CDE introduces new filter press at Hillhead

CDE, renowned for its sand and aggregate wet processing solutions in waste recycling and natural minerals processing, has introduced its new ProPress high-performance filter press at Hillhead, enhancing its advanced water management and recycling systems.

Developed for the construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling, quarrying, and mining sectors, the ProPress incorporates cutting-edge technology to ensure high operational efficiency and optimal water recovery.

ProPress advantages

The ProPress, featuring patent-pending technology, boasts a flexible design and adjustable throughput to match any operation's processing volume. Unlike traditional filter presses, it offers dual feed, allowing sludge to be fed from both sides, enhancing efficiency and reducing cycle times. Optimised sludge feed pressure expedites dewatering, boosting overall throughput. An overhead beam design reduces stress on the unit, enhancing durability.

With plates 25% larger (2.5m x 2m), the ProPress offers greater chamber volume and fewer plates, maximising capacity within a smaller footprint and improving mechanical cycle times. Integrated plate-shaking technology reduces filter cake build-up, minimising the need for manual intervention. An access walkway allows safe, efficient maintenance, and flush-mounted drip trays prevent material entrapment, providing a secure platform for operators.

The ProPress is supported by a multifunctional robot that handles plate opening, shaking, cloth washing, plate winch, and maintenance platform tasks. Available in various sizes to suit global markets and applications, the ProPress is largely pre-assembled to expedite commissioning, ensuring quick start-up and rapid return on investment.

During the washing and grading of materials, water collects silt and residues, forming sludge. This sludge is pumped under high pressure into the ProPress, which comprises a series of plate-formed chambers. As sludge is pumped through the press, solids accumulate within the chambers to form a filter cake, which is dewatered to maximise water recycling and recover a valuable by-product.

The ProPress allows owners and operators to recycle up to 95% of process water for immediate reuse while reducing waste disposal costs by recovering a filter cake product suitable for pipe bedding and landfill capping. This eliminates the need for maintenance-intensive, labor-consuming, and costly settling ponds.

CDE’s business development director, Darren Eastwood, said, “Tackling the most challenging of materials is our expertise. We’ve poured over 30 years of engineering excellence into the development of the ProPress. We’ve listened to and worked alongside our customers around the globe to design a solution that is adaptable to their needs, be they in the waste recycling or natural minerals processing sectors.

“Those needs were clear: sustainable water management was key to minimise fresh water dependency and maximise water recycling, all while improving processing capacity, reducing operating costs, and minimising maintenance downtime. The ProPress is our response to all of this and more and it is already delivering for our customers. By the end of the year, the ProPress will be found on eight plants across three regions, processing around 1000tph of material.

“Our most significant product launch in recent years, ProPress really encapsulates CDE’s purpose: to create our best world, a ton at a time. It represents a constant push for improvement to make our equipment, our customers’ operations, and the sectors we operate in more efficient and less wasteful. We’re very pleased to finally bring this latest innovation to the wider market to help maximise the availability of our natural resources and reduce the industry’s waste burden.”