University of San Carlos

School of Engineering
Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines

CHE 512L
Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2

Filtration
The Plate-and-Frame Filter Press

A laboratory report submitted to

Luis K. Cabatingan
CHE 512L Instructor

by

Serge Lorenz Villasica

October 5, 2015

1. Introduction
Filtration is a unit operation that separates liquid from a suspension with the use of a porous medium
(Coulson & Richardson, 2002). Filtration has these important elements: the slurry, the filter medium, the
filtrate and the filter cake. The slurry is the suspension from which the liquid is to be separated through a filter
medium. A filter medium is usually porous and allows for selective passage of the particles that make up the
slurry. The particles in the suspension are large enough to pass through the pores on the medium so they
are retained. Water (or other liquids), on the other hand, passes through the filter medium with ease. Retained
solids starts to accumulate with time. They become large enough that the flow of liquid is obstructed. Filtration
ends when there is no longer significant effluent being collected due to the accumulation of the filter cake.
Filtration process can be attributed to the motion of a fluid through a packed bed (in this case, the
bed is the filter medium and the filter cake) (Geankoplis, 2003). Flow is caused by the difference of pressure
between two points inside the filtration equipment. The flow is resistant mainly by the filter medium and the
growing filter cake

p f
dV

Adt
Rm

(1)

p c
dV

c V
Adt
s
A

(2)

The sum of the two resistances results to the equation

dV

Adt

p c
c V
( s Rm )
A

(3)

In cases where the pressure drop is maintained, the rate of effluent varies with time because filter
cake slowly builds up as more solid particles are retained in the filter medium, increasing the cake resistance.

Manipulating the equation, it would result to a linearized form with as a function of , which is;

t K pV

B
V
2

(4)

Where = 2 ()
and = ()

The linearized form of the filtration equation will allow us to approximate quantities like the specific
cake resistance and the filter medium resistance through experimentation (Geankoplis, 2003).

2. Objectives of the Experiment

Determine the specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance in the filtration of aqueous CaCO 3
slurries with different concentrations performed at constant-pressure condition.
3. Methodology
3.1. Methodological Framework
Calcium carbonate slurry was the feed for the filtration experiment. The filtrate was collected and
its time of collection was measured at different weight recordings. In the processing of data, the volume as

a function of time was converted to as a function of so that linear regression could be carried out. From
there, and using equation (4), specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance were obtained.

3 slurry

Filtrate

Conversion of () to

(),

linear regression
of data

Measurement of mass of
filtrate collected as a
function of time

Specific cake and

Filter medium resistances

Figure 1. Framework of the filtration experiment

3.2. Materials
Two calcium carbonate slurries were prepared, 10% and 14% in weight,. Large pail was placed on
top of the bathroom scale. Stopwatch was prepared in order to measure the time as filtrate is being collected.
3.3. Equipment
The equipment that was used in the experiment was the plate-and-frame filter press. Slurry tank is
where the slurry is fed and the solid particles are kept from settling by the agitator. The slurry then passes
through the outlet valve and is pumped to the filtering media. Some feed slurry is recycled to the slurry tank
and this can be adjusted with the use of the recycle valve. Adjusting the recycle valve changes the gauge
pressure reading so this must be monitored in order to maintain a constant pressure filtration. The slurry then
goes to the plates and frames and cakes are formed on the filter cloth. Filtrate then exits the plates and is
collected.
3.4. Procedure
18 kilograms of water was poured into the slurry tank and the agitator was switched on. 2 kilograms
of powdered Calcium carbonate was added to the water inside the slurry tank. While the suspension is being
mixed well, the plates were covered with clean filter cloths and the pates were attached onto the frames and
they are locked together tightly with the screw.
The outlet valve was opened and as soon as the first drop of filtrate had been collected with the large
bucket on a bathroom scale, filtration time was started. Time was recorded for every 400 grams of filtrate that
was collected, meanwhile the recycle valve was regularly adjusted so as to maintain a constant pressure
reading in the pressure gauge. When slurry tank had run out of the slurry, a gallon of water was poured into
the tank. Filtration was continued until there was no filtrate that would be collected, in which time, the agitator
and the pump were switched off and the remaining slurry was drained. The screw in the press was loosen
and the frames were withdrawn. The filter cloth was removed and the two wet filter cakes were collected
carefully. They were put on a tray and their dimensions and initial mass were measured. The trays were put
into a convective oven and were dried overnight after which they were taken out from the oven and weighed.
The data that was obtained was mass as a function of time. The filtrate mass was converted into
volume by assuming that the density of the slurry is equivalent to the density of water. Then table

as a

function of was constructed and from there the data was linearly regressed according to the working
4

equation (4). Quantities and were determined from the equation of the line formed from linear
regression and and yielded and which are the specific cake resistance and filter medium
resistance. Another run of the experiment was done with 14% slurry. This was obtained by adding 2.9
kilograms of Calcium carbonate into the tank with 18.1 kilogram of water. Determined and were
compared with the previously calculated values and the quantities were further compared by manipulating
one quantity to arrive at the same units, as referred from equation (3).

4. Results and Discussions

Specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance
In the filtration operation, two resistances are commonly associated with the process. These are the
specific filter cake resistance which is a property of the cake formed during the filtration operation and the
filter medium resistance which is a property of the filter medium. Shown in Table 1 are the resistances in the
filtration of aqueous CaCO3 using the plate and frame filtration equipment performed at constant pressure
condition.
Table 1. The specific cake resistance () and filter medium resistance (Rm) at constant pressure condition
%
For 10 wt % CaCO3 slurry For 14 wt % CaCO3 slurry
Average
Resistance
difference
13.0
1.58 x 109
1.47 x 109
1.69 x 109
(m/kg)
20.7
1.11 x 1011
(m/kg) -> (m-1)
9.83 x 1010
1.24 x 1011
11.1
5.73 x 109
Rm (m-1)
5.39 x 109
6.06 x 109

It was found out that the specific cake resistance, when transformed to the same units of the filter medium
resistance using equation 1, is greater compared to the resistance contributed by the filter medium.

(1 ) = ( ) (
)

(4)

It is because the cake formed during the filtration process creates a less permeable filtration medium which
resists the flow slurry. The specific cake resistance is comprised by the resistance due to the deposition of

residues from slurry. As filtration goes, it creates a more hindered flow of the slurry to the filtering medium
resulting in the increase of the interval of time of the filtration between measurements.
The difference between the filter medium resistances calculated for the 10 and 14 wt % CaCO3 feed slurry
can be attributed to the execution of the washing and cleaning of the filter cloth of the plate and frame filtration
equipment. If there are residues left in the cloth, it will affect the initial porosity of the filter medium.

5. Conclusions
The specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance in the filtration of aqueous CaCO 3 slurries
performed at constant 5 psi pressure are 1.58 x 109 m/kg (1.11 x 1011 m-1) and 5.73 x 109 m-1.
References

Coulson, J., & Richardson, J. (2002). Coulson and Richardson's Chemical Engineering (Vol. 2). Woburn,
MA: Elsevier Science.
Geankoplis, C. J. (2003). Principles of Transport Processes and Separation Processes (4th ed.). New
Jersey, USA: Pearson Education, Inc.

ANNEX
Data Processing and Analysis Report