Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter
Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter (shell retraction or bundle retraction) features horizontal pressure vessel, filter leaves, pneumatic vibrator assembly, bottom structure housing, hydraulic power pack for bonnet ring opening / closing and shell or bundle retraction.
The horizontal vessel orientation is the most common type of pressure leaf filter. This arrangement allows for the greatest filtration area. Vessel sizes are available up to 2000mm in diameter providing up to 200 m2 of filtration area. All horizontal filters use vertical filter leaves. Our filters are custom built & optimized for each application, and are specifically engineered to operate with the minimum amount of maintenance.
The SEPARATECH Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter (HPLF) is an enclosed filtration system and can be fully automated. This filter produces a high filtrate clarity after the clarification run and is also suitable for all kinds of filter aids. The regeneration time between the filtration cycles is short.
By employing a horizontal pressure vessel configuration, the HPLF series accommodates a massive internal filter leaf layout, providing an exceptionally large filtration surface area and unmatched cake holding capacity per batch.
Horizontal pressure leaf filters can also be delivered as tandem units to save floor space. The pressure leaf filter itself has no rotating parts, keeping maintenance to a minimum. These advantages result in an economical filtration solution.
Designed to replace maintenance-heavy traditional plate filters, our clothless system utilizes permanent, multi-layer stainless steel leaf elements. It completely eliminates ongoing fabric replacement costs, minimizes liquid product retention, and provides a safe, fully enclosed environment for handling hot, volatile, or hazardous slurries.
Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter Working Principle
Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filters are ideal for solid-liquid separation and work on principle of precoating and pressure.Pre-coating is done with the help of suitable filter aid about 0.5 to 1% (Bleaching earth, diatomite, activated carbon, etc.) mixed with the liquid to be filtered. Unfiltered liquid is pumped into the filter vessel. Initially the filter aid starts forming a precoat layer on both sides of the filter leaves, until then cloudy material comes out of the filter. Once the layer is formed, pressure starts developing, restricting the impurities. Clear liquid flows from both sides into the leaves (filter elements), flows along the tubular channel & gets discharged from bottom of the leaf.
All the leaves are mounted on a common manifold. The leaves start getting choked on both the sides by impurities forming cake, which is in wet from. Once the leaves get choked completely, the pressure rises to 3 kg/cm2 & the output flow almost stops. This means the batch size is reached. The pump is stopped & steam / air pressure is applied from the top (without dropping the filter pressure) to filter the material around the leaves held up in the tank & to squeeze the cake further & reduce the liquid retention in it. The holdup unfiltered liquid in the conical portion is taken back.
Advanced Hydraulic Retraction & Design Advantages
The horizontal configuration of the Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter provides unique mechanical and operational advantages for large-scale plants:
- Massive Throughput Capability: Built for heavy batch loads, the horizontal layout supports filtration surface areas up to 300 $m^2$ and cake volumes up to 9,000 liters, making it ideal for large-scale chemical crystallization and crude oil processing.
- Effortless Hydraulic Shell Retraction: Equipped with a dedicated hydraulic power pack, the system can automatically retract the outer vessel shell (or pull out the internal leaf bundle) in seconds. This completely exposes all filter leaves at a comfortable working height for rapid inspection or high-pressure spray washing.
- Flexible Cake Discharge Modes: The HPLF series is highly versatile, easily configured for either Dry Discharge (via automated pneumatic vibrators) or Wet Discharge (via internal oscillating liquid spray headers).
- Enhanced Safety Interlock Mechanism: Engineered for volatile chemical and high-temperature environments, the horizontal bundle layout incorporates automated hydraulic safety interlocking rings. This prevents the pressure vessel from accidental opening while internal operational pressures or thermal residual vapors remain active.
