Soli Liquid Separation

64
SolidLiquid Separation

64.1 Unit Operations in SolidLiquid Separation

Screening Sedimentation Centrifugation Hydrocycloning
Flotation

64.2 Equipment

64.3 Fundamental Concept

64.4 Design Principles

Cake Filtration Ultraltration

64.5 Economics

Solidliquid separation plays a key role in nearly all manufacturing industries, including chemical,
mineral, paper, electronics, food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and biochemical industries, as well as in
energy production, pollution abatement, and environmental control. It also serves to fulll vital needs
of our daily life, since we must have cartridge oil/fuel lters for operating an automobile, a paper lter
for the coffee machine, a sand lter bed for the municipal water treatment plant, and so on. In fact,
modern society cannot function properly without the benet of the solidliquid separation.
Technically, solidliquid separation involves the removal and collection of a discrete phase of matter
(particles) existing in a dispersed or colloidal state in suspension. This separation is most often performed
in the presence of a complex medium structure in which physical, physicochemical and/or electrokinetic
forces interact. Their analysis requires combined knowledge of uid mechanics, particle dynamics, solu-
tion chemistry, and surface/interface sciences.
Although the industrial equipment classied as solidliquid separation devices are too numerous to
be cited individually, it is generally accepted that these may be grouped into six categories of unit
operations: (1)

screening

, (2)

sedimentation

, (3)

centrifugation

, (4)

hydrocycloning

, (5)

otation

, and
(6)

ltration

.

64.1 Unit Operations in SolidLiquid Separation

A description of each unit operation in solidliquid separation is presented in this section with the
exception of ltration. Liquid ltration, one of the most commonly used industrial operations, is dis-
cussed separately in subsequent sections to illustrate the fundamental concept and design considerations
for solidliquid separation.

Screening

Screening is the simplest mechanical operation to separate solid particles based on their sizes. When
solids are placed on a screen, particles smaller than the screen opening pass through while the larger
particles are retained by the screen. In this manner, feed solids can be separated into two different parts,

Shiao-Hung Chiang

University of Pittsburgh

1586_book.fm Page 1 Monday, May 10, 2004 12:54 PM
2005 by CRC Press LLC

64

-2

The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition

namely, the undersized and the oversized portions. Often two or more screens of graded openings are
used in series to separate a material into different size fractions. In many instances, screening is used as
an analytical tool to determine particle size distribution in a sample of solid material. The particle size
distribution can be used as a basis for equipment selection in solidliquid separation (see Section 64.2
below). In addition to size separation, an important usage of screening is to perform mechanical dewa-
tering (often combined with washing) of solid materials [Svarovsky, 1985]. For industrial applications,
screens are made of various metals in the forms of wire mesh and slotted or perforated plates. The
openings of standard screens range from 10 cm (4 in.) down to as small as a few micrometers. In screening
operations, mechanical vibration and shaking are often applied to the screen surface to enhance the
effectiveness of separation [Perry and Green, 1997].

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is a unit operation designed to separate suspended solid from a liquid stream by particle
settling under the inuence of a body force, most commonly gravity. From an operation standpoint,
gravity sedimentation can be divided into two basic types: clarication and thickening. The objective of
clarication is to remove small quantities of suspended particulates from the liquid stream to produce
a claried efuent or overow stream. On the other hand, thickening is to concentrate dilute suspensions
for their subsequent treatment in lters or centrifuges.
The settling behavior of suspended particulates in a gravitational eld is affected by three factors: the
particle size, the solid concentration, and the aggregation status of particles. In a dilute suspension, the
settling solid behaves as individual particles and the process is regarded as

particulate

or free settling
regime.

Most clarier operations fall into this regime. As the solid concentration increases, the suspended
particles have more chances to approach each other closely and to form aggregates. Once the concentra-
tion reaches a level at which the suspended particles settle as a mass, the corresponding sedimentation
is known as

hindered

or

zone settling.

