Improving the dewetability characteristics of hydrophobic fine particles by air bubble entrapments

The present study deals with the role of surface hydrophobicity and air bubble entrapment on filtration / dewatering of fine coal particles (− 0.5 mm). The experimental results showed that hydrophobizing reagents increased the contact angle (or hydrophobicity) and decreased the filtrate surface tension, cake formation time and moisture content of the fine particles. In addition to these, when the air bubbles were introduced to the hydrophobic fine coal particles in water, the cake formation time and moisture content of the filter cake were further reduced, which may be attributed to the fact that micro/nano size air bubbles were entrapped on the surface of the fine particles in a slurry and increased the dewetting characteristics of the fine particles. As a result, this process may lower the amount of moisture trapped during the dewatering fine particles and increase the efficiency of the filters.     

Prediction of the air consumption when dewatering a filter cake obtained by pressure filtration

In this communication, we report some data for the dewatering of a coal flotation concentrate in which very fine particles occur Dewatering is carried out by pressure filtration (up to 6 bar) followed by blowing to partially dry the cake (the filtration and dewatering phase respectively). For the systems studied, a reasonable prediction of the air consumption in either a lab filter, or a one-element test filter, or a full-scale continuous filter is possible, based on measurement of the liquid permeability for saturated flow in a lab filter cake. Together with scaling-up characteristics of the filtration step (not reported here), this gives the possibility of a reliable prediction of the required size and energy consumption of a large-scale continuous-pressure filter based on bench-scale test data.     

煤气化细渣陶瓷膜真空脱水试验与数值模拟

气化细渣是煤炭气化过程的废弃物,高效脱水是其资源化利用、减量化处置的必要前提。本文采用陶瓷膜真空过滤系统开展了脱水实验并对脱水过程进行了数值模拟。气化细渣料浆浓度和液下吸附时间影响滤饼厚度且滤饼厚度增加导致水分运移路径增长,使得有效脱水时间增加;滤饼脱水过程的脱水速率值呈现非线性降低趋势且滤饼水分极限值为40%,这与气化细渣物化性质有关;真空度>0.08MPa时气化细渣滤饼中“通道水”能够在约24s有效脱除。Fluent数值模拟过程选用了欧拉模型并确定了陶瓷膜滤板和气化细渣滤饼的阻力系数,脱水过程的实验值与模拟结果误差小于5%,证实了模型可靠性。模拟过程分析了气化细渣脱水过程中压力场和水分含量分布云图的演变规律,结果表明,增加脱水系统真空度、降低滤饼厚度、提高“通道水”比例以及增大气化细渣颗粒等效当量直径能够提高气化细渣脱水效率。此外,陶瓷膜真空脱水过程所得滤液洁净度高且部分指标达到了工业用水的标准。     

Removal of Moisture from the Ultra Fine Particles Using Both High Centrifugal Force and Air Pressure

Abstract

A newly developed centrifugal batch dewatering unit was developed and used to remove the moisture contents of ultra fine particles (e.g., kaolin clay, silica, talc, and precipitated calcium carbonate). In the present method, air pressure was applied into the vessel of a conventional centrifuge to improve the efficiency of the dewatering. The experimental results showed that the moisture reductions of the samples could be enhanced more than 50% depending on dewatering conditions (i.e., G-force, spin time, applied pressure, cake thickness, particle size, surface hydrophobicity, and particle agglomeration). As a result, when the new centrifuge modification is used for the fine particle dewatering, cost and environmental concerns of thermal dryers could be considerably reduced and the handleability of the filter cakes could be significantly increased.     

Dewatering of coal plant tailings: Flocculation followed by filtration

A sustainable alternative to tailings dam disposal of coal refuse is mechanical dewatering of tailings, which provides fast production of dry solids and water reuse. In this study, flocculation followed by filtration of coal plant tailings, a new concept in tailings dewatering is investigated in detail. This paper focuses on the effect of preconditioning tailings with varying flocculants and dosages on filtration kinetics and the resultant moisture content of the filter cake. The results show that the cationic flocculant, MAGNAFLOC LT 425, requires a high dosage to produce a low moisture content filter cake and clear filtrate. Optimal sized flocs were produced with the anionic flocculant, MAGNAFLOC 5250, even though the particles are negatively charged. The kinetics of the filtration was dependent on the composition of process water as indicated by supporting sedimentation tests. The concentration of divalent alkali earth metals such as Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ allow for large floc growth by a bridging mechanism, which involves binding of the polymer and the negativity charged particle. Filtration and settling curves at this dosage were also supported by filter cake analysis using Darcy plots. It was found that the large floc size significantly increases the permeability of the filter cake. Floc size measurements and fractal dimension showed that while the large flocs were produced with anionic flocculant, the flocs produced with the cationic flocculant were small and weak. The results indicate that the optimum dosage and flocculant type for effective and efficient filtration of coal plant tailings is approximately 350 g/t of anionic flocculant at a 35% solids content and 40 kPa filtration pressure.     

