Filtration

1 Objectives
This topic aims to:
introduce the general ltration equation as a tool to describe ltration processes,
introduce the concept of specic cake resistance and lter medium resistance and how to obtain
theses parameters from laboratory ltration data,
show the dependence of specic cake resistance with pressure drop changes,
show calculations for ltration process operating under constant ltration rate and constant
pressure drop,
show calculations for ltration scale-up.
2 Description of the ltration process
Filtration is one of the most common processes use to separate particles in suspension from the
uid (it can be a gas or a liquid). The separation is carried out using a porous medium that retains
the particles whilst allowing the clear uid to pass when the suspension is forced through it. The
particles are trapped through the porous medium and form a layer on its surface known as the cake.
The uid that passes through the lter medium and the cake is also known as the ltrate. Filtration
is one of the most common examples of ow through a packed bed.
We can describe the ow of ltrate through the cake as that of a uid through a packed bed. For
laminar ow in a packed bed the Blake-Cozeny equation describes the pressure drop across the bed
in terms of the velocity of the uid as
P
c
L
=
1
v

(1 )
2

3
a
2
sv
(1)
where L is the thickness of the cake, v

is the velocity of the ltrate based on the empty cross-

sectional area as
v

=
Q
A
with Q the volumetric owrate dened in terms of the volume of ltrate as
Q =
dV
dt
so that
v

=
1
A
dV
dt
(2)
In the above equations the subscript c refers to the cake.
The thickness of the cake L can be related to the volume of ltrate V through a material balance
on the cake as follows;
LA(1 )
p
= C(V + LA) (3)
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE FILTRATION PROCESS 2
where
p
is the density of the particles and C is the mass of solids per volume of liquid.
Considering that the amount of liquid retained in the cake is very small compared to the volume
of ltrate (LA V ), the amount of solids in the cake can be approximated as
LA(1 )
p
= C
s
V (4)
where C
s
is the mass of solids per volume of ltrate. Substituting equations (2) and (4) into
equation (1) we can obtain an expression for the pressure drop across the cake with the rate of ltrate
P
c
L
=
1
A
dV
dt
(1 )
2

3
a
sv
2
P
c
=

C
s
V
A(1 )
p

1
A
dV
dt
(1 )
2

3
a
sv
2
(5)
rearranging we can obtain
1
A
dV
dt
=
P
c

C
s
V
A
(6)
where represents the specic cake resistance characterised as
=
(1 )a
sv
2

3
Equation (6) represents the ltration rate in terms of the pressure drop across the cake and the
specic cake resistance. Likewise the lter medium gives rise to an specic resistance that is associated
to the pressure drop across the lter medium. The lter medium resistance can be expressed in a
similar manner to the specic cake resistance so that
1
A
dV
dt
=
P
f
R
m
(7)
where R
m
represents the resistance of the medium and includes also the resistance from the pipes
going in and out the lter.
Considering resistances in series, equations (6) and (7) can be combined to obtain a relationship
between the ltration rate and the total pressure drop as
1
A
dV
dt
=
P

C
s
V
A
+R
m
(8)
The volume of ltrate V can be related to the mass of solids W as
W = C
s
V =
C
x
1 mC
x
V (9)
where C
x
is the mass fraction of solids in the slurry and m is the mass ratio of wet cake to dry
cake and is the density of the ltrate.
2.1 Specic Cake resistance,
The specic cake resistance is a function of the cake characteristics (, a
sv
). In ltration the
pressure can aect the level of packing (i.e. the porosity ), consequently the specic cake resistance
also depends on the pressure in the system. Variations in the specic cake resistance with pressure
can be determined through a series of constant-pressure experiments at dierent pressure drops or
through compression-permeability experiments.
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2 DESCRIPTION OF THE FILTRATION PROCESS 3
The empirical relation between cake resistance and pressure drop generally takes the following
form
=
0
(P)
s
(10)
where
0
and s are empirical constants determined experimentally. s is generally a value between
0.1 and 0.8. A similar expression to the one above can be also used as
=
0

