The plate press is a batch process, which can produce a substance with a very high dry matter concentration. During every batch, mud is pumped into the plate press from, for example, a mud buffer to fill the chambers in the plate press. The water is pressed through the filter cloth by the hydraulic pressure that is applied to the plates. The plates then slide way from each other and the dry blocks fall out.
The plate press is available as a manually operated system and as a fully automatic system. The system can also be equipped with an automatic cleaning system.