Abstract
The process of body-feed microfiltration of yeast suspension to which kieselguhr was admixed to reduce the filtration resistance was evaluated using the average porosity and the average specific filtration resistance determined from filtration experiments in which a filter was subjected to a sudden reduction in its filtration area. The dependence of local porosity and effective specific surface area of cake solids on the mixing ratio of filter aids was evaluated by a packing model of binary mixtures. The average porosity and the average specific filtration resistance were calculated from these local values by accounting for the non-homogeneity of the compressible filter cake. On the basis of these values, the filtration rate in body-feed filtration was accurately predicted. The method presented in this paper can be applied for the determination of the optimum dosage of filter aids in body-feed filtration.
