Which Type of Vacuum Filter is Best for my Application?

For a very general guide on selecting the right vacuum filter for your application, please refer to the table below.

Cake Washing

If your process involves cake washing, Horizontal Belt Vacuum Filters offer co-current and counter-current washing circuits with > 3 mother liquor displacements. Rotary Drum Vacuum Filters offer a maximum of three (3) mother liquor displacements. Disc Vacuum Filters are not efficient with cake washing requirements.

Particles Captured

The size of particles retained can vary depending on machine design. What typically determines particle retention is the cake structure that can be formed with the particle size distribution.  It is the filter cake that does the separation of solids from liquids, not the filter fabric.  The filter fabric is only a septum for the filter cake to form.  The cake structure must be studied to determine the Cake Resistance Value or Cake Porosity.  With the understanding of Cake Resistance, the technician can determine the optimum cake thickness, that accepts the maximum cake wash rate to displace the mother liquor, and then the final dewatering performance to determine the final cake moisture. 

Cake Thickness

Horizontal Belt Vacuum Filters can reliably form 5 mm to 100 mm thick filter cake and can be designed with steam boxes and/or compression rolls to reduce final cake moisture. 

Disc Vacuum Filters operate reliably with cake thicknesses between 20 mm and 75 mm.  Rotary Drum Vacuum Filters operate reliably with cake thickness between 1 and 40 mm, with Precoat Designs providing the “septum” for the thin filter cake condition.

Next Steps to Optimize Your Filtration Process

These Guidelines are generalized.  A liquid-solid separation expert from Micronics can study your process conditions to identify the best technology solution that efficiently meets the separation requirement.  We will custom design and engineer the optimum vacuum filtration solution that achieves your process objectives, at the lowest CAPEX/OPEX. 

The Micronics Engineered Filtration Group offers Plant Site Audits of existing separation equipment.  We provide in-house laboratory-scale testing for both Pressure Filtration and Vacuum Filtration.  Then, to verify performance, we can scale up the test data with pilot-scale rental vacuum systems which are available for lease.

Contact Us to speak with one of our liquid-solid separation experts.  We are available to collaborate with your project team to determine the best solution for your project.