Plate and frame filter press or micro filters are used in the beverage industry, for example, to clarify intermediate products. Filter Press and Micro Filter Pilot Plant consist of a filter press and a microfilter (tangential filtration) that are fed by a turbine-type centrifugal pump connected with a tank filled with the solution that has to be filtered. The filtrate is connected to another tank. A microprocessor PID controller enables it to operate at a constant pressure and flow rate (optional). In a tank, water and diatomite suspension are made (recommended). A stirrer makes sure the solid doesn’t settle and stays in suspension. The plate and frame filter press or micro filter receives the suspension from the pump and empties it into each of its separate chambers. Two filter plates and one filter frame combine to make a separating chamber. Filter cloths are placed over the grooved filter plates. The filtrate travels through the filter cloth and into a collecting pipe through the grooves in the plates. Through the collecting pipe, the filtrate leaves the plate and frame filter press and is collected in the filtrate tank. The filter cloth is where the solid material is split off, where it grows into a filter cake. The filter cake’s flow resistance rises as it gets thicker. The filtration procedure is completed when the separating chamber is filled or a maximum pressure difference has been attained. When the maximum pressure difference is attained using a microfilter, the microfilter is removed from the casing and washed.
Experiments
The processing unit enables to develop and analyze the following issues:
- Learning the fundamental principle and method of operation of a plate and frame filter press
- Learning the fundamental principle and method of operation of a Tangential micro filter
- Production of a suspension
- Insertion of the filter cloth
- fundamentals of cake filtration *Darcy’s equation
- Mass of filter cake dependent on filtrate quantity
- Dead-end filtration (filter press)
- Tangential filtration (microfilter)
- Characteristic equations of filtration
- Filtration at a constant flow rate or pressure
- Display of plant operational parameters on the schematic diagram with real-time data
- Automatic flow and pressure control by PID controller (optional)
Specifications
- The framework of stainless steel with castors
- The process flow diagram in front of a panel
- Feed tank equipped with stirring system driven by mechanical stirring device
- Product Tank for collecting the filtered water
- Feeding pump with control system by electronic inverter
- Flowmeter to measure the inlet flowrate
- 2 Pressure gauges, one before filters and the other after the microfilter
- 1 safety pressure switch after the micro filter
- Filter press of stainless steel with frames of transparent Plexiglas for displaying the process
- Microfilter provided with housing
- Self-Cleaning turbidity sensor with transmitter and display (Optional)
- Microprocessor digital PID controller (Optional)
- Piping and valves
- Emergency button
