Trevor Sparks, George Chase, in Filters and Filtration Handbook (Sixth Edition), 2016. 4.4.2.2 Rotary vacuum disc filter. The vacuum disc filter operates a similar way to the vacuum drum filter – filtration elements (sectors), covered in a filter cloth, pass into a slurry trough, vacuum is applied to the sector, a cake forms on its surface, it emerges from the slurry and the cake is dried. Rotary Vacuum Drum Filters process slurry and discharge cake in a continuous process. RVDFs can be used in waste water treatment, sludge dewatering, chemical manufacturing, the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics, mineral mining and refining, and the food processing industry. Rotary vacuum drum filters rotate a tub of liquid to filter out any solid content. They can be used in a wide range of industries, from food separation to pharmaceutical manufacturing. Using a rotary vacuum drum can often remove the need for any further drying before disposing of solid materials.

If your manufacturing shop uses rotary vacuum drum filters to separate your materials, we have a used machine for you! Rotary vacuum drum filters rotate a tub of liquid to filter out any solid content. They can be used in a wide range of industries, from food separation to pharmaceutical manufacturing. Using a rotary vacuum drum can often remove the need for any further drying before disposing of solid materials. We provide reliable used rotary vacuum drums at a reasonable price.

We sell used rotary vacuum filters from many trusted processing equipment manufacturers, including Franken, Komline, and EIMCO, among others. By purchasing your used rotary vacuum filter from Federal Equipment Company, you will be purchasing from a trusted name in processing equipment sales. We provide competitive prices that you can see or request once you register as a member. It is our philosophy that equipment does not lose value just because it has been used, and want to help you get good quality at a reasonable cost. Contact us if you have any questions about what used rotary vacuum filter will work best for you!

Browse our selection below and request a quote for more information regarding our Used Rotary Vacuum Filters.

Can't find the equipment looking for, or are you not quite sure what you need? Tell us what you want!

Oliver-type rotary vacuum-drum filter.

A Rotary Vacuum Filter Drum consists of a drum rotating in a tub of liquid to be filtered.

The technique is well suited to slurries, and liquids with a high solid content, which could clog other forms of filter. The drum is pre-coated with a filter aid, typically of diatomaceous earth (DE) or Perlite. After pre-coat has been applied, the liquid to be filtered is sent to the tub below the drum. The drum rotates through the liquid and the vacuum sucks liquid and solids onto the drum pre-coat surface, the liquid portion is 'sucked' by the vacuum through the filter media to the internal portion of the drum, and the filtrate pumped away. The solids adhere to the outside of the drum, which then passes a knife, cutting off the solids and a small portion of the filter media to reveal a fresh media surface that will enter the liquid as the drum rotates. The knife advances automatically as the surface is removed.

Basic fundamentals[edit]

Rotary vacuum drum filter[edit]

Rotary vacuum drum filter (RVDF), patented in 1872,^[1] is one of the oldest filters used in the industrial liquid-solids separation. It offers a wide range of industrial processing flow sheets and provides a flexible application of dewatering, washing and/or clarification.

A rotary vacuum filter consists of a large rotating drum covered by a cloth. The drum is suspended on an axial over a trough containing liquid or solids slurry with approximately 50-80% of the screen area immersed in the slurry.

As the drum rotates into and out of the trough, the slurry is sucked on the surface of the cloth and rotated out of the liquid or solids suspension as a cake. When the cake is rotating out, it is dewatered in the drying zone. The cake is dry because the vacuum drum is continuously sucking the cake and taking the water out of it. At the final step of the separation, the cake is discharged as solids products and the drum rotates continuously to another separation cycle.

Range of application[edit]

Applications:

The rotary filter is most suitable for continuous operation on large quantities of slurry.
If the slurry contains considerable amount of solids, that is, in the range of 15-30%.
Examples of pharmaceutical applications include the collection of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and starch.
The separation of the mycelia from the fermentation liquor in the manufacture of antibiotics.
block and instant yeast production.

Advantages and limitations[edit]

The advantages and limitations of rotary vacuum drum filter compared to other separation methods are:

Advantages[edit]

The rotary vacuum drum filter is a continuous and automatic operation, so the operating cost is low.
The variation of the drum speed rotating can be used to control the cake thickness.
The process can be easily modified (pre-coating filter process).
Can produce relatively clean product by adding a showering device.

Disadvantages[edit]

Due to the structure, the pressure difference is theoretically limited to atmospheric pressure (1 bar), and in practice somewhat lower.
Besides the drum, other accessories, for example, agitators and vacuum pump, are required.
The discharge cake contains residual moisture.
High energy consumption by the vacuum pump.

Designs available[edit]

Basically there are five types of discharge that are used for the rotary vacuum drum filter such as belt, scraper, roll, string and pre coat discharge.

Belt discharge[edit]

The filter cloth is washed on both sides with each drum rotation while discharging filter cakes. The products for this mechanism are usually sticky, wet and thin thus, requiring the aid of a discharge roll. Belt discharge is used if slurry with moderate solid concentration is used or if the slurry is easy to filter to produce cake formation or if a longer wear resistance is desired for the separation of the mentioned slurry.^[2]^[3]..

Scraper discharge[edit]

This is the standard drum filter discharge. A scraper blade, which serves to redirect the filter cake into the discharge chute, removes the cake from the filter cloth just before re-entering the vat. Scraper discharge is used if the desired separation requires high filtration rate or if heavy solid slurry is used or if the slurry is easy to filter to produce cake formation or if a longer wear resistance is desired for the separation of the mentioned slurry.^[2]^[3]

Roll discharge[edit]

It is a suitable discharge option for cakes that are thin and have the tendency to stick with one another. Filter cakes on the drum and discharged roll are pressed against one another to ensure that the thin filter cake is peeled or pulled from the drum. Removal of solids from the discharge roll is done via a knife blade. Roll discharged is used if the desired separation requires high filtration rate, if high solid content slurry is used or if the slurry is easy to filter to produce cake formation or if the discharged solid is sticky or mud-like cake.^[2]^[3]

String discharge[edit]

The filtrate cakes that are thin and fragile are usually the end products of this discharge lie. The materials are capable of changing phases, from solid to liquid, due to instability and disturbance. Two rollers guide the strings back to drum surface and at the same time separation of the fi