KING FAISAL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
ChE 303 Separation Processes I

Lecture 01: Introduction and Basic Concepts

Majdi Adel
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 Instructor Majdi Adel
Office Location Building no 106 Office no. 2028
Office Hours Open door policy
e-mail malfaiad@kfu.edu.sa

Lecture time Sun. Tue. and Thu. 11:30 12: 30

Lecture Location Building no. 31 Room no.
1088

ChE 303 Separation Processes I

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 Who are you?

Why you became chemical engineer?

What does Separation Processes mean to you?

ChE 303 Separation Processes I

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 PrerequisitesChE204 Process Fluid Mechanics

Textbook Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 7th

ed., W. McCabe, J. Smith and P. Harriott,
McGraw-Hill, 2005

Evaluation
First Exam 20%
Second Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%
Home Works 10%
Quizzes 10%
Project 10%
ChE 303 Separation Processes I
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 Course Policy
1.Errors in fundamental concepts.
2.Serious concept errors in calculus and algebra (math in general).
3.Errors in dimensional quantities and units conversions.
4.Cheating and plagiarism

In addition to the above the following also apply

5.KFU ethics and standards of conduct apply.
6.Students are expected to arrive on time for all examinations; a valid excuse is
required for not attending any exam.
7.The use of laptops, iPads for taking notes is allowed during the lectures but the sound
must be muted and the use of them is not allowed during the exams and quizzes.
8.Examinations will be open book and notes
9.Late reports and home works are not accepted
10.No absence is allowed unless there is an official permission. KFU regulations of
attendance are applied.
11.Students are required to check their university e-mails regularly.

ChE 303 Separation Processes I

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 LET US BEGIN

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 Properties of particulate solids
Materials can be classified into three categories:
1. Solids (particles, powders, blocks, ...)

2. Fluids (liquids or gases)

3. Mixtures of Solids and Fluids (slurries, suspensions, ...)

In any separation process, the desired product could be:
The solid
The liquid
Both of them
Neither of them
(For example, in disposal of waste slurry: waste solids must be separated from
waste liquid prior to disposal in order not to block the sinks)
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 Solid particles

NaOH Detergent

Sand Coffee Beans

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 Industrial applications

Cement Catalysts
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 Separation processes that will be covered
Screening or classification

Size reduction

Filtration

Settling or sedimentation

Centrifuging

Evaporation-crystallization-flotation
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 Screening or classification

Calculations:
Sieve analysis
Average
diameter
Number of
particles
Surface area
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 Size reduction

Design:
Efficiency
Processing
time
Power
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 Filtration

Design:
Filter
resistance
Processing
time
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 Settling and sedmentation

Design:
Processing
time
Vessel size
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 Centrifuging

Design:
Processing
time
Efficiency

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 Characterization of solid particles
Most important characteristics of an individual
solid particle:
Shape (regular or irregular)
Size (diameter)
Density

Size and shape are easily specified for regular particles

For irregular particles (such as sand) the term size and

shape are not so clear and must be defined.

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 1. Particle shape
The shape is expressed in terms of the sphericity s, and surface
roundness.

Roundness

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 The sphericity s is independent of particle size.

The sphericity is defined as:

(surface area/volum e) for a sphere of diameter D p
s
(surface area/volum e) for a particle whose equivalent diameter is D p
D 2p / 16 D3p 6 / Dp
s
sp / v p sp / v p

sp/vp is defined as the specific surface area a v:

(surface of a particle) s p
av
(volume of a particle) v p
Dp = nominal (or equivalent) diameter of the 6
particle.
v a
sp = surface area of one particle. s D p
vp = volume of one particle.

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 The equivalent diameter is the diameter of a sphere having the same volume
as the particle:
3
Vp Dp Dp
6

For a spherical particle: s = 1.

For many crushed materials: s = 0.6 - 0.8

For fine granular materials, however, it is difficult to determine the exact

volume and surface area of a particle, and D p is usually taken to be the
equivalent size based on screen analyses or microscopic examinations.

One technique to measure the surface area of a particle is adsorption

measurement.

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 2. Particle size (volume)
Regular-shaped particles: can be accurately described by giving the
shape and a number of dimensions:
Shape Sphere Cube Cylinder Cone
Radius and Radius and
Dimension (s) Radius Side length
height height

Irregular-shaped particles: No single physical dimension can accurately

describe the size.

