Plate and Frame Filter Press Product
1. Product Overview
The Plate and Frame Filter Press is an efficient solid-liquid separation device that combines versatility and separation efficiency advantages. It is widely used in solid-liquid separation scenarios across multiple industrial sectors and is a preferred equipment in industries such as wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing, food and beverage processing, and chemical production. This equipment is available in two types: plate-and-frame type and recessed chamber type. It has a processing capacity of 1-100 tons per hour, an equipment weight of 1-20 tons, and a conventional size of 10×1.6×1.8 meters. Customization is also available according to customer requirements to adapt to different working conditions.
2. Core Composition
The plate and frame filter press mainly consists of the following key components, which work together to ensure stable and efficient operation of the equipment:
- Structural Components: Including thrust plate, compression plate, filter plates and filter frames, and beams. These components form the main framework of the equipment, providing support for the formation of filter chambers and the filtration process.
- Filtration System: Filter cloth, as the core filtration medium, covers both sides of the filter plates and is responsible for retaining solid particles to achieve solid-liquid separation. The liquid collection tank is used to collect the filtrate generated during filtration, ensuring the orderly discharge of the filtrate.
- Drive and Control Components: The compression device (including hydraulic cylinder) is used to tightly compress the filter plates and filter frames to form a sealed filter chamber. The PLC control cabinet realizes automatic control of the equipment operation, making the operation convenient and accurate.
During the operation of the equipment, the filter plates and filter frames are arranged alternately and pressed tightly by the hydraulic cylinder to form filter chambers. The corners of the filter frames and filter plates are provided with holes, which form a complete channel after assembly. This channel can be used to feed the suspension and washing water, and discharge the filtrate, providing a smooth material flow path for the filtration process.
3. Working Principle (Batch Operation)
The plate and frame filter press adopts a batch operation mode. A complete filtration cycle usually lasts from 20 minutes to 3 hours, and the specific duration depends on the characteristics of the filtered material. The filtration process of each batch is divided into the following four steps:
- Closing of Filter Plates and Frames: Press the start button on the PLC control cabinet, and the hydraulic cylinder drives the moving head plate to tightly compress the filter plates and filter frames, ensuring the filter chamber is sealed and preparing for subsequent material filtration.
- Feeding and Filling: Sludge (or slurry) is pumped into the filter chambers one by one through a pump. As the slurry is continuously filled in the filter chambers, solid particles are retained by the filter cloth and gradually form filter cakes. When all filter chambers are filled with filter cakes, the filtration stage ends.
- Opening of Filter Plates and Frames: The moving head plate retracts, and the first filter chamber is released from the sealed state. Under the action of gravity, the filter cakes fall off from the filter plates/frames. If equipped with an automatic plate-pulling system, the filter plates can be pulled out one by one to realize automatic unloading of the filter cakes, reducing manual operation.
- Filter Cloth Washing: Generally, the filter cloth needs to be washed after every 15-100 batches of filtration to ensure its filtration performance. The fully automatic model equipped with a filter cloth washing system can automatically complete the filter cloth cleaning, greatly improving the equipment operation efficiency and reducing manual maintenance costs.
4. Filter Plate Specifications and Materials
(1) Filter Plate Sizes
A variety of standard sizes are available for customers to choose from, including 320mm, 450mm, 630mm, 800mm, 1000mm, 1250mm, 1500mm, and 2000mm. At the same time, customization of filter plate sizes according to customers’ requirement is supported to meet the requirements of different processing capacities and site spaces.
(2) Filter Plate Materials
Filter plates of different materials are suitable for different working environments, with specific characteristics as follows:
- Polypropylene (PP): It has good corrosion resistance and lightweight properties, with relatively low cost. It is suitable for filtering most neutral and weakly corrosive slurries.
- Stainless Steel 304/316L: 304 stainless steel has good corrosion resistance and is suitable for general corrosive environments; 316L stainless steel performs better in strong corrosive environments such as acid and alkali resistance, and is suitable for industries such as chemical engineering and pharmaceuticals that have high requirements for material corrosion resistance.
