DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT

HOW TO CALCULATE THE BASIC PARAMETERS OF A

ROTARY VACUUM FILTER

]~. N. Ginzburg, G. A. Roginskii, UDC 66. 065.54.001.24

and A. D. Dmitrievskaya

The design of rotary vacuum filters differs from the design of continuous vacuum filters having a
continuous filtering surface, since the filtering assembly of rotary vacuum filters is broken up into
several pans~ and this accounts for the substantial correction made to the process of phase separation
and cake washing [i, 2]. This article offers a procedure for calculating the basic design parameters of
a rotary vacuum filter.
Calculating Filter Active Surface Area. The rate of solids removal or liquids removal per unit
surface area in unit time must be known for the particular slurry feed in order to determine the filtra-
tion surface area and the basic filter parameters, in the design of a rotary vacuum filter for a full-
scale industrial installation. But this rate is not a single-valued variable, and the value obtained under
laboratory conditions or plant conditions cannot be considered a unique characteristic value for the par-
ticular process stream, since it depends on the filtration process conditions. While using the rate of
removal of solids or liquids per unit area in our scaled-up calculations for an industrial plant~ we still
have to continue to pay attention to those related variables of the filtration process, and to the possibility
of achieving the relevant values of those variables in vacuum filter design.
This means that we cannot view as valid the procedure in which the filtration variables are utilized
without correction, on the basis of laboratory or pilot-plant experiments, and are taken as optimum
values for the specific process medium. Operating experience has shown that in many instances labora-
tory conditions under which slurry is filtered are not reproducible under production conditions. The
assumption that the rate of removal remains constant for a given type of filter whatever the dimensions
of its filtering surface is also unwarranted.
On the basis of some general arguments, and some practical observations, we can conclude that
the greater the number of pans and the closer the trapezoidal shape of the pans to a rectangular shape,
the more even the cross section of the cake will be and the more homogeneous the structure of the cake
will be, and further the more the filtration and cake washing data will be improved. Hence, tile ratio
of the small (b) and large (a) bases of the filter pan trapezoid, and the ratio of the inner diameter D 2
and outer diameter D i of the annular surface formed by the pans, i.e.,

b D2
--~-------- =k
a D I

(where k is a design factor), must be brought as close as possible to unity. The design factor k should
not be less than 0.75 (Fig. I).
But the dimensions of filters with pans shaped close to rectangular are far greater than the dimen-
sions of filters with trapezoidal pans, given the same filtering surface area. In each concrete case,
then, we have to decide which is preferable: to increase the size and weight of the filter in order to im-
prove performance and process data, or to allow some downgrading of these indices in exchange for
smaller filter size and less filter weight. Clearly, a more valid approach would be to seek a solution
satisfying both requirements to whatever extent possible, but this will require some additional practical
research.

In designing rotary vacuum filters, designers were lacking concrete technological data providing
a suitable basis for arriving at the linear dimensions of the equipment. In striving to achieve a compact
piece of equipment, they left out of account a possible concurrent deterioration in process conditions
affecting filter performance. For example, the thickness of the cake layer on the pans fluctuates be-
tween 25 and 55 mm in the case of a rotary vacuum filter presenting a filtration surface area of
T r a n s l a t e d f r o m Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 2, pp. 1-3, F e b r u a r y , 1967.

