Solvay Sodium Carbonate Production Process with Diemme Filter Press Technologies
My readers know that I always talk about my 40 years in this engineering business solving process filtration and drying problems. Most recently I used this knowledge in my P&ID consulting for Diemme Filter Press Technology, a brand of the Aqseptence group. I wrote a paper entitled “Process Testing for Improving and Optimizing the Solvay Sodium Carbonate Production Process with Filter Press Technologies." The paper focuses on calcium carbonate/calcium chloride waste product initially…
Know Your Options for Particle Fine Removal
Photo by David Geib on Pexels.com Process engineers struggle to clarify process liquids. Particle fine removal is part of the ongoing battle. But there are ways to automate the clarification processes to improve filtration and minimize operator exposure. The cake solid’s structure and the nature of the process will determine which types of pressure-filtration automated clarification technologies are best for you. Before we discuss removal of particle fines, let’s discuss how they are generated.…
Clear thinking about automated clarification technologies
Photo by SplitShire on Pexels.com This is an edited version of an article I wrote for The Chemical Engineer. I hope you enjoy this take on automated clarification technologies. Throughout my career in the solid-liquid separation market space, I have seen some interesting solid-liquid separation solutions. At one melamine resin facility, the slurry was in a formaldehyde process. The operators were wearing masks, opening up a manual plate filter in a room with residential floor fans, to dig out…
Removing Catalyst Fines From Raney Nickel Catalyst Reactions
Image source Whether you call it Raney nickel or Raney mud, this alloy of aluminum and nickel is a reagent common to many organic processes. Currently, most Raney nickel catalyst slurries are clarified with the use of manual plate or nutsche filters, bag filters, or cartridge filters. Yet any of these approaches require manual operations for cake discharge and cleaning between batches or campaigns. At the same time, they accrue high labor, maintenance and disposal costs and expose…
Inventive Filtration Technologies for Palladium Recovery
Palladium image source Many times we encounter an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” mentality. Process engineers in particular run up against this constantly. Yet, when it comes to palladium recovery, we’ve seen some strong results from taking an inventive approach to the filtration technologies uses. Currently, in recovering palladium catalysts the slurries are clarified with the use of filter presses, manual plate or nutsche filters, bag filters, or cartridge filters. All of these…