Equation (4) may be rearranged to give a linear expression of t/V vs. V:

(5) Inspecting Equation (5) closely, you notice that the quantity t/V becomes indeterminate as t (and V) approaches zero. To overcome this start-up problem, a corrective alternative method may be used. Equation (1) is integrated from time to (corresponding to V=Vo ), with the result

(6) The reference time, to , can be chosen arbitrarily in such a way that the start-up problems are insignificant. Whatever irregularities

occur up to the time to are not a concern here as long as the corresponding Vo is known and recorded. In Equation (6), the left hand side is also indeterminate near t = to . Therefore, the data points near t = to may be included in a graph, but should not be included in a data fitting process to determine K1 and K2 . Operation at a constant rate Since q = q o is a constant, equation (1) gives: (7) Alternatively, Equation (7) may be rearranged, using the relation:

to get: (8) Equation (8) indicates that the pressure drop is directly proportional to time, with a proportionality constant K1 q o 2 . At t = 0, P would be equal to K2 q o . The above expressions were developed to serve as guides in the treatment of data for the estimation of the filtration constants K1 and K2 , and hence the specific cake resistance and the filter resistance, in equations (2) and (3).

The Equipment
The equipment for this laboratory is located in the pilot-plant area of Dupuis Hall. It consists of two large tanks, one of which will begin full of a slurry, the other empty. Fluid can be pumped from the full tank, through the plate-and-frame filter press. The filtrate is collected in the empty tank and the liquid which does not pass through the filter cloth is returned to the full tank. There is a pressure gauge and a rotameter for determining the pressure and filtrate flow rate during the experiments.

Fig. 3 A photo of the Plate-and-Frame Filter Press Used in this Laboratory

Precautions
The Moyno pump has a rubber stator and should not be run in the dry state. The pump is a positive displacement device and should never be operated with the outlet valve closed. This precaution prevents the buildup of excessive discharge pressures. At the end of the laboratory period the equipment must be flushed thoroughly with water to prevent sedimentation of solids in the pump and lines.

Nomenclature
A K1 K2 m q or dV/dt Rm s t V active filtration area, m2 constant defined by Equation (2), associated with the resistance of a filter cake, Pa s/m6 (or Ns/m8 ) constant defined by Equation (3), associated with the resistance of a filter cloth, Pa s/m3 (or Ns/m5 ) mass of wet cake/mass of dry cake, kg/kg pressure drop across the filter cloth and cake, Pa (1 Pa = 1 N/m2 , 1 N = 1 kg m/s2 , 1 atmosphere = 1.0133 x 10 5 Pa) volumetric filtration rate, m3 /s resistance of filter medium, m-1 mass fraction solids in slurry, kg of solids/kg of water filtration time, s volume of filtrate (water) that has passed the filter cloth during time t, m3 specific cake resistance, m/kg (For compressible cakes, the cake resistance is a function of the compressive pressure, and is a suitably averaged value). viscosity of filtrate, Pa s (or Ns/m2 )

density of filtrate, kg/m3

References
All references are on 3-hour reserve in the Stauffer Library. Bennett, C.O. and J.E. Meyers, 1982, Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer , McGraw-Hill, New York, 3rd Edition, p. 231. Foust, A.S., L.A. Wenzel, C.W. Clump, L. Maus and L.B. Andersen, 1980, Principles of Unit Operations , Wiley, New York, 2nd Edition, pp. 658-659. Both the 1980 and 1990 text versions are available on reserve. Luyben, W.L. and L.A. Wenzel, 1988, Chemical Process Analysis: Material and Energy Balances , Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., pp. 33-36.

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