1

ABSTRACT

This study was intended to investigate the flow characteristics of constant

pressure filtration operation and impact of vacuum pressure on the specific resistances
of filter cake and medium. The calcium carbonate slurry, prepared from 1.25g of
calcium carbonate powder and 75mL of distilled water, was used in this experiment.
The assembled equipment set comprising of the filtration bottle, filter paper, vacuum
pump, air compressor, burette, waste fluid flask and stopwatch was utilized. For
pressure drops of 100mmHg, 200mmHg, 300mmHg and 400mmHg, the time taken
for attaining certain filtrate volumes was recorded for calculation of filtration rates.
Analytical calculations were also conducted to estimate the specific resistances of
filter cake and filter medium. From this study, it was observed that the filtration rate
for constant pressure drop was the highest initially and gradually decreased as the
filter cake thickness increased. The estimated values of specific resistances of filter
cake and filter paper were 7.6791010 m/kg and 5.028 1010 m-1 respectively. The
specific resistances of filter cake and filter medium were independent of vacuum
pressure variation. The observation above implied that calcium carbonate was
incompressible.

2
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................ii
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................iii
LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................iv
NOMENCLATURE...........................................................................................v
1

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1
1.1

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY............................................................1

1.2

SCOPES OF THE STUDY..................................................................2

1.3

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.....................................................2

LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................3
2.1

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FILTRATION.............................................3

2.2

THE ANALYSIS OF FILTRATION....................................................4

METHODOLOGY......................................................................................6
3.1

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS.......................................................6

3.2

PROCEDURE FOR EXPERIMENT...................................................6

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION..................................................................7

CONCLUSION..........................................................................................17

REFERENCES.................................................................................................18
APPENDIX......................................................................................................19

3
LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Raw data for the mass of filter cake calculation..........................................12
Table 4.2 Raw data for the moisture ratio calculation.................................................12
Table 4.3 Summary of calculated results.....................................................................14

4
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Filter cake formation (BHS Filtration, 20th Dec 2010)................................4
Figure 4.1 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 100 mmHg pressure drop.......................................7
Figure 4.2 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 200 mmHg pressure drop.....................................7
Figure 4.3 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 300 mmHg pressure drop.......................................8
Figure 4.4 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 400 mmHg pressure drop.......................................8
Figure 4.5 t/VF vs. VF at 100 mmHg pressure drop.....................................................10
Figure 4.6 t/VF vs. VF at 200 mmHg pressure drop.....................................................10
Figure 4.7 t/VF vs. VF at 300 mmHg pressure drop.....................................................10
Figure 4.8 t/VF vs. VF at 400 mmHg pressure drop.....................................................11
Figure 4.9 Specific resistance of the filter cake versus pressure drop........................15
Figure 4.10 Specific resistance of the filter medium versus pressure drop.................15

5
NOMENCLATURE

P, DP

Vacuum pressure or pressure drop across the filter medium

Filter area

Fictitious equivalent thickness of filter cloth and pre-coat

Lc

Thickness of filter cake

Viscosity of the fluid

Resistance to flow through the filter

Specific resistance of the filter cake

Rm

Specific resistance of the filter medium

Time

Volume of fluid that has passed through the filter

VF

Cumulative of filtrate generated

Fractional solid content per unit volume of liquid

1
1

INTRODUCTION

In another class of mechanical separations, placing a screen in the flow

through which they cannot pass imposes virtually total restraint on the particles above
a given size. The fluid in this case is subject to a force that moves it past the retained
particles. This is called filtration. The particles suspended in the fluid, which will not
pass through the apertures, are retained and build up into what is called a filter cake.
Sometimes it is the fluid, the filtrate that is the product, in other cases the filter cake.
The fine apertures necessary for filtration are provided by fabric filter cloths,
by meshes and screens of plastics or metals, or by beds of solid particles. In some
cases, a thin preliminary coat of cake, or of other fine particles, is put on the cloth
prior to the main filtration process. This preliminary coating is put on in order to have
sufficiently fine pores on the filter and it is known as pre-coat.

1.1

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study shall comprise of the following:
i.

To characterize the flow through the cake in a simple laboratory test.

