Laboratory

Mechanical Process Engineering

Report on the laboratory experiment:
Filtration
Prof. Dr.-Ing. U. Grossmann
Students:
SEBASTIAN GONZLEZ GONZLEZ (29105)
UMESH KUMAR SHARMA (29189)
HENNING BOHLIUS (28386)
INGRID SNCHEZ
TURO VALKAMA (29045)
List of Content
Figures...................................................................................................................................................I
Abbreviations and Formula Signs.........................................................................................................I
1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
2 Lab Test............................................................................................................................................1
2.1 Measurement.............................................................................................................................2
2.2 Calculations..............................................................................................................................3
3 Discussion.........................................................................................................................................4
4 Statements.........................................................................................................................................4
Figures
Figure 1: Flow Chart of the Lab Test....................................................................................................2
Figure 2: Volume of the Filtrate............................................................................................................2
Figure 3: Filtration Line.......................................................................................................................3
Abbreviations and Formula Signs
Abbreviations
Eq Equation
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
Formula Signs
A Area of the Filter Membrane
h Hight
L
f
Thickness of the Filter Cake
p Pressure
V Filtrate Volume
o
o
W
Filter Cake Resistance
Filter Resistance
n
f
Viscosity of the Filtrate
I
1 Introduction
Filtration is a separation method to hold back suspended solids in a gaseous or liquidize flow at a
membrane. The on the suspension side remaining particle film is the so called filter cake. With the
progressing filtration the filter cake is growing and causes an increasing pressure drop over the
filter, which leads to an higher stress.
The filter membrane is held in a filter support, because it is as itself too weak to resist an volume
flow.
There are two main ways to run a filtration:
constant pressure
constant volume flow
Constant Pressure
Advantages:
stress on the filter is limited by the applied pressure
a simple set up is possible
Disadvantages
the output volume of the filtrate is decreasing
the filtration has to be stopped to achieve an economical produktion
Constant Volume Flow
Advantages:
the output volume flow is constant
Disadvantages
the stress on the filter is increasing by the fast crowing filter cake resistance
the filtration has to be stopped faster than with constant pressure to beware a damaging of
the filter
this procedure requires advanced control technologies
2 Lab Test
In the lab test a cake filtration under constant pressure is performed using an one percent water PVC
suspension (25 l of water and 250 g PVC). The densities of the water and the PVC are nearly the
same, which is normal for filtration, because otherwise the separation could be performed by
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sedimentation. To keep a homogeneous suspension a stirrer is applied.
The filter is inside a vertical pipe. The water column above the filter is at a constant level of
h=2.15 m, which is secured by a level drain. The filtration is started by opening the lower valve
(Figure 1). At the end of the filtration, the filter is back washed the high concentrated suspension is
taken out at the upper valve.
Figure 1: Flow Chart of the Lab Test
2.1 Measurement
The filtrate is collected in a tank, that's placed on a balance. Every 15 s the weight of the water is
written down. During the progress of filtration the volume increase decreases (Figure 2) ,which is
related to the growing filter cake. After the filtration as itself is finished, the back washing takes
place. When the back washing is done, the time is stopped.
Figure 2: Volume of the Filtrate
2
0 s 100 s 200 s 300 s 400 s 500 s 600 s 700 s 800 s 900 s 1000 s
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Time [s]
F
i
l
t
r
a
t
e

[
d
m

]
The filtration took 15 min and 15 s and with back washing 18 min and 35 s, so the backwashing
procedure took 3 min and 19 s.
The filter cake is 12 cm thick after 15 min of filtration.
2.2 Calculations
The filtration line is determined by a linear regression to calculate the coefficients of cake filtration.
Figure 3: Filtration Line
Taking the regression from Figure 3 and applying it to the equation (Eq.2) taken from the the
literature [1] the coefficients are calculated.
f x)=ax+b=6,0193x+15,5136 (Eq.1)
t
V t )
=
n
F
o
2A
2
Ap
V t )+
n
F

AAp
(Eq.2)
Comparing Eq.1 from Figure 3 with Eq.2 the initial point to calculate and are the slope a
(Eq.3) and the intersection b (Eq.4).
a=
n
F
o
2A
2
Ap
=6,0193
s
dm
6
(Eq.3)
b=
n
F

AA p
=15,5136
s
dm
3
(Eq.4)
Eq.3 is transposed to (Eq.5)
o=
a2A
2
Ap
n
F
=
6,0193
s
dm
6
20,0023
2
m
4
21113 Pa
0,001 Pas
(Eq.5)
o=1344564388m
2
=1,344610
9
m
2
(Eq.6)
Eq.4 is transposed to the filter resistance.
3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
f(x) = 6,0193x + 15,5136
R = 0,9796
Volume Filtrate [dm]
t
/
V

[
s
/
d
m

]
=
bAAp
n
F
=
15,5136
s
dm
3
0,0023m
2
21113Pa
0,001Pas
(Eq.7)
=753338865m
1
=7,533410
8
m
1
(Eq.8)
The cake resistance is calculated in Eq.9.
o
W
=
V
AL
f
o=
10,95dm
0,0023m
2
0,12m
1,344610
9
m
2
(Eq.9)
o
W
=53345543478m
2
=5,334610
10
m
2
(Eq.10)
3 Discussion
The lab test was successfully performed. The amount of filtrate was measured and the typical curve
of a cake filtration under constant pressure has been recorded (Figure 2).
Furthermore the thickness of the filter cake was measured and all values were calculated. The most
interesting value is the specific filter cake resistance. With its help a statement regarding the
filterability can be made.
The determined cake resistance lies with 5,3*10
10
m
-2
in the interval 10
12
m
2
>o
W
>10
10
m
2
, that
says the suspension of PVC and water is good filterable [2].
4 Statements
Henning Bohlius
The filtration laboratory explained with the help of a constant pressure filtration the basics of
filtration. It showed me, that an filtration is non-continuous process. Also I got a feeling for the
procedure of the filtration. The filtration has to stop when the yield becomes economical ineffective,
this is an optimisation problem between the filtration as itself and the backwashing. Possible
question are the set up with more filters in parallel which are time staggered to have constant
average production.
Sebastian Gonzlez Gonzlez
As a separation process, filtration is a very important field in industry and even if it looks
apparently easy, the proper design of a filter requires a lot of study and involves several parameters
that must be evaluated in the laboratory. By means of theoretical calculations based on those
experimental data, it is possible to select the better materials for the filter and to set the parameters
in order to get the higher efficiencies in practice.
I find our practical training illustrative but I think that it would be great if we also have the
opportunity to compare theoretical data with the experimental values, measuring the concentration
of the fluid after the filter and determining in that way the real efficiency of the equipment.
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Umesh Kumar Sharma
It was interesting to see how the needed values for a filtration can be easily determined by simple
experimental set up. This is good to know later in praxis when it's our turn to plan a filtration
process.
Ingrid Snchez
The lab test showed me, that the needed data for a filtration can be measured without big effort.
Although there are in general two types of filtration the needed data can be determined just using
the simple type with constant pressure, also when you want to perform the filtration later on with
constant volume flow. Now having these knowledge I feel confident to perform such an experiment
later on in my enterprise.
Turo Valkama
This laboratory has been really informative. It took just a few minutes to perform it and to calculate
the values. Seeing the growing filter cake and measuring the filtrate over the time, gave me a better
understanding of what is actually happening during the filtration process.
Sources
[1] Stie: Mechanische Verfahrenstechnik 2
[2] Pre discussion notes
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