Patent ID: 7736526

Claim:
A method of operating a phosphate filtering apparatus, the method comprising: providing a rotary table filtering apparatus including a movable filter support having a plurality of openings therein; providing at least one spray bar disposed in a substantially fixed orientation adjacent to and above a surface of the filter support; installing a cloth filter on the movable filter support; exposing the cloth filter to a mixture of phosphates and sulfuric acid, thereby resulting in phosphoric acid and calcium sulfate; drawing a vacuum on one side of the movable filter support opposite the mixture to draw the phosphoric acid through the cloth filter and the filter support, and resulting in calcium sulfate accumulation in the openings of the movable filter support; removing the cloth filter from the filter support; causing the filter support to move in a cyclical manner while the cloth filter is removed from the filter support; spraying, using a plurality of nozzles in the at least one spray bar, pressurized fluid toward the surface of the filter support while the filter support travels through multiple cycles of movement such that the spraying results in a sweeping motion across the surface of the filter support; and terminating spraying after substantially all of the openings in the filter support are substantially free of calcium sulfate blockage.