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Filtration
FILTRATION
Introduction
Separation of solids from liquids is a common operation that requires empirical data to
make predictions of performance. These data are usually obtained from experiments performed
on a small-scale laboratory equipment. In this lab, you will first perform experiments with a
small batch filter and use your experimental data to predict operating conditions for a continuous
rotary drum filter commonly used in industrial applications. You will then verify your
predictions by experiments on the drum filter. The experiments are performed with a slurry of
diatomaceous earth in water.
In order to satisfactorily complete this laboratory exercise, it is important to have a
thorough understanding of the following concepts:
Filtration
Filter cake resistance
Flow through porous media
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Filtration
The objective of the batch experiment is to determine the permeability and porosity of the
cake. Once these values have been obtained they can be used to make predictions of the rate at
which solids are produced in the continuous filter. These predictions are then tested by running
the continuous filter.
The pressure (either due to the weight of the slurry or the vacuum pump) is related to the
water flow rate by Darcys law for flows through porous media:
(1)
Here, is the cake permeability, is the fluid viscosity, p is the pressure drop across the fluid,
L is the cake thickness, Q is the volumetric flow rate of the liquid, and A is the area of filter
media. In Eq. (1) we neglected the resistance of the filter medium, since in our experiment it is
much smaller than that of the cake.
Values of the water viscosity at various temperatures are available in the literature and
values of L, A, and Q can be measured directly. In particular, Q can be measured by the bucket
and stopwatch method,
(2)
Here, V(t) is the volume of the filtrate collected at time t. Therefore, we can solve Eq. (1) for the
only remaining unknown, namely the cake permeability .
Note, however, that several quantities in Eq. (1) are time dependent. Clearly, the cake
thickness L grows with time. The pressure drop depends on the height H of the slurry, which
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Filtration
decreases with time. Finally, solution of equations discussed below shows that Q also depends on
time. Therefore, if we solve Eq. (1) for using data measured at different moments of time, we
will observe some fluctuations in due to errors in experimental measurement.
A more convenient approach to measurement of is to perform a least-squares fit to
experimental data. For this, we need to rewrite Eq. (1) as a differential equation by substituting
Eq. (2) into Eq. (1):
(3)
The height of the cake L can be obtained from the mass balance for the solids. The mass of solids
in the cake is
(4)
Here, co is the concentration of solids in the slurry (kg of solids per m3 of liquid),
is the
is the
volume of pores in the cake of volume LA. In the wet cake, this volume is occupied by water.
Therefore, the cake porosity can be determined by comparing weights of the wet and dry cakes.
Assuming that
(9)
Here, ppump is the pressure drop generated by the vacuum pump, slurry is the slurry density, and
H(t) is the height of the slurry column above the cake. Dependence of H(t) on time is directly
related to that of V(t). Therefore, Eq. (6) can still be solved albeit the solution becomes more
complex. In the pressure-driven experiments, ppump = const and, if the contribution of the
gravity to p is negligible, one can assume that p= const.
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Filtration
(b)
Figure 2. Rotary drum filter: (a) the Bird-Young filter installed in the Unit Operations Lab; (b)
Schematics of the filter operation.
The continuous filter operates at constant p and hence each element of cloth acts like a
batch filter. Therefore, the filtrate flow rate can be predicted by the batch filtration model
discussed above. Let us compute amount of filtrate V passing through the filter during a short
time interval t. Divide the drum surface into N segments of size wl, where w is the width of
the drum and l is the distance traveled by a point on the drum surface during time t,
(10)
Here, R is the drum radius and is the angular velocity of the drum. Area of each segment is
(11)
and the total area of the drum surface immersed in the slurry is
(12)
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Filtration
Here, = Nt is the time during which a filter segment remains immersed in the slurry. This time
can also be expressed as
(13)
where is the angle corresponding to the portion of the filter immersed in the slurry (see Fig. 2b).
The segments on the drum surface are numbered so that the n-th segment spent time
(14)
inside the slurry. Then the amount of filtrate that passed through the n-th segment since its
immersion into the slurry is given by Eq. (8) with t = tn-1, i.e.
(15)
where K is given by Eq. (7). Volume of the filtrate passing through this segment during the next
t seconds is Vn = [V(tn) V(tn-1)]. Volume of the filtrate passing through the entire filter
immersed in the slurry during time t is
(16)
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Objectives
The main learning objective is to gain experience in scaling up from a bench-scale operation to a
production operation.
Batch Filtration
1. Determine permeability and porosity of the cake from the batch experiment.
2. Determine effects of pressure drop, slurry concentration, and initial amount of slurry on the
filtrate flow rate and the porosity and permeability of the filter cake.
Continuous Filtration
1. Use results of the batch filtration experiment to predict dependence of the filtrate flow rate
and the rate of the filter cake production on the speed of the drum rotation, pressure drop, and
the slurry concentration.
2. Verify your theoretical predictions experimentally.
3. Determine porosity of the cake for various pressure drops and slurry concentrations and
compare these results with the results of the batch filtration.
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