Filtration

The separation of solid particles from a fluid-solids suspension of which they are a
part by passage of most of the fluid through a septum or membrane that retains most
of the solids on or within itself. The septum is called a filter medium, and the
equipment assembly that holds the medium and provides space for the accumulated
solids is called a filter. The fluid may be a gas or a liquid. The solid particles may
be coarse or very fine, and their concentration in the suspension may be extremely
low (a few parts per million) or quite high (>50%).

The object of filtration may be to purify the fluid by clarification or to recover

clean, fluid-free particles, or both. In most filtrations the solids-fluid separation is
not perfect. In general, the closer the approach to perfection, the more costly the
filtration.

Gas filtration involves removal of solids (called dust) from a gas-solids mixture
because: (1) the dust is a contaminant rendering the gas unsafe or unfit for its
intended use; (2) the dust particles will ultimately separate themselves from the
suspension and create a nuisance; or (3) the solids are themselves a valuable
product that in the course of its manufacture has been mixed with the gas.
Liquid filters are of two major classes, cake filters and clarifying filters. The
former are so called because they separate slurries carrying relatively large
amounts of solids. They build up on the filter medium as a visible,
removable cake which normally is discharged dry (that is, as a moist
mass), frequently after being washed in the filter. It is on the surface of this
cake that filtration takes place after the first layer is formed on the medium.
The feed to cake filters normally contains at least 1% solids. Clarifying
filters, on the other hand, normally receive suspensions containing less than
0.1% solids, which they remove by entrapment on or within the filter
medium without any visible formation of cake.
Filters are classed as
1) Cake filters
2)Clarifying Filters
3)Cross flow filters

In crossflow filtration, an incoming feed stream passes across the surface of a crossflow
membrane, and two exiting streams are generated. The permeate stream is the portion of the
fluid that passes through the membrane. This filtered fluid will contain some percentage of
soluble and/or insoluble components from the initial feed stream that are smaller than the
membrane removal rating. The remainder of the feed stream, which does not pass through the
crossflow membrane, is known as the retentate stream.

1. Cake Filtration

A filter cake may be either compressible or incompressible. The porosity of

an incompressible cake remains constant during filtration; the porosity of a
compressible cake decreases during filtration.

Factors affecting Rate of Filtration

Drop in pressure from the feed to the far side of septum

Area of the filtering surface
Viscosity of the solution
Resistance of the filter cake

Types of Filters