Process Description:
The Bayer (Lanxess) facility produces Red, Black, and Yellow Iron Oxide pigment for use in productions of paints and colorants. Bayer (Lanxess) takes waste irons produced from the steel making process and implements a propriety process to crystallize the slurry in a tower back reactor. The Verti-Press filter is the key device implemented in this process as it filters, ph adjusts, washes, and dewaters this specialty chemical product. Previous to installation of the Verti-Press Filter, Bayer (Lanxess) utilized rotary vacuum drum filters to filter, wash, and dewater the product. After conducting an extensive engineering study, and testing a variety of pieces of equipment, the Verti-Press was selected as the best available technology to improve their process.

Two key features of the Verti-Press filter that gave this product the technical advantage during the extensive evaluation were 1) its ability to efficiently wash the product via the robust plug flow wash design, and 2) the chamber isolation feature which allows the unit to continue to operate with any permutation of chambers offline. These two advantages maximize production rate, and allows the end user to produce a pure, quality product, as quickly, and as efficiently as possible.