CHEN 3009

Fluid and Particle Processes Tutorial-5

Filtration

Lihong LIU
Email: Lihong.Liu@curtin.edu.au
In the filtration process, total pressure drop is the sum of pressure
drop in the cake and in the filter medium:

∆𝑷𝒕 = ∆𝑷𝒄 + ∆𝑷𝒎

For porous flow under laminar flow condition, the total pressure
drop can be described using Kozeny Equation:

∆𝑷𝒕 = ∆𝑷𝒄 + ∆𝑷𝒎

(𝟏 − 𝜺)𝟐 𝑺𝟐 𝑿 (𝟏 − 𝜺)𝟐 𝑺𝟐 𝑿
= 𝑲𝒗𝝁 + K= 4.2
𝜺𝟑 𝒄
𝜺𝟑
𝒎
 𝑸 𝟏 𝒅𝑩
In case of porous flow, flow rate 𝒗= =
𝑨 𝑨 𝒅𝒕

B: the volume of filtrate passed in time t.

For a very small cake:

Cake volume
Cake volume Solid volume in the feed
∆𝒙𝑨 𝟏 − 𝜺 = ∆𝑩 + 𝑨∆𝒙 𝒄

𝒄 ∆𝑩 𝑩𝟎 𝒙𝟎 (𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄)
∆𝒙 = =
(𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄) 𝑨 𝑨 𝒄

𝒎𝒔 where c is the volume fraction of solid in the

𝒄=
𝝆𝒔 feed, ms is mass per unit volume of feed.
Pressure resistance of cake:
𝟐 𝒎
𝑲 𝟏−𝜺 𝑺 Assuming that 𝒄= ≪𝟏−𝜺
𝜶= 𝝆𝒔
𝜺𝟑 𝝆𝒔 𝒄

𝑲 𝟏 − 𝜺 𝟐 𝑺𝟐
𝜶= 𝟑 Otherwise
𝜺 𝝆𝒔 (𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄)

Pressure resistance of medium:

𝑲 𝟏 − 𝜺 𝟐 𝑺𝟐 𝑿
𝜷=
𝜺𝟑 𝒎

Thus, we have total pressure drop

𝝁 𝒅𝑩 𝜶𝒎𝑩
∆𝑷 = +𝜷
𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝑨
Constant rate filtration
𝒅𝑩 𝑩
= = 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕
𝒅𝒕 𝒕

Therefore, the filtration equation in terms of pressure resistances

of cake and medium could be written as

𝝁 𝒅𝑩 𝜶𝒎𝑩 𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝒅𝑩 𝝁 𝒅𝑩
∆𝒑 = +𝜷 = 𝟐 𝑩+ 𝜷
𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝑨 𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝑨 𝒅𝒕

The plot of ∆𝑃 vs B will give a straight line from which the 𝛼 can
be determined from the slope and 𝛽 from the intercept.
Constant pressure filtration
we need to use the integrated form of equation.

𝝁 𝒎𝜶 𝑩𝟐 − 𝑩𝟎 𝟐
∆𝒑 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 = + 𝜷 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝑨 𝑨 𝟐
Rearrange this formula, we get :

∆𝒑 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 𝝁 𝒎𝜶
= 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 + 𝜷
𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑨 𝟐𝑨
∆𝒑 𝒕−𝒕𝟎
So the plot of vs 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 will give a straight line from
𝑩−𝑩𝟎
which α and β can be determined from the slope and intercept.
 A’

m is mass per unit volume of feed

B’
B
A

𝒅𝑩 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑽 − 𝑽𝟎
= = = 𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 = 𝒕𝑭 𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝒅𝒕 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 𝒕𝑭
1. The pressure drop across the filter is always proportion to the
volume of filtrate passed through the filter. T/F

Constant rate
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝒅𝑩 𝝁 𝒅𝑩
∆𝒑 = 𝟐 𝑩+ 𝜷
𝑨 𝒅𝒕 𝑨 𝒅𝒕

Constant pressure
𝝁 𝒎𝜶 𝑩𝟐 − 𝑩𝟎 𝟐
∆𝒑 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 = + 𝜷 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝑨 𝑨 𝟐

