A rotary drum filter with a filter area of 200 m^2 and a vacuum pressure of 75 kPa is to be used to remove cells from a fermentation broth. Filter leaf tests have been performed on the fermentation broth. The following characteristics were determined:
Viscosity (μ) = 5 cP
Specific cake resistance (alpha) = 1 x 10^11cm/g
Medium resistance (rm) = 1 x 10^-8 cm^-1
Cake solids per volume filtrate (C) = 15 g/L
It is desired to operate the rotary drum filter with a cycle time of 45 seconds and a cake formation time of 10 seconds.
1) What is the filtration rate expected for this system? 2)How significant is the medium resistance?