SME Annual Meeting

Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah

Preprint 00-18

A NOVEL PROBE FOR INVESTIGATION OF SLURRY FILTRATION

F. S. Bourgeois, M. T. Haque and D. W. Wu

Dept of Mining, Mnrls and Mtrls Engrg; Univ of Queensland
Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT It is worth noting that properties that are used to

A novel impedance probe has been commissioned
specifically for capturing fast dynamic information
about filtration processes. It provides an attractive
alternative to more complex measurement tech-
niques in situations where the slurry system is
primarily one-dimensional. The probe can monitor
mud-line, slurry densification and drainage. Dynamic
variations in cake permeability are obtained by
combining dynamic mud-line information obtained
with the probe and filtrate rate data derived from a
leaf test apparatus. The measurements are re-
viewed in relation to microstructural measurements
obtained on iron ore filter cakes. The practical
significance of these measurements for optimization
of the filtration process is discussed.
INTRODUCTION
The filtration process is dynamically complex and
not well understood. There are a great variety of
process properties that are required to draw a full
picture of the process macro- and microscopically.
From the characterization perspective of the filtration
process, three types of properties of the filtration
process can be considered:
• Spatial properties are spatially distributed
within the filtration vessel, ie within the filter cake
and/or the slurry. An example of such property is
solids concentration.
• Dynamic properties are time dependent. An
important example is filter cake height.
• Average properties are macroscopic in nature,
and are spatial and/or time averages of spatial
and/or dynamic properties. Consequently, all
dynamic and/or spatial properties give rise to an
average property. An example of such property is
filter cake moisture, which commonly refers to
average cake moisture as opposed to spatially
distributed moisture within the cake mass.
1 Copyright © 2000 by SME
characterize the filtration process can be spatial and
dynamic. For example, filter cake voidage varies
spatially and dynamically. Conventional tests only
yield measurement of average cake voidage.
Limitations in our current level of understanding of
the process dynamics can be partly attributed to the
absence of readily useable equipment for monitoring
the process dynamically and spatially. Indeed, the
filtration process, as in the case of vacuum filtration
for example, is conventionally studied using vacuum
leaf tests. Such tests cannot yield information about
spatial properties, and are limited in their ability to
quantify dynamic properties. Dynamic properties
that are obtainable with filtration test rigs are nor-
mally restricted to filtrate and drainage rates.
Although such tests are generally sufficient for
selecting filtration equipment, they do not contain
sufficiently fundamental information to better our
understanding of the process to the point where
current equipment design and plant practice can be
challenged.
Basic dynamic properties are often not measurable
with conventional tests. One such property is filter
cake height. It is not possible to measure the
variation in filter cake height with time using conven-
tional filtration test equipment. Although such
information can in some cases be recorded by visual
observation under slow settling conditions (Bhat-
tacharya, 1997), it is not possible to obtain such
information manually when the filtration process is
rapid and/or when the slurry does not permit visual
location of the cake/slurry interface or mud-line. As
a result, cake height can only be determined at the
end of the filtration process.
It is also accepted practice to use the final cake
height to determine the water permeability of satu-
rated filter cakes. This is achieved by combining
dynamic filtration rate measured at the end of the
cake formation time with the cake height measured
at the end of the filtration process. Strictly speaking,

