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Bleaching earth is widely used in edible oil refining to remove colour pigments and other unwanted compounds from oil. The manufacturing of this material requires multiple processing steps, in which the control of unwanted particles plays a key role in keeping the required characteristics of the product.
There are different purposes of screening and filtering in the manufacture of bleaching earth. Screening is used to separate dry particles based on size and filtration is used to remove unwanted solid particles from a liquid-solid mixture. The two operations can solve issues of materials in various stages of the production process.
Understanding where these processes are required helps manufacturers select suitable equipment for their specific material and operating conditions.
The manufacture of bleaching earth is usually made from mineral clay like bentonite, attapulgite, and sepiolite. Depending on the manufacturing process, the clay is prepared, activated, washed, dried, and subjected to the classification by particle size.
During these operations, manufacturers may need to separate unwanted material from either dry powder or slurry.
Screening is used when dry material needs to be classified by particle size or when oversized particles must be separated. Filtration is applicable to suspension in liquid and is used to remove unwanted solids from the liquid for further processing.
Depending on the condition of the material, on the required separation and on the production process, the choice of equipment is different.
The raw clay may consist of different-sized particles along with other unnecessary elements which should be sorted out prior to proceeding with other processes. The process of screening allows sorting the material by its size ranges.
The same principle applies when screening dry bleaching earth powder. A suitable sieving machine separates particles according to the selected mesh opening, helping manufacturers achieve the required particle-size classification.
Galaxy Sivtek’s Linea Sivtek screening solution for bleaching earth powder represents one example of vibratory sieving process application for the particle size separation of this material and removal of impurities.
The proper machine configuration and mesh size depends on feed characteristics, separation required, and production capacity.
When the earth is washed during bleaching procedure for manufacture of earth, a slurry of suspended solids can be formed. Unwanted particles could need to be removed before the material reaches the equipment downstream.
The particles that are present in the feed, such as sand and agglomerates, may block the spray nozzles in spray drying processes. Obstruction can cause production to be interrupted and therefore need cleaning or maintenance.
These unwanted solids can be separated from the slurry with the help of filtration before it enters the spray dryer. The slurry properties, particle size, separation goal and necessary flow rate are all factors in deciding on the filtration system.
Galaxy Sivtek addressed this challenge through an installation of three Super Sivtek machines with fine mesh for bleaching earth slurry filtration before spray drying. In this application, the problem was the spray-dryer nozzle clogging due to sand particles present in the slurry.
This is one of the cases when choosing the right filtration system can help solve a particular material problem.
Bleaching earth may need to be further screened before being stored, packaged or dispatched after drying to ensure the correct particle-size specification is achieved.
Dry powder screening may be used to remove oversized particles or lumps or other unwanted material that do not meet the mesh selected.
A vibro sifter can be considered for suitable dry powder applications where particle-size separation is required. The proper machine and mesh size requirements are related to the material properties and separation requirements.
This operation differs from slurry filtration because the feed is dry rather than suspended in liquid. The machine and operating conditions must therefore be selected for the material being processed and the intended separation.
The choice of adequate equipment for the processing of the earth by bleaching, depends on the knowledge of the material used and the production target.
Material condition: Determine whether the feed is dry clay, powder, or slurry. Each requires a different separation approach.
Particle characteristics: Consider the size distribution, shape, and nature of unwanted particles. Different separation strategies may be required for fine particles, agglomerates and oversized material.
Required separation: Identify the size-range of particles for dry separation or the solids that need to be separated from the fluid medium.
Production capacity: Assess the throughput needed and the separation goal. Actual performance will vary depending on conditions, equipment set-up and feed.
Process integration: Assess where the equipment will operate and how the link with upstream and downstream processes (washing, drying, spray drying, and material handling) will be built.
Manufacturers of the equipment will have to consider these issues while assessing the suitability of their vibro sifter manufacturer or industrial sieving machine supplier. Considerations for equipment selection should be based on the process requirements rather than material alone.
Galaxy Sivtek offers screening and filtration equipment for industrial environments where particle-size separation and/or removal of unwanted particles is needed.
Linea Sivtek offers a vibratory screening option for dry bleaching earth powder applications for particle-size classification. Super Sivtek has been used in slurry filtration applications prior to spray drying to exclude unwanted particles when bleaching earth is being used in wet processing applications and where particle blockage of downstream equipment is critical.
As an industrial vibro sifter manufacturer, Galaxy Sivtek evaluates screening requirements according to the material condition, separation target, production capacity, and plant layout. Dry powder screening and slurry filtration are distinct applications, and each requires an appropriate machine configuration.
Screening and filtration support different stages of bleaching earth manufacturing. Screening is used to classify dry material and remove unwanted size fractions of dry material; slurry filtration is used to remove unwanted solids prior to downstream processing like spray drying.
Using analysis of material properties, separation needs and production requirements, manufacturers can determine the right screening/filtering solution for their process.
Galaxy Sivtek’s industrial screening and filtration solutions can be evaluated for bleaching earth applications based on the specific requirements of each production line.
