CHE 321 UNIT OPERATIONS 1

MODULE 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1
Course Organisation
Contents: Stokess and Newtons, flow in particle beds. Characteristics of
packed columns. Estimation of Fluidization point and bed expansion. Regions
of Fluidization. Pressure drop, heat and mass transfer in fluidized beds.
Sedimentation, Flocculation, Particle properties, Filtration, Screening and
Classification, Grinding, Centrifuging and Electrostatic Precipitation.
METHOD OF GRADING
Tutorials, Assignment(s) & Quiz
Mid- Semester Test
30 %
Omega Semester Exam.
70 %
TOTAL = 100mark
1.2
Chemical Process perspectives:
This course focuses on Solid processing as an important part of industrial
operations. In the process industries there are many physical operations
that are common to a number of the individual industries, these operations
are regarded as UNIT OPERATIONS. Thus the separation of liquids by
distillation, the separation of solids from a suspension by filtration, the
removal of water by evaporation and drying are typical operations of this
kind.
In the chemical process industry roughly 60% of the products that at some
intermediate steps are particulate (Solid Particles) form, then 80 to 90% of
all processes used in industry require application of solids processing
directly or indirectly.
The chemical process industry makes heavy use of solid material handling
equipment and separations
SOME INDUSTRIES THAT USE FLUID/PARTICLE PROCESSES
Water conditioning, Coal chemicals, industrial carbon, environmental clean up,
glass industry, phosphorus production, ceramics, potassium production,
paints, nuclear industries, explosives & propellants, food and food
processing, agriculture, sugar and starch, fermentation, wood chemicals, pulp
& paper, plastics, synthetic fibers, rubber industry, petrochemicals,
pharmaceuticals.
Solid processing also covers particle size & shaping, flocculation, pastes,
packing and compaction, adsorption/desorption, mixing, Brownian motion,
leaching, rheological applications, crushing/grinding, particle classification,
separation by size, caking, crystallization, separations, fluidization,
1

filtration, slurry flow, catalytic reactors, settling, agglomeration, drying,

floatation, surface phenomena, ion exchange, packed beds.
SOME EQUIPMENT USED FOR PARTICULATE HANDLING
Crushing & Screening, conveyor, vibrating feeders, floatation cells,
thickeners, dryers, grinding mills, rotary kiln, classifiers, screw conveyor,
digesters, four brinier, oven bin, storage bins, slurry mixers, dust collectors,
cyclone separator, cake washing, crystallizers, beaters.
All these operations have in common the handling and processing of
particulate solids.
MODULE 2 PARTICLE SIZES & SHAPES
Before we can discuss operations for handling and separating fluid/particle
systems we must understand the properties of the particles.
2.1
PARTICLE CHARACTERISTICS: The way particles are characterized
depends largely on the technique used to measure them. The way that we
measure a particle size is as important as the value of the measured size.
Measurement techniques such as circumference, diameter, and length of a
particle are important. These measurement techniques make the particle
size typically related to equivalent sphere diameter by;
a. The sphere of the same volume of the particle.
b. The sphere of the same surface area as the particle.
c. The sphere of the same surface area per unit volume.
d. The sphere of the same area when projected on a plane normal to the
direction of motion.
e. The sphere of the same projected area as viewed from above when lying in
a position of maximum stability (as with a microscope).
f. The sphere which will just pass through the same size of square aperture
as the particle (as on a screen).
g. The sphere with the same settling velocity as the particle in a specified
fluid. There are two other methods that are known for sizing particles that
are not based upon comparison to a standard (sphere) shape.
a. The first method is to fit the particle area projected shape to a
polynomial type of relation. The values of the polynomial coefficients
characterize the particle shape.
b. The second method is through the use of Fractals. A fractal length
can be determined which characterizes the size of the particle and its
dimensionality somewhere between linear and two-dimensional.
THE EQUIVALENT SHPERE
There is only one shape that can be described by one unique number and that
is the sphere. If we say that we have a 50 sphere, this describes it exactly.
2