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 40 square meters and having a design factor k --0.64.
Because of this uneven cake thickness, filtration con-
ditions and cake wash conditions deteriorate, and fil-
ter throughput is reduced. Formation of cake of un-
even thickness is typical of such filters, and is due
to the fact that the slurry arriving from the radially
placed feed trough is distributed in an even flow over
the bottoms of trapezoidal shape, since the pans move
a) i along the periphery at different linear speeds.
b) A pan factor w is introduced to take the effect
of cake unevenness on the throughput of rotary vacuum
filters into account. Under the specific process con-
ditions prevailing, the pan factor w must characterize
the ratio of filtration efficiency in the even-layer and
homogeneous cake structure case to filtration effi-
ciency on a rotary filter.
The pan factor w depends on the nature of the
feed slurry, and on the size and shape of the filter
pans. It is a very complicated matter, requiring
laborious study, to determine this pan factor exactly
c)
for a variety of production conditions. Pan factors
Fig. i. Diagram showing distribution of pans 0.63 and 0.77 can be recommended as tentative values.
(number of pans z = 24) on rotary vacuum fil- The first value was arrived at on the basis of available
ters having the same filtration surface area, information derived from a foreign plant producing
as a function of the design factor k: a) k = wet-process phosphoric acid of 32% P205 concentration,
0.5; b) k=0.64; c) k=0.75. where, following comparison tests, a band vacuum
filter with a filtration surface of 40 square meters
was successfully replaced by a rotary vacuum filter
with a filtration surface of 25 square meters. The
s e c o n d w v a l u e w a s a r r i v e d a t on t h e b a s i s of S o v i e t e x p e r i e n c e in the p r o d u c t i o n of w e t - p r o c e s s p h o s -
p h o r i c a c i d o f up to 32% P205 c o n c e n t r a t i o n , c o m p a r i n g the r a t e of c a k e r e m o v a l o f 650 k g / m 2. h w i t h a
r o t a r y v a c u u m f i l t e r to t h e r a t e 850 k g / m 2. h o b t a i n e d w i t h band v a c u u m f i l t e r u n d e r p i l o t p l a n t c o n d i t i o n s ,
in an i d e n t i c a l t e c h n o l o g i c a l p r o c e s s .

In the c a s e of r o t a r y v a c u u m f i l t e r s w i t h 40 m 2 f i l t r a t i o n s u r f a c e a r e a , t h e a v e r a g e pan factor w

c a n be s e t at about 0.7. In t h e c a s e o f r o t a r y v a c u u m f i l t e r s w i t h 80 m 2 f i l t r a t i o n s u r f a c e a r e a , with
d e s i g n f a c t o r k = 0.5, and c o n s e q u e n t l y a s l i g h t l y l o w e r c a k e r e m o v a l r a t e , t h e pan f a c t o r w will obvi-
o u s l y be l o w e r t h a n 0.7. The c a k e r e m o v a l r a t e s h o u l d a l w a y s b e a r r i v e d a t t h e r e f o r e on the b a s i s of
t h e c o n c r e t e p r o c e s s c o n d i t i o n s a n d f i l t e r d e s i g n c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . The c a k e r e m o v a l r a t e taken alone
c a n n o t b e u s e d a s a s u f f i c i e n t b a s i s f o r the d e s i g n of a s c a l e d - u p f i l t e r .
T h e f o r e g o i n g s u g g e s t s t h e f o l l o w i n g p r o c e d u r e f o r d e s i g n i n g a r o t a r y v a c u u m f i l t e r to h a n d l e a
s p e c i f i c s l u r r y . O p t i m u m f i l t r a t i o n and c a k e w a s h i n g p a r a m e t e r s a r e d e t e r m i n e d on a c o n v e n t i o n a l l a b -
o r a t o r y - s c a l e f i l t r a t i o n p l a n t f i l t e r i n g a f e e d s l u r r y i d e n t i c a l to the o n e c o n t e m p l a t e d f o r p r o d u c t i o n [3].
D a t a on the c a k e r e m o v a l r a t e and c a p a c i t y of the s c a l e d - u p f a c i l i t y b a s e d on t h e s e l a b o r a t o r y s t u d i e s
a r e t h e n u s e d to c a l c u l a t e the f i l t r a t i o n s u r f a c e a r e a of a s c a l e d - u p f i l t e r .
The a c t u a l a v e r a g e t h i c k n e s s of the l a y e r o f c a k e d e p o s i t e d on t h e f i l t e r p a n s is then d e t e r m i n e d
b y c a l c u l a t i o n s on t h e b a s i s of the p e r m i s s i b l e p e r i p h e r a l s p e e d of the f u l l - s c a l e r o t a r y f i l t e r . F i l t r a t i o n
d a t a on a f e e d s l u r r y i d e n t i c a l to t h e p r o c e s s f e e d , a n d d a t a on c a k e w a s h i n g (cake r e m o v a l r a t e ) a r e
then checked at this cake thickness on the laboratory-scale conventional filtration plant.
The pan factor w is assigned on the basis of the filtration surface area of the full-scale filter and
its design characteristics, and a correction for the empirically determined cake removal rate is then
introduced :
qcalc = qemp

w h e r e q e a l e i s t h e c a l c u l a t e d c a k e r e m o v a l r a t e , and q e m p is t h e r e m o v a l r a t e found e m p i r i c a l l y .

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