Monitoring and visualization of cake dewatering in vacuum filters by temperature measurements
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The dewatering of filter cakes in continuously operating vacuum belt filters was simulated on a laboratory scale by using a batch vacuum filter, mainly with a Büchner filter. In addition to the cake dryness and filtration capacity, the air flow through the cake was of interest, because it is directly associated with the energy demand of the process. During the cake desaturation caused by the vacuum, the gas flow through the cake increases gradually, causing evaporation of the pore liquid, which cools the cake. The cooling phenomenon can be monitored by taking temperature measurements, for instance with a thermal camera. In this study, two different slurries obtained from industrial processes were filtered using a laboratory-scale Büchner filter, monitoring the progress of cake dewatering with a modern thermal camera. The results of this study show that thermal imaging is a useful technique for investigating the surface temperature patterns of filter cakes, and the temperature data can be utilized to monitor the progress of the dewatering, as well as to estimate the cake solids content, and to recognize undesirable leakages caused, e.g., by cake cracking.
Source: Minerals Engineering
Institution: Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,220
Award: G5202547596
OpenAlex ID: W4416434254