The key to lifelong success is regular gratitude

The key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: gratitude.
Kumasi Polytechnic
Department of Chemical Engineering

CME 309: Particulate Systems

Lecture Note

Prepared

By

Francis Attiogbe

March, 2014


Reference Textbooks

1. Unit operations of Chemical Engineering by Warren L. McCabe, J ulian C.
Smith & Peter Harrriott
2. Chemical Engineering, Volume Two by J .M. Coulson & J .F. Richardson

Size Reduction Processes

The term size reduction is applied to all the ways in which particles or solids are cut
or broken down into smaller pieces. Comminution is the general term used for size
reduction.

Purposes of Comminution

1. Preparation e.g. chunks of crude ore to workable size by crushing
2. To help chemical reaction by increasing the surface area of material
3. It permits separation of unwanted ingredients by mechanical methods
4. It reduces the bulk of fibrous materials for easier handling and waste for waste
disposal.

Basic Operations of Comminution

Solids may be broken in many different ways but only four of them are commonly
used in size reduction machines: 1. Compression 2. Impact 3. Attrition or rubbing and
4. Cutting

Selection of size reduction equipment is based on 1. Feed size 2. Hardness of material
3. Ratio of size reduction

Mohr Scale of Hardness

The hardness of a mineral as measured by the Mohr scale is a criterion of its
resistance to crushing. It is a fairly good indication of the abrasive character of the
mineral, a factor that determines the wear on the grinding media. Arranged in
increasing order of hardness, the Mohr scale is as follows:

1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Fluorspar
5. Apatite
6. Felspar
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Carborundum
10. Diamond


Materials of hardness 1-3 inclusive are classed as soft, 4-7 as intermediate and the
others as hard.

Particle Size Distribution

It is the most description of solid from size reduction operations.

Average Particle Size of a Sample

It can be defined in several ways:
_
Volume- Surface Mean Diameter (d
s
): It is the most used diameter and can be
calculated from the mass fraction.
_ n _
d
s
= 1/ x
i
/ d
i

i =1

d
i
=average particle diameter taken as the arithmetic average of the diameter of the
largest and smallest particles in increment.
x
i
=mass fraction in a given increment

=
n
i
i
i
s
d
x
d
1
1

Particle size Particle size
Differential Analysis Cumulative Analysis
%

m
a
s
s

f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n

C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

m
a
s
s

f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n


Arithmetic Mean Diameter

_ n _ n
d
N
= N
i
d
i
N
i

i =1 i =1

N
i
=number of particles in each fraction.

=
n
i
i
i
n
i
i
N
N
d N
d
1
1

Volume Mean Diameter

_ 1/3
d
v
= 1
n _
x
i
/d
i
3

i =1

3
1
1
3
1
(
(
(
(
(
n
i
i
v
i
d
x
d
_
Volume mean diameter
v
d or mass mean diameter in terms of particle numbers, rather
than mass fraction is given by:

_
d
v
=n
i
d
i
4
/ n
i
d
i
3

3
4
i i
i i
v
d n
d n
d

For samples consisting of uniform particles these average diameters are of course all
the same. For mixtures containing particles of various sizes, however, the several
average diameters may differ widely from one another.


Particle Size Measurement

Sieve Method

Sieve analysis may be carried out for particle size (>50m) using a nest of sieves,
each lower sieve being of smaller aperture size.

Microscopic Method (1-100 m)

In microscopic methods of size analysis, direct measurements are made on enlarge
images of the particles. A small is put on a glass and placed under the microscope.

Sedimentation Method (>1m)

This method depends on the fact that the terminal falling velocity of a particle in fluid
increases with size. Sedimentation methods are of two main types. In the first, the
pipette method, samples are abstracted from the settling suspension at a fixed
horizontal level at intervals of time.

t =h/v =(9h/2g)(2/d)
2
(/
s

f
)

h =height of liquid in the cylinder
d =particle diameter
v =velocity of particle
= dynamic viscosity of fluid
s
=density of solid particle
f
=density of fluid

Other particle size measurement methods are :

Permeability methods ( 1m)
Electronic particle counters
Laser diffraction analyzers
X-ray or photo-sedimentometers
Sub-micron particle sizing

Work Required for Size Reduction

There are empirical relations which are used:

1. Kick's Law

He proposed that on the bases of stress analysis for plastic deformation within the
elastic region the work required for crushing a given quantity of material is constant
for the same reduction ratio irrespective of the original size.

m
P
=
m
W
=C
k
In
2
1
d
d


P =power (kW)
W=energy input
C
k
=constant
d
1
=feed mean particle size
d
2
=product mean particle size
m=feed rate kg/s

m =mass (kg)

2. Rittingers Law

It states that the work consumed in crushing is proportional to the new surface
produced.

m
P
=
m
W
=C
R

2
1
d
-
1
1
d

C
R
=constant

It applies to fine grinding and ball milling.

3. Bonds Law

m
P
=
m
W
=C
B

2
1
d
-
1
1
d

C
B
is a constant that depends on the type of machine and the material being crushed.
To use the above equation a work index W
i
defined as the gross work (energy)
required to reduce a very large feed to such a size that 80% of the product passes a
100-m screen is introduced. This definition leads to a relation between C
B
and W
i
.

C
B
=
3
10 100

W
i
=0.3162 W
i

m =ton/h
P =kW
d =mm

For dry grinding, W
i
must be multiplied by 1.34 i.e. 1.34W
i
.


Example Question

What is the power required to crush 100ton/h of limestone if 80% of the feed passes a
2-in screen and 80% of the product a 8 1 -in screen?

Solution

From Table, the work index W
i
for limestone is 12.74.
m=100t/h
d
1
=2in =2 25.4 =50.8mm
d
2
= 8 1 25.4 =3.175mm
Power required P =
m0.3162W
i

2
1
d
-
1
1
d

=1000.316212.74
175 . 3
1
-
8 . 50
1

=169.6kW

Energy Balance of Comminution Process

W
in
=W
useful
+W
loss

W
useful
<<W
loss

W
deformation
W
loss
W
internal
(friction loss between particles & machine
)

W
friction

W
external
(friction loss between particles)

Because of losses the theoretical efficiency is between 0.06< <1%


Classification of Comminution Equipment

Classification is done according to:
1. principle of operation
2. capacity
3. particle size (d
1
)
4. wet or dry crushing

Feed size Product size
Coarse crushers 1500-40mm 50-5mm
Intermediate crushers 50-5mm 5-0.1mm
Fine crushers 5-2mm 0.1mm

Wet grinding is generally applicable only with low speed mills.

Advantages of Wet Grinding

1. Specific energy requirement is less
2. The number of auxiliary plants is less therefore less energy consumption
3. The material handling is simpler
4. The particle size of the product is more uniform
5. Better cooling because energy loss appears as heat
6. the tendency of agglomeration in the product is less
7. The fluid in which the particles are dispersed can act as a grinding aid.
8. Dust formation is eliminated

Disadvantages

1. Needs a lot of fluid (water)
2. The product has less fine particle and the more uniform particle size of the
product in some cases is not preferable
3. The cost of drying

Size Reduction Equipment

Size reduction equipment is divided into crushers, grinders, ultrafine grinders and
cutting machines.

CRUSHERS
They do the heavy work of breaking large piece of solid materials into lumps. Primary
crushers accept anything that come from the mine and break it into 150 200 mm
lumps. Secondary crushers reduce these lumps into 6mm.


GRINDERS
They reduce crushed feed to powder. The product from an intermediate grinder must
be under 0.42mm but most of the product from a fine grinder would be under
0.074mm =74m.

ULTRAFINE GRINDERS
They accept no larger than 6mm and the product is typically 1 50 m.

CUTTERS
They give particles of definite size and shape; 2-10mm.

Crushers (Coarse and fine)
1. J aw Crusher
2. Gyratory Crusher
3. Roll Crusher
4. Toothed roll Crusher

Grinders
1. Hammer mill
2. Rolling compression mill (ball & roller mills)
3. Attrition mills
4. Tumbling mills
a. Rod mills
b. Ball mills; pebble mills
c. Tube mills; Compartment mills
Ultrafine Grinders
1. Fluid-energy mills
2. Agitated mills
3. Special hammer mills
Cutters
1. Dicers
2. Slitters


CRUSHERS
Jaw Crusher

Blake jaw crusher is hinged at the top. Dodge jaw crusher is hinged at the bottom. The
reduction ratio of this crusher is within 3-5 to 1 i.e. d
1
/d
2
3-5 to 1.
Capacity: 10 t/h 600 t/h
d
1
max up to 3m.
The jaws open and close 250 400 times per minute,

Advantages
Very simple and can accept up to 3m

Disadvantages
1. Abrasion
2. Dynamic stress is high
3. Very noisy

n
Feed Pivot

Discharge
Toggle Toggle
Pitman
Flywheel
Eccentric shaft
Fixed Part
or
Stationary
J aw
Swinging J aw


Gyratory Crusher

Conical crushing head inside a funnel shaped casing. An eccentric drives the bottom
end of the shaft. The solids within the crushing head and casing are broken down until
they are small enough to come out from the bottom.
The discharge from the crusher is continuous. The load on the bottom is nearly
uniform. Less maintenance is required than in the jaw crusher and energy requirement
per ton of material crushed is smaller than in the jay crusher.
The speed, n of the crushing head is typically 125 425 gyrations per minute.
Capacity up to 4500 ton/h. d
1
max ; up to 2m.
It has much higher capacity than the jaw crusher if the heat capacity is the same. The
capacity varies with the impact strength of the feed, speed of gyration (n) and the jaw
setting. Operates best on hard and brittle materials and do not work on plastic
minerals like clay.

