FILTER AID

For amorphous materials, sludges or other poor filtering products, improved filtration
characteristics and/or filtrate clarity are enhanced with the use of filter aids. Slurry additives
such as diatomaceous silica or perlite (pulverized rock), are employed to aid filtration.
Diatomite is a sedimentary rock containing skeletons of unicellular plant organisms
(diatoms).[2] These can also be used to increase porosity of a filter cake that has a high specific
cake resistance. Volume of Voids Porosity = Volume of Filter Cake Addition of filter aid to the
slurry, in the range of 1-2% of the overall slurry weight, can improve the filtration rates.
Another rule of thumb is to add filter aid equal to twice the volume of solids in the slurry. By
matching the particle size distribution of the filter aid to the solids to be filtered, optimum flow
rates are achieved. One should also use 3% of the particles, above 150 mesh in size, to aid in
filtration.[3] Precoating the filter medium prevents blinding of the medium with the product
and will increase clarity. Filter aid must be an inert material, however, there are only a few
cases where it cannot be used. For example, waste cells removed with filter aid cannot be
reused as animal feed. Filter aid can be a significant cost, and therefore, optimization of the
filtration process is necessary to minimize the addition offilter aid orprecoat. Another possible
detriment is that filter aid may also specifically absorb enzymes. A typical application for these
filter aids is the filtration of solids from antibiotic fermentation broths, where the average
particle size is 1-2 microns and solids concentration are 5-10%. Being hard to filter and often
slimy, fermentation broths can also be charged with polymeric bridging agents to agglomerate
the solids, thereby reducing the quantities of filter aid required.