In this regime, the settling behavior is related more to the solid
concentration than to the particle size. As the solid concentration increases further, a settled bed of
sediment mass is compressed by the overburden of sediment on top of it. Liquid is expressed from the
lower sediment layers and ows upward through the sediment. This regime is termed

compression regime.

Sedimentation with the addition of chemical occulant usually falls into this regime. A feed suspension
in a thickener (or clarier) can be operated in any regime. Therefore, the design of sedimentation
equipment must consider all three regimes.
Figure 64.1 shows a schematic diagram of a thickener that exhibits three distinct zones: a clean liquid
(or clarication) zone at the top, a compression zone at the bottom, and a transition zone in between.
The thickener consists of several basic components: a tank to contain the slurry, a feed well for feed
supply (with or without occulant), a rotating rake mechanism, an underow solids-withdrawal and an
overow launder. In addition, an underow recirculation system (not shown in the diagram) is often
used. The physical size of a conventional thickener can vary from a few meters to more than 100 meters
in diameter. For the operation of large vessels, careful consideration must be given to the design of the
supporting structure for the rotating rake mechanism and the control scheme for liquid levels and ow
rates. Detailed descriptions of major components and instrumentations used for different types of
thickeners can be found in the literature [Perry and Green, 1997; Schweitzer, 1997].

Centrifugation

Centrifuges are equipment that employs centrifugal force for the effective separation of solidliquid
suspension. The centrifugal force used in such equipment ranges up to 10,000 times the gravitational
acceleration. Liquidsolid separation centrifuges can be broadly divided into two types:

sedimentation
centrifuges

and

ltering centrifuges.

Due to its much stronger force eld,

sedimentation centrifuges

can be used to separate very ne
particles as well as emulsions, which might normally be stable in a gravitational eld. These centrifuges



64

-3

are not usually sensitive to feed solid concentration because the
liquid does not have to move through the solids or a medium. In
order for a particle of a given size to be removed from the liquid, a
sufcient time should be allowed for the particle to settle and reach
the wall of the separator bowl. For example, in a simple tubular
centrifuge, as shown in Figure 64.2, the bowl consists of a vertical
tube with a large height to diameter ratio, which rotates at a high
speed about its vertical axis [McCabe et al., 2001]. The feed point is
at the bottom and the liquid discharge is at the top. The incoming
suspension starts to rotate with the bowl, and its angular velocity
will soon become identical with that of the bowl. There is therefore
no tangential ow in the bowl. The rotating liquid moves upward
through the bowl at a constant velocity, carrying solid particles with
it. In the meantime, under the inuence of high centrifugal forces
the solid particles begin to settle toward the wall. The total settling
time is limited by the residence time of the liquid in the bowl. At
the end of this time if the particle does not reach the wall, it leaves
the centrifuge with the liquid. Only those particles that reach the
wall within the residence time are removed from the liquid.

Filtering centrifuges

separate solid particles and liquid from a
solidliquid suspension by employing pressure resulting from the
centrifugal action to force the liquor through the lter medium,
leaving the solid particles behind [Zeitsch, 1990]. The density dif-
ference between the solids and the liquid, which governs the sepa-

FIGURE 64.1

Schematic diagram of thickener operation.
Overflow
Launder
Solid-
Withdrawal
Underflow
Clean Liquid Zone
(Clarification)
Feedwell
Rake
Feed Suspension + Flocculant
Transition Zone
Compression Zone
Settling Solids
O
v
e
r
f
l
o
w
Tank

FIGURE 64.2

Tubular centrifuge.
(

Source:

McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C.,
and Harriott, P. 2001.

Unit Opera-
tions of Chemical Engineering,

6th
ed., Figure 29.36, p. 1049. McGraw-
Hill, New York.)
Feed
Solids
Liquid Liquid
Motor
Rotating Bowl


64

-4


ration in the

sedimentation centrifuges,

is no longer a prerequisite. The common feature of all ltering
centrifuges is a rotating basket having a slotted or perforated wall covered with a lter medium, such as
canvas or metal cloth, on which the deposited solid particles form a lter cake. Thus, the centrifugal
ltration can be viewed as a cake ltration process under constant pressure (due to centrifugal acceler-
ation). The rate of ltration can be calculated using the two-resistance model for cake ltration (see
Section 64.4 below).

