Experiment No.

5
Plate and Frame Filtration

Submitted by:
Alaras, Lorelie L.
Chan, Bea Jasmine V.
Chanco, Shermaine Denica S.
Pacson, Ann Claudette A.
Ulangca, Doris Angelica B.

Submitted to:
Engr. Rugi Rubi

February 20, 2015

Abstract
The plate and frame filter press are usually used to separate the solids from the liquids of
a slurry solution. The solids produced from this filtration technique are called the filter cake. For
this experiment, Kaolin-water suspension (10%wt) was employed. Thickness of the filter cake
was used to determine its relationships with filtration time, volume and pressure. The results
showed as the filtration process precedes the cake thickness was of course increases with time,
thus lowering the filtration rate. Likewise the full capacity of the filter press collected was
calculated and achieved an experimental value of 7.5x10-5L/s2.
I. Introduction

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, is used for batch operations.

Filter press operates under pressure

using the process of cake filtration. This
involves sending a slurry through the press,
which is equipped with filter cloths. The
cloths pick up the particles in the slurry and
allow water to pass through it. As more
slurry moves through the press, the cake
builds up and assists the filtration process.
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 K1V. 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).

II. Theoretical background

The flow rate of the slurry through
the filter press system decreases with time.
This is due to the cake build-up on the
plates, as well as clogging in the plates that
may occur. The key quantities of interest are
the flow rate, resistance, and pressure drop.
The pressure drop rises or the flow rate
decreases with time. When the pressure is
held constant, the flow rate will decrease.
There is a constant-pressure filtration
equation that was found in McCabe, which
states the following:

Or expanding the total Resistance R into its

components

For the preparation of raw materials,

the raw materials were pulverized and pass
through a ball mill by a 60-mesh screen. 10
%wt slurry of clay and water was then
prepared. Disperse particles were stirred and
dissolved to homogenize the slurry.

For the preparation of the filter press,

slurry was contained in a feed tank. It was
continuously stirred to avoid settling of the
clay to the bottom. The clay slurry was then
pumped into the filter press. Feed inlet
pressure was then recorded. Filtrates were
collected for specific time ranges and
volume was determined. After the filtration
period, plates were dismantled and particles
were washed off by water. After drying the
materials, it will be assembled back to the
filter press.
IV. Results
Table 1: Data for Kaolin-Water
KAOLIN-WATER

Where:

III. Procedure

Kaolin
(kg):
Water
(L):
%weight:
Feed Rate
(L/min)

3.33

ID(m)

0.2921

Filtration
Volume
L

Filtration
Rate
L/s

30
10%
9

Time
Range
s

Filtration
Pressure
psig

20

0.0120

0.8041

0.0402

40

0.0055

0.3686

0.0184

60

0.0040

0.2680

0.0134

80

0.0035

0.2345

0.0117

100

0.0035

0.2345

0.0117

120

0.0035

0.2345

0.0117

140

0.0035

0.2345

0.0117

height

160

0.0035

0.2345

0.0117

180

0.0030

0.2010

0.0101

Cake Thickness vs Filtration Time

200

0.0030

0.2010

0.0101

ave rate

0.0151

3.5

capacity

7.54x10

Cake
Data

2.5
area
covered

volume

1.5

165x165

27225

165x165

27225

165x165

27225

165x165

54450

165x165

81675

165x165

81675

165x165

81675

165x165

81675

165x165

81675

10

3.5

165x165

95287.5

11

165x110

36300

12
ave cake
thickness

0.5

165x100

8250

Frame
No.

cake thickness vs filtration time

Cake
Thickness
(mm)
1

0.5
0
0

150

200

250

Filtration Volume vs Filtration Time

0.05
0.04

Filtration Pressure vs Filtration Time

0.02

3.5

0.01

100

Figure 2: Cake Thickness vs Time

0.03

2.167

50

filtration volume vs filtration time

2.5

50

100

150

filtration pressure vs filtration time

Figure 3: Filtration Volume vs Time

Sample Computations:

1.5
1
0.5
0
0

50

100

150

Figure 1: Filtration Pressure vs Time

200

Vslurry
Feed
Rate=
250
t ( filtration)
30 L
Feed rate= 200 s1 min
60 s
Feed rate=9L/min

200

250

Filtration volume=

D 2 h
4

At time 20s, h= 1.2 cm d=0.2921m

2

1.210 02921
Filtration volume=
4

0.804L
Filtration rate=

filtration volume
time

volume as the time goes by. The computed

capacity of the filter press is 0.015 L per
second.
As for the cake thickness, it can be
observed that the cakes were mostly formed
in the middle frames. This shows that it was
not uniform all throughout the plate and
frame filter equipment. Possible source of
errors for this experiment may be the
instrument or the equipment.
VI. Conclusion and Recommendations

Filtration rate=

0.804 L
20 s

= 0.04 L/s

Capacity of filter press=

V ave filtrate volume
t ave filtration tim e

where V

ave=0.015L/s
Capacity =

0.015 L/ s
200 s

=7.5x10-5L/s2

V. Discussion of Results
Based from the results calculated and
illustrated, it can be observed that as the
Kaolin + Water filtration proceeds, the
filtration pressure varies directly with the
filtration time as shown in Figure 1. This
means that no apparent change in pressure
was seen during the whole filtration
experiment. As for the cake thickness, it can
be noticed that as filtration time increases,
the cake formed also increases thus varying
the resistance to the filtration rate. With
regards to the filtration volume, it can be
seen that there is a gradual reduction of the

Almost all of the objectives of the

experiment were met. The optimum
filtration time is the first twenty seconds of
filtration with a filtration rate of
0.040207238. It also shows that as the time
increases, the filtration rate decreases, but
with almost constant rate. The optimum
thickness of cake is 3.5 millimeters which is
observed at frame number 10. It is also
observed that as the mesh number of the
filter increases, the cake thickness also
increases. The pressure is held constant at 3
psi gage.
Filtration is one of the common unit
operations used in the industry because of its
inexpensive
maintenance
and
basic
procedure in separating materials. But, it
still has limitations. The equipment could
not hold bulky suspended solids as it can
damage the pump. Also, corrosive mixture
could not be used with this separation
process as it can damage the filtering plates.
Frequent maintenance should be also
observed when using this equipment as it
can lead to corrosion and other
malfunctions. For the future experimenters,
they could use other material to be filtered

or other concentration of kaolin to

differentiate the effect of these parameters
with respect to the results of this experiment.

References

Luyben, W.L. and L.A. Wenzel,

1988, Chemical Process Analysis:
Material and Energy Balances,

Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,

N.J., pp. 33-36.
McCabe, Warren and Julian Smith,
Peter Harriott, Unit Operations of
Chemical Engineering; McGraw-Hill
Inc.; New York, 5th Edition, 1993,
pg 1002 - 1023.
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