Chemical Engineering Operations

Filtration
Dr. Anand V. Patwardhan
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Institute of Chemical Technology
Nathalal M. Parikh Road
Matunga (East), Mumbai-400019
av.patwardhan@ictmumbai.edu.in; avpuict@gmail.com; avpiitkgp@gmail.com
1

Filtration and Centrifugation

Mechanism of filtration
Basic equation
Constant volume filtration
Constant pressure filtration
Rate expressions with cake and filter cloth resistances,
compressible and incompressible cakes

Filtration A Mechanical Separation

Filtration: Removal of solids from a fluid (liquid / gas) by
passing through a filter medium (called septum or filter
cloth),
) on which
hi h the
h solids
lid are deposited.
d
i d
Valuable material to be recovered: fluid OR solid OR
b h OR
both
O none.
Range of solid content: from Traces to a High Percentage.
Filter aid: sometimes used to make the solids more
filterable and to protect the filter medium from getting
clogged
l
d / choked.
h k d
Driving force: P ( = Pupstream Pdownstream).
P: by gravity of liquid column (static head) OR by pump /
blower OR by centrifugal force.
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Filters: 3 main classes, namely,

1 Cake
1.
C k filters:
filt
relatively
l ti l large
l
amounts
t off solids
lid are separated
t d
as cake or crystals + provision for washing of cake and
partial recovery of liquid contained in the cake.
cake
2. Clarifying filters: small amounts of solids are filtered out to
produce a clean gas or sparklingly clear liquids. The solid
particles are trapped inside the filter medium and on its
external surface.
3. Crossflow separators: the feed suspension flows under
pressure at a high velocity across the filter medium. A thin
layer of solids may form on the surface of the medium, but it
does not form a permanent layer due to high liquid velocity.
The pores of the filter medium are small enough to exclude
most of the suspended particles. Some liquid passes through
)
More concentrated
the filter medium ((clear filtrate).
suspension remain behind.
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Wt
Within
each oof tthese
eac
ese 3 cclasses,
asses, tthee filters
te s ca
can be
continuous or discontinuous
Continuous: the discharge of filtered solids is
steady. In this case the discharge of both fluid an
solid is uninterrupted during the operation.
Discontinuous: the discharge of filtered solids is
intermittent. Here the flow of the fluid is
continuous
i
b
but
needs
d
to be
b
i
interrupted
d
periodically to allow for the discharging of the
accumulated (filtered) solids.
5

Cake Filter
In the beginning of filtration, some particles enter the
pores of filter medium and get immobilised.
Afterwards, the particles start gathering on the filter
medium (septum) eventually, the cake of solids
effect the filtration operation, and not the septum.
A cake of some thickness builds up
p on the septum
p
surface, and this cake must be removed periodically
(in the case of discontinuous filtration operation).
Cake filters are used mostly for solid-liquid systems.
Cake filters may operate with super-atmospheric
pressure upstream OR with vacuum applied
downstream
downstream.
6

Mechanism of Filtration in Cake Filter

Slurry (upstream end)
Pressure = P1

Cake
Filter medium
(septum)

Clear filtrate (downstream end)

Pressure = P2
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Requirements of Filter Media (Septum)

It must retain the solids to be filtered clear filtrate.
It must not plug / blind.
It must be resistant chemically and strong enough
physically to withstand the process conditions.
conditions
It must permit the cake formed to discharge cleanly
andd completely.
l t l
It must not be prohibitively expensive.
Typical industrial filter media: canvas cloth (woven or
non-woven), woolen cloth, metallic cloth (monel / SS),
glass cloth, paper, nylon, polypropylene, polyesters,
etc.
8

Filter Aid

Slimy or very fine solids tend to form impermeable cake

septum is plugged quickly.
Hence the porosity of the cake must be increased to allow the
smooth passage of liquid.
This is achieved by adding filter
filter aid
aid,, such as purified wood
cellulose, perlite, diatomaceous earth, or any other porous
solid (adsorbent) to the slurry, prior to filtration. Alternately,
filter aid may be precoated on the septum, prior to the
actual filtration.
The filter aid can be recovered by dissolving the cake (at the
end of filtration) in a suitable solvent.
If the
h solids
lid have
h
zero value,
l then
h the
h whole
h l cake
k is
i burned
b
d out
or suitably disposed off.
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Principles of Cake Filtration

Filtration: a special case of flow through porous media.
In case of filtration, the flow resistances increase with time,
because EITHER the filter medium becomes clogged OR a
filter cake builds up.
Therefore,
Th f
the
h equations
i
off flow
fl
through
h
h porous media
di
must be modified to allow for this resistance build up.
As
A time
ti
progresses, EITHER the
th flow
fl
rate
t decreases
d
OR the
th
pressure drop increases.
Constant pressure filtration: P is held constant and the flow
rate is allowed to fall with time (more common).
Constant rate filtration: P is progressively increased to give
a constant flow rate (less common).
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 In cake filtration, the liquid passes through two resistances in

series, namely, cake and filter medium (septum).
Filter medium resistance: important only during the startup.
Cake resistance: zero at the startupp and increases with time.
The overall pressure drop at any time is the sum of the
pressure drops over filter medium and cake.
Let
pa = inlet (upstream) pressure
pb = outlet (downstream) pressure
p = pressure at the
h boundary
b
d
b
between
cake
k and
d medium
di
then,