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 Terms used to describe the size of particles
Term Typical Size Range
Coarse solid 0.5-10 cm
Granular solid 0.3-5 mm
Particulate
solid:
coarse
powder 100-300 m
fine powder 10-100 m
superfine 1-10 m
powder < 1 m
Ultrafine
ultrafine particles can be described in terms of their
powder area per unit mass (m2/g).
surface

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 Techniques used for size analysis
Technique Approximate Useful
Range
Screen analysis
dry 50 m - 100 mm
wet 10 m - 100 mm
Electrical sensing 1m - 800 m
Laser diffraction
1m - 200 m
spectrometry
Sedimentation 2m - 75 m
Optical
1m - 150 m
microscopy
Electron
0.01m - 1 m
microscopy

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 pan

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 Taylor standard screen analysis
Specifications of Taylor Screen Series: Mes Screen opening
h (mm)
Based on 200-mesh which is 4 4.699
established at 0.074 mm.
6 3.327
The area of the opening in a 8 2.362
screen is twice that in the next 10 1.651
smaller screen. 12 1.397
The ratio of the mesh dimension 14 1.168
of a screen to that of the next 20 0.833
smaller screen is 2. 28 0.589
35 0.417
.. ..
150 0.104
200 0.074
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 Size representation
(1)
Coarse 10
Particles 10/14
14
through mesh 10, on mesh 14

(2)
10 + 14
: under mesh 10

Fine 100 + : over mesh 14

Particles 200
Pan

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 Mass Cumulative mass
Mes Dpi
i pi fraction fraction smaller
h (mm) xi than Dpi
Example: 1 4 4.699 - 0.0000 1.0000
4
Table 28.2:
1 6 3.327 4.013 0.0251 0.9749
Sieve 3
Analysis 1 8 2.362 2.845 0.1251 0.8499
2
1 10 1.651 2.007 0.3207 0.5292
1
1 14 1.168 1.409 0.2570 0.2722
0
9 20 0.833 1.001 0.1590 0.1132
8 28 0.589 0.711 0.0538 0.0594
7 35 0.417 0.503 0.0210 0.0384
6 48 0.295 0.356 0.0102 0.0282
5 65 0.208 0.252 0.0077 0.0205
4 100 0.147 Calculated
0.178 Exp.
0.0058 0.0147
Calculated
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0.0041 0.0106
 Usually, analysis data is tabulated
Information from sieve analysis is tabulated to show the mass
fraction in each size range as a function of the average particle size
(or size range) in the increment. An analysis tabulated in this way is
called a differential analysis (Fig. (a))
A second way to present the information is through a cumulative
analysis (Fig. (b)) obtained by adding the individual increments
starting with that containing the smallest particles, and tabulating
or plotting the cumulative sums against the maximum particle
diameter in the increment

Average particle Particle

size, pi size, Dpi

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 Number of particles and surface area
1. Uniform particles same Dp
Consider a sample of uniform particles of diameter D p:
m: total mass of the sample, kg
p: density of the particles, kg/m 3
total volume of the particles = m / p
If vp = volume of one particle mass of a single particle
= p vp

The number of particles in the sample is:

total mass of the particles m
N
mass of a sin gle particle pv p

Total surface area of the particles is:

6/ Dp 6m
s A N sp
sp / v p s p D p
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 Number of particles and surface area
2. Non-uniform particles
To apply equations D pn
i=n mn,
N
m 6m xn
pv p
A N sp
s p D p
to mixtures of particles having various sizes,
the mixture is sorted into fractions, each of
approximately constant size. Each fraction can
then be weighed and equations can then be
applied to each fraction and the results added.
m2, Dp2
i=2
The surface x2
6m area of particles in each fraction: fraction i = m1, x1 D p1
Ai i
1
s p D p i
Pan

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 Thus, the total surface area of the mixture is the summation:
6m1 6m2 6mn
A ....
s p D p s p D p
1 2
s p D p n

total surface area

The specific surface area of the mixture =
total mass of particles

Aw
A 6 n xi
mT Aw
i 1 D
s p pi

xi = mass fraction in a given increment

n = number of increments
pi = average particle diameter, taken as arithmetic average of
smallest and largest particle diameters in increment

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 Average particle size (diameter)
1. The volume-surface mean diameter (Sauter
diameter), s 6
Ds
s Aw p
Substituting for Aw:
1
Ds
Dp
n
xi
i 1 i