Discharge
n
Eccentric
Crushing head
Casing
Pivoted at the top
Feed


Cone Crusher

It is a version of the gyratory crusher for secondary reduction. The shape of the cone
determines the minimum size d
2
and maximum size d
1
. Usually n: 400 570 gyration
/ min. Capacity up to 1000 ton/h. It is the most commonly used on ores compared to
roll and hammer mills.

Discharge
Pivot at the top
n
Gearing
Eccentric
Cone
Feed


Smooth-Roll Crushers

Roll =600 2000mm
n: 50 3000 r/min
d
1
= 12 75 mm
d
2
= 12 0.84mm
d
1
/d
2
= 3 : 1

The basic operation of the smooth roll crusher is compression. The periphery speed is
1 6 m/s. The typical rolls are between 600 2000mm. The rotating speed is between
50 3000 r/min.

Operation
The two rolls of the same rotate at different speeds. The distance between the rolls
is negligible. Roll faces usually carry corrugated breaker bars or teeth. These kinds of
roll crusher which may contain a rotating roll working against a stationary curved
Discharge
Spring
roll
Feed
d
2


breaker plate. Toothed roll crushers are much more versatile than the smooth roll but
cannot handle very hard solids and they operate by compression, impact and shear.
They can reduce much larger particles. The feed size up to 500mm. Capacity up to
500 ton/h and reduction ratio is 4:1. The maximum size of particles depends on
friction between the particle and surface of the roll. It can be estimated from the
relation:
d
1 max
=0.04R +d
2

max

2
R =radius of the roll.
Smooth roll crushers give few fines and no oversize. They are often arranged in
series. Each pair of rolls being closer than the previous one. Rolls are most widely
used for materials which are sticky usually due to high moisture content or clayey
nature. Coal, lignite, petrol coke, gypsum, limestone are materials which can be
ground in the roll crusher.


GRINDERS
1. HAMMER MILL

d
2
= 300mm
d
1
= 500mm 1m
n = 50 1800 times/min

Rotor disk =150 - 450mm
Peripheral speed of the hammer tips 20 50m/s
Weight of hammer 50 100kg
Capacity =0.1 1500 ton/h

Operation
This mill contains a high speed rotor turning inside a cylindrical casing. The feed
drops into the top of the casing. It is broken and falls through a cylindrical grating. In
smaller machines we have flying hammers swinging freely and in larger machines the
Feed
Grate bars
(Screen)
Hammer
Product
outlet
Product
Rotor


hammer are fixed rigidly to the rotor. The mechanism is impact. The hammer mill
grinds almost anything tough fibrous, solids, sticky clay and hard rock. For fine
reduction they are limited to the softer materials.

Ball Mills

L : D = 1 : 1 - 2 : 1
d
1
~D/20
They have a conical or cylindrical shell usually made of steel slowly rotating on a
horizontal axis and charge with grind medium. This grind medium can be metal rod (
in this case the mill is called rod mill) or it can be charged with lengths of chain or
ball. The ball can be made of metal, rubber or wood, porcelain, flint or zircon. If the
balls look like a pebble the mill is called pebble mills.
The shell is lined with high-carbon steel plates, porcelain, silica rock or rubber. The
mill can be operated wet or dry in either batch or open circuit continuously or closed
circuit with size classifiers. The load of ball normally occupy about 1/5 - of the
mill when the mill is stopped. The void space in the static bulk volume of balls is
approximately 41%. Since the medium is expanded as the mill is rotated the actual
Feed
Drive Gear
Discharge
L
Large
Balls
Small
Ball


running volume is not known. The amount of material in the mill is expressed by the
material to the volume ratio. If the solid material just fill the void this ratio is 1.
The rotation speed should be high enough to raise the ball to 2/3 of the .

Autogenous Mill
There are no grinding medium just the feed. The feed is not hard. The of these mills
are very large compared to their length and can be used for ores as mined. It is very
cheap and the reduction ratio can be very large. The feed can be up to 25cm and the
product d
2
<1mm. It is good for materials with a granular texture. Aside these
especially, its just like the Ball mill.
Autogenous grinding has two advantages:
(1) it reduces metal wear and (2) eliminates secondary and tertiary crushing
stages. Thus it offers a savings in capital and operating costs.

ULTRAFINE GRINDERS
It reduces solids to 1 to 20m but all particles are below 45m. One member of the
ultrafine grinders is the hammer mill. They can be used to make fine products. The
rotor diameter is 10 60 cm. The maximum rotating speed n
max
should be 1600
3400 rev/min and up to 3 4cm. The capacity is 0.05 7 tonnes.
It can be used for non aggressive material like sugar, pharmaceuticals, plastics, dye
colour, cosmetics, coal and coke in the petroleum industries.


Fluid Energy Mills

The solid particles are suspended in air or super heated steam and conveyed at high
velocity in a circular or elliptical path. Some reduction occurs as the particles rubbed
against the walls of the closed chamber but most of the reduction is believed to be
caused by interparticle attrition. Internal classification keeps the larger particles in the
mill. The suspending gas admitted at about a pressure of 7bar through the energizing
nozzles. Classification of the ground particles takes place at the upper end of the loop.
As the gas stream, coarser particles are thrown outward against the outer wall while
the fines congregate at the inner wall. There is a discharge opening at the inner wall
and this lead to a cyclone separator and a bag collector for the product.

Energizing Nozzles
Air or Steam
Venture
injector
Feed
Classifier
outlet
Material and
fluid outlet
Reduction
Chamber


Remarks on the Selection of Equipment
Very important that the feed must have a suitable size and enter at a uniform rate. The
product must be removed as soon as possible after the particles are of the desired size.
Unbreakable materials must be kept out of the machine. For heat sensitive materials
the mill must be cooled. Because of this some auxiliary equipment are important such
as coolers, metal separators, blowers and constant rate feeders.

Open Circuit Operation
It is one in which we let the feed goes through the mill only once and the oversize not
return. The energy consumption is very high in this operation.

Closed Circuit Operation
It is one in which the oversize is returned to the mill after passing the feed. Usually it
is economical to remove partially ground materials from the mill and passes it through
a size separation device. The undersize then becomes the product. The oversize is
returned to the mill. In this case the energy consumption is less to achieve the same
particle size.


Flow sheet for close circuit grinding

In a system like this the energy has to be supplied to the conveyor belts, the different
separators but still the total energy required is 25% less than the energy consumed
compared to an open circuit. The charge and the discharge rate must be equal.

Feed
Coarse recycle
Rod Mill
Ball Mill
Coarse
Intermediate
Fine
Centrifugal
classifier
Repulper
Water
S
c
r
e
e
n
s

Gyratory
Crusher
Oversize
Product
Slurry
Oversize
Recycle


Size Separation Processes
Separation of solids from gases, liquid drops from gases, solids from solids and solids
from liquids. Two (2) general methods exist:
1. Screen or Filter It retains one component and allows other to pass.
2. Sedimentation It utilizes the difference in the rate of settling of particles or
drops as they move through a liquid or gas. Other methods are floatation
utilizes the difference in wettability. Magnetic Separation utilizes the
properties of a magnet.
All the methods are based on the physical difference between the particles.

Screening
It separates the particles according to their size. The undersize is called fines and the
oversize called tails. For only one screen we have unsized fraction. Having series of
screens will result in sized fraction. The screen can be wet or dry.
The industrial screens are made from woven wire, silk or plastic cloth, metal bars,
perforators or slotted metal plates. The most common material is steel or stainless
steel. Standard screens are ranged from 10mm - 45m and between 4mm 300m is
called ultrafine screening.


Mechanically vibrator
Gyratory in a horizontal plane
Duct
Eccentric
Gyration in vertical plane
Shaking
Gyratory at one end,
shaking at other end
Eccentric
Electrically
vibrated


The screens used to be 16 30
o
to the horizontal. The screens are usually rectangular
and fairly long. Their sizes lie between 50cm x 130cm to 160cm x 370cm. The rate of
gyration n is between 600 1800 r/min. Motor size for 160 x 370cm is about 1 2
kW. The speed of gyration and angle of tilt can be adjusted.
The screens angle influences the capacity of the screen. The steepest possible angle is
the best. Usually the screen surfaces are doubled. The greatest difficulty in screening
is the blinding of the screen because the particles half way can stack in the screen
openings. Near size particles can cause blindness of the screen. Sticky, soft, elongated
and flaky particles tend to blind the screen and are more difficult to handle. The
screens which are rapidly vibrated and small amplitude are less likely to blind than the
gyratory screens. The vibration screens vibrate between 1800 3600 vibrations/min.

