Vegetable oil refining is a very complicated process in which a large number of highly sophisticated machines and equipment are used.  A pressure leaf filter is one of them. Made and supplied by the leading oil refining equipment manufacturers in India, these filters are of two types – vertical and horizontal.

These highly sophisticated filters are made of vertical and horizontal vessels. The leaves of these filters are made of various layers using stuff called wire mesh. The purpose of the inner mesh is to discharge the filtrate and to support the outer layers as well.

The mechanism 

 

Applying sufficient pressure, slurries are fed into the vessel of the pressure leaf filter. The vessel comes equipped with leaves that act as a filter. Pressure leaf filters are utilized in fluid – strong detachment most extreme up to 5 % strong. In most cases, 0.5% – 1% blanching earth and enacted carbon are blended in with oils to be sifted. Whenever required, the filter media is pre-covered with filter aid to improve the ability of the filter.

Functionality

The pressure of 3-3.5 kg/ck2 is kept up inside the filters to hold the cake with filter leaves. When the filtration is finished, the feed siphon is halted and steam/air/N2 (As cycle demands) is applied from the top of the filter without dropping leaf pressure, and held-up material of the filter begins sifting. As the filter is discharged, you can notice drying media streaming from the outlet. The cone is depleted and the cake is dried by drying media.

Once the cake is dried, the bottom outlet butterfly valve gets active. The dried cake is removed through a pneumatic vibrator. The entire activity for cake drying and release is finished within 45 minutes.

Some salient features of pressure leaf filter include the following:

 

  • Reduced mother liquor loss in cake
  • Fully closed operation of filters making housekeeping is easy and effortless
  • Fully automatic cake discharge that reduces the need for manpower
  • No moving parts resulting in low operation cost and ultimately no downtime so improved productivity
  • No effluent generated with the dry discharge of the cake
  • Movement of bundle or shell by a hydraulic power pack
  • Suitable for dry or wet cake discharge
  • Filtration areas up to 200 m2.

 

Construction features of pressure leaf filter

A large variety of high-quality and technologically advanced pressure leaf filter solutions are available in the Indian markets. These filters are manufactured by the leading Indian manufacturers with the following construction features:

  • Design Code: ASME Sec. VIII DIV I
  • MOC of Housing: Carbon Steel or Stainless Steel (as per buyer’s preference)
  • Design Temperature: Up to 150°C
  • Design Pressure: 6 Kg/cm2

 

Concluding Remarks 

Mectech is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality pressure leaf filters in India. Apart from the pressure leaf filter, the other filtration solutions offered by the company include Mecklear Gravity Filter, Vertical Pressure Leaf Filter, Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter, Shining Filtration, Candle Filter, Pulse Jet Candle Filter, Self-cleaning Disk Filter, Automatic Brush Filter Strainer and Palm Olein to Super Olein. The company also offers facilities for Vegetable Oil Refining Plant, Continuous Bleaching, Continuous Deodorization, Physical Refinery, Chemical Refinery, Winterization/dewaxing Plant, and Fractionation Plant.