# Development of Chemical Precipitation Purchased Equ ipment

Costs: Filter Presses

The following emails support EPA’s development of purchased equ ipment cost equations for filter presses by documenting EPA's communication with a vendor regarding purcha se costs for filter presses used in the Steam

Electric cost model.Project No.: 0172.08.029.044 DISTRIBUTION

Page _1_ of __1_

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 syst em.

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 unit s of a chemical precipitation system.

I told Mr. Perron that we would like to obtain purchase c osts (including ancillary equipment), power requirements and any available marketing material or broc hures 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 treatme nt. 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 co uld 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 flowr ates 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 squeez e or recessed plates are used, approximately $150,000 can be added to the cost.

I asked Mr. Perron for more details on the specific cos ts. Mr. Perron directed me to send him an email with additional details to which he could respond. I sent an em ail to Mr. Perron on April 5, 2011 at 11:29 am. After no response was received, I emailed Mr. Perron again o n 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 syst em.

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND ACTION TAKEN

Mr. Yazdjerd attempted to contact me by phone and email. O n Friday, April 22, 2011 at 10 am, I contacted Mr. Yazdjerd. I explained my request to Mr. Yazdjerd as I had pr eviously to Mr. Perron.

Mr. Yazdjerd indicated he was familiar with FGD wastew ater. 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 sp ecial piping and valves to accommodate FGD sludge.

Mr. Yazdjerd stated that underflow rate from the clarifi er 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 da ys 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 appli ed 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 t he 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. Yazdje rd said 10% solids is a reasonable assumption. Mr. Yazdjerd described that the size and number of filter pre sses 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 fille d in 5-6 minutes. By dividing 748 by 6, the sludge

flow rate can be found.

Mr. Yazdjerd recommended using multiple presses instead of on e large press due to shipping constraints and having redundancy.