Filter separator for separating a composite fluid

A filter combination comprising a filter apparatus for separating a pulp and a micro- and ultrafiltration apparatus in a structural unit in which a lower end wall of the filter apparatus is at the same time an upper end wall of said micro and ultrafiltration apparatus and serves as a common end wall, wherein said filter apparatus comprises a cylindrical pressure vessel having a side wall and an upright axis and an inlet port, a plurality of filter elements formed as cylinder walls for taking up filtrate, at least some of the filter elements being provided with filter media on both sides thereof, the filter elements having different diameters and being arranged concentrically one within the other and with the vessel axis, annular spaces defined between the filter elements for feeding fluid to be filtered to the filter elements, said filter elements being divided into a first filter element group and a second filter element group so that adjacent filter elements are members of different groups, the filter elements of said first group being mounted on a transverse mounting structure which extends radially from a hollow shaft, said hollow shaft penetrating one end wall of the pressure vessel and being rotationally driveable along with said mounting structure and first filter element group, as a rotor, by a driving motor, said driving motor being arranged externally of the pressure vessel, filtrate chambers enclosed by the filter elements of said first group being drainable through at least one hollow transverse mounting bar of the transverse mounting structure and through said hollow shaft, and the filter elements of the second group being mounted to a carrier structure extending transversely with respect to the vessel axis, said carrier structure comprising at least one drain channel connected to filtrate chambers enclosed by the filter elements of said second group for draining the filtrate chambers, and comprising an outlet port for removing the composite fluid enriched with particles from the pressure vessel, wherein the micro- and ultrafiltration apparatus communicates with at least one filtrate outlet port of said filter apparatus and comprises:

• a housing of circular cross-sectional, the interior of said housing being divided by respective partitions into separate coaxially aligned filter sections each filter section including an inlet chamber, a filtrate chamber and said radially extending micro- and ultrafiltration filter medium separating said two chambers from one another, a rotor shaft penetrating at least one housing end wall and all of said filter sections, with fluid-tight seals provided at all of the partitions thus penetrated, a radially extending rotor element in each inlet chamber carried by said rotor shaft, a second driving motor disposed externally of said housing and connected to said rotor shaft, and a plurality of filtrate discharge conduits communicating with respective filtrate chambers of said micro- and ultrafiltration apparatus.