Diatomaceous earth filtration is a key process step in reliable and consistent production of vegetable oils, edible oils, and related food products.

Diatomaceous earth filter aids are light in weight, chemically inert, and form high porosity filter cakes to maintain free-flow of the liquid. Specifically, an efficient filter aid is characterized by the following:

The structure of the particles must be such that they will not pack together closely, but will form cakes that are 85% to 95% pore space. This not only permits higher initial flow rates, but also provides pore spaces to trap and contain the filterable solids while leaving a high percentage of channels open for flow.

Physical Properties

Median particle Diameter(microns)        24

PH (10% slurry)         10

Moisture (%)    0.5

Specific gravity         2.3

Acid Solubility %      ≤3.0

Water Solubility %   ≤0.5

Chemical Properties

Pb (lead), ppm 4.0

Arsenic (As), ppm    5.0

SiO2         %    90.8

Al2O3       %      4.0

Fe2O3       %     1.5

CaO         %     0.4

MgO         %    0.5

Other Oxides   %  2.5

Loss on Ignition %   0.5