Grizzly
It is a grid of parallel metal bars set in an inclined stationary frame. The slope and the
path of the material are parallel to the length of the bars. It is used for very coarse feed
from a primary crusher. The particle sizes are 5 20cm.

Ideal and Actual Screens
Ideal screen will separate the feed mixture into two fractions.

Cut diameter d
c
: - Which mark the point of separation between the fractions. In ideal
screen the size of the opening is equal to the d
c
.

Actual Screens It does not give perfect separation as the cut diameter. The
undersize would contain particles larger than the cut diameter and the oversize
containing materials finer than the cut diameter.

The commercial screens give poorer separation than testing sieve on the same
mixture. In testing sieve the time alone can be as long as necessary. In industrial
screening each particle may be presented to the screen surface max 10 12 times
before being removed as oversize. The capacity of the screen is the mass of the
material that can be fed per unit per unit area. Factors which reduce capacity and
lower efficiency or effectiveness are:
1. Interference of the bed of particles with the motion of the other particles.


2. The blinding
3. Cohesion of particles to each other
4. Adhesion of particles to the screen surface
5. The large particles tend to segregate in a layer next to the screen and so
prevent the smaller particles from reaching the screen.
6. The particles usually do not approach perpendicular to the surface of the
screen.

Material Balances over screen
Let F, D, and B be the mass flow rates of the feed, overflow, and underflow,
respectively, and x
F
, x
D
, and x
B
be the mass fraction of oversize materials in these
three streams. The mass fractions of the undersize materials in the feed, overflow, and
underflow are 1- x
F
, 1- x
D
, and 1- x
B
.
Since the total material fed to the screen must leave it either as underflow or as
overflow,
F =D +B
The material balance on the oversize materials in the streams
B D F
Bx Dx Fx + =
Eliminating B from the above equations give:
B D
B F
x x
x x
F
D
=
Elimination of D gives:
B D
F D
x x
x x
F
B
=

Screen Efficiency
The efficiency of a screen is a measure of the success of a screen in closely separating
materials. This is commonly done by taking the ratio of the oversize material that is
actually in the overflow to the amount entering with the feed. Thus the screen
efficiency based on the oversize is given by:
F
D
D
Fx
Dx
E =
Similarly, an efficiency E
B
based on the undersize materials is given by:


( )
( )
F
B
B
x F
x B
E
=
1
1

Screen Capacity
The capacity of a screen is measured by the mass of material that can be fed per unit
time to a unit area of the screen.

Classification
The term classification is usually restricted to processes in which particles are
distinguished by their different rate of travel through a fluid media.

Sedimentation
Law of Settling
Three forces act on a particle moving through a fluid. These forces are the external
forces F
e
(gravitational or centrifugal), buoyant force F
b
and finally the drag force.
Drag force appears whenever there is a relative motion between the particles and the
fluid.

V = Velocity of the particle relative to the fluid
= density of the fluid
p
= density of particle
a = acceleration
F
e
= m a
e

F
b
= ma
e

p

F
D
= C
D
V
2
A
P

2
F
b
F
D
F
e


C
D
= drag coefficient (dimensionless)
A
p
= projected area of the particle measured in a plane perpendicular to the
direction of motion of the particle.
The resultant force on the particle is given by:
2
2
2
2
P D
p
p
P D
p
e
e
D b e
A V C
ae m
dt
dv
m
A V C a m
ma
dt
dv
m
dt
dv
m F F F
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
=
=

If the external force is gravity, a
e
=g, the acceleration due to gravity and the above
equation
Becomes
m
A V C
g
dt
dv
P D
p
p
2
2
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
The drag force increases with velocity; so the particle quickly reaches free settling
velocity or terminal velocity V
t
. p
The terminal velocity V
t
, for gravitational settling is found by taking 0 =
dt
dv
, then
gm
A C
V
P D p
p
t
2
1
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

Centrifugal field; a
e
=r
2

r =radius of path of particle
=angular velocity, radian/s
rm
A C
V
P D p
p
t
2
1
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

For spherical particles the mass;
4 6
2 3
d
A and
d
m
p p
= =
Substituting m and A
p
into V
t
for gravity settling, gives the equation for gravity
settling of sphere;
( )

D
p
t
C
d g
V
3
4
=


1. Low Re, Re<1, laminar flow
In laminar flow t cons C
D
tan
Re
24
= =
t
V d
= Re ; dynamic viscosity of fluid
( )
law Stokes
18
2
=

p
g d

2. For turbulent flow 1000 <Re
p
<200,000 C
D
=0.44

law s Newton dg V
dg
V
p
t
p
t
' 75 . 1
44 . 0 3
4
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
|
|
.
|
\
|

3. 1 <Re
p
<1000 intermediate region
6 . 0
Re
5 . 18
=
D
C

CRITERION FOR SETTLING REGIME
t
V d
= Re
Substituting
( )

18
2
g d
V
p
t
= for Stokess law range

( )
( )
( )
3
1
2
3
2
3
3
2
3
18
Re
18
18
Re
(

=
=

p
p
p
g
d k
K
g d
K
g d

If Re 1; k 2.6
If k 2.6 Stokess law.
For the Newtons law range substitute the Newtons terminal velocity into the Re.
This gives:


( )
Re 75 . 1
75 . 1
75 . 1
75 . 1 Re
5 . 1
5 . 1
3
2
3
=
=
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
K
K
K
g d
p

Re >1000 K >68.9
Re <200,000 K <2360
If 68.9 <K <2360 Newtons law applies.

Critical Particle Diameter (d
crit
)
If Re =1
( )
( )
3
2
2
18
18
1 Re
g
d
g d
V
V d
p
crit
p
t
t crit

=
= =

d
crit
is the maximum of the particle size by which Stokess law is applied.
E.g.
Estimate the terminal velocity of 80 to 100 mesh particles of limestone (
p
=
2800kg/m
3
) falling in water at 30
o
C. (b) How much higher would the velocity be in a
centrifugal separator where the acceleration is 50g?
d for 100 mesh =0.147mm
d for 80 mesh =0.175mm
=0.801 cp; =995.7kg/m
3
.

Solution
161 . 0
2
175 . 0 147 . 0
=
+
=
avg
d

To find which settling law applies, calculate K


( )
( )
( )
86 . 4
10 801 . 0
801 . 9 7 . 995 2800 7 . 995
10 161 . 0
3
1
2
3
3
3
2
=
(
(
g
d k
p

Slightly above Stokess law range, Assume Re =5 C
D
=7.2
( )
( )( )
( )
( )
1 . 82 Re
41 . 0
3
50 4
15 . 1 90 Re
9 . 17
50 86 . 4
50
50 ) (
86 . 4
10 801 . 0
023 . 0 7 . 995 10 161 . 0
Re
Re
023 . 0
2 . 7 7 . 995 3
807 . 9 10 161 . 0 7 . 995 2800 4
3
4
3
3
1
2
3
3
3
=
=
=
= =
=
=
(

=
=
=

=
=
=

=
Check
s
m
C
gd
V
C Estimate
g
d k
g ae b
V d
Check
C
gd
V
D
p
t
D
p
t
D
p
t

E.g. A discrete spherical particle has a diameter of 0.15mm and a specific gravity S.G
of 1.1 calculates the settling velocity in water of 20
o
C.
[Kinematic viscosity of water at 20
o
C is 1.1 x 10
-6
m
2
/s]
Assume that the flow is laminar.


V
t
= gd
2
(
p
- )
18
It is necessary to check that this calculated settling velocity produces a value of Re
within the laminar range which is assumed in using the Stokess law/equation.

Re = 0.002 x 1.5 x 10
-4

1.01 x 10
-6

If the calculated value of R was >1 it would have been necessary to recalculate v
t

using the appropriate equations.

Hindered Settling
In hindered settling, the velocity gradients around each particle are affected by the
presence of nearby particles, so the normal drag correlations do not apply.
Particles in settling displace liquid which flows to the fluid greater than the absolute
settling velocity. The settling velocity also depends on the shape and size distribution.
Discrete particles do not change in size, shape or mass during settling. The theory of
sedimentation assumes the presence of discrete particles.
The drag coefficient values usually 2-5 times greater than the theoretical. Because of
this, for accurate design we need an experiment. For a uniform suspension, the
settling velocity V
s
can be estimated from the terminal velocity using this formula
V
s
= V
t
.
n

= Total void fraction
= V
liquid
= V
liquid

V
liquid
+ V
solid
V
suspension

n = Function of the Reynoldss number

Re 0.1 1 10 10
2
10
3

n 4.6 4.3 3.7 3.0 2.5
For very small particles V
s
/V
t
=0.62 for =0.09; 0.095 for =0.6.
If particles of a given size are falling through a suspension of much finer solids, the
terminal velocity of the larger particles should be calculated using the density and
viscosity of the fine suspension. The V
s
can be calculated in this case from V
s
=V
t
.
n


=volume fraction of the finer suspension
( )
4
1 5 . 0 1
+
=
s

Applies only when >0.6 and is most accurate when >0.9.
s
=effective viscosity of the suspension
=viscosity of the liquid.