以颗粒煤为助滤剂对城市污泥进行二段过滤脱水的研究

以颗粒煤为助滤剂,采用二段过滤方式来强化城市污泥的脱水,并对滤饼进行热值分析,探讨城市污泥资源化利用前景.在研究中,具体分析探讨了煤的类型、煤的添加比、煤的粒径、搅拌强度、过滤压力以及煤的添加方式对过滤过程中相关参数的影响.得到以下结论:在污泥和煤的添加比为1:2,颗粒煤粒度为0.15～0.18 mm,低强度搅拌,常温...     

Effect of entrapped air bubbles on fine coal dewatering via filtration

An experimental study was conducted to obtain detailed information concerning entrapped air bubbles in fine coal filter cakes and their effects on filtration and the dewatering process. Four size fractions of coal samples (?80 mesh, ?42 mesh, ?82 mesh and ?100 +200 mesh) were investigated. An image analyzer with the aid of quantitative stereology was used to measure the entrapped air bubbles in relation to the microstructure of the filter cake (i.e., the particle and pore size distribution in the filter cake).The results show that the size and number of air bubbles entrapped in the filter cake can be controlled by the degree of aeration/deaeration of the coal slurry prior to filtration. Both the rate of filtration and the extent of dewatering are adversely affected by the presence of air bubbles in the filter cake. These adverse effects can best be understood in terms of the alteration of cake structure caused by air bubbles. Specifically, the reduction in connectedness of pores within the cake matrix tends to impede the flow of filtrate through the filter cake.     

Effect of Hydrodynamics During Crystallization on Mechanical Dewatering of Salicylic Acid

Mechanical cake dewatering is always desired to reduce the load on thermal dewatering (drying). Any change in the upstream process such as crystallization can have a significant influence on the filtration as well as cake dewatering characteristics. The present study deals with the effect of hydrodynamics (mixing intensity) during salicylic acid crystallization on the air dewatering characteristics in the subsequent pressure filtration. The mixing conditions during crystallization were varied by using three different types of agitators (anchor impeller [AI], curved blade turbine [CBT], and bar turbine [BT]) and by varying the speed of agitation. The effect of operating pressure and dewatering time on the final moisture content of the cake was also studied.

The crystal properties (crystal size and size distribution) were found to vary with the mixing intensity, which further influenced the cake dewatering kinetics as well as the residual moisture content. An AI, which is a laminar flow impeller, produced crystals with a wide size distribution and higher mean particle size, which resulted in cake with high porosity and hence higher moisture content. The high porosity (as well as high cake permeability) caused early air breakthrough, which resulted in ineffective dewatering of cake. Therefore, in this case the residual moisture in cake was found to be higher (27%) even at higher dewatering pressure (1.5 bar gauge) and longer dewatering time (90 s). A BT creates high turbulence during mixing and produced crystals with a relatively narrow size distribution and lower mean particle size, which provided low-porosity cakes. Such cakes could be efficiently dewatered and the final cake moisture content was found to decrease to about 15%, a significant improvement in the filterability of the cake. The dewatering data were modeled according to the correlation between irreducible cake saturation and capillary number for predicting the cake dewatering characteristics (residual moisture as well as dewatering kinetics) and the results were compared with the experimental data.     

表面活性剂用于细粉煤脱水的研究

精粉煤脱水是炼焦精煤洗选后的一个极其困难的课题 ,采用助滤剂促进滤饼水分的降低是一条经济而有效的途径 ,作者阐述了利用表面活性剂作为助滤剂 ,强化细粉煤的脱水 ,取得了显著效果。实验室两种煤样采用磺酸盐型表面活性剂 ,脱水后最佳降水值分别达到 4 9%和5 96 % ,大屯煤矿洗煤厂连续工业实验采用硫酸酯盐型表面活性剂 ,最佳降水值达到 6 0 8%。     

液力过滤与液力压密脱水的理论(Ⅱ)

将滤室固定不变的板框或箱式压滤机的操作过程分成滤饼过滤阶段和液力压密脱水阶段两个过程来研究。在滤饼过滤阶段 ,应用表面过滤机理 ,采用传统的鲁思过滤基本方程和平均过滤比阻的理论进行研究。在液力压密脱水阶段 ,应用达西定律建立了液力压密基本微分方程 ,根据研究得出滤饼渗透系数与孔隙率在压密脱水阶段的线性取代关系的结论 ;滤室固定的限制条件和物料平衡条件 ,推导出液力压密的脱水方程式。分析了影响液力压密脱水的时间因素和液力压密速率的各操作参数。建立了完整的液力过滤和压密脱水理论 ,为自动压滤机的设计提供了理论指导     

