NEWSLETTER
ISSUE
Apr to Jun, 2020 Volume 12
Automatic Horizontal Plate Filter – An efficient filtration Technology
Post globalisation, the industrial growth has seen a significant uptrend with an increase in the demand. This increased demand has led to the expansion in manufacturing capacities on the one hand and a rise in market competition on the other. The trend of industrial growth continues to grow, and so does the expansion of manufacturing capacities and the competition. In this highly competitive scenario, the productivity and efficiency of a manufacturing facility play a significant role in a successful business operation.
For improved productivity and efficiency, it is imperative to adopt the modern processes, systems and technologies at various stages within the manufacturing process. This modernisation will help in reducing the operation time and the cost of operation.
Pharmalab, being a technology-driven company, strives to develop a technology that helps the customer to improve their product quality, productivity, and overall efficiency besides meeting all national and international regulatory requirements. In one of such efforts, we have identified filtration operation as an area which needs a technology up-gradation in various industry.
Today, the filtration operation, especially in high-volume liquid filtration (where the liquid is desired product), the old conventional filtration technologies prevails. Filters such as horizontal plate filter, vertical plate filter (plate & frame filter press), candle filters, leaf filters etc. are used in various application. For example, the filter presses are used for large volume filtration of
Sugar syrup in Food & Beverage Processing and Pharmaceutical formulation processing,
Activated carbon / charcoal filtration in Pharmaceutical &Chemical processing,
Kieselguhr and yeast filtration in wineries, breweries and distilleries.
There is a need to evaluate these technologies today for the productivity and efficiency it offers to the filtration operation. Our core team have evaluated these systems and identified several factors such as preparation activity time, manpower involvement, maintenance cost, floor space requirement, system hygiene and safety concerns, that affects productivity and efficiency.
As the filtration is carried out in batch mode, after every batch, the filter needs to be prepared for the next lot. The preparation activity involves opening the 
filter assembly, removing the filtered solids, cleaning the system, replacing consumables like filter pads/cloth & gaskets, re-assemble the filter and pressure test to arrest the leakage if any. The time required for the preparation activity ranges from 3 to 4 hours and may extend up to full shift time of 8 hours, depending on the size of the filter. So, unless the equipment is ready, the next lot filtration is on HOLD, and this may hamper productivity and efficiency.
Additionally, the preparation activity requires manpower to complete the task, and the results of the job are inconsistent as it may vary from person to person. After every lot, the consumables like filter pads & gaskets are replaced, which adds to operational cost. During the cleaning of the filter, there is an estimated 30 to 40%wastage of cleaning liquids. Every time, the equipment is opened, there is a risk of a foreign particle entering the system which can contaminate the product of the next filtration lot.
This contamination may add to the challenge of maintaining product hygiene. Generally, conventional
machines are bulky and consume higher floor spaces. Moreover, it requires additional floor space during preparation activity for dismantling and cleaning the filter. While processing toxic and hazardous material, additional safety measures are needed to handle such a system.
To address these challenges, our designers have emerged with an advanced system called Automatic Horizontal Plate Filter (AHPF).The basic concept of design was to build a system that performs all the activities without opening of the filter assembly.
The AHPF is an advance version of Horizontal Plate Filter. It consists of a permanent metallic filter cartridge, mounted on the central shaft. One end of the shaft is connected to the discharge drive mechanism, and the other end acts are filtrate outlet line. The entire cartridge is enclosed in the cylindrical vessel with a conical bottom for solid discharge. The CIP arrangement within the vessel ensures thorough cleaning of the whole filter. The main filter assembly is mounted on the compact skid consisting of a pre-coat tank with dosing pump, feed pump, residual filter, interconnecting piping and control panel.
The filtration operation starts with pre-coat formation, followed by product filtration. Once the filtration is over, the remaining volume within the vessel is filtered through a residual filter, ensuring zero wastage of the product. An automatic discharge drive mechanism discharges the solid. During discharge, the complete stack of cartridge rotates at high revolution to generate the centrifugal force that pushes the solid toward vessel wall, followed by gravity discharge through conical bottom outlet. For cleaning the filter, the C-I-P (Clean-In-Place) arrangement is installed in the vessel. The measured quantity of the cleaning liquid is circulated through the CIP nozzle to ensure thorough cleaning of the vessel. Once the cleaning is done, the filter is ready for the next lot. This preparation activity of discharge and cleaning is completed within a few minutes without opening the filter.
The Automatic Horizontal Plate Filter offers the following advantages:
2.Various advancements such as automatic trough level maintenance, automated filtrate transfer system and automatic cake slicing advancement system eliminates manpower involvement.
3.Technology offers continuous filtration, continuous cake washing, and constant discharge with every revolution of the Drum rotation.
4.The variable drum speed offers flexibility in achieving desired results for LOD/moisture content and washing quality.
5.RVDF offers a unique advantage of controlling the cake thickness, thereby giving consistent higher filtration rate in comparison to other conventional filters.
6.The close system minimises foreign particle contamination.
7.Provision of a jacket on trough and vacuum tank makes the operation feasible under controlled temperature.
8.In addition to direct filter med
9.Handling of solid (after discharge) can be made easy with the provision of conveying systems such as belt conveyor or screw conveyor.
10.The system is SKID mounted with an in-built vacuum pump, transfer pump and other accessories.
We believe that with the advanced Automatic Horizontal Plate Filter, we can contribute to improving the productivity and efficiency of the filtration operation and overall manufacturing process at large.
For more details please contact us on ph*******@ph*******.com; +91 22 66229900; +91 8291299038