E.g. Particles of sphalerite are settling under the force of gravity in carbon
tetrachloride (CCl
4
) at 20
o
C. The diameter of the sphalerite particles is 0.10mm. The
volume fraction of sphalerite in CCl
4
is 0.20. What is the settling velocity of the
sphalerite?

Solution
( )
( )
29 . 3
10 03 . 1
81 . 9 1594 4000 1594
10 1 . 0
/ 10 03 . 1 03 . 1
1594
4000
1 . 0
3
1
2
3
3
2 3
3
3
=
(
(

=
= =
=
=
=
m Ns cp
m
kg
m
kg
mm d
p

The settling is almost in the Stokess law range


( )
( ) ( )
s
m
V
n
V V
V
V V
dV
s
m
s
m
s
m
g d
V
s
sph ccl
ccl
n n
t s
t
p
t
052 . 0 8 . 0 013 . 0
056 . 4
8 . 0
2 . 0 8 . 0
8 . 0
013 . 0
01 . 2
10 03 . 1
10 1 . 0 013 . 0 1594
Re
013 . 0
13
10 1273
10 03 . 1 18
81 . 9 10 1 . 0 1594 4000
18
05 . 4
4
4
3
3
5
3
2
3
2
= =
=
=
+
=
+
=
= =
=

=
=
=

=

When the particles are very small, the diameter of the particles (d =0.1m) settling
does not occur only Brownian movement.

Clarifier
A settler which virtually removed all the particles from a liquid.
Classifier
A settler which separates the solids into two fractions

Sedimentation Process (Gravity Settling Process)

1. B =A Suspension of uniformly distributed in the liquid.

B
Z


2. A =Clear liquid
D =Solids resting lightly on one another
C =transition layer in which the solid concentration vary

3. As the settling continuous, the layers A and D increases. Layer C remains the same
and B decreases.

4 Eventually zone B disappears and all solids are in zones C & D.

5 In compression some of the liquid which accompanied the particles to zone D
splits out the thickness of the zone and D decreases.
The critical point is the moment when compression first occurs.
A
B
C
D
A
B
C
D
A
D
A
D


The settling process stops when the weight of the solid reaches mechanical
equilibrium with the compressive strength of the particles. C is the point where the
sludge reaches the ultimate height. In industry, these processes are carried out in a
thickener.

Differential Settling Methods

Most processes which depend on differences in behaviour of particles in a stream of
fluid separate materials according to their terminal falling velocities, which in turn
depend primarily on the density and size and to a lesser extent on shape. Thus, in
many cases it is possible to use the method to separate a mixture of two materials into
its constituents, or to separate a mixture of particles of the same material into a
number of size fractions.
Suppose that it is desired to separate particles of a relatively dense material A (density
A
) from particles of a less dense material B. If the size range is large, the terminal
falling velocities of the largest particles of B (density
B
) may be greater than those of
the smallest particles of A, and therefore a complete separation will not be possible.
The maximum range of sizes that can be separated is calculated from the ratio of the
Ultimate Height
Height of
Sludge
Constant
Rate
C
Settling time


sizes of the particles of the materials which have the same terminal falling velocities.
This condition is given by the equation:

s
A
B
d
d
=

B
A
, where s =0.5 when Stokes law applies and s =1 when Newtons

law applies.
It is seen that the size range becomes wider with increase in the density of the
separating fluid and, when the fluid has the same density as the less dense material,
complete separation is possible whatever the relative sizes.

E.g.

It is desired to separate into two pure fractions a mixture of quartz and galena of a size
range from 0.015mm to 0.065mm by the use of hindered settling process. What is the
minimum apparent density of the fluid that will give this separation? Density of
galena is 7500kg/m
3
and that of quartz is 2650kg/m
3
.

Solution

Assume shapes of galena and quartz particles are similar.
Required density of fluid when Stokes law applies
0.5
015 . 0
065 . 0
=
2650
7500
=2377 kg/m
3

Required density of fluid when Newtons law applies

015 . 0
065 . 0
=
2650
7500
=1196 kg/m
3

Thus the required density of the fluid is between 1196 and 2377 kg/m
3
.


Batch Settling Tank

V
o
=volumetric flow rate of the feed
V
1
=volumetric flow rate of the clear liquid
V
1
=volumetric flow rate of the under flow or sludge
V
0
, V
1
, V
2
: m
3
/s
X
o
, X
1
, X
2
are concentrations (kg/kg)
A =Cross sectional area (m
2
)
V =Velocity (m/s)
Settling height h (m)
Settling time t (s)
V
1
=V
o
- V
2

For dry matter
V
1
, X
1

Clear fluid
Feed V
o
, X
o

V

V
2
, X
2

Sludge


( )
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2 2 2
2 1
VX
X X V
A
VX
V X X V
V
X
X
V V
V
V V
A
AV V
X
X
V V
X V X V
matter dry For
V V V
o o
o o o
o
o o
o
o
o
p o o
o
=
|
.
|
\
|
=
=
=
=
=

The calculated area A above should be increased by 30- 35% because of different
effects during settling. V 0.5V
t


Mechanically Agitated Thickener (Dorr-Thickener)

=10 - 100m
2.5 3.5 deep
n =0.015 - 0.5 r/min
X
2
=max 35 - 55%
Dorr thickener is a large fairly shallow tank with a slow moving rake. The liquor
moves radially at a constantly decreasing velocity allowing the solids to settle at the
bottom of the tank. Clear liquor spills over the edge of the tank into a launder. The
rake gently agitates the sludge and move into the centre of the tank. Then it moves
through a large opening to the inlet of a sludge pump.
The volume of clear liquor produced in a unit time depends on the cross-sectional area
available for settling and is independent of the liquid depth. To remove very fine
particles, sometime we use flocculation. Flocculation removes particles of a few
micrometer of diameter and the settling velocity is too low.
Feed
well
Vertical
Shaft
Blades
Arm

Discharge cone
Overflow launder
Feed pulp
Mechanism
support
n


The particles are agglomerated (are made to come together in a group) or flocculated
before they can be removed. Usually the particles carry electric charges. Because of
these charges they tend to remain dispersed. If some electrolyte is added, the ion form
in solution neutralizes the charges on the particles. These neutralize contains many
particles. The greater the value of valence of the ion the more effective the ion as
flocculation agent. The amount used is between 0.4 2% of the weight of the solute
particles.
Flocculation agent can be active SiO
2
or poly acryl amine. Other flocculation methods
used are surface active agent and the addition of materials such as glue, lime, alumina,
sodium silicate. For the design of a thickener, the smallest particle required to settle so
the retention time (t) should be greater or equal to the settling time of the smallest
particles.


Centrifugal Settling Processes
Cyclones are very good representative of centrifugal settling equipment
For liquids. For Gas

A cyclone consists of a vertical cylinder with a conical bottom. A tangential inlet near
the top and the outlet for the dust or sludge. The outlet pipe is extended into the
cylinder to prevent short circuiting of fluid from inlet to outlet. The incoming fluid
with the particles travel in a spiral path around and down the cylindrical body of the
cyclone. The centrifugal force moves the particles radially towards the wall and the
particles that reach the wall slide down into the cone and are collected. The clear air
or liquid in the centre of the cyclone moves upward in a small spiral path in the low
pressure.
( )

18
2 2
=
p
t
rd
V

X
1
, C
1
clear liquid
R =radius
of cylinder
gas
r
o
r

R

V
V
o
Settling
Velocity
V
o

X
o

C
o

H
Dust
&
Gas
dust
Discharge (sludge)


( )
r
v d
V
p
o

18
2 2
= Stokess law
For gases
p
p
o
r
v d
V
<< =
18
2 2

V =tangential velocity.
The diameter of the cyclone should be small.
V
o
=radial or settling velocity
The separation factor
rg
v
mg
r
mv
F
F
g
c
2
2
= =

The separation factor is used to characterize cyclones. It tells us how much greater the
separation in the cyclone as compared to a gravitational field.

A large diameter cyclone has a much lower separation factor at the same tangential
velocity. Velocities above 10 20mls are usually impractical because of the high
pressure drop and increased abrasive wear. Small-diameter cyclones may have
separation factors as high as 2500. For hydro-cyclones the separation factor can be as
high as 1000.

If the particle settles in the Stokess law range, the terminal velocity at radius r is

( )
( )
( )
( )
|
|
.
|
\
|
= =
=
o p
p
p
o
p
o
r
R
d
t
r
dr
d
dt
d r
dt
dr
V
d r
V
ln
18
18
18
18
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2

For classification the particles should be between d: 5 500 m (hydrocyclone) and
=300 500 m; height: 100 1200 m.