F
2. The cake resistance of a filter is always a constant. T/F

Incompressible filter cake: true

𝑲 𝟏 − 𝜺 𝟐 𝑺𝟐
𝜶= 𝟑
𝜺 𝝆𝒔 (𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄)

Compressible filter cake:

porosity is changed due to consolidation and compression;
The specific resistance at any point in the cake is given by

𝜶 = 𝝋 𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑
One of empirical suitable equations for average cake resistance is

ഥ = 𝜶𝟎 𝟏 + 𝜶 −∆𝒑
𝜶 𝒃

F
3. The feeding rate reduces with filtration time for
constant pressure filtration. T/F

T
Q1. A leaf filter has an area of 1.73 m2, operates at a constant pressure drop of
300 kPa and produced the following results during a test on filtration of a slurry:

Volume of filtration 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63

collected (m3)
Time (s) 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800

Assuming the cake is incompressible, and the flow properties of the filtrate are the
same as those of wash solution, calculate the time required to collect 1 m3 of filtrate
during filtration of the same slurry at a constant pressure drop of 400 kPa.

∆𝒑 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 𝝁 𝒎𝜶
= 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 + 𝜷
𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑨 𝟐𝑨
 ∆𝒑 𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 𝝁 𝒎𝜶
= 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 + 𝜷
𝒚 = 𝒌𝒙 + 𝒃 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑨 𝟐𝑨
Assuming t0=0 and B0=0
𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎 𝝁𝜶𝒎 𝝁
∆𝒑 = 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 + 𝜷
𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨

𝒕−𝟎 𝟑
𝝁𝜶𝒎 𝝁
𝟒𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟏+𝟎 + 𝜷
𝟏−𝟎 𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨

Volume of filtration 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63

collected (m3)
Time (s) 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
𝑡−𝑡0 4.74 5.80
∆𝑝 (Pa s/m3) x 10-8
𝐵−𝐵0
𝐵 + 𝐵0 (m3) 0.19 0.31
𝑡−𝑡0 300−0
When t=300 s, ∆𝑝 = 300× 103 = 4.74 × 108 B+B0 =0.19 m3
𝐵−𝐵0 0.19

𝑡−𝑡0 600−0 B+B0 =0.31 m3

When t=600 s, ∆𝑝 = 300× 103 = 5.80 × 108
𝐵−𝐵0 0.31
 Volume of filtration 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63
collected (m3)
Time (s) 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
𝑡−𝑡0 4.74 5.80 6.59 7.35 8.04 8.57
∆𝑝 (Pa s/m3) x 10-8
𝐵−𝐵0
𝐵 + 𝐵0 (m3) 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63
𝒚 = 𝒌𝒙 + 𝒃
10
𝜇𝛼𝑚
(𝑡−𝑡0)/(𝐵−𝐵0 ) ∆𝑝 (Pa s/m3) x 10-8

y = 8.777x + 3.0596 = 8.777 × 10 8

𝑃𝑎 𝑠 Τ𝑚 6
8 R² = 0.999 2𝐴2
6 𝜇
𝛽 = 3.0596 × 108 𝑃𝑎 𝑠 /𝑚3
4 𝐴

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
𝐵+𝐵0 (m3)
𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎
𝟒𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 = 𝟖. 𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 × (𝟏 + 𝑩𝟎 ) + 𝟑. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟏 − 𝑩𝟎
𝒕−𝟎
𝟒𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 = 𝟖. 𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 × (𝟏 + 𝟎) + 𝟑. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟏−𝟎
Solution:
For constant pressure filtration
𝑡 − 𝑡0 𝜇𝛼𝑚 𝜇
∆𝑝 = 𝐵 + 𝐵0 + 𝛽
𝐵 − 𝐵0 2𝐴2 𝐴
Assuming t0=0 and B0=0

𝑡−𝑡0 300−0
∆𝑝 = 300× 103 = 4.74 × 108
𝐵−𝐵0 0.19

𝑡−𝑡0 600−0
∆𝑝 = 300× 103 = 5.80 × 108
𝐵−𝐵0 0.31

Volume of filtration 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63

collected (m3)
Time (s) 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
𝑡−𝑡0 4.74 5.80 6.59 7.35 8.04 8.57
∆𝑝 (Pa s/m3) x 10-8
𝐵−𝐵0
𝐵 + 𝐵0 (m3) 0.19 0.31 0.41 0.49 0.56 0.63

