Different industries utilize water in many different ways from cleaning the raw materials to

freezing and as raw material itself. Cleaning factories and plants and even air conditioning them are in
need of water but one of the most important water usages of water in the industries is for cooling or
heating a process [CITATION Tho97 \l 1033 ]. Therefore, the state of clarity of the water is important and
one of the common ways in cleaning water is through filtration.

Filtration is the process of separating suspended solids from a fluid by causing the fluid to pass
through a filter, a material with pores to permit the passing of fluid at the same time trapping the
suspended solids [ CITATION Fil98 \l 1033 ]. This art of filtration exists way back to the ancient
civilizations as early humans obtain clear water from the muddy water [ CITATION Fil17 \l 1033 ]. This
was done by scooping a hole in the sand in the river to a depth below the water level where the sand
filter the water to produce clear water that would trickle in the hole. At present, sand filters are still
being employed by some companies to remove the suspended solids in the water. However, water
purification is not the only application of filtration.

According to [ CITATION Aus84 \l 1033 ], petroleum processing industries employ filtration to

remove wax precipitate from wax-containing distillates. Filtration in the presence of clays or contact
filtration has been used extensively for decoloration of fractions.

In the ore-processing industries, filtration has a wide application from separating the grind ores
from those that are not yet small enough for the next process up to the separation of solids in the
leaching process. The cooling water needs to be free of suspended solids to avoid abrasions which may
later cause corrosion to the pipes so the cooling water passes through sand filters before being released
back to its route.

According to[ CITATION Don08 \l 1033 ], filtration is a unit operation that employs a filter.
Generally speaking, a filter is a device that removes unwanted quantities from fluid flow or from
transmission of electric currents, beams of lights or sounds [ CITATION Pow97 \l 1033 ]. Paper, cloth,
porcelain, charcoal, fiberglass or any porous material is used to remove solids while glass and gelatin are
use in filtering certain light rays. However, in the field of chemical engineering, filter is defined as a piece
of unit operation equipment by which separation of solid-fluid mixture is performed[ CITATION Don08 \l
1033 ].

In most technical operations, cotton cloth is the filtering material but occasionally woolen or hair
cloth is used. The cloth may be fastened on a wooden frame in such a way that a shallow bag is formed
into which the turbid liquid is poured. The filtrate is cloudy at first but soon becomes clear. Filtration is
often retarded by the presence of fine, slimy precipitates or by the formation of crystals in the interstices
of the cloth from the hot solution[ CITATION Fil98 \l 1033 ].

Industrial filtration has a wide range of applications and therefore has a varying application
method too. Such types are centrifugal filtration, gravity filtration, vacuum filtration, pressure filtration,
cold or chill filtration, hot filtration and mechanical filtration[ CITATION Ind17 \l 1033 ]. These types may
be further classified depending on the basis. Filters may be classed according to the nature of the driving
force that causes filtration. They also are described according to mechanical characteristics. Filters may
operate on either a batch or continuous basis[ CITATION Fil17 \l 1033 ].

There are also different factors to influence filtration operation: pressure to provide the driving
force; feed temperature that controls the slurrys viscosity; solids concentration, homogeneity, agitation
of the feed; filter blinding; number of cycles and any pretreatment of the slurry[ CITATION Pur77 \l
1033 ].

Bibliography
Filtration. (1998). Retrieved September 8, 2017, from Lenntech:
http://www.lenntech.com/chemistry/filtration.htm

Industrial Filtration. (2017). Retrieved September 8, 2017, from Filter Concept: http://www.filter-
concept.com/industrial/types-of-filtration/

Austin, G. T. (1984). Shreve's Chemical Process Industries Fifth Edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Book
Company.

Filtration. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2017, from Encyclopedia Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/science/filtration-chemistry

Keinath, T. M. (1997). Water. The World Book Encyclopedia, 118. United States of America: World Book,
Inc.

Perry, R. H., & Green, D. W. (2008). Perry's Chemical Enginers' Handbook 8th Edition. New York: The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Powell, E. (1997). Filter. The World Book Encyclopedia, 103. United States of America: World Book, Inc.

Purchas. (1977). Solid/Liquid Saparation Equipment Scale-Up. Uplands Press.Croydon.