If the number of particles in each fraction Ni is known (instead

of the mass fraction), is given by:
n
N i D 3p
Ds i 1 i

n
N i D p2
i 1 i

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 2. The arithmetic mean diameter, N
n n
Ni Dp Ni Dp
DN i 1
i 1
i i

n
Ni NT
i 1

NT = the TOTAL number of particles in the

entire sample
3. The mass mean diameter, w
n
Dw xi D p
i 1 i

4. The volume mean diameter, v

1
3
1
Dv


n
xi D 3p
i 1
i

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 Total number of particles in a mixture
For a given particle shape, the volume of any particle is proportional to
its diameter
v D 3 cubed:v a* D 3
p p p p

where a* is the volumetric shape factor

Recall equations
m mi
N Ni
pv p pv p i

Divide over the total mass mT xi xi

N wi Nw Nwi = number of
pv p
i
i
p a* D 3p i particles in fraction i
per unit mass
otal number of particles per unit mass is: 1 n xi
Nw *
3
p a i1 D p i

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 Example: Average particle sizes, number of particles and surface area
Using the screen analysis shown in Table 28.2, calculate:

1.Aw, Nw, v, s, w
2.The number of particles Ni in the 150 / 200 mesh increment
3.The fraction of the total number of particles in the 150 / 200 mesh increment

p = 2650 kg/m3 = 0.00265 g/mm3

a* = 2
s = 0.571

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 i Mesh Dpi xi pi xi / pi xi / xi pi
(mm) pi3
14 4 4.699 0.0000 - - - -
13 6 3.327 0.0251 4.013 0.0062 0.000 0.10073
5 39
12 8 2.362 0.1251 2.845 0.0439 0.005 0.35591
7 43
11 10 1.651 0.3207 2.007 0.1597 0.039 0.64364
9 67
10 14 1.168 0.2570 1.409 0.1824 0.091 0.36211
0 88
9 20 0.833 0.1590 1.001 0.1588 0.158 0.15916
4 52
8 28 0.589 0.0538 0.711 0.0756 0.149 0.03825
7 68
7 35 0.417 0.0210 0.503 0.0417 0.165 0.01056
5 01
6 48 0.295 0.0102 0.356 0.0286 0.226 0.00363
5 07
5 65 0.208 0.0077 0.252 0.0305 0.481 0.00194
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Solution:1. A 6 n xi 1 n xi
w Nw
s p i1 D p i
p a i 1 D 3p
*
i

6 1
1.0257 156.86
0.571 0.00265 0.00265 2
= 4067.147 mm 2 /g 29 596 particles/g

1
1
1
3
Ds
Dv
Dp
n
xi

n
xi D 3p i 1

i

i 1 i

1
1

1 3
= 0.1854 mm 0.97494mm
156.86 1.0257
n
Dw xi D p 1.678 mm
i 1 i

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 2. The number of particles Ni in the 150 / 200 mesh
increment xi 4
Nw
p a* D 3p
i

i
6

x2 0.0031
N w2 830 particles/ g
p a * D p32 0.00265 2 0.0893

3. The fraction of the total number of particles

in the 150 / 200 mesh increment
N w2 830
0.028 or 2.8%
N w 29596
100
150
200
Pan

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 Voidage
Voidage: the fraction of the total volume which is made up of the free
space between the particles.
volume of voids Vvoids
voidage
total volume of particles and voids Vsolids Vvoids

Voidage depends on the following:

Particle size
Particle size distribution
Particle shape
Particle surface roughness
The method of packing
The size of the container relative to
the particle size

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 3. Density
1. Bulk Density ( b)
The mass of the material divided by its total volume
(particles and
msolidsvoids)
mvoids Depends on: particle size, particle
b
V V density, moisture content and inter-particle
solids voids
separation (i.e., degree of solids packing).

2. Particle Density ( p)
The density of a particle including the voids within the
individual solid
msolids
p b f p (1 )
Vsolids
Relatively
small

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 Solid particle hardness
Mohr Scale of Hardness

Mohr Chemical
Material Explanation
scale formula
1 Talc Mg3(OH)2. very soft, can be powdered with the
(Si2O5)2 finger
2 Gypsum CaSO4.2H2O Moderately soft, can scratch lead
3 Calcite CaCo3 Can scratch fingernail
4 Fluorite CaF2 Can scratch a copper coin
5 Apatite Ca5(PO4)3(Cl,F) Can scratch a knife blade with
difficulty
6 Feldspar KAlSi3O8 Can scratch a knife blade
7 Quartz SiO2
8 Topaz Al2F2SiO4 All products harder than 6
9 Corundu Al2O3 will scratch window glass
m
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 Moisture content
Defined as the ratio: mass of water / mass of dry or wet solids