Hydrocycloning

The hydrocyclone is another device using centrifugal force to separate solids from liquid based on
differences in density and particle size. A typical hydrocyclone consists of a cylindrical section and a
conical section (with no internal rotating parts) as shown in Figure 64.3. An external pump is used
to transport the liquid suspension to the hydrocyclone through a tangential inlet at high velocity,
which in turn generates the liquid rotation and the necessary centrifugal force. The outlet for the bulk
of the liquid is connected to a vortex nder located on the axis of upper cylindrical section of the
vessel. The underow, which carries most of the solids, leaves through an adjustable opening (apex)
at the bottom of the conical section. It should be noted that the solidliquid separation in hydrocy-
clones is never complete because there is always a signicant amount of liquid discharging with the
solids through the underow. This feature limits the applications of hydrocyclone to clarication and
thickening. In some cases, the hydrocyclone is also used as a classier to separate suspended particles
into different size fractions.
The internal working of a hydrocyclone is best described in terms of a double spiral liquid ow pattern
within its body [Kelsall, 1952; Rushton et al., 2000; and Svarovsky, 1985]. A schematic view of the spiral
ow inside a hydrocyclone is shown in Figure 64.3(b). Liquid on entry commences downward ow in
the outer regions of the hydrocyclone body. This combined with the rotational motion to which it is
constrained creates the outer spiral. At the same time, some of the downward-moving liquid begins to
feed across towards the center. The amount of inward motion of liquid increases as it approaches the
cone apex. Liquid in this inward stream ultimately reverses its direction and ows upwards to the cyclone
overow outlet via the vortex nder. The reversal applies only to the vertical component of velocity, and
the inner spiral rotates in the same circular direction as the outer one. Wall friction causing obstruction
of tangential velocity results in a nontangential motion. Consequently, a strong axially directed current
occurs near the wall, which carries solid particles to the apex opening and out of the hydrocyclone. Thus,
it achieves the desired solidliquid separation.

FIGURE 64.3

Schematic diagram of hydrocyclone: (a) principal features and (b) ow pattern.
Feed
Inlet
Cylindrical
Section
Cone
Section
Apex
Underflow
Inner Vortex
with Air Core
Outer
Vortex
Feed
Overflow
Vortex Finder
(a) (b)



64

-5

Flotation

The use of bubbles to oat ne particles in a liquid is commonly known as

otation process.

Such a
process consists of attaching gas bubbles to the suspended solid particles to alter their apparent density
for selective levitation of particles to be separated. The otation operation involves not only the adhesion
of small particles to gas bubbles, but also the collection of the gassy particles in the form of froth. Thus,
the bubble otation is also named as

froth otation.

The otation process is fundamentally different from other mechanical separation techniques in that
otation is a surface property-driven process, which depends upon complex phenomena occurring at
the interface of solid particles and gas bubbles [Fuerstenau et al., 1985; Jaycock and Partt, 1981; and
Zettlemoyer, 1969]. In a bubble-particle attachment process, the tendency of the particle to replace its
solidliquid interface by the solidvapor interface is termed hydrophobicity or oatability. If a surface is
completely wetted by water, it would be denoted as high-energy surface (i.e., hydrophilic). Most metals
and minerals exhibit high-energy surfaces. On the other hand, hydrocarbon surfaces are low energetic
(i.e., hydrophobic). The particles with a low free energy have a high oatability.
The contact between particles and gas bubbles in a suspension is considered as a two-step process: (1)
the collision between the particle and the bubble and (2) the attachment of the particle onto the gas
bubble. Each step can be modeled as a stochastic event. Thus, the overall probability of particle collection
by gas bubble is dened as the product of the probability of particlebubble collision and the probability
of adhesion after the collision. The collision probability depends mainly on the hydrodynamic charac-
teristics of the otation cell while the adhesion probability is related to the hydrophobicity of the particle.
Traditionally, otation is carried out in an open cell equipped with a gas-inducing agitator (turbine
or impeller). As shown in Figure 64.4, air is induced through the air passage in the agitator shaft by
suction. The rotational motion of the agitator disperses air bubbles into the suspension. These bubbles
attach to suspended particles to form

aggregates.