this is incorrect since shrinkage can cause cake
height to change during drying.
Furthermore, dynamic cake height monitoring is
also necessary to quantify filter cake compression
during both cake forming and drying.
Finally, the filtration process does not always lead
to a distinct cake/slurry interface, in which case the
notion of cake height and cake permeability remains
ill-defined, that is until the slurry level disappears
below the cake surface.
Having shown the importance of dynamic monitor-
ing of the filtration process with the example of filter
cake height, it is convenient to distinguish between
spatial properties that vary perpendicular to the
filtration septum and properties that vary in multiple
directions. The following property attributes are
defined:
• One-dimensional properties are spatial proper-
ties that strictly speaking do only vary in the
direction perpendicular to the filtration septum.
• Multi-dimensional properties are spatial prop-
erties that cannot be approximated as one-
dimensional properties.
All spatial properties that characterize the filtration
process are intrinsically multi-dimensional.
interesting situation is with cake porosity, which
varies in all directions. Nevertheless, it has been
shown that it is a strongly anisotropic property that
exhibits the strongest gradient in the direction
perpendicular to the septum (Zhu Rui, 1998). Cake
porosity can therefore be considered a one-
dimensional property.
Properties that are purely multi-dimensional require
complex techniques to be measured, such as three-
dimensional tomography (Tarleton and Hancock,
1996) or spatial geometry (Bourgeois and Lyman,
1997). An example of such property is pore size
distribution.
This work is concerned with the measurement of
one-dimensional dynamic properties. Although
these properties cannot describe the entire filtration
process, they represent a very significant family of
properties due to the inherent vertical anisotropy of
the filtration process. Furthermore, one-dimensional
properties are significantly simpler to measure
dynamically than multi-dimensional properties.
EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH
The following section introduces a unique probe
that was designed to capture dynamic one-
dimensional properties of the filtration process. The
reader is invited to refer to D.Wu (1999) for specific
details about the probe design and its performance.
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
The Impedance Multi-Probe
Electrical techniques have been used by several
authors for measuring solids concentrations of
mixtures of conducting fluid and low concentrations
of small, non-conducting solid particles (Nasr-El-Din
et al., 1987, Turner, 1976). The apparatus devel-
oped by these authors were designed for measuring
local solids concentration in pipes and in mixing
tanks under quasi-steady conditions.
The equipment that is used in this work (Wu, 1999)
utilises the two-electrode impedance measurement
principle. By maintaining a constant a.c. current
across a pair of platinum electrodes that is immersed
in slurry, any change in slurry quality affects its
electrical resistance, which is detected as a change
in voltage across the electrodes. To obtain one-
dimensional information about the process, ten (10)
pairs of electrodes are arranged in a vertical array.
The horizontal spacing between two electrodes from
the same pair is 2.5mm. This spacing was chosen
based on design criteria set by Nasr-El-Din et al
(1987) in order for the probe to be useable with
minus 500 microns coal particles. This top size is
characteristic of fine coal slurries processed in
vacuum filtration operations. Individual probes are
arbitrarily indexed from 1 to 10, probe 1 being the
lowest and probe 10 the highest. Each pair of
An
electrodes is sequentially activated to avoid cross-
interference at a scan rate of three samples per
probe per second. A dedicated electronic circuit was
designed to maintain the current constant at 250mA
for slurry resistivity up to 100kΩ and to continuously
switch between the electrode probes at the desired
scan rate. This relatively high sampling rate allows
even the most subtle and rapid changes in the
filtration process to be captured. Each probe looks
3
at an approximately 40 mm hemispherical region of
space and output a voltage signal (± 5 Volts) that
relates directly to the solids concentration in the
measurement region. The vertical distance between
successive probes is 2.5mm, hence one-
dimensional information can be acquired every
2.5mm over a total height of approximately 30mm.
The electronic circuit acquires the analog output
voltage from the probe and converts it into a digital
signal. The latter signal is eventually passed on to a
dedicated portable computer for storage and analy-
sis. Figure 1 shows a schematics of the electronic
set-up.
2 Copyright © 2000 by SME