- Cast Iron: It has high strength and good wear resistance, but is relatively heavy and has relatively poor corrosion resistance. It is suitable for filtering non-corrosive slurries with strong abrasiveness.
5. Comparison with Recessed Chamber Filter Press
Both the plate and frame filter press and the recessed chamber filter press are common solid-liquid separation equipment, but they have obvious differences in structure, performance, and application scenarios. The specific comparison is as follows:
| Comparison Dimension | Plate and Frame Filter Press | Recessed Chamber Filter Press |
|---|---|---|
| Structural Design | Composed of independent filter plates and filter frames arranged alternately; the filter frames serve as chambers for holding the slurry | Consists of only recessed plates (without independent filter frames); built-in filter chambers are formed between the plates |
| Filling Capacity | The filter chamber capacity is relatively small, limited by the size of the filter frames | The built-in filter chamber design enables it to have a higher filling capacity |
| Suitable Slurry | More suitable for handling thin slurries with low solid content | Suitable for thick slurries with high solid content due to its stronger filter cake holding capacity |
| Feed Pressure Resistance | The feed pressure it can withstand is relatively low | Can withstand higher feed pressure and has stronger operation stability |
| Selection Basis | Selected according to specific application scenarios and slurry characteristics (such as solid content, viscosity, etc.). Thin slurries are preferred to use this type, while thick slurries are more suitable for the recessed chamber filter press |
6. Factors Affecting Filtration Cycle and Shortening Methods
(1) Influencing Factors
The length of the filtration cycle directly affects the processing efficiency of the equipment, and it is mainly affected by the following six factors:
- Filter Chamber Thickness: The thicker the filter chamber, the slower the slurry feeding and filling speed, and the longer the filtration time accordingly.
- Feed Pump Pressure: The feed pump pressure is negatively correlated with the filtration time. The higher the pressure, the faster the slurry filtration speed and the shorter the filtration time.
- Filter Plate Pulling Speed: It depends on the performance of the hydraulic device and the filter plate moving device. A slow plate-pulling speed will increase the filter cake unloading time, thereby prolonging the overall filtration cycle.
- Filter Cloth Density: If the filter cloth density is too high, the resistance for the filtrate to pass through will increase, and the filtration speed will slow down; if the density is too low, it may lead to the leakage of solid particles, affecting the filtration effect.
- Slurry Characteristics: The higher the density and viscosity of the slurry, or the finer the solid particles, the greater the filtration resistance, the lower the filtration efficiency, and the longer the cycle.
- Use of Flocculants/Supporting Agents: Adding appropriate flocculants or supporting agents can make the solid particles in the slurry agglomerate into larger flocs, reducing the filtration resistance. Failure to add or improper addition will affect the filtration efficiency.
(2) Methods to Shorten the Filtration Cycle
In response to the above influencing factors, the following measures can be taken to shorten the filtration cycle:
- Optimize Filter Chamber Thickness: Select filter plates with appropriate thickness to avoid the filter chamber being too thick. On the premise of ensuring the filter cake output, increase the feeding and filtration speed.
- Match with High-Efficiency Feed Pump: Select a high-pressure feed pump according to the slurry characteristics to increase the slurry feeding pressure and accelerate the filtration process.
- Improve Plate-Pulling Efficiency: Select a hydraulic cylinder of appropriate size to ensure the moving speed of the filter plates; install an automatic plate-pulling system to realize fast and automatic unloading of the filter plates, reducing manual operation time.
- Carefully Select Filter Cloth: Choose filter cloth with appropriate density according to the dehydration characteristics of the slurry to ensure that it has good filtrate permeability while retaining solid particles.
- Add Auxiliary Agents: For slurries that are difficult to dehydrate, add an appropriate amount of flocculants or supporting agents to improve the slurry filtration performance and shorten the filtration time.