2
1.2

SCOPES OF THE STUDY

The scopes of this study shall comprise of the following:
i. Investigating the trend of filtrate flow rate variation with time;
ii. Studying the relationship between the specific resistance of filter cake
and the vacuum pressure.
iii. Studying the relationship between the specific resistance of the
medium and the vacuum pressure.
iv. Estimating the values of specific filter cake and filter medium
resistances.

1.3

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study was designed to investigate the effect of vacuum pressure on the

filtration rate, and deduce the impact of vacuum pressure on the specific resistances of
calcium carbonate filter cake and filter medium (i.e. filter paper). The outcome may
be applicable for the design of efficient batch-wise filtration operation. The estimated
values of specific resistances could be used to predict the pressure drop required to
attain specific filtration rate. Moreover, this study was also helpful in investigating the
compressibility of calcium carbonate.

3
2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Filtration is a separation of solid particles from the fluid of liquid or gas where
the suspended solid particles in the fluid are physically or mechanically removed by
using a porous medium that retains the particles as a separate phase or cake and
passes the clear filtrate (Geankoplis, 2003). There are two general methods of
filtration which are gravity filtration and vacuum filtration. Vacuum filtration also
known as suction filtration is faster than gravity filtration and is often used to separate
suspended solid particles in liquid. Besides that, vacuum filtration is found to be
mechanically simple and also is a continuous filtration (Perlmutter, 2014).
Cake filtration consists of feed containing a solid suspension (slurry) through a
porous medium or septum (e.g. a porous membrane, a woven wire). The solids in the
slurry are retained on the surface of the medium where they build up, forming an
increasing thicker cake. As more slurry is filtered the solids retained on the medium
provide most of filtering action. Head losses in the cake will control the filtrate flow
rate. In cake filtration the cake is the real filtering element. Vacuum filtration is one
of cake-forming filters.

2.1

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FILTRATION

In ordinary type of filtration, pressure difference is used to force the liquid

through the filter cloth and the filter cake is builds up. To some extent one would
expect that a high pressure driving force would be beneficial for liquid removal, but
the effect is limited because some cakes are compressible. In these cases, then,
vacuum filtration would be more efficient. With a compressible cake, the act of
forcing liquid through the already collected solids (the cake) result in these solids
being pressed together forming a dense matt. This dense matt, which requires a
greater force to penetrate, thus produces a denser matt, which requires even higher
forces which produce an even denser matt and so on. This problem multiplies
exponentially with the thickness of the cake layer. Figure 2.1 illustrates this
phenomenon. Normally one can expect a best overall efficiency if the cake

4
thickness is kept well below its theoretical maximum and the driving force is not the
maximum available. This is true in general, but especially so in those cases where the
solids have to be washed, extracted or subsequently impregnated.

Figure 2.1 Filter cake formation (BHS Filtration, 20th Dec 2010)

2.2

THE ANALYSIS OF FILTRATION

The analysis of filtration is largely a question of studying the flow system.

The fluid asses through the filter medium, which offers resistance to its passage,
under the influence of force which is the pressure differential across the filter. Thus,
we can write the familiar equation:
Rate of filtration = driving force/resistance
Resistance arises from the filter cloth, mesh, or bed, and to this is added the
resistance of the filter cake as it accumulates. The filter-cake resistance is obtained by
multiplying the specific resistance of the filter cake that is its resistance per unit
thickness, by the thickness of the cake. The resistances of the filter material and precoat are combined into a single resistance called the filter resistance. It is convenient
to express the filter resistance in terms of a fictitious thickness of filter cake. This
thickness is multiplied by the specific resistance of the filter cake to give the filter
resistance. Thus the overall equation giving the volumetric rate of flow dV/dt is:
dV/dt = (ADP)/R

5
As the total resistance is proportional to the viscosity of the fluid, we can
write:
R = mr(Lc + L)
where R is the resistance to flow through the filter, m is the viscosity of the fluid, r is
the specific resistance of the filter cake, Lc is the thickness of the filter cake and L is
the fictitious equivalent thickness of the filter cloth and pre-coat, A is the filter area,
and DP is the pressure drop across the filter.
If the rate of flow of the liquid and its solid content are known and assuming
that all solids are retained on the filter, the thickness of the filter cake can be
expressed by:
Lc = wV/A
where w is the fractional solid content per unit volume of liquid, V is the volume of
fluid that has passed through the filter and A is the area of filter surface on which the
cake forms.
The resistance can then be written
R = mr[w(V/A) + L)