Figure 1. Multi-probe and ancillary equipment.
The platinum electrodes are soldered to a PCB
board which is connected to the electronics circuit
via a connecting cable. As shown in Figure 2, the
ensemble is encased in an epoxide resin. The
surface of the multi-probe is polished so that the
electrodes do not protrude inside the filtration vessel.
This prevents impeding the flow of particles and
fluid.
Figure 2. View of the multi-probe array. Electrode pairs can
be seen on the right-hand side of the probe.
Filtration Testing
Filtration tests are conducted with the Single Leaf
Filter Test (SLFT) apparatus (Bourgeois et al.,
1995). The probe is held vertically against the
filtration medium in the filtration vessel in which top-
loading filtration tests are conducted. Figure 3
shows the probe out of the test vessel after comple-
tion of a filtration experiment. The mark left in the
cake after removal of the probe shows the location
of the probe during the test.
3 Copyright © 2000 by SME
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
Multi-probe after
filtration test
Hole in cake surface
indicating position of
probe during test
Filtration vessel
Figure 3. View of the probe and filtration vessel.
Figure 4 illustrates the position of the electrode
pairs relative to the filter cake and slurry. Probe 1
sits closest to the filtration septum (exactly 4.5mm
above the septum due to the probe configuration),
and probe 10 is the highest probe in the vessel. It is
emphasised that the probe is placed inside the
filtration vessel during testing, ie in direct contact
with the slurry and cake.
Figure 4. Schematics of probe position relative to filter
cake.
Basic measurement principle
In order to interpret results obtained from the probe
under actual filtration test conditions, it is important
to gain understanding of the probe output.
When a pair of electrodes is immersed in slurry,
the voltage across the electrodes is directly related
to the electrical impedance of the slurry. Although
the probe output voltage can in principle be used to
quantify the properties of the slurry (Meredith and
Tobias, 1962), it will only be used qualitatively in this
paper. The probe output voltage V is related to the
solids concentration C via a relationship of the form:
V
= (1 − C) − n
Vo (1)

where Vo is the voltage output that corresponds to
the liquid alone and n is a calibration exponent that
depends on the conductivity measurement appara-
tus. Ongoing calibration work has indicated that the
multi-probe array is characterised by n ≈ 0.7. This
indicates that the output voltage from the probe rises
as solids concentration increases.
Because probe output voltage increases with
solids concentration, a solid-liquid interface passing
in front of a given electrode pair gives rise to a sharp
stepwise increase in voltage. This permits mud-line
detection, the measurement principle being illus-
trated in Figure 5.
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
probe. With the unflocculated filter cake, one
observes that the higher the electrode pair in the
filtration vessel, the longer it takes for the bed/slurry
interface to reach it. Monotonically increasing time
intervals between successive voltage rises confirm
this observation. This is clearly related to particles
settling velocity, which decreases as the square of
particle diameter under laminar settling conditions,
the finer particles being the last to settle.

Figure 6. Mud-line monitoring with the multi-probe array.

The multi-probe was used to monitor the settling of

the same slurry after flocculation with a commercial
Figure 5. Detection of mud-line.
anionic flocculant. The corresponding output is
shown in Figure 7.
The voltage output signal starts rising when the
mud-line reaches the bottom of the hemispherical
measurement volume for a given electrode pair, and
stop increasing when the mud-line rises above the
measurement region. The mid-point of the voltage
step increase coincides with the mud-line being
precisely at the level of the electrodes. This behav-
iour permits dynamic and accurate monitoring of
filter cake height.
The following section reviews some of the prelimi-
nary tests conducted with the multi-probe under
filtration conditions. Figure 7. Mud-line monitoring with the multi-probe array.

EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS
This section presents some of the preliminary
measurements that have been obtained with the
probe. The aim is to demonstrate the capability of
the probe, hence experimental results are mainly
discussed in a qualitative sense.
Monitoring Mud-line
Figure 6 shows the multi-probe output signal ob-
tained during a settling experiment with an
unflocculated fine coal slurry (d50= 200µm, d80= 425
µm). As explained earlier, a sharp voltage rise
corresponds to a drastic change in solids concentra-
tion, indicating the passage of the bed/slurry
interface in front of an electrode pair. The position
of the bed/slurry interface can therefore be moni-
tored accurately and dynamically with the multi-
The output signal reveals that the bed/slurry inter-
face moves upward at a steady rate, as indicated by
the more regular spacing between the rising sections
of the voltage curves. This is not surprising since
flocculation renders the particle size distribution
more uniform, whereby eliminating the particle
segregation effect observed with the unflocculated
slurry.
Figures 6 and 7 can be converted to actual bed
height versus formation time using the mud-line
detection principle presented earlier. The results are
shown in Figure 8.