𝑡−𝑡
Find the relationship between 𝐵−𝐵0 ∆𝑝 and 𝐵 + 𝐵0
0
 𝒚 = 𝒌𝒙 + 𝒃 𝑡 − 𝑡0 𝜇𝛼𝑚 𝜇
∆𝑝 = 𝐵 + 𝐵0 + 𝛽
10 𝐵 − 𝐵0 2𝐴2 𝐴
(𝑡−𝑡0)/(𝐵−𝐵0 ) ∆𝑝 (Pa s/m3) x
y = 8.777x + 3.0596
8
R² = 0.999 𝜇𝛼𝑚
6 2
= 8.777 × 108 𝑃𝑎 𝑠 Τ𝑚6
2𝐴
10-8

2 𝜇
𝛽 = 3.0596 × 108 𝑃𝑎 𝑠 /𝑚3
0 𝐴
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
𝐵+𝐵0 (m3)

For 𝑩 = 𝟏 𝒎𝟑 and ∆𝒑 = 𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝑷𝒂

𝒕 − 𝒕𝟎
𝟒𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 = 𝟖. 𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 × (𝟏 + 𝑩𝟎 ) + 𝟑. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟏 − 𝑩𝟎
𝒕−𝟎
𝟒𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 = 𝟖. 𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖 × (𝟏 + 𝟎) + 𝟑. 𝟎𝟓𝟗𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟏−𝟎
𝒕 = 𝟐𝟗𝟓𝟗 𝒔 = 𝟒𝟗. 𝟑 𝒎𝒊𝒏
Q2: A rotary vacuum filter is to be designed to filter 50 tonnes per hour of a
slurry 5 mass % of mean size 150 m. The drum filter diameter and length
are both 1500 mm. The drum scraper knife reduces the cake thickness to 5
mm and the resistance of the filter medium and fittings is 5x107 m-1. The
available vacuum is 550 mm mercury. The drum scraper is positioned so
that one sixth of the drum surface is not used, and 35% of the drum surface
is submerged. Estimate the required drum speed of the filter.

Data
Particle sphericity: 0.8 Filtrate density: 1080 kg/m3
Solid density: 1800 kg/m3 Filtrate viscosity : 15 cP
Cake porosity: 35%

The drum speed is the number of turns in one minute.

tf tr = tf/0.35 drum speed = 60/(tf/0.35)
 𝟐 𝟐
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝑩 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 𝑩𝟎
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = − + 𝝁𝜷 −
𝟐 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨

𝝁 = 𝟏𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 Pa∙ 𝒔 𝜷 =5× 𝟏𝟎𝟕 𝒎−𝟏

35% of the drum is submerged, so filtration area
𝑨 = 𝜋𝑫𝑳 × 𝟑𝟓% = 3.14 × 𝟏. 𝟓 × 𝟏. 𝟓 × 𝟎. 𝟑𝟓
= 2.474 𝑚2
𝟓𝟓𝟎𝒎𝒎𝑯𝒈 35% 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑
∆𝒑 = × 1.01325 × 105 = 73327 𝑃𝑎
760𝑚𝑚𝐻𝑔

𝑲 𝟏 − 𝜺 𝟐 𝑺𝟐 𝑲 = 𝟒. 𝟐, 𝜺 = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟓, 𝝆𝒔 =1800Kg/𝒎𝟑
𝜶= 𝟑 𝟔 𝟔
𝜺 𝝆𝒔 (𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄) 𝑺= = = 50000𝒎−𝟏
𝝋𝑫 𝟎. 𝟖 × 𝟏𝟓𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎 −𝟔

𝒎 = 𝒄 × 𝝆𝒔 m is mass per unit volume of feed

𝑨 × 𝒙𝟎 (𝟏 − 𝜺 − 𝒄)
𝑩𝟎 =
𝒄
𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×𝒄×𝝆𝒔
5 mass % of solid= 𝒄
𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×𝒄×𝝆𝒔 +𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×(𝟏−𝒄)×𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆

50 tonnes per hour of a slurry 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎

𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 = =
Filtrate density: 1080 kg/m3 𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝑭
Solution:
Volume fraction of solid in the feed: c
In 1 𝑚3 feed, mass percentage of solid is 5%, namely

𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×𝒄×𝝆𝒔
= 𝟓%
𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×𝒄×𝝆𝒔 +𝟏𝒎𝟑 ×(𝟏−𝒄)×𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆

1𝑚3 × 𝑐 × 1800𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
= 5%
1𝑚3 × 𝑐 × 1800𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 + 1𝑚3 × (1 − 𝑐) × 1080𝑘𝑔/𝑚3

𝒄 = 0.0306

Mass of solid per unit volume of feed: m

1800𝑘𝑔
𝒎 = 𝑐 × 𝜌𝑠 = 0.0306 ×
𝑚3
= 55.1 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3

𝐾 1 − 𝜀 2𝑆2 4.2 1 − 0.35 2 5 × 10−4 𝑚−1 2

𝜶= 3 = 3 = 9.28 × 107 𝑚Τ𝐾 𝑔
𝜀 𝜌𝑠 (1 − 𝜀 − 𝑐 ) 0.35 × 1800(1 − 0.35 − 0.0306)
 𝟐 𝟐
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝑩 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 𝑩𝟎
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = − + 𝝁𝜷 −
𝟐 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨

𝐵0 𝒙𝟎 (1 − 𝜀 − 𝑐)
=
𝐴 𝑐

𝐴 × 𝒙𝟎 (1 − 𝜀 − 𝑐)
𝑩𝟎 =
𝑐

2.474𝑚2 × 0.005𝑚 × (1 − 0.35 − 0.0306)

=
0.0306

= 0.2503 𝑚3

To solve 𝒕𝑭 and B we need two equations

 𝟐 𝟐
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝑩 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 𝑩𝟎
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = − + 𝝁𝜷 −
𝟐 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨

𝒅𝑩 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑽 − 𝑽𝟎
= = = 𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝒅𝒕 𝒕𝑭 𝒕𝑭

𝒎ሶ = 𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆

𝒎ሶ 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆

𝑸𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 = =
𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝝆𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝟓𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝒌𝒈 𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓
=
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎𝒔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖𝟎𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑

= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒎𝟑 /𝒔

𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭
 𝟐 𝟐
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝑩 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 𝑩𝟎
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = − + 𝝁𝜷 −
𝟐 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨

𝟐 𝟐
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝑩𝟎 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭 𝑩𝟎 𝑩𝟎 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭 𝑩𝟎
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = − + 𝝁𝜷 −
𝟐 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨 𝑨

Or
𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝟐 𝟐 𝝁𝜷
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 + 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨

𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝝁𝜷
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 + 𝑩𝟎 + 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨

𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝝁𝜷
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 + 𝟐𝑩𝟎 + 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨
 𝒎𝜶𝝁 𝝁𝜷
∆𝒑 × 𝒕𝑭 = 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎 + 𝟐𝑩𝟎 + 𝑩 − 𝑩𝟎
𝟐𝑨𝟐 𝑨

55.1𝐾𝑔 107 𝑚
𝝁𝒎𝜶 0.015𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠 × 𝑚3 × 9.28 × 𝐾𝑔
= = 3.8 × 107 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠𝑚−2
𝟐 2

𝝁𝜷 = 0.015𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠 ×5× 107 𝑚−1 = 7.5 × 105 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠𝑚−1

𝟑. 𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎𝟕 𝟕. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟓
𝟕𝟑𝟑𝟐𝟕𝒕𝑭 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭 + 𝟐 × 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟑 + 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟐𝒕𝑭
𝟐. 𝟒𝟕𝟒𝟐 𝟐. 𝟒𝟕𝟒

𝒕𝑭 = 33.44 𝑠

The filtration time is 35% of the time for one revolution of the drum,
33.44
So 𝑡𝑟 = 0.35 =95.5 s
60
The number of rotation in one minute: Speed=95.5=0.628 RPM