液力过滤与液力压密脱水的理论(一)

将滤室固定不变的板框或箱式压滤机的操作过程分成滤饼过滤阶段和液力压密脱水阶段两个过程来研究。在滤饼过滤阶段 ,应用表面过滤机理 ,采用传统的鲁思过滤基本方程和平均过滤比阻的理论进行研究。在液力压密脱水阶段 ,应用达西定律建立了液力压密基本微分方程 ,根据研究得出滤饼渗透系数与孔隙率在压密脱水阶段的线性取代关系的结论 ;滤室固定的限制条件和物料平衡条件 ,推导出液力压密的脱水方程式。分析了影响液力压密脱水的时间因素和液力压密速率的各操作参数。建立了完整的液力过滤和压密脱水理论 ,为自动压滤机的设计提供了理论指导     

Effect of Operating Parameters on the Dewatering Performance of Press Filters: A Sensitivity Analysis

To optimize the press filters commonly used to dewater residual sludge, the impact of the operating parameters must be better understood. The objectives of this article are (1) to identify the impact of the operating parameters on press filter performances and (2) to classify the operating parameters regarding their impact on dewatering performances. Experiments were performed with conditioned activated sludge in a tangential filtration cell, and a sensitivity analysis of the process was performed. This study emphasizes that cake thickness and filtration pressure have the most significant impacts on dewatering efficiency. These results suggest a promising outlook for press-filter optimization.     

Filter Press for Electrodewatering of Waterworks Sludge

An electrodewatering filter press was designed and its performance was evaluated for basic operating parameters such as the electric field strength, time of electric field application, and changes in pressure. Dewatering efficiency improves with the increase of the electric field strength, application time, and pressure. Considering the operating costs due to energy consumption and electrode erosion, the optimal conditions were found to be 70 V/cm of electric field strength, 30 min of application time, and 588 kPa of pressure. The rate of electrodewatering doubled compared with that of mechanical dewatering (MDW) while the water content of the dewatered cake decreased by 25%. When an electric field is applied to the cake, clogging of the filter cloth becomes minimized due to electrophoretic mobility. The discharge of water from the cake porous matrix is facilitated owing to electroosmosis and thermal effect due to joule heating. As a result, the dewatering capacity of electrodewatering improves compared with the mechanical dewatering. The energy consumption of electrodewatering was about 370-450 kWh/t (dry solid), which accounts for only one tenth of the existing sludge treatment costs.     

Filter Press for Electrodewatering of Waterworks Sludge

An electrodewatering filter press was designed and its performance was evaluated for basic operating parameters such as the electric field strength, time of electric field application, and changes in pressure. Dewatering efficiency improves with the increase of the electric field strength, application time, and pressure. Considering the operating costs due to energy consumption and electrode erosion, the optimal conditions were found to be 70 V/cm of electric field strength, 30 min of application time, and 588 kPa of pressure. The rate of electrodewatering doubled compared with that of mechanical dewatering (MDW) while the water content of the dewatered cake decreased by 25%. When an electric field is applied to the cake, clogging of the filter cloth becomes minimized due to electrophoretic mobility. The discharge of water from the cake porous matrix is facilitated owing to electroosmosis and thermal effect due to joule heating. As a result, the dewatering capacity of electrodewatering improves compared with the mechanical dewatering. The energy consumption of electrodewatering was about 370–450 kWh/t (dry solid), which accounts for only one tenth of the existing sludge treatment costs.     

Filter Press for Electrodewatering of Waterworks Sludge

An electrodewatering filter press was designed and its performance was evaluated for basic operating parameters such as the electric field strength, time of electric field application, and changes in pressure. Dewatering efficiency improves with the increase of the electric field strength, application time, and pressure. Considering the operating costs due to energy consumption and electrode erosion, the optimal conditions were found to be: 70 V/cm of electric field strength, 30 min of application time, and 588 kPa of pressure. The rate of electrodewatering doubled compared with that of mechanical dewatering (MDW) while the water content of the dewatered cake decreased by 25%. When an electric field is applied to the cake, clogging of the filter cloth becomes minimized due to electrophoretic mobility. The discharge of water from the cake porous matrix is facilitated owing to electroosmosis and the thermal effect due to joule heating. As a result, the dewatering capacity of electrodewatering improves compared with the mechanical dewatering. The energy consumption of electrodewatering was about 370-450 kWh/t (dry solid), which accounts for only one tenth of the existing sludge treatment costs.     

