Process for separating solid particulates from a melt

In a metal recovery process wherein there is produced a byproduct having solid ash constituents entrained in a melt comprising a major amount of molten salt, the improvement comprising;

• introducing said byproduct into a high-temperature filter apparatus containing a substantially cylindrical rotating filter element having inner and outer walls;
• maintaining said byproduct at a temperature above the melting points of said salt;
• providing a pressure differential across a portion of said filter element walls to cause a substantial amount of said molten salt to pass through said outer wall of said filter element and form a filter cake comprising solid ash constituents on said outer wall;
• continuously removing said filter cake from said outer wall by disposing a blade adjacent to the surface of said outer wall;
• and
• separately recovering from said filter apparatus a molten filtrate passing through said filter element walls for recycle to said metal recovery process, said filtrate comprising the molten salt and having a substantially reduced ash content.