=collection efficiency = C
o
- C
1

C
o

[g] =g/m
3

C
o
=incoming concentration of the particles
C
1
=outgoing concentration of the particles
=70 - 80%
Temp T: up to 100
o
C Operation temperature &
pressure
Pressure P: up to 5oo x 10
5
Pa
Cyclones are used to remove particles from gas stream. It is a cheapest way of
collecting dust. It is cheapest in operation and design.

Sedimentation Centrifuges

In sedimentation centrifuge a particle of a given size is removed from the liquid if
sufficient time is available for the particles to reach the wall of the separator.

Operation
Surface of
liquid
h
Bowl
wall
r
o
R
n
Liquid
Discharge
Trajectory
Feed


The feed point is at the bottom and the liquid discharge at the top. The heavy larger
solid particles are thrown out of the liquid, finer light particles may not settle in the
time available and be carried out with the liquid.

They also have the separation factor.
900 900 3600 .
4
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
rn
g
rn
rg
r n
rg
v
F
F
f
g
c
= = = = =

If the separation factor 3000 (i.e. a normal industrial centrifuge)
: 3000 10,000 Super Centrifuge
>10,000 Ultra Centrifuge

Principle of Centrifugal Separation
We assume that the particle is at all time moving radially with its terminal velocity.
( )
o p
r
R
d
t ln
18
2

= in the Stokess law range t =resident time.

d
cut
=A cut point is the of that particle which just reaches the distance between r
o

and R. A particle of d
cut
moves a distance R - r
o
during the settling time alone.
2
If a particle of d
cut
is to be removed it must reach the bowl wall in the available time.
The resident time
rate flow volumetric
bowl liquid of vol
V
V
t
o
.
= =
[V] = m
3

[V
o
] =m
3
/s
V =(R
2
- r
o
2
) h

( )
o
o
cut p
ocut
r R
R
r R
d h
t
V
V
+
= =
2
ln
18
2 2
2 2

V
ocut
=Volumetric flow rate corresponding to d
cut
. If the thickener of liquid layer is
small compared to radius of bowl r
o
R. In this case the equation above is
indeterminant.


( )

18
2 2
r d
V R r
p
t o
=
Let the thickener of liquid layer be and the settling distance for particle of d
cut
be /2

( )
( )
=
=
=
=
tgrav ocyt
tgrav
p cut
p cut
ocut
t
V V
V
gr d
g
v
gr d
g
v
V
t
V
2
18
;
18
2
2
.
2
2
2
2

Thickener
This is a large, fairly shallow tank with slow moving radial rakes driven from a
central shaft. Its bottom may be flat or a shallow cone. Dilute feed slurry flows from
an inclined trough or launder into the centre of the thickener. The feed slurry, being
more dense than water, tends to flow downward until it reaches a zone of equal
density. Then it moves radially outward at a constantly decreasing velocity, and the
flow gradually divides between the downward moving suspension and the upward
moving flow that is nearly free of solids. Liquor moves radially at a constantly
decreasing velocity, allowing the solids to settle to the bottom of the tank. Clear liquor
spills over the edge of the tank into a launder. The rake arms gently agitate the sludge
and move it to the centre of the tank, where it flows through a large opening to the
inlet of a sludge pump. The volume of clear liquor produced in a unit time by a
continuous thickener depends primarily on the cross-sectional area available for
settling and in industrial separators is almost independent of the liquid depth.

Type Bowl
Diameter
(cm)
n (1/min) value
(m
2
)
f =F
c
/F
g
Through put liquid m
3
/h
Tubular 10 15000 2500 12500 0.03 0.3
Disk
(liq liq)
24
35
6500
4650
5600
4200

1.4 14


= Cross sectional area of a gravity settling tank of the same separation capacity as
the centrifuge.
V
grav.
= terminal velocity under gravity settling conditions.
Typical Values

Scaling up from lab test sedimentation performance should be the same if the value of
V
o
/ is the same for the lab and industrial machine. This is a dependable criteria for
the comparison of centrifuges of similar geometries and proportion developing the
same centrifugal force.

If we consider centrifuges of different configuration
V
o
= V
o2
= . . . . . .
1
n
1

2
n
2

The efficiency factor is about 90% for tubular bowl and about 55% for disk bowl. But
performance of any type of centrifuge may deviate from the theoretical because of
factors like:
1. Particle size distribution
2. Particle shape
3. The agglomeration of flocs in the feed system
4. Re-agglomeration of flocs within the centrifuge
5. non-uniform distribution of flow within the centrifuge.
6. Hindered settling effect
Critical speed for the centrifuge It is at which the frequency of rotation matches the
natural frequency of the rotating part. At this speed any vibration induces by slight
unbalance in the rotor is strongly re-enforced resulting in large deflection, high stress
and even failure of the equipment. Nearly all the centrifuges operate at speed well
above the critical speed and therefore must pass through this speed during
acceleration and deceleration to let them to do so safely, some degree of damping in
their mounting is provided.
50 4240 5000
Helical
conveyor
Liq - solid
35
64
4000
3000
1200
5700
3100
3200
To 20 solid(t/h) 0.5 1.5
To 70 solid (t/h) 2.5 - 12


Type of centrifuges
1. Batch lab centrifuges
2. Tubular bowl centrifuges (liq liq)
3. Disk centrifuges (liq liq)
4. Nozzle discharge (liq solid)
5. Cylindrical conical centrifuges (liq solid)
The viscosity of the liquid has an important effect on centrifuge capacity.
Heating of feed will frequently give great improvement in performance. Good
performance of high speed disk and tubular-bowl centrifuges has been obtained by the
difference in specific gravity. Commercial centrifuges separate particle 1 m P 0.1

E.g.
Calculate the diameter of the smallest particle that settle in a rectangular flue gas duct
if the length of the duct is 16m, the height is 2m, linear gas velocity is 0.5 m/s ; =
0.03 x 10
-3
Pas
of gas =0.8kg/m
3
,
p
= 4000kg/m
3

(1) Calculate the time which the gas passes through the duct
Solution


( )
( )
( )
( )
m
g
d
m
g
d
s
m
V
V
V V
s
m m
V
m
V
L
t
p
p
crit
t
t
t t
t
g

3 . 41
81 . 9 10 4
124 . 0 10 3 . 0 18
18
37 . 0
10 037 . 0
81 . 9 8 . 0 8 . 0 4000
10 03 . 0 18
18
1 Re
124 . 0
062 . 0 2
5 . 0
062 . 0
325
2
325
5 . 0
16
3
3
2
2
2
3
3
2
1
max
=

=
=
=
=

=
=
=
=
=
=
= =
= = =

Hydrodynamic of Packed Beds
As a fluid flows through beds of solid particles there is some resistant due to the flow.
This resistant is the resultant of the total drag of all the particles in the bed. Depending
on the Re; the fluid flow can be laminar, turbulent, form drag, separation and wake
formation occur.
The fluid flows through channels in the bed and these channels are irregular in shape,
have a variable cross section and they are highly unconnected. The main aim is to
calculate the pressure drop through the bed. For calculation, it is assumed that:
1. The actual channels may be effectively replace by a set of identical parallel
conduit of cross-section.
2. The total drag per unit area of channel wall is the sum of 2 kinds of force (F
v
=
viscous drag force and F
i
=internal forces)
3. The particles are packed randomly


4. All the particles are of the same size and shape
5. The end and wall effects are negligible. It means, number of particles adjacent
to the wall and end are very few compared to the total number of particles.
The last assumption is valid when the diameter and depth of the bed are large
compared to the particles.
A
s
= Area of channel boundaries (m
2
)
= Viscosity of fluid (Ns/m
2
=Pa.s =kg/ms)
V = Average velocity of the bed
= Porosity of the bed
L = Depth of the bed
S
o
= Cross-sectional area of the empty tower of the bed
P = Pressure drop through the bed (N/m
2
)
d = Diameter of the particle (m)
V
o
= Superficial or empty tower velocity
= Density of the fluid (kg/m
3
)
r
H
= hydraulic radius of channel
w
= Shear stress at channel boundaries (N/m
2
)
V
p
= Volume of single particle (m
3
)
S
p
= Surface area of single particle (m
2
)
r
w
= radius of channel
D
L
r
L
A
F
P
o
v
4
2
= = =
2
32
D
LV
P

= Hagen Poiseuille equation


( )
( )
( )
( )
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
2 2
6
1 36
1
1 1
sec .
.
1
1
2
. . .
6
6
.
1
.
1
.
.
sec
2
2
2
2
8
k
dV
k
V
d
L
P
V k
V
S V k
V
S
L
P
Channel of tional Cross S P F
V
k
S
V
V
k
V
S L S
AS V k
r
V k
A
A
F
A
F
F
V k
r
V k
A
F
A
F
A
F
Assumption
V
V
V A V A
d V
S
dS
V
solid of vol
V
L S
S N A
S
V
A
L S
r
solid the of area total
void the of vol
L
L
Channel of Perimeter
Channel of tional Cross
r
L V
PD
f
V
f
V V
f factor friction
D
V
O s O
s
O
P
P O
P
P
O D
O
P
P
O
P
P O
H
S
s
I
S
V
D
H s
i
s
v
s
s
o
o
s p
p
p
p
s
p
o
p p s
p
p
s
o
H
H
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
+

=
=
|
|
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ =
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ =
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ = + =
=
=
= =
= =
= =
=
=
=
= =
=

Ergun had the value of the constant 36k
1
=150 and 6k
2
=1.75 from experiment.