We cannot do the same even for a cube where 50 may refer to an edge or
to a diagonal. With a matchbox (it has 3-Dimensions), for example, there are
a number of properties of it that can be described by one number. For
example the weight is a single unique number as is the volume and surface
area. So if we have a technique that measures the weight of the matchbox,
we can then convert this weight into the weight of a sphere, remembering
that (Weight = Volume of sphere x density of particle)

and calculate one unique number (2r) for the diameter of the sphere of the
same weight as our matchbox. This is the equivalent sphere theory. We
measure some property of our particle and assume that this refers to a
sphere, hence deriving our one unique number (the diameter of this sphere)
to describe our particle.
This ensures that we do not have to describe our 3-D particles with three
or more numbers(e.g. for the matchbox instead of say 15x5x2mm, you
cannot correctly say the matchbox is 15mm, as this is only one aspect of the
size, as a result it is not possible to describe the 3-D matchbox with one
unique number) which although more accurate is inconvenient for
management purposes. We can see that this can produce some interesting
effects depending on the shape of the object and this is illustrated by the
example of equivalent spheres of cylinders;

FIGURE 1: Equivalent Spheres of Cylinders

Equivalent spherical diameter of Cylinder 100 x 20m

Imagine a cylinder of diameter D1 = 20m (i.e. r=10m) and height 100m.
There is a sphere of diameter, D2 which has an equivalent volume to the
cylinder. We can calculate this diameter as follows:
Volume of cylinder =
3

The volume equivalent spherical diameter for a cylinder of 100m height and
20m in diameter is around 40m. The table below indicates equivalent
spherical diameters of cylinders of various ratios. The last line may be
typical of a large clay particle which is disc shaped. It would appear to be
20m in diameter, but as it is only 0.2m in thickness; normally we would not
consider this dimension. On an instrument which measures the volume of the
particle we would get an answer around 5m. Hence the possibility for
disputing answers that different technique give! Note also that all these
cylinders will appear the same size to a sieve, of say 25m where it will be
stated that "all material is smaller than 25m". With laser diffraction these
cylinders will be seen to be different because they possess differentvalues.

FIGURE 1: Equivalent Spherical diameters of Cylinder of various ratios.

4

Figure 1: Sizes of common materials

Probably among the earliest forms of particle classification (sizing) to be

developed is sieving. Several sieve standards exist which classify particles
according to the size hole through which the particles can pass.

SIZES OF SOME GRAINS OFSAND(what size would you choose to describe

it?)

STANDARD MESH SIZE

Tyler
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
20
24
28
32
35
42

US

mm

Inches

4
6
8
12
14
16
18
20
25
30
35
40
45

4.70
3.33
2.36
1.65
1.40
1.17
0.991
0.833
0.701
0.589
0.495
0.417
0.351

0.185
0.131
0.094
0.065
0.056
0.047
0.039
0.033
0.028
0.023
0.020
0.016
0.014

48
60
80
100
150
200
250
325
400

50
60
80
100
140
200
230
325
400

0.295
0.246
0.175
0.147
0.104
0.074
0.061
0.043
0.038

0.012
0.0097
0.0069
0.0058
0.0041
0.0029
0.0024
0.0017
0.0015

TABLE 1 : Tyler & the U.S. Standard Mesh Nominal sizes and the screen
opening sizes in mm and Inches
Except for the extreme case of long thin fibers, the particles mean size will be
of the same order of magnitude of the dimensions of the particle no matter
which method is used.
There are a number of properties of particles that are of interest besides its
size and shape. Particles can repel or attract each other due to static charge
build up, they are affected by van der Waals forces (when they are small
enough), they can stick, agglomerate, break up, bounce off of each other,
chemically react with each other, and they are effected by the surrounding
fluid phase due to drag an buoyant forces.
2.2
METHODS
OF
MEASURING
PARTICLES
SIZES
&
SIZE
DISTRIBUTIONS
There are a number of methods for measuring particle sizes and size
distributions. Many of these techniques are shown in Table 2 & Table 3
Some of these methods depend upon calibration with known particle sizes. A
number of suppliers sell small spherical particles of nearly uniform size
distributions for calibration purposes.
Some of the more advanced methods of particle size measurement not only
measure the particle sizes but they will also provide the size distributions of
the particles.

