EFFECTIVE BAYER LIQUOR CLARIFICATION: RETROFIT OR NEW WITH DRM FUNDABAC® FILTER INTERNALS

The presentation will introduce the DrM Fundabac® filter, which has replaced Kelly and other clarification filters in many industries, primarily in Europe. The patented, simple and effective filter design allows superior performance preliminary due to candle design and back-flushing. The filter design and the process parameters and details will be presented, including the advanced Contibac® system which does not require the filter to go off line for cake discharge.

Bench scale and pilot scale trials in an Australian refinery will be shown. In comparison to conventional Kelly type leaf filters. The Fundabac® demonstrated:

• Double the filtration rate due to shorter cycle times and shorter down-time for cake discharge.
• Significantly reduced cloth blinding due to back-flush and back-wash through the cloth against the filtration direction.
• No emptying required for cake discharge.

Testwork results on Bayer liquor will be presented in comparison to a Kelly filter installation. Indication for full scale will be given together with the operational parameters such as cycle sequence and cycle time.

Further advantages on full scale expected are longer cloth life due to lower mechanical stresses and larger filter area for same vessel size. Compared to other back-flush type filters, the Fundabac® has endless cloth without stitching and other weak points, a smooth circular filter surface preventing scale and cloth failure, high back-flush pressure of up to 5 bar and circular cake giving thinner cakes at similar cake volume and thus, higher filtration rates.