1.

Introduction

1.1. Principles

Screening of solid mixtures is a unit operation commonly done in processes

involving solid particles of different sizes. Screening process separates solid particles

using series of wire meshes with defined pore sizes. The mixture can be classified in

terms of particle size by passing the grain mixture to the screening surfaces (Perry &

Green, 1997). Screening can be classified as dry screening and wet screening, where wet

screening uses a fluid (water) to aid in the screening process (McCabe et al, 1993).

However, due to drying costs involved in wet screening, dry screening is more commonly

preferred over wet screening.

Upon operation of screening, the feed mixture will be separated into two streams:

oversize stream and undersize stream. Oversize stream is the fraction of the feed that did

not pass through a certain screening surface with a specific mesh number. Undersize

stream, on the other hand, is the fraction of the feed that passes through a certain

screening surface with a specific mesh number. Furthermore, there are also intermediate

streams or intermediate materials which passes through one screening surface but retains

in the next screening surface (Perry & Green, 1997).

The mesh number is defined as the number of openings per inch, measured from

the center of the wire gauge to a point 1 inches from it (Perry & Green, 1997). High mesh

number indicates lower opening area or size. This can also mean that coarser particles are

less likely to pass through wire meshes with higher mesh numbers. Meanwhile, the

aperture is defined as the size of the opening, which is the minimum clear space between

two wires (Perry & Green, 1997). The percentage of the total opening area to the total
area of the screening surface is defined as the open area factor (Perry & Green, 1997).

After the screening operation, the particle-size distribution is obtained through analysis of

the masses of retained and unretained materials per surface with a specific mesh number.

This distribution data defines the effectiveness or the performance of the screens used

(Perry & Green, 1977).