TABLE 2: Definitions of Equivalent & Statistical Diameters

TABLE 3: Laboratory methods of particle size measurements.

One of the better known instruments for this is the Coulter Counter. A brief
description of the electronic particle counter principle is given in Figure 2.

ELECTRONIC PARTICLE COUNTER

The electronic particle counters can measure particle sizes ranging from 0.4 to
1200 micrometers. This method requires the particles to be placed in a stirred
electrolyte solution. The resistance to the flow of electrical current through a
small aperture is calibrated to the change in resistance depending upon the
particle size.

FIGURE 2: Basic components of the Coulter Counter.

As the particles pass through the aperture opening, they bend the current flux
lines around the particles, thus causing a longer length for the current to pass
and thus a higher resistance to the current ( see Figure 3). Voltage and current
are measured to quantify the resistance using Ohms Law: V = IR.

10

FIGURE 3: Particles in the aperture bend the electrical current flux lines.

For a given material, there are four types of particle size distributions that are
possible: (1) by number, (2) by length, (3) by surface, and (4) by mass (or
volume).
Distributions can be reported either in terms of frequency (differential form)
or by cumulative (integral form) as shown below.
To explain how we mathematically represent the distribution data, lets suppose
that you measure the mass of particles by size by some unspecified process. As
an example your measured data may be plotted as shown in Figure 4. You can
normalize the plot by dividing the masses of each size by the total mass, to
obtain the mass fractions as shown in Figure 5.
Finally, if we add the mass fractions cumulatively we get the Cumulative Mass
Fraction plot, shown in Figure 6.

FIGURE 4: Mass quantities of an imaginary sample of particles.

11

FIGURE 5: Mass fraction from data in Figure 3.

FIGURE 6: Cumulative mass fraction plot of data from figure 3.

12

From these Figures we see that the cumulative mass fraction can be written
mathematically as

...1
as a function of the nth particle size. Furthermore, we can write the increment
in the cumulative mass,

...2

Where
is the slope of the curve on the cumulative mass fraction plot. We
define this slope to be the frequency distribution of the mass fraction,
where

3
Hence, we can relate the cumulative mass fraction to the frequency distribution
by

4
Let the fractional amount of particles of size x be for any type of measurement
(by mass, number, area, etc.) be represented as
5
13

If the particle size distribution is determined as the number fraction then the
number frequency distribution is given by

6
Where
, is the differential range above and below size x that the number count
represents. If the particle size distribution is determined on a microscope by
measuring projected areas or by laser attenuation then the surface fraction or
frequency distribution based on surface area is

7
,
is a fractional amount, then integrating over all particle sizes gives
the whole, or

8
and if we integrate over only the range from zero to some size x we get the
cumulative fraction, F(x),

which is the area under the f(x) curve from 0 to x.

Plots of F and f have the general form shown in Figure 7. Where f and F are
also related by

10

14

FIGURE 7: Typical f(x) and F(x) curves.

11
Where k1, k2, k3 are geometric shape factors,
Similarly, the cumulative distributions can be related by

15

12
Often, experimental data are reported in discrete form (such as from a sieve
analysis). For these data it is easier to work with discrete forms of the integral
equations.

