The BHS Continuous – Indexing Vacuum Belt Filter technology provides for thin-cake, as small as 5 mm, production on a continuous basis. Vacuum filtration, cake washing, vacuum or hot-gas drying with mechanical compression and automatic and continuous dry cake discharge steps are tailored to meet specific process requirements. The BHS belt filter is a continuous-indexing design where the filter cloth is moved intermittently in steps while the trays are fixed in place. During the cloth movement, the vacuum is isolated from the cloth to allow the cloth to move (index). The entire operation is pneumatic and easily controlled. Due to the indexing operation, washing and drying efficiencies are maximized, as the belt is stopped and the mechanism of plug-flow for gases and/or liquids occurs. The BHS design eliminates the need for rubber carrier belts, motor and VFD and provides for the highest vacuum possible, at the fixed tray. In addition, the BHS technology due to the fixed-tray design, eliminates vacuum-pressure rated flex hoses, additional hardware and rails/rollers for moving tray designs, and provides for complete separation of the filtrates and wash liquid as well as reduced maintenance costs for motors, tray movements, etc. Finally, cloth washing is more efficient as the wash liquid only is used when the cloth is stopped. Further, the belt can be washed from either the top or bottom side. The Continuous – Indexing Vacuum Belt Filter is easily cleaned and is used for specialty products and chemicals and bulk and final pharmaceutical products. It also provides for increased flexibility and is more easily installed, controlled and maintained than conventional filters due to the fully pneumatic operation. It is an alternative to nutsche filters, centrifuges, filter presses and other vacuum filters for thin-cake filtration with critical washing and drying requirements. Preliminary bench-top tests can be conducted in the BHS Process & Filtration Laboratory while rental filters are available for onsite testing starting from 0.1 m2 to 0.825 m2. BHS-Filtration Inc. provides single-source solutions for your difficult filtration, washing and drying problems. BHS completes the installation with tanks, liquid and vacuum pumps, piping skid packages, instrumentation, PLC controls, on-site start-up and lab and pilot-scale rental filters for on-site testing. For further information about BHS-Filtration and its technologies and process benefits, please contact Barry A. Perlmutter, President & Managing Director