(1)

and the equation for flow through the filter, under the driving force of the pressure
drop is then:
dV/dt = ADP/mr[w(V/A) + L]

(2)

Equation 2 may be regarded as the fundamental equation for filtration. It

expresses the rate of filtration in terms of quantities that can be measured, found from
tables, or in some cases estimated. It can be used to predict the performance of largescale filters on the basis of laboratory or pilot scale tests. Two applications of
Equation 2 are filtration at a constant flow rate and filtration under constant pressure.

6
3

METHODOLOGY

3.1

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS

In this experiment, the vacuum filter device was used to characterize the flow

through the cake. The device and apparatus were set up which consist of filter
housing, pipet, vacuum pump, filter paper, petri dish, stopwatch, and conical flask for
discharge purpose. Four sets of filter paper with petri dish were weight before the
experiment began.
For the material preparation, the 1.25 grams of calcium carbonate was mixed
with 75 mL of tap water. Four sets of these solutions will be the slurry samples.

3.2

PROCEDURE FOR EXPERIMENT

At the beginning of the experiment, the filter housing was filled up with

weight filter paper. Then, the slurry was poured into the device and the pipette valve
was closed. The power supply and vacuum pump were switched on and the valve was
adjusted to set the desired vacuum pressure. After that, time for every 5 cm3 of water
that filled in the pipette was recorded until all the slurry was filtered.
Lastly, the vacuum pump and power supply were switched off after the each
set of experiment was done. The pipette valve was opened to drain the water into the
conical flask.
Then, the filter cake on the filter paper with petri dish was weight and dried in
the oven for 30 minutes. After that, the mass of petri dish with dry filter cake was
weighed. The same steps were repeated by using another three sets.

7
4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The filtration rate was observed to be maximum initially in the graph of VF/t
versus time due to the absence of solid deposition at the very beginning of filtration
process. As the filtration process proceeded further, the thickness of filter cake
increased and therefore exerted more resistance to the filtrate flow, subsequently
slowing down the filtrate flow rate (Doran, 2012). Every graphs of different vacuum
pressure (pressure drop across filter) shows the same trend as shown in Figure 4.2 till
Figure 4.5 below.

60
50
40

VF 10-6 (m3) 30
20
10
0

50

100

150

200

250

0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2 VF/t (m3/s)
0.15
0.1
0.05
0

Time, t (s)
VF vs t
VF/t vs t

Polynomial (VF vs t)
Polynomial (VF/t vs t)

Figure 4.2 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 100 mmHg pressure drop

60

50

0.8

40

0.6

VF 10-6 (m3) 30

0.4

20

0.2

10
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Time, t (s)
VF vs t
VF/t vs t

Polynomial (VF vs t)
Polynomial (VF/t vs t)

VF/t (m3/s)

8
Figure 4.3 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 200 mmHg pressure drop

9
60

1.4
1.2

50

40

0.8

VF 10-6 (m3) 30

0.6 VF/t (m3/s)

20

0.4
0.2

10
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Time, t (s)
VF vs t
VF/t vs t

Polynomial (VF vs t)
Polynomial (VF/t vs t)

Figure 4.4 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 300 mmHg pressure drop

60

50

1.5

40

VF 10-6 (m3) 30

20

0.5

10
0

VF/t (m3/s)

10

20

30

40

50

60

Time, t (s)
VF vs t
VF/t vs t

Polynomial (VF vs t)
Polynomial (VF/t vs t)

Figure 4.5 VF and VF/t vs. Time at 400 mmHg pressure drop

Therefore, if someone would like to maintain the flow rate of the filtrate, the
pressure drop have to be increased accordingly.

