FILTRATION

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, which 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 a pre-coat.

The analysis of filtration is largely a question of studying the flow system. The fluid passes through
the filter medium, which offers resistance to its passage, under the influence of a 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 pre-coat 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.

Filter-cake Compressibility

With some filter cakes, the specific resistance varies with the pressure drop across it. This is because
the cake becomes denser under the higher pressure and so provides fewer and smaller passages for
flow. The effect is spoken of as the compressibility of the cake. Soft and flocculent materials provide
highly compressible filter cakes, whereas hard granular materials, such as sugar and salt crystals, are
little affected by pressure.

Filtration Equipment

The basic requirements for filtration equipment are:

mechanical support for the filter medium,
flow accesses to and from the filter medium and
provision for removing excess filter cake.

In some instances, washing of the filter cake to remove traces of the solution may be necessary.
Pressure can be provided on the upstream side of the filter, or a vacuum can be drawn downstream,
or both can be used to drive the wash fluid through.
 FIG. 10.8 Filtration equipment: (a) plate and frame press (b) rotary vacuum filter (c)
centrifugal filter

Plate and frame filter press

In the plate and frame filter press, a cloth or mesh is spread out over plates which support the cloth
along ridges but at the same time leave a free area, as large as possible, below the cloth for flow of
the filtrate. This is illustrated in Fig. 10.8(a). The plates with their filter cloths may be horizontal, but
they are more usually hung vertically with a number of plates operated in parallel to give sufficient
area.

Filter cake builds up on the upstream side of the cloth, that is the side away from the plate. In the
early stages of the filtration cycle, the pressure drop across the cloth is small and filtration proceeds
at more or less a constant rate. As the cake increases, the process becomes more and more a constant-
pressure one and this is the case throughout most of the cycle. When the available space between
successive frames is filled with cake, the press has to be dismantled and the cake scraped off and
cleaned, after which a further cycle can be initiated.

The plate and frame filter press is cheap but it is difficult to mechanize to any great extent. Variants
of the plate and frame press have been developed which allow easier discharging of the filter cake.
For example, the plates, which may be rectangular or circular, are supported on a central hollow shaft
for the filtrate and the whole assembly enclosed in a pressure tank containing the slurry. Filtration
can be done under pressure or vacuum. The advantage of vacuum filtration is that the pressure drop
can be maintained whilst the cake is still under atmospheric pressure and so can be removed easily.
The disadvantages are the greater costs of maintaining a given pressure drop by applying a vacuum
and the limitation on the vacuum to about 80 kPa maximum. In pressure filtration, the pressure
driving force is limited only by the economics of attaining the pressure and by the mechanical
strength of the equipment.

Rotary filters

In rotary filters, the flow passes through a rotating cylindrical cloth from which the filter cake can be
continuously scraped. Either pressure or vacuum can provide the driving force, but a particularly
useful form is the rotary vacuum filter. In this, the cloth is supported on the periphery of a horizontal
cylindrical drum that dips into a bath of the slurry. Vacuum is drawn in those segments of the drum
surface on which the cake is building up. A suitable bearing applies the vacuum at the stage where
the actual filtration commences and breaks the vacuum at the stage where the cake is being scraped
off after filtration. Filtrate is removed through trunnion bearings. Rotary vacuum filters are
expensive, but they do provide a considerable degree of mechanization and convenience. A rotary
vacuum filter is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 10.8(b).

Centrifugal filters

Centrifugal force is used to provide the driving force in some filters. These machines are really
centrifuges fitted with a perforated bowl that may also have filter cloth on it. Liquid is fed into the
interior of the bowl and under the centrifugal forces, it passes out through the filter material. This is
illustrated in Fig. 10.8(c).

Air filters

Filters are used quite extensively to remove suspended dust or particles from air streams. The air or
gas moves through a fabric and the dust is left behind. These filters are particularly useful for the
removal of fine particles. One type of bag filter consists of a number of vertical cylindrical cloth bags
15-30 cm in diameter, the air passing through the bags in parallel. Air bearing the dust enters the
bags, usually at the bottom and the air passes out through the cloth. A familiar example of a bag filter
for dust is to be found in the domestic vacuum cleaner. Some designs of bag filters provide for the
mechanical removal of the accumulated dust. For removal of particles less than 5 mm diameter in
modern air sterilization units, paper filters and packed tubular filters are used. These cover the range
of sizes of bacterial cells and spores.