1 + (P)
s

(11)
where
0

, and s

are empirical constants. If is found to be independent of pressure drop, the

cake is said to be incompressible. In most cases the specic cake resistance increases with the pressure
drop.
2.2 Constant pressure ltration
The general equation derived above to describe the ltration process can be used to determine the
ltration rate in a batch process at constant pressure. Rearranging equation (8) we obtain
dt
dV
=
C
s
A
2
(P)
V +

A(P)
R
m
(12)
under constant pressure conditions and an incompressible cake we can group constant terms as
K
p
=
C
s
A
2
(P)
(13)
B =

A(P)
R
m
(14)
leaving V and t as the only variables, so that equation (12) can be integrated to obtain the time
for ltration

t
0
dt =

V
0
(K
p
V + B) dV (15)
t =
K
p
2
V
2
+ BV (16)
t
V
=
K
p
V
2
+ B (17)
where V is the total volume of ltrate collected during the ltration time t. When data of volume
of ltrate with time is collected and plotted in a graph t/V as a function of V (see gure 1) values of
and R
m
can be obtained using equations (13) and (14) and the values for the intercept and slope of
the plot. In this case, the volume of ltrate collected decreases with time at constant pressure.
2.2.1 Example: Determination of constants for a batch constant-pressure ltration pro-
cess
A CaCO
3
slurry in water at 298 K and concentration C
s
= 23.47 kg/m
3
is ltered in a plate-and-
frame lter press with an area A of 0.0439 m
2
at constant pressure (P=338 kPa). Determine the
specic cake resistance and the lter medium resistance R
m
from the experimental data given in
table 1.
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2 DESCRIPTION OF THE FILTRATION PROCESS 4
Figure 1: Batch constant-pressure ltration.
Table 1: Filtration data for a slurry of CaCO
3
ltered in a press-and-frame lter.
t /s V /(10
3
m
3
)
4.4 0.498
9.5 1.000
16.3 1.501
24.6 2.000
34.7 2.498
46.1 3.002
59.0 3.506
73.6 4.004
89.4 4.502
107.3 5.009
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4 FURTHER READING 5
2.3 Constant rate ltration
In some applications the ltration process occurs under constant rate conditions. In such cases, the
slurry is fed to the lter using a positive-displacement pump. The ltration process can be described
using equation (8) rearranged as follows
P =

C
s
A
2
dV
dt

V +

R
m
A
dV
dt

(18)
Under constant rate conditions and incompressible cake we can write equation (18) as
P = K
v
V + C (19)
with
K
v
=
C
s
A
2

dV
dt

(20)
C =
R
m
A

dV
dt

(21)
In this case a plot of P versus volume of ltrate V will give a straight line for a constant rate
dV/dt with the slope K
v
/2 and the intercept C. For a constant rate ltration the pressure increases
as the cake thickness increases.
The total volume of ltrate collected during the ltration process can always be related to the rate
and time as
V = t
dV
dt
(22)
If the specic cake resistance varies with pressure, the adequate expression can be substituted into
equation (18).
3 Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this topic the students should be able to:
identify the ltration process as an application of uid ow through a packed bed.
recognise resistances associated to ltration.
recognise specic cake resistance functionality.
compare conditions between constant pressure and constant rate ltration.
derive equations to describe constant pressure and constant rate ltration processes based on a
general equation.
apply relevant equations to ltration data to nd associated constants.
calculate required ltration area using adequate equations.
4 Further reading
Christie J. Geankoplis. Transport processes and separation process principles (includes unit
operations). Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 4th edition, 2003
Warren McCabe, Julian C. Smith, and Peter Harriot. Unit operations of chemical engineering.
McGraw-Hill, Boston, 7th edition, 2005
M.J. Rhodes. Introduction to particle technology. John Wiley, Chichester, 1998
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