Development of deliquoring method enhanced by electric and acoustic fields

A method developed uses acoustic and electric force fields to enhance filtration by increasing filtration capacity and by reducing production costs and consumption of energy.In both laboratory and pilot scale filtration the application of an electric field significantly increases the cake capacity of a vacuum disc filter.When constant DC electric field was applied across the ceramic capillary filter (CERAMEC), about 3.5-fold cake capacity values (with electric field: 250 kg D.S./m2h) were recorded during the filtration of titanium dioxide suspension using laboratory scale filter.Using continuous operation pilot scale filter values with and without electric field as its best were 60 kg D.S./m2h amd 10 kg D.S./m2h respectively.When an ultrasonic field was used during cake drying it was possible to obtain a rapid dewatering effect, up to 6% decrease in the cake moisture content, from 24 wt-% to 18 wt-%, using laboratore scale filter.In continuous operating pilot-scale filter the decrease in cake moisture content was about 3% from 24 to 21 wt-%.This research has revealed that the use of ultrasound is an effective way to increase the dewatering efficiency of the cake filtration process.The most important advantages of this process are obtained in the filtration of suspensions with very fine particles, whehe conventional systems are inefficient.