Tutorial sheet
Filtration
1. Calculate the specific resistance of the cake and resistance of filter medium on the basis of the
following experiments data for a constant pressure filtration of a suspension of incompressible
solids of concentration 30 kg m-3 on a filter medium of area 1 m2. The pressure drop was 2 bar.
The viscosity of the filtrate is 1.1x10-3 kg m-1 s-1.
Vol. of filtrate Time
V (m3) t (s)
2 23
4 60
6 114
8 184
10 270
2. The specific resistance of the cake of biomass was found to be correlated with pressure drop as
follows. Find the compressibility of the cake.
Pressure drop Cake resistance
(kN m-2) (m kg-1)
330 3.58x1011
134.3 2.16x1011
46.1 1.45x1011
21.1 1.07x1011
3. A broth of 2 L of viscosity 2.8 cP containing 5.2% of compressible biomass was filtered n a filter
of 10 cm diameter at a pressure drop of 1.6 bar. The filtration time was 16 minutes. The cake was
found to have a compressibility of 0.4. Calculate the time required to filter 2500 L of the broth on
filter press of area 2.5 m2 at a pressure drop of 2.8 bar. Assume the resistance of the filter medium
to be negligible.
4. A lab scale filtration experiment of a slurry with a solid content of 24.6 g L-1 on a filter area of 5
cm2 at a pressure drop if 500 mm of Hg gave the following data. The filtrate had a viscosity of 1
cP.
Vol. of filtrate Time
V (m3) t (s)
30 6
40 10
50 16
60 23
70 31
(1). Calculate the time required for filtration of 2 m3 of the same feed slurry on a plate
and frame filter press consisting of 15 frames of area of 30 cm2/frame.
(2). Calculate the total filtration cycle time if the cake was washed with 0.25 m3 of water
and cleaning the press at the end of the filtration cycle requires 20 minutes.
5. You are filtering beer containing 6% citric acid on a continuous rotary vacuum filter. The filter
has an area of 18.1 m2, negligible medium resistance, a cycle of 75 s and a pressure difference of
close to 1 atm. The cake which forms has a washing efficiency of only 60%, but it is
incompressible and permeable: (μαρ0 /∆p) = 86 s/cm2. The cake retains 7% of filtrate leaving and
should be washed until the cake contains only 10% citric acid originally entrained. Calculate the
filtration time and the washing time required to process 3000 L/h of beer.
6. We have a suspension of [Link] fermented to produce the enzyme protease. To separate the
biomass, we have added 1.3 times the biomass of a Celaton filter aid, yielding solution containing
3.6% solids with a viscosity of 6.6 cP. With a Buchner funnel 5 cm in diameter attached to an
aspirator, we have found that we can filter 100 cm3 of this solution in 24 min. However, previous
studies with this type of solution have had a compressible cake with s = 2/3.
We now need to filter 3000 L of solution of this material in one pilot plant plate and frame filter
presses. This press has 15 frames, each of area 3520 cm2. The spacing between these frames can
be made large. This is an advantage, because we can then filter all the solution without emptying
the press and hence reduce the risk of contamination. The resistance of the filters themselves is
much smaller than the filter cake and the total pressure drop which can be used is 65 psi.
a. How long it take to filter this beer at 50 psi?
b. How long will it take at half this pressure drop?
7. You are filtering a beer which contains two species: bacterial cells 7x10 -4 cm in diameter and
spores 0.3x10-4 cm in diameter. You have measured the specific cake resistance of each species:
μαρ0 (bacteria) = 1.3 x 109 kg/sec m3
μαρ0 (spores) = 2.6 x 109 kg/sec m3
Other experiments show that for a mixed culture.
μαρ0 = (∑φi(αiρi0μ)1/2)2
Where is the fraction of solute i in all the solutes. Your present beer contains half the
concentration of bacteria as spores.
(a) How long will it take to filter 850 L of combined beer in a filter of negligible medium
resistance, a pressure drop of 105 N/m2 and 4 m2 area?
(b) Would it be faster to first the bacteria (with a filter medium which passes the spores) and then
filter the spores?