Premium Multi-Layer Filter Leaves & Elements
Each leaf is made of 5-ply of SS wire mesh of different gauge wires. Two outer filtering mesh and three inners are only for support. Different outer filtering mesh is used for different filtration process. The 5-ply wire mesh are held together by a tubular frame and made leak proof by machine riveting. The quality of filtration and life of filter depends mainly on the quality of outer wire mesh and revetting.
SEPARATECH ensure the quality by inspecting quality of wire mesh and each leaf. Old worn out and torn leaves can be repaired by only replacing the outer weave. Optionally we also provide cloth on the leaves for fine or special filtration. At the heart of the SEPARATECH Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter (HPLF) system is our high-engineered leaf screen assembly, built to withstand rigorous industrial pressure cycles:
- Robust Material Selection: Filter leaves are custom fabricated from premium SS316L, 904L, or Hastelloy alloys to deliver exceptional thermal stability and maximum corrosion resistance.
- Heavy-Duty 5 or 7-Layer Mesh: Multiple layers of stainless steel wire mesh are bound together by a rigid, bolted or riveted side profile frame, ensuring the elements remain perfectly flat and structurally sound under high differential pressures.
- Universal Retrofitting: Our replacement elements are engineered to strict OEM tolerances, allowing them to serve as direct upgrades for other standard industry filter brands.
Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter Technical Specifications
| designation | filtering area m2 | no. of leaves | leaf spacing | diameter mm | vessel vol. L | footprint mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HPLF15 | 15 | 20 | 80 | 900 | 1.5 | 6200X2000 |
| HPLF20 | 20 | 26 | 80 | 900 | 1.8 | 6800X2000 |
| HPLF25 | 25 | 21 | 90 | 1200 | 2.7 | 6400X2300 |
| HPLF30 | 30 | 25 | 90 | 1200 | 3.4 | 6800X2300 |
| HPLF35 | 35 | 20 | 100 | 1400 | 4.5 | 7100X2500 |
| HPLF40 | 40 | 19 | 100 | 1500 | 4.8 | 7000X2600 |
| HPLF45 | 45 | 18 | 110 | 1600 | 6.4 | 7200X2800 |
| HPLF50 | 50 | 20 | 110 | 1600 | 6.5 | 7400X2800 |
| HPLF60 | 60 | 24 | 110 | 1600 | 6.8 | 7800X2800 |
| HPLF70 | 70 | 22 | 110 | 1800 | 8.2 | 7600X3000 |
| HPLF80 | 80 | 25 | 110 | 1800 | 8.7 | 8000X3000 |
| HPLF90 | 90 | 28 | 110 | 1800 | 9.2 | 8400X3000 |
| HPLF100 | 100 | 31 | 110 | 1800 | 9.7 | 9200X3000 |
| HPLF120 | 120 | 28 | 120 | 2000 | 12.5 | 9800X3400 |
| HPLF140 | 140 | 36 | 120 | 2000 | 15.5 | 12000X3400 |
| HPLF160 | 160 | 36 | 120 | 2000 | 15.5 | 12000X3400 |
| HPLF180 | 180 | 36 | 120 | 2000 | 15.5 | 12000X3400 |
| HPLF200 | 200 | 36 | 120 | 2000 | 15.5 | 12000X3400 |
Key Applications in High-Volume Industries
Our Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter systems excel in heavy industrial lines demanding rapid turnarounds and zero atmospheric leakage:
- Chemicals & Petrochemicals: Filtration of molten sulfur, industrial brine clarification, catalyst recovery, resins, plasticizers, and organic acids.
- Edible Oil Processing: High-capacity crude oil refining, bleached oil clarification, winterization dewaxing, and nickel catalyst removal.
- Sugar & Sweeteners: Large-scale decolorization and polishing of sugar juices, glucose, fructose, syrups, and corn sweeteners.
Partner with SEPARATECH Engineering
Looking to optimize a large-scale Horizontal Pressure Leaf Filter or upgrade to a fully automated hydraulic filtration skid? SEPARATECH’s application specialists provide comprehensive slurry testing, process scaling, and complete turn-key automation integration.