Filter Presses
Filter Presses dewater and separate liquids and solids in a wide range of applications. Due to their versatility and reliability, Filter Presses are one of the most widely used pieces of equipment in liquid-solid separation. They dewater material and separate liquids and solids by pumping the slurry into a series of empty chambers that are formed by the plates of the filter press. Each plate is lined with filter media, which determines what particles are dewatered and separated from the liquid.
McLanahan Filter Presses provide customers in many industries with proven technology that is capable of producing a drip-free cake from mining and aggregate tailings, mineral concentrates, and a wide range of waste materials through mechanical dewatering.
How Filter Presses Work
A Filter Press is composed of a support structure holding a series of recessed plates lined with filter cloths. Hydraulic pressure is used to hold the recessed plates tightly together, creating a seal around their perimeters and void spaces between the plates. A high-pressure slurry pump forces slurry into the empty chamber spaces between the plates for dewatering. The slurry solids are captured between the plates, while the clean filtrate water passes through the filter cloth mesh and exits through ports in the filter plates. When the chamber spaces are full of dewatered slurry solids, the slurry feed pump is automatically stopped. The hydraulic pressure holding the plates together is released so the plates can be separated individually, allowing the dewatered solid material cakes to fall by gravity out of the press.
Many people think the filter plates are squeezed together to expel water, but the press never moves during the time of dewatering. The only movements involved occur when the plates separate to expel the dry cakes or close to begin a new process cycle. Plates simply connect to form a seal under hydraulic pressure while the feed pump supplies the necessary pressure to dewater the fine solids.
Filter Presses are designed for simple and limited movement. This design leads to high-levels of automation and reliability. Compared to competing dewatering technologies, higher levels of water removal can be achieved with the Filter Press because the material being dewatered is captured between the recessed plates under the highest possible pump pressures. The Filter Press is also designed for the specific application by selecting the cycle times, cake thickness, feed pressures and plate styles to achieve optimum dewatering efficiencies.