( )
equation Ergun
dV V
d
L
P
O s O
s
+
75 . 1
1 150
1
2
2

The LHS of the Ergun equation gives us the friction factor f
p

( )
( )
( )
=
=
< <

=
>
=
=
<
=
+
=
n
i
i
i
s
o
o
s
s o
o
s
O
p s
p
d
x
d diameter mean surface
c
V P
V
d
L
P
flow turbulent b
particle the of Sphericity V P
equation Carman Kozeny
V
d
L
P
a
dV
f
1
2
2
3 2 2
2
2 2
3 2 2
1
,
1000 Re 1 ) (
75 . 1
1
.
1000 Re ) (
150
1
.
1 Re ) (
Re
1
75 . 1
Re
1 150

Filter Media
The spectrum in any filter must meet the following requirements;
- It must retain the solids to be filtered giving a reasonably clear filtrate
- It must not plug or blind
- It must be resistant chemically & strong enough physically to
withstand the process conditions
- It must permit the cake formed to discharge cleanly and completely.
- It must not be prohibitively expensive

In industrial filtration a common filter medium is canvas cloth. Corrosive liquids
require the use of other filter media, such as woolen cloth, metal cloth of monel or


stainless steel, glass cloth or paper. Synthetic fabrics like nylon, polypropylene and
various polyesters are also highly resistant chemically.

Filter Aids
E.g. Diatomaceous silica, perlite, purified wood cellulose. Filter aids are added to
increase the porosity of the cake to permit passage of the liquor at a reasonable rate.
The filter aid may subsequently be separated from the filter cake by dissolving slowly
the solids or by burning out the filter aid. If the solids have no value, they and the
filter aid are discarded together.

Another way of using a filter aid is by precoating i.e. depositing a layer of it on the
filter medium before filtration. Precoats prevent gelatinous solids from plugging the
filter medium and give a clearer filtrate. The precoat is really part of the filter medium
rather than of the cake.

Filtration
It is the removal of solid particles from a fluid by passing through a filtering medium,
or septum, on which the solids are deposited. The fluid may be a liquid or a gas; the
valuable stream from the filter may be the fluid, or the solids or both. Sometimes it is
neither, as when waste solids must be separated from waste liquid prior to disposal.

The classification of filter
They can be classified in several ways:
1. liquid or gas (in terms of the fluid)
2. The valuable stream from the filter may be the fluid, or the solids or both or
neither.
Filters are also classified, therefore, into those that operate with a pressure above
atmospheric on the upstream side of the filter medium and those that operate with
atmospheric pressure on the upstream side and a vacuum on the downstream side.
Pressures above atmospheric may be developed by the force of gravity acting on a
column of liquid, by a pump or blower, or by centrifugal force. The industrial filters
are either vacuum or pressure filters. They are also continuous or discontinuous.
The mechanism can be two (2) type


(a) Cake Filter

The filtered solids are stopped at the surface of the medium and pile against one
another to form a cake of increasing thickness.

(b) Clarifier
The solids are trapped in the body of the pores.

Principles of Filtration
Filtration has been developed as practical rather than as a Science. The filtration
theory is never use as a sole basis for design of a filter for a given operation but is
valuable in seeking the optimum condition for filtration and predicting effects of
changes in operating conditions. The filtering characteristics must always be
determined on the actual slurry in question and data for one slurry can not be used for
another.

Cake Filtration
V: Volume of filtrate (m
3
)
V(u) velocity of filtrate (m/s)
L: Thickness of cake
m
c
: Total mass of solid in cake (kg)
P = overall pressure drop N/m
2

P
c
= Pressure drop over cake
Pore
Particles
Filter medium


P
m
= Pressure drop over medium
= Viscosity of filtrate (Pa.s)
t = time of filtration
A
s
= Total area of channel boundaries
S
o
= Cross-Sectional area
= wt. Factor of cake or porosity
A = Area of filter (m
2
)

In cake filtration the liquid passes through two resistances in series. One that of the
cake and the other is the filter medium. The cake resistance is zero at the beginning of
the process and increases with time. The filter cake consists of small particles that are
removed from the liquid by the filter medium. The resistance to the flow of liquid
through the cake is the resultant of the total drag channels are irregular in shape, have
a variable cross-section and are highly unconnected.
Pressure Drop through Filter Cake
For calculation it is assumed that the actual channels may be effectively replaced by a
set of identical parallel conduit of constant cross-section. The other assumption is that
in a filter bed the velocity is sufficiently low to ensure laminar flow
( )
3
2
2
1 17 . 4

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
P
P
V
S
dL
dP

S
p
= Surface of single particle
Medium
V, v
Filtrate
P
1
P

dL
Direction of flow
of Slurry
P
a
P
b


V
p
= Volume of single particle
d/dL = Pressure gradient at thickness L
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
3
2
c
a
1
3
2
1
0
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
P
resistance cake Specific
inlet at the Pressure p
medium and cake between boundary at the pressure The
1
1
1
1
1
1

p
p
p
c
p
c
p
p
c a
m
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
V
S
k
m
A
p
A
m
V
S
k
P p p
dm
A
V
S
k
dp
g Integratin
A
dm
V
S
k
dp
V
S
k
dL
dp
layer the in solids of volume AdL dm
A
dt
dV
V
c o
|
.
|
\
|
= =
=
=
|
.
|
\
|
= =
|
.
|
\
|
=
|
.
|
\
|
=
|
.
|
\
|
=
=
=

Filter medium resistance R
m
can be defined by analogy with the cake resistance


R cake of esistance
R
filtration for equation al differenti Basic

filtrate of e unit volum per filter on the deposited particles of Mass
=
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
|
.
|
\
|
+
= =
=
|
.
|
\
|
+ = + =
=
A
CV
R
A
CV
P A dV
dt
R
A
V
C
P
Adt
dV
C
R
A
m
P P P
P
R
m
m
m
c
m c
m
m

The flow rate of filtration depends directly on
P; 1/;
m c
R R +
1
;
c
m
1
; A
2
;
2

Constant Pressure Filtration
When P is constant, the only variable in equation (a) are V and t. when t = 0, V = 0
and P = Pm.
When filtrate volume increases with the velocity of filtration decreases.


PA
R
q PA
C
K
q
V
K
V
t
P
k
A
V
P
k
V
A
t
PA
R
PA
CV
V
t
V R
V
C PAt
PAdt dV R
A
CV
m
O
C
O
C
m
m
t V
m
=
+ |
.
|
\
|
=
+ |
.
|
\
|
= |
.
|
\
|
=
+ =
= |
.
|
\
|
+

1
;
1
2
2
2
2
2
2 1
2
2
0 0

for Incompressible Cake
is the independent of P and the position in the cake but most cakes are not made
up of individual rigid particle. The usual slurry is a mixture of agglomerate flocs. The
resistance of the cake depends on the properties of the flocs rather than the geometry
of the individual particles.

Compressible Filter Cake:- The flocs are distorted and broken down by the forces
existing in the cake. The factors , k,
Sp
/
Vp
, vary from layer to layer and vary with
V
t

| | | |
6
3
2
tan
m
s
K
s
m
q
K
c o
c
= =
=

o
q
1

V


the applied pressure and it may vary with time. Sometimes runs are made at different
P so that can be correlated with P. Ordinary increases with P as most slurry
are compressible into some extent. Empirical correlation may be fixed for and P

=
o
(P)
s

s = compressibility coefficient of cake
o
= empirical constant
s = 0 for incompressible cakes
its usually 0.2 <s <0.8
Rm (medium resistant varies with P and with the age and cleanliness of the filter
medium. But since Rm is important only in the early stages of filtration; therefore it is
satisfactory to assume that it is constant.

Constant Rate Filter
( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
s
m
s
c o
s
c
m
s
c o c
s
o
m
c
m
m
m
P P t C P P
P P t C P P
P
P
P t C
P
R t C P
At
V R
t A
CV
P
R
A
V
C
P
t A
V
At
V
t Cons
Adt
dV

= =
= =
=
=
=
=
+ =
+ =
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
= = =
1 2 1
2
m
2
2
2
2
R
cake he through t drop Pressure
time the ally with proportion increase to has constant V If
.
tan

I

most pressure filters are fed by centrifugal pumps. Their operation is seldom at
constant pressure or constant rate but in accordance to the characteristics of the pump,


is a constant rate during its early stage and constant pressure during much of the later
part of is cycle. Pumps having steep head-discharge characteristics do not operate
during constant rate or constant pressure during any part of the cycle but always under
intermediate conditions of increasing pressure and decreasing flow rate

Continuous Filtration
(Rotary Drum Filter)
In a continuous filter the feed, filtrate and the cake moves at steady constant rates. For
any particular element of the filter surface, however, conditions are not steady but
transient i.e. an element of the filter cloth enters the pond of slurry until it is scraped
clean once more. The process consists of several steps in series- cake formation,
washing, drying and discharging are the consecutive process. P is constant across the
filter during cake formation.