10
According to the Carmen-Kozenys relation, the rate of filtration can be
related to the pressure drop and the resistance arose from the filter cake and filter
medium as in equation below:
dV
=
dt

AP
V
mr[w
+ L]
A

( )

where A

filter area

viscosity of the fluid

specific resistance of filter cake

fictitious equivalent thickness of filter cloth and pre-coat

=
=

pressure drop across filter

fractional solid content per unit volume of filtrate

For constant pressure, constant r and incompressible cake, by inverting the

equation and undergoing the integration, the filtration equation is
t
mrw
mrL
=
V+
V 2 A2 P
AP

In this case, the specific resistance of the filter medium, Rm will be equivalent
to r*L in the rightmost term of the equation above. The equation can also be expressed
in term of filtration constant, KP (s/m6) and B (s/m3)
t KP
=
V +B
V
2

where

K P=

B=

mrw
A2 P

m Rm
mrL
=
A P A P

11
Based on the equation above, a linear graph is to be expected by plotting t/VF versus
VF for every vacuum pressure (P). Figure 4.6 till Figure 4.9 shows the best-fitted
graph of t/VF versus VF for different vacuum pressure (P) of 100 mmHg till 400
mmHg.

12
4.5
4

f(x) = 0.03x + 2.69

3.5
3
2.5

t/VF, 106 (s/m3)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

VF 10-6 (m3)

Figure 4.6 t/VF vs. VF at 100 mmHg pressure drop

2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
t/VF, 106 (s/m3) 1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

f(x) = 0.01x + 1.19

10

20

30

40

50

60

VF 10-6 (m3)

Figure 4.7 t/VF vs. VF at 200 mmHg pressure drop

1.4
f(x) = 0.01x + 0.89

1.2
1
0.8

t/VF, 106 (s/m3) 0.6

0.4
0.2
0

10

20

30

40

50

VF 10-6 (m3)

Figure 4.8 t/VF vs. VF at 300 mmHg pressure drop

60

13

1.2
f(x) = 0.01x + 0.72

1
0.8

t/VF, 106 (s/m3) 0.6

0.4
0.2
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

VF 10-6 (m3)

Figure 4.9 t/VF vs. VF at 400 mmHg pressure drop

The KP value can be obtained from the gradient of the graph while the yintercept of the graph represented the value of B. Hence, once the values of gradient
and y-intercept of the graphs were determined, the value of the specific resistance of
the filter cake, r and the specific resistance of the filter medium, Rm were calculated
using the equation as shown below.

Gradient=

KP
2

K P =2Gradient=

mrw
2
A P
2

2 A PGradient
specific resistance of filter cake , r=
mw
yintercept =B
yintercept =

R m=

m Rm
A P

A P( y intercept )
m

14
Pressure Drop

Mass of petri dish

Mass of petri dish

Mass of petri dish

(mmHg)

and filter medium

and filter medium

and filter medium

without filter cake

with wet filter

with dry filter cake

31.967
30.486
32.437
30.295

cake
34.829
33.468
35.414
33.175

33.133
31.638
33.591
31.456

100
200
300
400

However, there are some value of parameters have to be determined prior to

the calculation above. Some raw data for the calculation are tabulated in Table 4.1 and
Table 4.2.
Table 4.1 Raw data for the mass of filter cake calculation

Mass of wet filter cake=Mass of petri dishfilter medium withwet filter cakeMass of petri dishfilter m

Mass of dry filter cake=Mass of petri dishfilter mediumwith dry filter cakeMass of petri dishfilter

Pressure Drop

Mass of wet filter

Mass of dry filter

Moisture ratio,

(mmHg)
100
200
300
400

cake (g)
2.862
2.982
2.977
2.88

cake (g)
1.166
1.152
1.154
1.161

mR
2.4545
2.5885
2.5797
2.4806

Table 4.2 Raw data for the moisture ratio calculation

where mR = mass of wet cake/ mass of dry cake
Mass of CaCO3 used = 1.25g
At 25 C, density of water, used is 0.99708 g/mL (997.08 kg/m3)
(Geankoplis, 2003).
M

total mass of slurry filtered

1.25 g + (75 mL*0.99708 g/mL)

76.031 g

mass fraction of solid in slurry

1.25 g / 76.031 g

15
=

0.01644

Let w be the fractional solid content per unit volume of filtrate.