Moisture content (dry basis):m.c.db mass of water

mass of dry solids

mass of water
m.c.wb
Moisture content (wet basis): Moisture
mass of solids and water Balance

Moisture content measurement: Drying

initial mass of sample final mass of sample initial mass of sample final mass of sample
m.c.db m.c.wb
final mass of sample initial mass of sample

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 Angle of repose
The angle of repose, r, is: The angle between a line of repose of loose
material and a horizontal plane

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 Depending on flow properties, particulate solids are
divided into two classes:

Cohesive: wet clay

Non-cohesive: dry sand, plastic chips

Angle of
Explanation
repose
25-30o very free-
flowing
30-38o free-flowing
38-45o fair flowing
45-55o cohesive
> 55o very cohesive

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 Angle of internal friction
The angle of internal friction, m, is: The angle between flowing
particles and bulk or stationary solids in a bin

It is a measure of frictional forces between the particles

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 Storage of solid particles Bulk storage
Coarse solids like gravel are stored outside in large piles
This is the most economical method when large amounts of material
are involved

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 Storage of solid particles Container
storage
Valuable or soluble solids are stored in silos, bins or hoppers

Silos Bins

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 Storage of solid particles Hopper storage
Used for temporary solids storage before feeding to a process

Hopper

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 1 storage silo.

Truck loading
system

3 storage silo. 2 storage silo.

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 Pressure in bulk of particles
Solid particles, especially when dry and not sticky, behave like a fluid
in terms:
They exert pressure on the side walls of a container and on the
floor
They can flow through openings and pumped

They differ from fluids in several ways:

Usually there is friction between the wall and the solid particles,
and because of the interlocking of the particles, the effect of
this friction is felt throughout the mass. The friction force at the
wall reduces the pressure exerted by the mass on the floor of
the container
The pressure is not the same in all directions.
The density of the solid particles (the bulk density) may vary,
depending on the degree of packing of the particles
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 In a homogeneous mass of solids the ratio of the normal pressure (PL)
to the applied pressure (Pv) is a constant K :
P normal or lateral pressure
K L PV
PV applied or vertical pressure

The relationship between K and the angle of PL

internal friction, m is given by:
1 K
sin m
1 K
or 1 sin m

K
1 sin m
K depends on:
Shape of the
particles
Stickiness of the
surface
Degree of particle
packing
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 Force balance

z F v = PV r 2
Ff
dz FL = PL dA = PL (2 r dz)
zT
Fv = Fv +d Fv

F B = PB r 2

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 The vertical force at level z Fv r 2 Pv
is given by:
and dFv r 2 dPv

The net increase in downward force caused by the

differential layer is the force of gravity (dFg) minus
the frictional force (dFf) between the wall and the
solids:
dFv dFg dF f

dFg mg r 2 dz b g
dF f dFL dF f dFL PL 2 rdz

: coefficient of friction (0.35-0.55)

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 Combini dFv r 2 dPv r 2 b gdz ' (2rPL dz )
ng
Divide by rdPv (r b g 2 ' PL )dz
r
PL
Noting K or PL K PV
PV
that
z P rdPv
dz rdPv rb g 2K Pv dz
v

0 0 rb g 2K Pv

r b g 2K z
Pv 1 exp
2K r

r b g 2 ' K ' zT
At z = zT: Pv = PB PB 1 exp
2 ' K ' r
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 NOTES
In general, when the height of the solids column is greater than
about three diameters of the container, additional solids have
no effect on the pressure at the base

The additional mass is carried by the walls, not by the floor of

the container

A high pressure on the particles does not always increase the

tendency of the material to flow, as it does in a liquid; instead,
the pressure often packs the particles more tightly and makes
flow more difficult

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 Example:
A packed tower (ZT = 15.24 m, D = 1.82 m) is filled with particles (b =
481 kg/m3, m = 32o, ' = 0.5). Calculate the vertical and lateral
pressures at the floor caused by the particles

Solution:
r b g 2 ' K ' zT
PB 1 exp
2 ' K ' r
1 sin m zT
K
1 sin m
sin( m ) sin( 32 o ) 0.5299
PB
K ' 0.037
PL
PB 13930 N/m 2
r
P
K L at the base PV PB PL K PB 4276.5 N/m 2
PV
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