Bioseparation Engineering

Removal of Insolubles by Filtration

Situations faced in downstream

processing
Removal of solids is the first step in the down stream
The dead biomass, cell debris, suspended solids, undissolved salt, etc.,
from the fermenter broth are removed
Immobilised biocatalyst is also removed and recycled for reuse
If the desired product is intracellular then the cells have to be harvested for
lysis.
If the desired product is extracellular then the solids are collected and
disposed.

Filtration
The slurry is passed through a cloth, metal, polymer,
fibers or candle with fine pores.
The solids are retained and the liquid flows through.

Types of filters commonly employed

 The rate of filtration is proportional to area, pressure

gradient and inversely proportional to viscousity of
the fluid, and bed thickness.
Darcys law
V=veocity of liquid through the bed
K= constant
p = pressure drop across the bed
bd =Bed thickness
= viscosity of liquid

Valid only if
d= particle size or pore dia in the filter cake
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 If the slurry batch V is to be filtered then the average

rate of filtration will be dV/dt and
V= (1/A) (dV/dt)
Where v= total volume of filtrate
t= time
A= filtration area

Introducing this into Darcys eqn

dV/dt = k A p/ bd
The filter cloth/medium also offers some resistance to
flow which may be generally neglected
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Chalk or clay do not get compressed on application of

pressure

For incompressible cake

Sc= specific cake resistance (=1/k)

Integrating the equation with V=0 at t=0

Time required to filter a volume of liquid V in batch unit

 When the cake is compressible, then increasing

pressure increases cake resistance and filtration
rate will drop

S= cake compressibility, equal to 0 for rigid incompressible cake and 1

for highly compressible cake
S generally ranges between 0 to 0.8
If s is high then filter aids including celite or sand is added to
reduce the compressibility and improve liquid flow through the
cake
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 The specific resistance of the cake of biomass was

found to vary with pressure drop as follows. Find
the compressibility of the cake
Pressure drop p
(KN/m2)

Cake resistance ()
(m/kg)

330

3.56 X 1011

134.3

2.16 X 1011

46.1

1.45 X 1011

21.1

1.07 X 1011
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ln (p)

5.8

26.30

3.9

26.10

3.58

25.70

3.05

25.40

ln ()

ln ()

ln
ln (p)

The plot ln () vs ln (p) gives a straight line with slope s

and intercept of ln
S = compressibility = 0.377 and = 7.2 X 1010 m/kg
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If the filter cloth medium also offers some resistance to flow

V= (1/A) (dV/dt)
(1/A) (dV/dt) = / (RM + RC)
Medium s resistance = RM, constant, independent
of the cake
Cakes resistance = RC , varies with the amount
filtered V
Incompressible cakes
RC =A 0 (V/A)
(1/A) (dV/dt) = / [ 0(V/A) + RM]
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(A t /V )= m (V/A) + B
m= 0/ p
c = RM / p
A graph of (A t /V ) vs (V/A) should be linear
From intercept we can calculate RM
if intercept is = 0, material does not offer any
resistance

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At/V

Filter material offers

resistance

Filter material does not

offers resistance

At/V

V/A

V/A
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Continuous Rotary Drum filters

A rotating drum
Inside is maintained at vacuum, so the liquid gets sucked
in
Can be used for continuously filtering slurry
A filtration cycle:
1. Cake formation (happens when the drum is dipped
inside the slurry)
2. Cake washing (no new cake layer is formed here. But
the solids are washed to remove soluble impurities)
3. Cake drying (the moisture is sucked dry)
4. Cake discharge (the solids are cut with a knife)
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Rotary drum filter stage

1-cake formation,
2-washing,
3- drying and
4- cake removal

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Cycle time (time for one cycle of the drum to

rotate)

1. Filtration
2. Washing time
3. Drying time
4. Discharge time

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 Darcys equation to relate slurry filtered against

the filtratin time

V is the volume
Is
the
cake
formation
time
and
f
f
filtrate

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 The amount of solvent required for washing way

the impurities

r= impurities remaining after the wash/ originally present in the

cake prior to the wash
n= vol of wash liquid/vol of liquid retained in the cake
= Washing efficiency of the cake

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tW = time required for washing

f= volume of wash liquid/volume of filtrate

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