4 Copyright © 2000 by SME


Figure 8. Dynamic cake height measurement based on
multi-probe output from Figures 6 and 7.
In addition to providing information that will allow
testing classical filtration models, routine access to
dynamic cake height measurement has significant
practical potential. Indeed, analysis of Figure 8
reveals that 70% of the unflocculated filter cake
deposits in only 25% of the total form time. Such
information suggests that desliming might have
significant potential on process throughput with this
particular coal fines sample.
Figure 9 highlights the sensitivity of the multi-probe
for dynamic mud-line detection. Here, the multi-
probe array was used to monitor the formation of a
packed bed of monosize glass beads under gravity.
The initial voltage rises relate to the formation of the
bed as with the previous two Figures. The loosely
packed bed that formed was such that the top
probes (ie probes 9 and 10 in Figure 4) are sitting
above the bed surface at the start of the experiment.
The signal from both probes 9 and 10 is that of a low
voltage (Vo in Equation 1), which corresponds to the
supernatant liquid above the bed. In fact, probe 9
appears to be initially seeing a bed interface, as
revealed by the initial voltage rise, then the bed
compacts and the signal from probe 9 drops back to
the level of the supernatant liquid as the mud-line
moves below probe 9.
Figure 9. Mud-line detection and cake compaction.
5 Copyright © 2000 by SME
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
Further vibration of the bed allowed the latter to
compact further. This caused probe 8 (green curve)
to gradually move above the compacting bed, its
output voltage progressively reducing to that corre-
sponding to the supernatant liquid. Figure 9 also
shows that the signals from the probes that are
within the bed converge as bed compaction in-
creases. This is expected as the solids
concentration within the particle bed is becoming
more uniform with increased compaction.
Figure 9 demonstrates the capability and sensitivity
of the multi-probe for real-time monitoring of bed
height level variations.
Figure 10 shows dynamic cake height measure-
ments obtained with iron ore fines slurries (d50=
150µm, d80= 600 µm) tested in the SLFT apparatus.
Besides confirming that the multi-probe can work
with virtually any mineral slurry, it is interesting to
note the short duration of the cake formation phase,
which stresses the ability of the multi-probe to
capture extremely fast changing conditions.
Figure 10. Dynamic variation of cake height obtained with
iron ore fines cakes (minus 1mm).
Monitoring Filter Cake Permeability
As mentioned earlier, measurements of cake per-
meability with conventional filtration tests is always
in error since cake height is measured at the end of
the filtration cycle whereas filtration rate is measured
at the end of the filtration cycle. This problem can
be overcome with the multi-probe array. Indeed,
when combined with a leaf test apparatus, it is
possible to obtain filtrate rate and cake height
simultaneously, allowing instantaneous cake perme-
ability to be calculated at any time during cake
formation. Instantaneous cake permeability is
defined as the permeability of the saturated filter
cake to water at a specific instant during cake
growth.
The following section shows the steps that lead to
the calculation of instantaneous filter cake perme-
ability.
 SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
Figures 11 and 12 show measurements of dynamic
cake height and instantaneous filtrate flow rate for
unflocculated and flocculated fine coal filter cakes.

Figure 13. Permeability versus cake height for unfloccu-

lated and flocculated fine coal filter cakes.

It appears that cake permeability remains relatively

Figure 11. Dynamic cake height and instantaneous filtrate
flow rate for an unflocculated fine coal filter cake.
uniform during cake growth. To the best of the
authors' knowledge, instantaneous variations of
cake permeability have not been measured or
reported elsewhere under vacuum filtration condi-
tions.
Similarly, Figures 14 shows instantaneous cake
height and filtrate flow rate for a 20mm iron ore fines
filter cake while Figure 15 gives the corresponding
instantaneous cake permeability.

Figure 12. dynamic cake height and instantaneous filtrate

flow rate for a flocculated fine coal filter cakes.

At any time during cake formation, the instantane-

ous permeability K(t) is the is calculated according
to Darcy's law:

Q(t) × µ L(t)
K(t) = Figure 14. Dynamic cake height and filtrate rate for a 20mm
A ∆P (2) iron ore fines filter cake.

where t is real time, Q(t) is the instantaneous filtrate

flow rate, L(t) the instantaneous cake height, µ the
filtrate viscosity, A the effective filtration area and ∆P
the applied vacuum pressure. Application of Equa-
tion 2 to the data of Figures 11 and 12 yields the
instantaneous permeability for the unflocculated and
flocculated fine coal filter cakes. The results are
shown in Figure 13.

