The next meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the American Filtration & Separations Society is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, from 1:30 to 2:15 pm central time. This virtual meeting is free to AFS members and $15 for non-members.

The topic will be Continuum Approach to Optimizing Downstream Final Drying with Upstream Solid-Liquid Filtration, presented by Barry Perlmutter, President and Managing Director of BHS-Sonthofen Inc.

This presentation will review the optimization of the selection of the final drying technology in conjunction with the upstream continuous solid-liquid filtration, cake washing, and dewatering technology selection. Most often when analyzing a new process development approach, engineers take a "silo" approach and look at each step independently. This presentation illustrates that by taking a holistic approach and looking at each step not individually but as a continuum, the process solution becomes much more efficient. Data is presented showing how to balance each of process steps for maximum efficiency.

In the manufacturing of this specialty chemical, the crystals coming from the reactor in a methanol slurry must be filtered, washed, and dewatered and then dried to a final moisture of less than 1.0 (

The overall approach illustrates a methodology for an optimization approach that can be used by engineers for chemical and pharmaceutical applications.

Barry A. Perlmutter is currently President and Managing Director of BHS-Sonthofen Inc. Barry has over 35 years of technical engineering and business marketing experience in the field of solid-liquid separation, filtration, centrifugation and process drying. He has published and lectured worldwide on the theory and applications for the chemical, pharmaceutical and energy/environmental industries. His new book, "Solid-Liquid Filtration," is part of a series of Practical Guides in Chemical Engineering published by Elsevier, Oxford, UK. He received a BS degree in Chemistry from Albany State (NY) University, MS degree from the School of Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis, and an MBA from the University of Illinois.  Barry's full background can be found on his website at P&ID.

Register Here. Note: You will need to be registered with the AFS website or be an AFS member to register for this meeting. On the registration page, you will be prompted to sign in using your existing credentials or create a new account on AFS. If you are a member of AFS, please login under the Member Login link at the top of the website, and your member discount will automatically be applied.

Contact Lyn Sholl at [email protected] if you have registration questions.