Filter Press for Electrodewatering of Waterworks Sludge

An electrodewatering filter press was designed and its performance was evaluated for basic operating parameters such as the electric field strength, time of electric field application, and changes in pressure. Dewatering efficiency improves with the increase of the electric field strength, application time, and pressure. Considering the operating costs due to energy consumption and electrode erosion, the optimal conditions were found to be: 70 V/cm of electric field strength, 30 min of application time, and 588 kPa of pressure. The rate of electrodewatering doubled compared with that of mechanical dewatering (MDW) while the water content of the dewatered cake decreased by 25%. When an electric field is applied to the cake, clogging of the filter cloth becomes minimized due to electrophoretic mobility. The discharge of water from the cake porous matrix is facilitated owing to electroosmosis and the thermal effect due to joule heating. As a result, the dewatering capacity of electrodewatering improves compared with the mechanical dewatering. The energy consumption of electrodewatering was about 370–450 kWh/t (dry solid), which accounts for only one tenth of the existing sludge treatment costs.     

Specific energy consumption of vacuum filtration: Experimental evaluation using a pilot-scale horizontal belt filter

Abstract

Horizontal vacuum belt filters are used for continuous solid–liquid separation in a wide variety of industrial processes. Despite the low pressure difference (usually Δp?<?0.8?bar), the high air pumping requirement to maintain the pressure difference results in considerable energy consumption. In this article, the specific energy consumption of vacuum filtration and air flow rates of a pilot-scale horizontal vacuum belt filter unit are investigated. The results show that a claw-type vacuum pump consumes only half the energy compared to a conventional liquid ring vacuum pump at corresponding operating points. A comparison between the specific energy consumption of vacuum filtration and thermal drying of the filter cake to zero moisture revealed that vacuum filtration accounted for less than half of the total energy consumption in the applied experimental conditions at Δp?=?0.2–0.5?bar. The majority of the total pumping requirement of the pilot-scale filter resulted from leaks, and only 2–25% of the air flow found its way through the cake and the filter medium. The results suggest that there is a combination of the pressure difference level and the mass of solids deposited per filtration area that together with thermal drying consumes the least amount of energy per solids mass.     

Avoiding filter cake cracking: Influence of consolidation on desaturation characteristics

In cake filtration processes with an air-blowing step, cracking is an undesirable phenomenon as it leads to deterioration of the filtration process by highly increasing gas throughput. This leads to higher residual moisture if the pressure difference cannot be maintained and an increase in overall cost. Crack formation can be avoided by compacting the filter cake before desaturation. While this action will make the separation process applicable by highly reducing gas consumption, there are also potential negative effects. Compaction increases filter cake resistance and might therefore slow down desaturation kinetics. Therefore, the authors investigated how the filter cake characteristics governing desaturation change from the nonconsolidated to the consolidated state of the filter cake and compared these findings to the actual dewatering kinetics. The results showed that for the case where cracking could be oppressed, dewatering kinetics of the consolidated cake are actually faster than for the nonconsolidated cake, despite higher resistance of the consolidated cake. Thus, compaction is an appropriate action when dealing with filter cake cracking.     

降低过滤机滤饼水分和细粒煤脱水浅析

根据对选煤厂细粒煤样的实验室优化脱水试验、工业试验及分析结果 ,对真空系统、气水分离器和分配头实施了技术改造 ,细粒煤脱水系统的运行状况得到显著改善 :圆盘真空过滤机滤饼水分降到 2 0 %左右 ,脱饼率在 95 %以上 ,每年的直接经济效益可达 30 0多万元     

The Effect of Flocculants and Surfactants on the Filtration Dewatering of Iron Ore Fines

Abstract

The filtration and separation characteristics of iron ore fines have been investigated. The experimental work included: characterization, evaluation of suitable flocculants to enhance settling and dewatering rate, determination of optimum dosages of flocculants, and influence of surfactants on nitration dewatering of both flocculated and unflocculated iron ore fines by vacuum filtration. The results showed that 1) the settling rate can be enhanced many-fold (from 2.52 to 90 m/h) by a suitable flocculant, 2) the residual filter cake moisture content can be reduced from 18.2% without reagents to 12.6% with suitable surfactant dewatering aids while the filtration rate can be enhanced from 4.8 to 97.2 L/h with suitable dewatering filter aids, and 3) the specific cake resistance to filtration can be brought down from 8.6 × 10⁹ to 1.0 × 10⁹ m/kg by using a surfactant sodium petroleum sulfonate at a concentration of 1.47 × 10^?3 kg/t. The economics of using flocculant filter aids and surfactant dewatering aids before thermal drying is described and discussed.