The particlebubble aggregates oat upward to the froth
layer, which is mechanically skimmed off or ows over a weir into the discharge launder as a froth
product. The nonoatable particles are withdrawn from the bottom of the cell as tailings. A more recent
development in otation is the use of bubble column as a otation device [Finch et al., 1995]. In Figure
64.5, it shows that the space in a otation column can be divided into two parts: the collection zone and
the froth zone. The feed enters the column via a feed port at the middle and ows downward to the base
of the column. The gas bubbles are generated either by an internal sparger near the bottom of the column
or an external gas bubble generator. To minimize the effect of unexpected particle entrainment, a wash
water device is added near the top of the column just below the overow weir for cleaning the froth. The
operating performance of a otation column is generally superior to that of open cell otation.

FIGURE 64.4

Conventional open-cell otation.
Agitator
Bubble
Particles
Air
Particle-Laden Froth
Pulp


64

-6


64.2 Equipment

The most important criterion for the selection of equipment for a given application of solidliquid
separation is the particle size of the system. Figure 64.6 shows the general range of applicability of major
types of equipment in terms of the particle size and representative materials involved. Of course, this
representation is an oversimplication of the selection process, as many other factors are not considered.
For example, the solid concentration in the feed mixture (suspension) can inuence the choice of
equipment type. In general, deep-bed ltration is best for treating dilute slurry with solid concentration
less than 1%, whereas cake ltration is the method of choice for slurries having solid concentration much
greater than 1%.

FIGURE 64.5

Column otation.

FIGURE 64.6

Equipment selection for solidliquid separation based on particle size.
Wash Water
Feed
Particle-
Laden Froth
Froth Zone
Interface
Column
Diameter
Gas
Bubbles
Collection Zone
Gas Sparger
Tailings
molecules
10
4
10
3
10
2
10
1
1.0
Mean Particle Size, micrometer
10 10
2
10
3
10
4
colloids ultrafine fine medium coarse
Bacteria
Fine
Sand
Gravel Coarse
Sand
Virus Clay Silt
Flotation
Deep-bed Filtration
Screening
Cycloning
Sedimentation/Thickening
Cake Filtration
Microfiltration
Ultrafiltration



64

-7

It should also be pointed out that the various ltration processes (deep-bed ltration, cake ltration,
microltration, and ultraltration) cover nearly the entire range of particle size. Therefore, the term

ltration

is often used as a synonym to represent the eld of

solidliquid separation.

The most commonly
used ltration equipment is given in Table 64.1.
A detailed procedure for equipment selection for a given requirement in solidliquid separation can
be found in

Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook

[Perry and Green, 1997].

64.3 Fundamental Concept

There are two general types of operations for separating solid particulate matter from a liquid phase. In
the rst type, the separation is accomplished by moving the particles through a constrained liquid phase.
The particle movement is induced by a body force, such as gravity or centrifugal acceleration. For
example, in sedimentation, the solid particles settle due to a difference in density between solid and
liquid under the inuence of gravity. In centrifugation and hydrocycloning, the separation is effected
by centrifugal acceleration.
In the second type of operation, exemplied by the ltration process, the separation is accomplished
by contacting the solidliquid suspension with a porous medium (see Figure 64.7). The porous medium
acts as a semipermeable barrier that allows the liquid to ow through its capillary channels and retains
the solid particles on its surfaces. Depending on the mechanism for arrest and accumulation of particles,
this type of separation can be further divided into two classes [Perry and Green, 1997]: deep-bed ltration
and cake ltration.
Deep-bed ltration is also known by terms such as