w=

s
1mR s

In case of P = 100 mmHg, w = 17.08 kg solid/ m3 of filtrate

In case of P = 200 mmHg, w = 17.12 kg solid/ m3 of filtrate
In case of P = 300 mmHg, w = 17.12 kg solid/ m3 of filtrate
In case of P = 400 mmHg, w = 17.09 kg solid/ m3 of filtrate
In this experiment, the diameter of filter area is 40.2 mm.
A

D2/4

1.2692 10-3 m2

At 25C, the viscosity of water, m is about 8.937 10-4 kg/m*s (Geankoplis, C. J.,
2003).
After getting all the information needed, the calculation have been carried out
and the results were tabulated in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3 Summary of calculated results

Pressure drop,
P (mmHg)

Pressure
drop, P (Pa
or N/m2)

Gradient,
1012

y-intercept,
106

Filtration Constant
KP 1012

B 106

Specific
resistance of the
filter cake, r

Rm 1010
(1/m)

1010 (m/kg)
100

13332.237

0.028325

2.6850

0.056650

2.6850

7.9705

5.0838

200

26664.474

0.013145

1.1945

0.026290

1.1945

7.3805

4.5233

300

39996.711

0.0082835

0.8883

0.0165670

0.8883

6.9764

5.0457

400

53328.947

0.0074572

0.7208

0.0149144

0.7208

8.3887

5.4590

17
Next, in order to investigate the effect of vacuum pressure (i.e. the pressure
drop across the filter) on the specific resistance of the filter cake and the specific
resistance of the filter medium, two graphs of specific resistance of the filter cake
versus pressure drop and specific resistance of the filter medium versus pressure drop
were plotted as shown in Figure 4.10 and Figure 4.11 respectively.

r vs. P
3.0000E+11
2.5000E+11
2.0000E+11

r (m/kg) 1.5000E+11
1.0000E+11
5.0000E+10
0.0000E+00
10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

P (Pa)

Figure 4.10 Specific resistance of the filter cake versus pressure drop

Rm vs. P
140000000000
120000000000
100000000000

Rm (1/m)

80000000000
60000000000
40000000000
20000000000
0
10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

P (Pa)

Figure 4.11 Specific resistance of the filter medium versus pressure drop

18
As shown in both graphs above, the specific resistance of the filter cake and
specific resistance of the filter medium are independent of the pressure drop where the
gradient of both graphs are almost horizontal. Pressure drop across the filter have no
effect on both of the parameters.
The independence of specific resistance of the filter cake from the pressure
drop is due to the incompressibility of the calcium carbonate in the slurry. In other
words, calcium carbonate is a rigid incompressible solid in the slurry.
Besides, the filter medium specific resistance was observed to be independent
of the pressure drop. There was no penetration of particles into the filter paper which
can avoid the plugging of the pores of filter paper (Doran, 2012). Since the pore sizes
of the filter medium remain unchanged, the specific resistance of filter medium will
not vary with the increasing vacuum pressure.

19
5

CONCLUSION

The conclusions of this experiment are as follows:

i.

The average values of specific filter cake resistance, r and specific

filter medium resistance, Rm were estimated to be 7.6791010 m/kg and

ii.

5.028 1010 m-1 respectively.

The filtration rate was found to be maximum initially due to the
absence of solid deposition at the very beginning of filtration process.

iii.

It would decrease with the increasing thickness of filter cake.

Calcium carbonate was found to be incompressible and the specific
filter medium resistance, Rm was observed to be independent of the

iv.

vacuum pressure.
It can be concluded that there was no permeation of calcium carbonate
particles to the apertures of the filter medium.

20
REFERENCES

Pauline M. Doran. (2012) Bioprocess Engineering Principles. United States:

Academic Press.
Geankoplis, C. (2003). Transport processes and separation process principles
(includes unit operations) (pp. 904-905). United States of America: Prentice
Hall Press.
Geankoplis. (2003) Transport Processes and Separation Process Principles. Pearson
Education.
Perlmutter, B. A. (2014). Dilute Stream Solid-Liquid Separations Using Continuous
Vacuum Filtration Technologies. BHS-Filtration Inc.

21
APPENDIX

RAW DATA DOCUMENTATION