= papb = (p
p
( ap)
) + (pp
( b) = p
C + p
M

where,
p = overall pressure drop
pC = pressure drop over filter cake
M = pressure drop
p
d
over filter
fil medium
di

11

Fillter meedium
m

Section through filter medium and cake at a time t

LC

p
pb
L

dL

Upstrream fface off cake

Filtrate

pa

Filter area ar to
flow direction = A
Direction of
flow of slurry

12

 Consider a thin layer of cake having differential thickness dL,

situated at a distance of L from the filter medium.
Let p = pressure at the above point.
Assume: the velocity in the filter bed sufficiently low so as to
assume laminar flow (realistic assumption).
The appropriate equation for flow through porous beds with
laminar flow is given by,
by
2

dp
150 . . u

2
3
dL

.D

S P

Since . D = volume-surface ratio = 6 v S

S
P
p p
2

2
4.17 . u 1 . s v
p p
dp

dL
3
13

where,
dp/dL = pressure gradient at cake thickness L
= viscosity of filtrate
u = linear velocity of filtrate, based on filter area
sp = surface
f
area off single
i l particle
ti l
vp = volume of single particle
= porosity of cake
s = sphericity of particle
= ratio of surface area of a sphere (with the same
volume as the given particle) to the surface area of
the particle:
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 The linear velocity u at a time t = u = (dV/dt)/A

where,
where
V = cumulative volume of filtrate collected up to time t
Si
Since
the
h filtrate
fil
passes through
h
h the
h entire
i
cake,
k u
is
i
independent of L.
Volume
Vl
off solids
lid in
i the
th differential
diff
ti l layer
l
= A dL (1 ))
If p = density of particles, then mass of solids in the differential
layer dm = p A dL (1 )
Elimination of dL gives,
2

k . . u . 1 . s v
1
p p

dp
dm
. A . 3
p
k is used in place of 4.17
4 17 to account for any non-ideality
non ideality
1

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Incompressible Filter Cakes

During low
low pressure drop filtration
filtration operations, containing
rigid uniform particles, all factors (except m) are
independent of L, and hence the equation can be integrated
directly.
If mC = total cake mass, then integration gives,
2

p
k . . u . 1 . s v m
a
C
1
p p

dp
dm
3
.A.
p'
0
p
2

k . . u 1 . s v . m
1
p p
C

p - p' p
a
C
. A . 3
p

16

 Specific cake resistance is defined as,

k . 1 . s v
p . A
1
p p

3
.u.m

C
p
Cake resistance is defined as,, . m A p . u
C
C

For incompressible cakes, specific cake resistance is

i d
independent
d t off the
th pressure drop
d
andd independent
i d
d t off the
th
position within the cake.
Analogously,
A l
l the
th filter
filt medium
di
resistance
it
RM is
i defined
d fi d as
(pM/ . u).
RM may vary with pM, because higher liquid velocities
caused by large pM may force additional particles of solid in
to the filter medium.
17

The total pressure drop = p = pC + pM

m .

.u C
R
M
A

At an appreciable cake thickness, pM is negligible

compared to pC can be assumed to be a function
of p instead of pC this eases the integration.
u and mC are expressed in terms of V,
V the total volume
of filtrate collected till time t.
If c = mass of particles deposited per unit volume of
filtrate, then, mC = V . c
Also,
Al u = (dV/dt)/A
(dV/d )/A

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Therefore, total pressure drop p = pC + pM is given

Therefore
by,

dV 1 V . c .

p
R

dtt A
d
A
M
dt
V .c .

dV A . p
A
M
... Basic equation for cake filter

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Constant Pressure Filtration

Wh
When p
remains
i
constant during
d i
operation,
i
the
h only
l
variables are V and t.
At t = 0,
0 V = 0,
0 and p = pM. Therefore,
Therefore
.R
M = dt = 1
dV
A . p

0
0
.c.
dt
1
1

=K .V+
, where K =
=
dV
q
q
C
C A 2 . p
0
K
Integrating,
Integrating t
1
C

=
.V+
V 2
q

A plot of t/V versus V will be linear, having

slope = KC/2,
/2 and Y-intercept
Y intercept = 1/qo.
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Recommended readingg
Chemical Engineering Volume 2 (Coulson; Richardson)
Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering (McCabe;
S ith)
Smith)
SOLVED and EXERCISE problems in the above books

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