blocking ltration, surface ltration,

and

clarication

[see Figure 64.7(b)]. This type of ltration is preferred when the solid content of the suspension is less
than 1%. In such an operation, a deep bed of packing material (e.g., sand, diatomite, or synthetic bers)
is used to capture the ne solid particles from a dilute suspension. The particles to be removed are several
orders of magnitude smaller than the size of the packing material, and they will penetrate a considerable
depth into the bed before being captured. The particles can be captured by several mechanisms [Tien,
1989]:
1. The direct-sieving action at the constrictions in the pore structure
2. Gravity settling
3. Brownian diffusion
4. Interception at the solidliquid interfaces
5. Impingement
6. Attachment due to electrokinetic forces
Cake ltration is the most commonly used industrial process for separating ne particles from a
solidliquid suspension. In cake ltration, the ltered particles are stopped by the surface of a lter
medium (a porous barrier) and then piled upon one another to form a cake of increasing thickness [see
Figure 64.7(a)]. This cake of solid particles forms the true ltering medium. In the case of liquid
ltration, a lter cake with ltrate (the liquid) trapped in the void spaces among the particles is obtained
at the end of the operation. In many instances where the recovery of the solids is the ultimate objective,
it is necessary that the liquid content in the cake be as low as possible. In order to reduce the liquid

TABLE 64.1

Filtration Equipment

Discontinuous Filters Semicontinuous Filters Continuous Filters

Plate and frame lter press Rotary pan lter Drum lter
Leaf lter Semicontinuous belt lter Rotary disk lter
Tray lter Automatic lter press Vacuum belt lter
Electrical precipitator Rotary disk cross-ow lter
Rotating cylinder cross-ow lter


64

-8


content, the cake is subjected to desaturating forces. These forces can be mechanical, hydrodynamic,
electrical, or acoustic in nature [Muralidhara, 1989].
When the mean particle size is less than a few micrometers, the conventional cake ltration operation
becomes ineffective, primarily due to the formation of high-resistance lter cake. To overcome this
obstacle, cross-ow ltration (often coupled with ultraltration) is used to limit the cake growth. In the
cross-ow conguration (e.g., in continuous ultraltration), the solidliquid suspension ows tangen-
tially to the lter medium rather than perpendicularly to the medium as in conventional ltration. The
shear forces of the ow in the boundary layer adjacent to the surface of the medium continuously remove
a part of the cake and thus prevent the accumulation of solid particles on the medium surface. In this
manner, the rate of ltration can be maintained at a high level to ensure a cost-effective operation.

64.4 Design Principles

Cake Filtration

In the design of a cake ltration process, the pressure drop,

D

p

, the surface area of the cake,

A

, and the
ltration time,

t

, are important parameters to be determined. As the ltration proceeds, particles retained
on the lter medium form a lter cake (see Figure 64.8). For an incompressible cake the pressure drop,

D

p

, across the lter cake and lter medium can be expressed as:
(64.1)
where

m

is the viscosity of the ltrate,

u

is the velocity of the ltrate,

m

c

is the total mass of solids in the
cake,

R

m

is the lter-medium resistance, and

a

is dened as the specic cake resistance. The specic cake

FIGURE 64.7

Mechanisms of ltration: (a) cake ltration, (b) deep-bed ltration, (c) cross-ow ltration (ultra-
ltration). (

Source:

McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C., and Harriott, P. 2001.

Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering,

6th
ed., Figure 29.3, p. 992. McGraw-Hill, New York.)
Filtrate
Filtrate
(Permeate)
Suspension Concentrated suspension
(Retentate)
Membrane
(Medium)
Filtrate
(a)
(c)
(b)
Fluid-Particle
Suspension
Cake
Medium
Suspension
Filter medium
Dp p p
m
A
R u
a b
c
m
= - = +
a
m



64

-9

resistance depends on particle size, shape, and distribution. It is also a function of porosity of lter cake
and pressure drop. For incompressible cakes,

a

is independent of the pressure drop and the position in
the lter cake.
For data analysis, Equation (64.1) is usually rewritten as follows: [McCabe et al., 2001]
(64.2)
where

t

is the ltration time,

V

is the volume of ltrate, and

c

is the mass of solid per unit ltrate volume.
In order to use this equation for design of a cake ltration operation, the specic cake resistance and
lter-medium resistance must rst be determined by performing experimental tests. Equation (64.2) can
be further integrated under constant pressure to give:
(64.3)
where
(64.4)
A plot of

t

/

V

against

V

yields a straight line with a slope of (

K

c

/2) and an intercept of (1/

q

o

). Using
Equation (64.4), the values of

a

and

R

m

can be calculated. For slightly compressible cake,

a

becomes a
function of pressure drop and can be represented by the following correlation:

FIGURE 64.8

Pressure gradient in lter medium and cake.
Filter cake
Filtrate
M
e
d
i
u
m
U
p
s
t
r
e
a
m

f
a
c
e

o
f

c
a
k
e
Direction of flow
of suspension
P
a
P
b
P
L
c
dt
dV A p
c
R
m
=
-
+
m a
( ) D
V
A
t
V
K
V
q
c
o
=
+
2
1
K
c
A p q
R
A p
c
o
m
= =
m a m
2
1
D D
and


64

-10


(64.5)
where

a

0

and

a

are empirical constants.
Equation (64.2) through Equation (64.5) can be used for design calculations for a ltration operation
with incompressible and slightly compressible lter cakes. For the case of highly compressible cakes the
effect of variations in cake porosity on specic cake resistance must be considered [Tiller and Shirato, 1964].

Ultraltration

Ultraltration is a membrane process (see Chapter 63 on membrane separation) capable of separating
or collecting submicrometer-size particles from a suspension or solution. It has been widely used to
concentrate or fractionate a solution containing macromolecules, colloids, salts, or sugars. The ultral-
tration membrane can be described as a sieve with pore size ranging from molecular dimension to a few
micrometers. It is usually polymeric and asymmetric, designed for high productivity (permeation ux)
and resistance to plugging. Ultraltration membranes are made commercially in sheet, capillary, and
tubular forms.
In the design of the ultraltration process, either batch operation or continuous operation (employing
a cross-ow conguration) can be used. In the batch operation, the retentate is returned to the feed tank
for recycling through the lter unit. It is the fastest method of concentrating a given amount of material
and it also requires the minimum membrane area. In order to determine the membrane surface area,

A

,
for the ultraltration process, the following three parameters are required: ux,

J

, which is a measure of
the membrane productivity; permeate,

V

p

, which is the amount of material that has passed through the
membrane; and retentate,

V

R

, which is the amount of material that has been retained by the membrane.
During the batch ultraltration operation, ux decreases because of an increase in concentration in the
recycled stream. Furthermore, the phenomenon of concentration polarization tends to cause a higher
concentration at the membrane surface than that in the bulk. Therefore, an average ux should be used
in the design. The average ux,

