Membrane filter presses have a wide range of industrial applications, from mining to the food industry. Its main component is the membrane plate, which is bounded by a flexible plastic element on the chamber side and a hollow element on the inside. When this space is filled with a high-pressure medium, the volume of the sheets increases, which in turn compresses the slurry sheet. What is to know about using a membrane filter press? Here are the details!
What is a membrane filter press?
Filter presses are designed for dewatering sludge and slurry, as well as aiding manufacturing processes where the press plate is used for further processing. The sludge to be dewatered enters the chambers via a pump and passes through the filter screen. The solids are retained, and the liquid water is discharged from the system. In the case of membrane filter presses, efficient dewatering is achieved by separate water or air pumps, with additional water loss being achieved using compressed membrane plates.
What are its features?
In the case of a membrane filter press, the press is a cylinder that keeps the filter elements closed. These then form a filter chamber which can then be filled by the pump. The feed pump is responsible for the filtration pressure, which in many cases is limited to low working pressure. The liquid is displaced by increasing the size of the membranes. These membranes can be made of PP, EPDM, PVDF and Viton materials.
The equipment now offers a wide range of options and accessories, such as washing, drying, core flushing and core blowing.
What are the elements of a membrane filter press?
A membrane filter press is a complex system consisting of the following elements:
- head plate with built-in sludge inlet, and filtrate outlet,
- end plate with a built-in hydraulic cylinder for the press closing,
- sidebars on which the membrane filters and filter cloths are mounted, and the pressure plate.
Several accessories are typically available as optional extras to the basic equipment. For example, a sludge conditioning system, a dewatered sludge delivery system, an automatic frame handling system, an automatic frame washing system, individual drip trays, and a hydraulic power supply.
Thanks to membrane technology, this filtration system achieves low dry solids content output. 30-80% dry solid content can be achieved by back-pressure with membrane plates.
It is important to note that membrane filter press technology is often mixed with chambered filter plate technology to optimise costs. The result is an affordable filter press with excellent filtration results, otherwise known as a chamber membrane filter press. It is therefore a powerful and widely applicable system.
Advantages of membrane filter presses
Maximum dry solids content can be achieved with membrane filter presses, even if the filter chambers are only partially filled. Cycle time is short, allowing filtration and dewatering to be carried out with very high efficiency. On average, filtration cycles can be reduced by up to 50% by using membrane filter presses. The result is increased productivity.
The modern membrane filter press is robust in appearance but does not contain any irrelevant elements. It can be expanded with several modules and is highly automated, allowing it to be integrated into a modern 21st-century environment.
The latest safety technologies are built into today's membrane presses so that accidents and damage in the workplace can be prevented. Thanks to the low feed pressure, pump wear is also significantly lower.
Contact the experts at Makrofilt and find out all about the modern generation of membrane filter presses!
