Abstract: An apparatus for the production of pellets of metal powder, more particularly pellets of highly active metal powder, for example Raney catalysts, has a press with a filling shoe and a pellet discharge shoot. A wet processing environment is established and thus no inert gas atmosphere is required to avoid oxidation of the metal powder.

Abstract: Multichamber-candle filter element for filtration of a residual volume of a suspension with rapidly settling solid components, includes at least two chambers (1,2) positioned in succession above each other, a lowest of the chambers being from 1/3 to 1/10 of a total length of the candle filter element, and a separate filtrate delivery pipe (8,9) extending into each of the chambers to provide a separate filtrate outlet for each chamber and a partition member separating each of the chambers from each other in a fluid-tight manner. The multi-candle filter element also has a fluid-tight cover plate (6) and a fluid-tight bottom plate (3) and fluid permeable walls (14,15).

Abstract: The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for the production of pellets of metal powder, more particularly pellets of highly active metal powder, for example Raney catalysts.According to the invention, no inert gas atmosphere is required to avoid oxidation of the metal powder. The pellets are produced by direct press molding of the suspension in a wet environment.The invention also relates to the use of catalyst pellets thus produced in trickle-phase and gas-phase processes.