7. Main Models and Technical Parameters
The following are the technical parameters of some commonly used models. Different models can meet the needs of different processing capacities and working conditions. The specific parameters are as follows:
| Type | Filter Area (m²) | Plate (mm) | Filter Volume (L) | Plates Qty (pcs) | Filtration Pressure (MPa) | Motor (KW) | Weight (KG) | Dimension (L×W×H, mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT25NN4/450 | 4 | 500×500 | 60 | 9 | ≤0.6 | 2.2 | 860 | 1950×700×900 |
| BT25NN6/450 | 6 | – | 91 | 14 | – | 910 | 2200×700×900 | |
| BT25NN8/450 | 8 | – | 121 | 19 | – | 960 | 2450×700×900 | |
| BT25NN15/630 | 15 | 700×700 | 226 | 18 | 1725 | 2640×900×1100 | ||
| BT25NN20/630 | 20 | – | 297 | 24 | – | 1993 | 2940×900×1100 | |
| BT25NN30/630 | 30 | – | 452 | 37 | – | 2360 | 3590×900×1100 | |
| BT25NN40/630 | 40 | – | 595 | 49 | – | 2788 | 4300×900×1100 | |
| BT25NN30/870 | 30 | 870×870 | 460 | 23 | – | 2580 | 3330×1400×1300 | |
| BT25NN50/870 | 50 | – | 748 | 38 | – | 3318 | 4260×1400×1300 | |
| BT25NN60/870 | 60 | – | 902 | 46 | – | 3712 | 4700×1400×1300 | |
| BT25NN80/870 | 80 | – | 1210 | 62 | – | 4561 | 5580×1400×1300 | |
| BT25NN80/1000 | 80 | – | 1193 | 46 | – | 5259 | 5120×1500×1400 | |
| BT25NN100/1000 | 100 | – | 1473 | 57 | – | 5985 | 5800×1500×1400 | |
| BT25NN120/1000 | 120 | – | 1777 | 69 | – | 6776 | 6500×1500×1400 | |
| BT25NN100/1250 | 100 | 1250×1250 | 1468 | 36 | – | 6728 | 5020×1770×1600 | |
| BT25NN160/1250 | 160 | – | 2341 | 58 | – | 8205 | 6450×1770×1600 | |
| BT25NN200/1250 | 200 | – | 2896 | 72 | – | 10851 | 7360×1770×1600 | |
| BT25NN250/1250 | 250 | – | 3650 | 91 | – | 12834 | 8600×1770×1600 | |
| BT25NN300/1500 | 300 | 1500×1500 | 5235 | 74 | – | 25526 | 8130×2200×1900 | |
| BT25NN400/1500 | 400 | – | 6985 | 99 | 32074 | 9880×2200×1900 | ||
| BT25NN500/1500 | 500 | – | 8735 | 123 | 38106 | 11560×2200×1900 |
8. Application Fields
With its excellent solid-liquid separation performance, the plate and frame filter press is widely used in the following industries:
- Coal Industry: Used for dewatering coal slime in the coal washing process, realizing the recycling of coal slime and the reuse of water resources.
- Mining Industry: In the mining of inorganic salts, it separates solid impurities from the ore slurry to improve the purity of minerals.
- Chemical Industry: Covering fields such as petrochemical industry and dye production, it is used for the purification of chemical slurries, the recovery of by-products, and wastewater treatment.
- Pharmaceutical Industry: In the pharmaceutical process, it is used for filtering liquid medicines and removing impurities to ensure that the drug quality meets relevant standards.
- Food Industry: In food processing (such as juice and vegetable oil production), it realizes the clarification and filtration of raw materials and the purification of products.
- Light Industry: Including the textile printing and dyeing and papermaking industries, it treats wastewater generated during production, removes impurities such as dyes and fibers from the water, and meets the environmental discharge standards.
- Environmental Protection Industry: Widely used in wastewater treatment and sewage treatment, it effectively removes suspended solids and pollutants from water to achieve water purification.
Contact Qingdao Britop for more information if you are interested.
