We want to filter 15,000 L/hr. of a broth containing a biopharmaceutical product using a rotary vacuum filter, which has a cycle time of 50 sec, operating under a vacuum of 20 in. Hg. The pretreated broth forms an incompressible cake and μ Ωcρo/Δp = 58 sec/cm2. We want to wash the cake we expect that the washing efficiency will be 70% and that 1% of the filtrate is retained.

(a) Calculate the filtration area if filtration time per cycle is 10 sec.

(b) If the washing time is 2 sec estimate how much impurities are retained in the cake.