Development of Chemical Precipitation Purchased Equipment 

Costs: Filter Presses 

 

 

The following emails support EPA’s development of purchased equipment cost equations for filter presses by 

documenting EPA's communication with a vendor regarding purchase costs for filter presses used in the Steam 

Electric cost model. 
Project No.: 0172.08.029.044 DISTRIBUTION 

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Project Name: Steam/Cost/Compliance Modeling

TELEPHONE CALL RECORD 

 Outgoing Call

Date: 04/5/2011 Time: 11:15 am EST 

Company Name: Andritz Separation 

 

Contact Name: Bill Perron 

Phone No.:(817)-419-1772 

Email address: bill.perron@andritz.com

Name: Kavya Kasturi ERG

GENERAL SUBJECT: Vendor cost request for filter presses for a chemical precipitation wastewater treatment system. 

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND ACTION TAKEN 

On April 5, 2011 at 11:15 am I contacted Mr. Bill Perron. I explained to Mr. Perron that we are working 

on conceptual level costing of a chemical precipitation wastewater treatment system to treat FGD (flue gas 

desulfurization) wastewater from steam electric power plants and as a part of this project, we are trying to 

collect cost information on different components or units of a chemical precipitation system. 

I told Mr. Perron that we would like to obtain purchase costs (including ancillary equipment), power 

requirements and any available marketing material or brochures for recessed plate and frame filter presses for 

wastewater flow rates ranging from 7 gpm to 700 gpm. 

Mr. Perron was familiar with FGD wastewater treatment. He said the cost of the filter press will vary by the size 

of the machine and the options chosen. He stated that filter press plates can range in size from 470 mm to 2.4 m. 

He stated the number of chambers formed by the plates could be between 2 chambers and 100 chambers. 

Mr. Perron stated that for FGD wastewater, the most common plate sizes used are 1500 mm, 2000 mm, and 2.4 

m. He said that these are usually for wastewater flowrates of 500 to 1,500 gpm. He said the cost of these filter 

presses may range from $300,000 to $1,000,000. The cost is impacted by whether high or low pressure is used 

and whether a cloth washer is included. If membrane squeeze or recessed plates are used, approximately 

$150,000 can be added to the cost. 

I asked Mr. Perron for more details on the specific costs. Mr. Perron directed me to send him an email with 

additional details to which he could respond. I sent an email to Mr. Perron on April 5, 2011 at 11:29 am. After 

no response was received, I emailed Mr. Perron again on April 18, 2011 at 4:44 pm. Mr. Perron then directed 

my email to Mr. Alex Yazdjerd. 
Project No.: 0172.08.029.044 DISTRIBUTION 

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Project Name: Steam/Cost/Compliance Modeling 

TELEPHONE CALL RECORD 

 Outgoing Call

Date: 04/22/2011 Time: 10:00 am EST 

Company Name: Andritz Separation 

 

Contact Name: Alex Yazdjerd 

Phone No.:(817)-375-4493 

Email address: alex.yazdjerd@andritz.com

Name: Kavya Kasturi ERG

GENERAL SUBJECT: Vendor cost request for filter presses for a chemical precipitation wastewater treatment system. 

 

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND ACTION TAKEN 

Mr. Yazdjerd attempted to contact me by phone and email. On Friday, April 22, 2011 at 10 am, I contacted Mr. 

Yazdjerd. I explained my request to Mr. Yazdjerd as I had previously to Mr. Perron. 

Mr. Yazdjerd indicated he was familiar with FGD wastewater. I asked if special materials were required due to 

the high chlorides levels. Mr. Yazdjerd stated that the plates are made out of polypropylene which is appropriate 

for FGD sludge. He stated that the unit itself may need special piping and valves to accommodate FGD sludge. 

Mr. Yazdjerd stated that underflow rate from the clarifier is needed to cost filter presses. He stated typically a 

filter press runs 8 hpd, 5 days per week but can run up to 12 hpd, 7 days per week. Also, if sludge is stored for 

processing, more cycles may be necessary. 

The largest size filter press is the 1.5 x 2. The plates are 1.5m square. The depth of the plate recess is 16 mm 

yielding a 32 mm cake. The maximum pressure that can be applied without damaging the plates is 100 psi. A 

positive displacement, progressive cavity pump should be used. A fast fill pump may be used for large presses. 

Typically in such cases, a fast fill pump (high volume, low pressure, e.g., high gpm, 30 psi) would be used first 

and then a feed pump would be used to top off the press. Mr. Yazdjerd stated that for FGD applications, it was 

likely that only a feed pump would be required. Mr. Yazdjerd stated an animation of the filter press operation 

was available on the Andritz website, www.andritz.com. 

A cycle takes approximately 1 hour and an additional half an hour is required to get ready for the next cycle, 

yielding a total cycle time of 1.5 hours. At the start of the cycle, the pump brings sludge in. No operator is 

needed until the filtration cycle is complete. Then the press is opened to remove the cake. Once the cycle is

complete, the cake has 40-50% moisture. 

The feeds solids typically range from 8-12%. Mr. Yazdjerd said 10% solids is a reasonable assumption. Mr. 

Yazdjerd described that the size and number of filter presses could be calculated using the volume of the press 

and the flow rate of sludge in the system. For example, a small size press has a capacity of 100 cubic feet which

translates to approximately 748 gallons. The press is filled in 5-6 minutes. By dividing 748 by 6, the sludge 

flow rate can be found. 

Mr. Yazdjerd recommended using multiple presses instead of one large press due to shipping constraints and 

having redundancy.