How clean is too clean…

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A Filter Press System is an excellent piece of equipment to have in your concrete or stone fabrication facility, but to ensure that it is working in great condition, you need to make it part of your priority maintenance priorities, using it correctly and cleaning it regularly. If you have questions, contact us, and our team of experienced sales, service and application engineers will assist you with optimising the operations of your existing Filter Press or assist in the dimensioning of your new dewatering system. Other industrial uses of automated Filter Presses include Vac-truck and Construction and Demolition (C&D) Sludge Waste Dewater, Ready Mix Concrete Water Reclamation, Sands Washing Silt Pond Dewatering.?

During this process, the filter cloth needs to be cleaned thoroughly. An excellent time to do this is if you shut your Filter Press down for an extended period (a few days or longer) to avoid the accumulation of materials drying out on the fabric surface. During this shut, the easiest and best way to clean filter cloths is to remove them from the Filter Press plates, spray them down using a high-pressure washer, or simply place them into a container to soak in the cleaning solution. To maximise cloth life and maximum efficiency of filtration rates, the filter cloths need periodic inspection and cleaning, but ultimately, they need replacing as they wear down.

As time has passed and Filter Presses have become larger and more complex with their opening systems, removing filter cloth has become time-consuming and challenging depending on space constraints and the size of the Filter Press. For this reason, in situ cloth washing is the next best practical solution. At the very least, filter cloths must be washed with processed or clean water every week to remove excess buildup on the fabric surfaces, particularly around sealing edges and the stay bosses. A deep clean over the entirety of the filter area is always recommended by using a high-pressure washer (a unit that delivers water volume at pressures between 80-120 bar). This technique works at a microscopic level by spraying at ultra-fine particles that may have accumulated on the filter cloth and blinded the medium, rendering it less permeable than when new.

As the cloth weave becomes blinded or clogged, liquid filtering is inhibited, and a lower percentage of the liquid is allowed to flow through during filtration and is absorbed by the solids instead, creating a higher moisture content in your filter cake. The more the weave becomes clogged with solids, the longer your filtration process will take.

?If you are seeing a lot of wet filter cakes and longer filtration cycles, it is possible that your cloths are blinded. When the filtration cycle gets too long, or the initial filtration pressure is too high, it is the last indication that it is time to wash the cloths. If you have already cleaned your cloths using high-pressure, and nothing has changed in your process, but you are still getting sloppy filtration cakes, then potentially it is time to change the cloths.

It is likely time to replace your cloths when you see wear, elasticity, folds, holes, bad cakes, muddy filtrate, or when the above-mentioned cleaning methods are not getting the performance back to your filter presses. When working with blinding materials, of which cleaning intervals are becoming exhaustive on labour, perhaps the most practical way to clean your cloths is with an automated washing system. Although automated systems are capex-driven, they are more consistent in maintaining a high-pressure wash across the filtration area and, through automation, can be activated regularly at times of lower production, ensuring a maximum uptime on the Filter Press.

The problem is when filter cloths are left too long without proper cleaning. The slow build-up of material that inevitably blinds the filter cloth becomes impossible to remove after some time, which causes clogging to continue, reducing the processing capability of the Filter Press, and ultimately causing external leaking or spraying as sludge is introduced because the filter cloth has blinded up completely eliminating any potential liquid to pass through. One must remember that filter press cloth does not actually do any filtering; it provides the basis on which incoming feed material can build, and when a filter press cake forms, it is this filter cake layer that does the filtering itself.?

Most of the time, when there is a small cloth hole, filtrate water will still appear muddy coming from the filter plates close to the damaged cloth, so it is important to check your filtrate water regularly for any potential damage to your cloth. The cloth may also be damaged when there is a blowout from slurry between the two plates' sealing surfaces while Filter Press is filled with slurry or in high-pressure filtering stages. Care should be taken in using the high-pressure sprayer to ensure the cloths are not damaged. By using a fan-like spray pattern and staying several centimetres away from the surface, it is possible to complete the cleaning process without accidentally cutting through the cloth.?

A Filter Press system is an excellent piece of equipment to have for your process, and keeping up with a well-maintained cleaning process will make your Filter Press your best piece of equipment.

For more information or optimisation on your filter press contact us at @MVieiraServices