C
t
R
t
R
t
C
P
K
q
K
q
t K
q
V
q
V
K
V
t
t Cons P
m
m
C
O
C
O
C
O
O
C
.
2
At
V
to leads by tA, division by followed equations, previous from and
1
for on Substituti
1
2
1
1
2
tan
2
2
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
+ =
=

V
/t = rate of filtrate collection
t = actual filtering time i.e time at which any filter element is immersed in
the sludge
V = filtrate collected during t time
A = submerged area of filter
A
T
= total filter area
t
c
= cycle time
n = drum speed


t
CV
m
c

c = mass of particle deposited on filter per unit volume of filtrate.

Equation (B) may be written in terms of the rate of solids production m
c
and the filter
characteristics: cycle time t
c
, drum speed n and total filter area A
T
. If the fraction of
the drum submerged is f,

( )
) 1 (
2
AT
m
2
c
m m
c
nR nR
fn
P
n
f
ft t
+
=
= =

A
Since f
A
T
=
The rate of cake production, divided by the total area of filter is given by (1). When
the filter medium is washed after the cake is discharged Rm is negligible.
( )
s
O
T
c
P
Pfn C
A
m

=
=
1
2

If the specific cake resistance varies with pressure drop: (EQUATIONS)
To wash the soluble materials that may be retained by the filter cake after filtration a
solvent miscible with the filtrate is used and this is usually water.

Concentration in Effluent

a
b
c
d


a b segment
the effluent consists essentially of the filtrate that was left on the filter and this stage
of washing is ideal and is called displacement wash.
Under favourable conditions that particles size of the cake is small as much as 90% of
the solute in the cake can be recovered. The velocity of wash liquid needed for
displacement wash is equal to AL.

b c segment
A rapid concentration drop of effluent.

c d segment
Concentration of solute is low; the remaining solute is slowly leached from the cake.
The washing should be stopped when the value of unrecovered solute is less than the
cost of washing. The concentration of solid in the slurry fed to the filter is slightly less
than c concentration since the wet cake includes sufficient liquid to fill it pores, and
V, the actual volume of the filtrate, is slightly less than the total liquid in the liquid in
the original slurry. Correction for this retention of liquid in the cake can be made by
material balance if desired.

S
C
w
S
C
m
m
C
C
(
(
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
1 1

Mw = mass of wet cake
Mc = mass of dry cake
Cs = concentration of solids in the slurry
= density of filtrate

Cake-Filtration Equipment
Cs: 1 40%
Medium Textile woven of cotton or synthetic fibers are the most commonest type.
Others: fiber-forming materials eg. Glass, asbestos, cellulose, metal. Other type which


is commonly used is porous or perforated solids eg carbon, metal, refractory, polymer
etc. the continuous filters are usually pressure filters
P = constant. The discontinuous filters are usually vacuum filters.

Nutsch Filters

: 1 - 3 m
L: 10 - 30 cm
Medium : - perforated metal plate
- porous sintered metal
- porous ceramic slab or blocks ( silica, alumina, porcelain)

Operation
A Nutsch tank is a tank equipped with a false bottom. The false bottom can be porous
or perforated that may support a filter medium or may itself act as the septum. The
Nutsch Tank
Min. 11m Barometric leg
Filtrate
Vacuum
Vacuum receiver

Feed

Slurry

Cake


dry cake can be removed by hand scooping and this costly in labour and produces
excess wear of filter medium.

Advantages
Extreme simplicity and low cost of equipment.

Disadvantages
1. Small filter area
2. High labor cost in digging out the solid cake
3. Excessive flows are occupied per unit of filtration and relatively low P.
Theoretical maximum for P = 1 105 Pa ( 1 atmosphere)

Filter Press
Plate and- Frame Filter Press

This is a continuous or batch filter.
Operation
The filter press is assemblies of alternate solid plates, which are grooved and covered
with filter medium (fabric) and hallow frames in which the cake collects during

P
l
a
t
e

F
r
a
m
e

P
l
a
t
e

F
r
a
m
e

P
l
a
t
e

Feed
slurry
Cock
Wash
water
(a) Filtering (b) Washing


filtration. the plate and the frame are usually rectangular although they may be
circular too. They are hanged in a vertical position on a parallel support bars. During
filtration they are compressed to water tight closer by a screw or a hydraulic ram.
Slurry is admitted at one end of the assemble of plates and frame through channel
which goes into each frame. Liquor passes through the fabric (later cake) and out a
discharge pipes leaving a wet cake of solid behind. Filtration pressure suddenly rises.
This occurs when the frames are full of solids and no more slurry can enters. Wash-
liquid may then be admitted. The press is then opened and the cake of solids removed
from the filter medium.

Parameters
Frame size: 20 20 cm 140 140 cm
Frame thickness: 0.3 - 20 cm
P: 3 - 10 atmosphere
A
total
up to 140 m
2

Advantages
1. Simplicity
2. Cheap
3. Relatively rapid filtration because of P
4. The floor space requirement per unit of filter capacity or area is small
5. Ability to operate at high pressure as either cake filter or clarifying filter.
6. It has no moving part during its operation.
7. The faulty plates can be disconnected by closing its cock.

Disadvantages
1. The batch pressure filter is difficult to adapt to continuous filter processes.
2. The filter fabric life is relatively short because of mechanical wear incidental
to emptying and cleaning the press.
3. Costly to operate because labour demands are high since each frame must be
handle separately and each cloth has to be inspected.
4. Often drip and leak, so housekeeping in the area is a problem.


Many of the disadvantages can be eliminated or reduced by proper operation. With
proper operation a denser drier cake will result than for any other filter.

Continuous Vacuum Filters
In all continuous vacuum filters liquor is sucked through a moving septum to deposit
the cake of solid. The cake is moved out of the filtering zone, washed, sucked dry and
dislodged from the septum, which then reenters the slurry to pick up another load of
solids. Various designs of filter differ in the method of admitting slurry, the shape of
the filter surface and the way in which the solids are discharged. The continuous
vacuum filters can be drums disks, horizontal filters.

Rotary Drum Filter
This is the oldest and popular vacuum filter.

W
a
s
h

s
p
r
a
y

n

Wash water outlet Vent to
atmosphere
Strings
returning
to drum
rolls
F
i
l
t
e
r

c
a
k
e

Agitator
Filtrate outlet
Slurry
Slurry
trough
Feed


Section 1 - 4 : It is a filtration. A layer of solid built up on the face(vacuum)
Section 5 - 12: It is a dewatering, it is the place where washing and drying takes
place. It is under vacuum.
Section 13: Discharging the cake
Section 14 - 16: Are ready to start a new cycle.

Operation
A horizontal drum with a slotted face turns in an agitated slurry trough. A filter
medium usually canvas covers the face of the drum, which is partly submerged in the
slurry (left). Vacuum and air alternatively applied to each section as the drum rotates.
After the cake of the solids on the face of the drum has been sucked as dry as
possible, the compartment leaves the drying zone vacuum is cut off and the cake is
removed by scrapping it off with a horizontal knife (doctor blade) or a roller or an
endless string. A little air is blown in under the cake to crake it away from the cloth.

Some Operation Parameters
P: 259 - 500 mmHg (0.3 - 0.7 bar)
A
total
(total filtering area) = 0.4 100 m
2

Diameter of drum = 1 5 m
Length of drum = 0.5 5 m
Rotational speed (n) = 0.1 3 min
-1

A
submerged
30% of A
total

Thickness of cake for conventional drum = 6 12 mm

Advantages
1. Can be adapted to continuous system
2. Low labour use
3. The filtering surface can be opened to the atmosphere and therefore easily
accessible for inspection and repair.

Disadvantage
1. A vacuum system must be maintained.
2. Cannot be used with filtrates that are volatile.


3. Inflexible and do not perform well if the feed stream changes with respect to
rate, consistency or character of solids.

Other Filters
- Leaf filters
- Kelly Filter
- Sweet land Filter
- Wallez Filter

Fluidization
When a fluid is flowing upwards through a bed of solid particles, the particles do not
move and the pressure drop P is given by the Ergun equation.

If the fluid velocity is increased steadily the pressure drop and the drag on individual
particles increases and finally the particles start to move and become suspended in the
fluid. Then the term fluidization or fluidized bed describes this condition when the
fully suspended particles behave like a dense fluid.

L
Porous
Plate
Fluid (Air)
P
P
A
B
P
Fixed
bed
Fluidized bed
Superficial velocity
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

d
r
o
p

&

B
e
d

h
e
i
g
h
t

0
V
om

C


OA
If the particles are quite small, the flow in the channel between the particles will be
laminar and the pressure drop P across the bed will be proportional to the
superficial velocity V
o
i.e P ~ Vo
A
At a certain velocity the pressure drop counterbalances the force of gravity of the
particles and any further increase in velocity will cause the particles to move.