J

av

, can be estimated by the following equation:
(64.6)
where

J

f

is the nal ux at the highest concentration and

J

i

is the initial ux. The material balance gives
(64.7)
where

V

f

,

V

r

, and V
p
are volume of feed, retentate, and permeate, respectively.
The membrane area can be expressed as
(64.8)
Equation (64.6) to Equation (64.8) can be used to estimate the membrane surface area required for a
given ultraltration operation [Cheryan, 1986].
64.5 Economics
The cost for a given solidliquid separation process varies widely. For example, the cost for purchasing
industrial ltration equipment can vary from several hundred dollars to over ten thousand dollars per
square meter of lter area. Such a large variation in cost is due to a wide variety of individual features
and materials of construction required by specic applications. A good source of information on the cost
of common industrial ltration and other solidliquid separation equipment can be found in Perrys
Handbook [Perry and Green, 1997].
a a =
0
( ) Dp
a
J J J J
f i f av
= + - 0 33 . ( )
V V V
f r p
= +
A V V J
f r
= - ( )/
av
SolidLiquid Separation 64-11
Dening Terms
Cake ltration The separation of particles is effected by contacting the solidliquid suspension with
a porous lter medium (made of cloth, synthetic bers, or metals). The lter medium allows
the liquid to ow through its pores while it retains the particles on its surface to form a cake.
As ltration proceeds, the cake of solid particles grows in thickness and becomes the true
ltering medium.
Centrifugation Centrifugation is a separation process based on the centrifugal force either to hold
the material in it or to let the material pass through it. Separation is achieved due to the
difference in density.
Hydrocycloning Hydrocycloning is a centrifugal separation process. The feed is introduced tangen-
tially into the cylindrical portion of a cyclone, causing it to ow in a tight conical vortex. The
bulk of the liquid leaves upward through a pipe located at the center of the vortex. Solid particles
are thrown to the wall and discharged with a small portion of the liquid through the bottom
apex of the cyclone.
Deep-bed ltration In this type of ltration a deep bed of packing materials, such as sand, diatomite,
or synthetic bers, is used as the lter medium. The particles are captured within the packed
bed while the liquid passes through it.
Flotation Flotation is a gravity separation process based either on the use of a dense medium in which
the desired particles will oat or on the attachment of gas bubbles to particles, which are then
carried to the liquid surface to be separated.
Membrane ltration In membrane ltration a thin permeable lm of inert polymeric material is used
as the lter medium. The pore size of the membrane ranges from molecular dimension to a
few micrometers. It is widely used to collect or fractionate macromolecules or colloidal sus-
pensions. It is also applied to beverage ltration and preparation of ultrapure water.
Screening Screening is an operation by which particles are introduced onto a screen of a given aperture
size to separate particles of different sizes.
Specic cake resistance Specic cake resistance is the resistance of a lter cake having unit weight of
dry solids per unit area of ltration surface.
Thickening/sedimentation Thickening/sedimentation is a gravity-settling process that removes the
maximum quantity of liquid from a slurry and leaves a sludge for further processing.
Ultraltration Ultraltration is a special type of membrane ltration. It is used for concentration
and purication of macromolecular solutes and colloids in which the solution is caused to ow
under pressure parallel to a membrane surface (in a cross-ow conguration). Solutes (or
submicrometer particles) are rejected at the semipermeable membrane while the solvents and
small solute molecules pass through the membrane.
References
Cheryan, M., 1986. Ultraltration Handbook. Technomic, Lancaster, PA.
Finch, J. A., Uribe-Salas, A. and Xu, M. 1995. Column otation, In: Flotation Science and Engineering,
Matis, K. A., Ed. Marcel Dekker, New York. pp. 291330.
Fuerstenau, M. C., Miller, J. D., and Kuhn, M. C. 1985. Chemistry of Flotation, Society of Mining Engineers,
New York, p. 2.
Jaycock, M. J. and Partt, G. D. 1981. Chemistry of Interfaces, Ellis Horwood Limited, New York.
Kelsall, D. F. 1952. A study of the motion of solid particles in a hydraulic cyclone. Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng.
30:87104.
McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C., and Harriott, P. 2001. Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 6th ed.
McGraw-Hill, New York. pp. 9861056.
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Further Information
An excellent in-depth discussion on the theory and practice of solidliquid separation is presented in
SolidLiquid Separation, 3rd ed., by Ladislav Svarovsky, Butterworths, London, 1990.
The proceedings of the annual American Filtration and Separation Society meeting and the World
Filtration Congress document new developments in all aspects of solidliquid separation.
Four major journals cover the eld of solidliquid separation:
SolidLiquid Separation Journal. Published by the American Filtration and Separation Society, Hous-
ton, TX.
Particulate Science and Technology: An International Journal. Published by Taylor and Francis, Wash-
ington, DC.
Transactions of Filtration Society. Published by the Filtration Society, Leics. LE67 8PP, UK.
Separations Technology. Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, Stoneham, MA.

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