Containment of Slurries in Continuous and Batch Operations
Image source In the 1970s, the chemical operations used acetone and benzene for the main slurries solid-liquid separation process. Next, there was a push to minimize solvent use. We looked to use water as the process liquid, but still had open filter presses and rotary drum filters; the entire plant was white from titanium dioxide or pharma stearates. Today, we all know that processes remain open with filter presses, vacuum filters, and centrifuges. Our job is finding solid-liquid separation…
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…