AB
Sometimes, the bed expands slightly with the particle still in contact since just a slight
increase in porosity can offset an increase of several percent in Vo and P still
keeps constant.

B
With further increase in velocity the particles become separated enough to move
about in the bed and true fluidization begins.

BC
Once the bed is fluidized P stays constant but the bed height continuous to increase
with increasing flow.
Fluidized bed can be operated at a very high velocity with very little or no lost of
solids since the superficial velocity Vo needed to support the bed of particle is much
less than the terminal velocity V
t
of the individual particle. If the flow rate gradually
reduce the final bed height (L) may be greater than the initial value because solids
dumped in a tube tend to pack more tightly than solids slowly settling from a fluidized
state.
Vom = minimum fluidization velocity
= porosity of a fixed bed
m
= minimum porosity for fluidization


Minimum Fluidization Velocity
( )( )
( )( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
2 2
3
om
3 2
2
3
2
2 2
3 2
2
3
2
2 2
1 150
V
particles small for very 1 Re ) (
75 . 1 1 150
1 75 . 1 1 150
L
p
. 2
1
L
p
1.
section - cross of area unit per bed of Weight 1
d
m g
a
g
d
V
d
V
d
V
d
V
g
P Lg P
s
m
P
P
m s
om
m s
om
m s
m om
m s
om
m P
m P
<
= +
= =

Experiments shoes that V
om
varies a little less than the second power of the particle
size (d
2
) and not quite inversely with the . The reason for this misbehavior is that
there is some error in neglecting the second term from the Ergun equation. The other
is that
m
will change with particle size.
m
is usually between 0.4 0.45 for
approximately spherical particles.
m
for irregular particles is uncertain and probably
this gives the major error in the calculation of the minimum fluidization velocity V
om
.

Minimum fluidization velocity for particles in air calculated from Ergun equation.

V
om
or V
t

(Cm
3
/s)

100

10

0.1
10 100 1000 5000
d (m)


Vt = terminal velocity for individual particles in air. The dependence of d
2

holds up to particles about 300m. Therefore in application of fluidization the
particles are arranged between 30 300m.
( )

75 . 1
V
1mm) (d particles large for 1000 Re (b)
3
om
g d
P m s

> >

NB: Laminar term is eliminated. In practice this is fluidization of combustion of coal.

Type of Fluidization
1. Particulate Fluidization
Beyond the V
om
the appearance of beds flooded with liquid or gas is often quite
different. When fluidizing with water the particle move farther apart and their motion
become more vigorous as velocity is increased but the average density at a given
velocity is the same in all sections of the bed and this type of fluidization is called
particulate. This particulate fluidization is characterized by a large but uniform
expansion of the bed at high velocities.

2. Bubbling Fluidization (Aggregative)
When fluidized with gases at superficial velocities Vo much greater than the Von
most of the gas passes through the bed as bubbles, which are almost free of solids, and
only a small fraction of the gas flows in the channel between the particles. In the
space between the bubbles the void fraction is about the same as an incipient
fluidization. This kind of fluidization is also called boiling. It is characterized by a
non-uniform nature of the bed. The behavior of a bubbling fluidized bed depends very
strongly on the number and size of gas bubbles. The average bubble size depends on:
1.The nature and size distribution of particles
2.Type of distributor plate
3.The superficial velocity Vo and the
4.Depth of the bed.

4. Slugging Bed (Fluidization)
This type can be considered as a special type of bubbling bed. A small diameter
column is used with a deep bed of solids. The bubbles may grow until they fill the


entire cross-section. This is usually undesirable because of pressure fluctuation in bed
and increase entrainment.

NB. The generalization that liquids give particulate fluidization of solids while gases
give bubbling fluidization is not completely valid. The density different is an
important parameter and very heavy solids may exhibit bubbling fluidization with
water while gases at high pressure may give particulate fluidization of fine solids.

Expansion of Fluidized Bed
With both types the bed expands as the superficial velocity increases because
P = constant P/L decreases as increases

(a)Particulate Fluidization
( )
( )g
d
V
d
V
P
m s
om
m s
om

= +
3 2
2
3
2
2 2
1 75 . 1 1 150

Turbulent Flow
( )
2 2
3
150
1 d g
V
S P
o

Here V
o
=
m
-----Empirical equation proposed by Lewis,
Gas


om o o
V V for V >

1
3

=
1
1
m
m
L L
L
m
=bed height at incipient fluidization
L =height of the expanded fluidized bed

Gilliand Bauer
The equation can be applied directly or in a ratio from
m
m om
o
V
V
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
|
|
.
|
\
|

The expansion of the bed is greater than what can be calculated from the empirical
equation. Experiment shows that the value of m varies from 4.5 in laminar region to
2.5 at high Re.

Application of Fluidization
1. It becomes important in the petroleum industry in which they used it for catalytic
cracking.
2. It can be used for heat transfer eg. Drying fine solids.
0.1 1 10 10
2
10
3
Re
m

5

4

3

2


3. Can be used for solid mixing.
4. In chemical reactions either in catalytic chemical reaction

Advantages of Fluidization
1. The solid is vigorously agitated by fluid passing through the bed.
2. The mixing of the solid ensures that there are practically no temperature gradients
in the bed even with quite endothermic or exothermic reactions.
3. Because of fluidity of the solid it is easy to pass solids from one vessel to another.

Example
A bed of iron exchange bead 8ft deep =L is to be backwash with water to remove
dirts. The particles has a density of 1.2 g/cm
3
and the average size is d =1.1 mm.
What is the minimum fluidization velocity using water at 20o and what velocity is
required to expand the bed by 25%. The beads are assumed to be spherical. Sphericity
= 1, minimum fluidization porosity; = 0.40; = 1cp = 10
-3
Pas


Solution
( )
s
mm
V V
L
L
L
L
L
L
V
V
V
m
d V
s
mm
s
m
V
V V
V
g
d
V
d
V
m
m
om o
m
m
m
m m
m
m
m om
o
m
o
om p
p
om
om om
om
P
m s
om
m s
m om
4 . 5
4 . 0
52 . 0
94 . 1
52 . 0
25 . 1
04 . 0 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
25 . 1
9 . 3
65 . 2
10
10 1 . 1 10 94 . 1 1240
Re
10 94 . 1 10 94 . 1
0 4 . 2354 10 858 . 24 10 162 . 1
89 . 9 240
064 . 0 10 10 1 . 1 1
6 . 0 10 150
75 . 1 1 150
9 . 3
3
3 3
3 3
2 6 6
3 3 2 2
3
3 2
2
3 2 2
= |
.
|
\
|
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
=
= =
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
=
=
=

= =
= =
= +
=

= +


Hydraulic Transport
When particles size d <50m settle very slowly and are readily suspended in moving
liquid. Particles greater than d 0.25mm in this case, a fairly large liquid velocity is
needed to keep them (particles) moving especially in horizontal pipes.

The critical velocity V
c
below which particles will settle out, is usually between 1 5
m/s. V
c
depends on several factors such as :
1. The density difference between solids and liquid
2. The particle size
3. The slurry concentration
4. Diameter of the pipe
V
c
is large in big pipes than smaller pipes. Pressure drop P in slurries of non-settling
particles may be found from the equations for a homogenous liquid.

For settling slurries there is no simple satisfactory correlation. Usually the velocity in
a long slurry pipeline is typically 1.5 to 2 times V
c
.

Pneumatic Conveying
The suspending fluid in a pneumatic conveyor is a gas, usually air, flowing at
velocities between 15 and 30m/s in pipes ranging from 50 to 400 ( 2 to 16 in) in
diameter. There are two principal types of systems: negative pressure (vacuum)
systems, useful for transferring solids from multiple intake point to a single delivery
point and positive-pressure systems, which are best with a single input station and one
or more delivery points.

In vacuum systems the mass ratio of solids to gas is usually less than 5; for such
suspensions the critical velocity in metres per second, may be estimated from the
empirical relation
Put equation at page 86
Where D
p
is the diameter of the largest particle to be conveyed. Mot pneumatic
conveyor operate under positive pressure with a blower or compressor. Feeding air (
or occasionally nitrogen) at 1 to 5 atm. gauge pressure into the system. The ratio of
solids to gas is usually higher than in vacuum systems.


The pressure drop P required to pass air alone through a pneumatic conveying
system is small, but greatly increased when additional energy must be supplied to lift
and move the solids. This additional energy is given by
Put latter equation on page 86
Where
r = mass ratio of solids to gas
V
sa
= Velocity of solids at inlet
V
sb
= Velocity of solids at outlet
s
= Density of solid
P
b
= Pressure at stations a and b.

The energy E
s
is supplied by the air. It is transmitted to the solid particles through the
action of drag forces between the air and the solid.

Mixing
It is a random distribution into and through one another of two or more initially
separate phases. The term mixing is applied to variety of operations differing widely
to the degree of homogeneity of the mixed material.

The key to lifelong success is regular gratitude

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The key to lifelong success is regular gratitude

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: gratitude.

m=feed rate kg/s

= for Stokess law range

= in the Stokess law range t =resident time.

You might also like