Figure 15. Cake permeability versus height for a 20mm iron

ore fines filter cake.

It is interesting to note that the filter cake perme-

ability starts plunging once the cake is in excess of
approximately 16mm. This result suggests that the

6 Copyright © 2000 by SME


top of the cake is significantly more impervious than
the bottom part. Photomicrographs of the filter cake
were taken using a cake resin impregnation tech-
nique described elsewhere (Bourgeois and Lyman,
1998). These are shown hereafter.
(a) Cross-section 10mm above bottom of the filter cake,
showing a coarse microstructure.
(b) Cross-section at the top of the filter cake, revealing very
fine microstructure.
Figure 16. Photomicrographs of iron ore fines cross-
sections for various elevations in the cake.
Visually, it is apparent that the cake microstructure
is significantly finer at the top of the cake due to
particle size segregation. This result is in agreement
with the multi-probe measurements of Figure 15.
The constant permeability assumption used in many
filtration models (Holsten, 1993) is clearly inappro-
priate for filter cakes with such strong anisotropy. It
7 Copyright © 2000 by SME
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
is expected that dynamic measurements of cake
permeability will contribute to improving our under-
standing of the filtration process.
Monitoring Cake Drainage
Figure 17 shows an almost complete multi-probe
output signal for a filtration test with an unflocculated
fine coal slurry. Cake formation, which takes up to
approximately 700 seconds in this experiment, is
analogous to Figure 6. Beyond 700 seconds,
individual electrode pairs measure a significant
voltage increase. This voltage increase corresponds
to the moisture front going past individual electrode
pairs, which can be seen as the water front going
from point G to point A in Figure 5.
In Figure 17, the first probe to see the air-water
interface is the bottom probe (probe 1), then probe 2
directly above probe 1, and so on. In other words,
this test reveals that the filter cake is draining from
bottom to top.
Figure 17. Monitoring dewatering with the multi-probe
device for an unflocculated fine coal filter cake.
Figure 18 shows the multi-probe output for the
entire filtration cycle with a flocculated fine coal
slurry. The most significant difference with Figure 17
is the apparent randomness of the drainage pattern,
as opposed to the bottom-to-top drainage of the
unflocculated cake shown in Figure 17. This differ-
ence in drainage behaviour between flocculated and
unflocculated fine coal filter cakes has been ob-
served repeatedly. This is most likely due to
variations in microstructural homogeneity between
these filter cakes.

Figure 18. Monitoring dewatering with the multi-probe
device for a flocculated fine coal filter cake.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This paper discussed a unique impedance multi-
probe array that was designed specifically for
monitoring dynamic variations in one-dimensional
properties during the filtration process. It was shown
through a selection of examples that the multi-probe
offers significant potential for unravelling dynamic
aspects of the filtration process.
Tests conducted under vacuum filtration conditions
demonstrated the sensitivity of the multi-probe
device for monitoring dynamic filter cake growth.
Examples of probe outputs were given for coal and
iron ore fines filter cakes.
Dynamic cake height measurements obtained with
the multi-probe were combined with filtrate rate
measurement to yield instantaneous permeability
variations during cake formation. This information is
novel, and holds considerable potential for improving
our understanding of the filtration process.
It was also shown that the probe is capable of
capturing fast dynamic information about filter cake
drying. As expected, interpretation of the probe
output during cake drying is more complex and will
be the object of future work. Although not discussed
in this manuscript, the multi-probe can be used in
conjunction with the SLFT apparatus to measure the
air permeability of the filter cake as it dries. This is
done by combining cake height as measured by the
multi-probe with air flow rate as monitored by the
SLFT apparatus.
Efforts are currently directed towards calibration of
the impedance probe, such that the probe output
can be reliably interpreted in terms of solids concen-
tration and particle size distribution.
8 Copyright © 2000 by SME
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
In addition to the processes that were described in
this paper, it is planned to use the probe for meas-
uring densification processes that occur during cake
forming and drying, dynamic variations of cake
porosity and dynamic moisture distribution.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was conducted with the financial assis-
tance of the Cooperative Research Centre for Mining
Technology and Equipment (CMTE).
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Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Salt Lake City, Utah
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