13

With fs(x) = k2x2fN(x), upon rearrangement

There are several equations that are typically fitted to the distribution. The
most widely used function is called the log-normal distribution. It is a twoparameter function that gives a curve, which is skewed to the left compared to
the familiar bell curve. This function is normally used because in most cases
there are many more measured fine particles than larger particles.
The lognormal function is best described first by considering the normal
distribution of the Gaussian (bell shaped) curve shown in Figure 8a:

16

FIGURE 8a: Normal Gaussian curve

FIGURE 8b: Log normal curve

14
where F is the cumulative undersize fraction of particles, x is the particle size,
is the standard deviation, and x is the mean particle size.
To fit Eq.14 to experimental data (such as from a sieve analysis) first make any
adjustment necessary for left or right bias (that is, use the diameters
associated with the center of each bin and not the left or right edges). The
average diameter and standard deviations are determined from

and

15

16
17

To obtain the log-normal distribution, Figure 8b, we substitute ln(x) for x and
ln (g) for . This gives

17
where xg is the geometric mean and is equal to the median size (where 50% of
the particles are greater in size and 50% are smaller in size).
To fit eq. 17, use the following expressions

18

19
Rearranging equation 17 and then applying the substitution

We get the more convenient form given by

20

21
in which xm represents the mode because it is the size at which dF/dx has its
maximum (recall f(x) = dF/dx, hence f is maximum at its mode, at x m).
Svarovsky (L. Svarovsky, Powder Technology, 7, 351-352, 1973) recommends
writing Eq. 21 as

22

18

to simplify the calculations.

EXAMPLE 1
A sample of peanuts are weighed as listed in Table 4 below. Using an average
density of 1.23 grams per cubic centimeter, the average candy diameter
(assuming spherical shape) is calculated. Plot the frequency distribution and the
cumulative frequency distribution of the average diameter of the candies.
Table 4.

Using the formulas

in Eqs.11 and 12, the frequency and cumulative frequency distributions are
calculated. The particle sizes are added up in x increments of 0.05 cm. The
19

size ranges start with 1.45 to 1.50 cm. All sizes less than 1.50 are counted in
the first increment, all sizes between 1.5 and 1.55 are in the second increment,
and so on.. The values for n js are determined by counting the number of peanuts
that fall in a given size increment and are assigned to the average size in the
increment.
For example, there are 7 numbers of peanuts in the size increment range of 1.5
to 1.55 cm and are assigned to the average size of 1.525 cm.
fdx is determined by 7/21=0.33333, f is 0.33333/0.05 = 6.66667. F is
determined by cumulative summing the values fdx.
The results of the summation are plotted in figure 9
Frequency Distribution of the peanuts

FIGURE 9: Plot of Frequency and Cumulative Frequency

CHOICE OF MEAN PARTICLE SIZE
As shown in previous discussions, there is a bewildering number of different
definitions of "mean" size for a particle. The choice of the most appropriate
mean is vital in most applications.
As can be seen in Figure 10, two different size distributions may have the same
arithmetic mean, but all of the other means may be different.
The mode is the x value at which f(x) is a maximum. The median is the x value at
which F(x) = 0.50.
The various means are defined by:

or by the equivalent expressions in eq. 23

20

22

FIGURE 10: Comparison of size distributions

23
could be given in any of the form in table below
For example, suppose we want the cubic mean of a set of particles for which we
know the number distribution. The mean is defined such that,

21

hence,

Table 5: Values of g(x) and their mean representations

Suppose you have the mass distribution frequency of a set of particles and you
want the geometric mean. How would you calculate the geometric mean from the
given mass distribution frequency?

Hence

The mean particle size is rarely quoted in isolation. It is usually related to some
measurement technique and application and used as a single number to
represent the full size distribution. The mean represents the particle size
distribution by some property which is vital to the application or process under
study. If two size distributions have the same mean (as measured using the
22

same methods) then the behavior of the two materials are likely to behave in
the process in the same way.
It is the application therefore which governs the selection of the most
appropriate mean. Usually enough is known about a process to identify some
fundamentals, which can be used as a starting point. The fundamental relations
may be overly simple to describe the process fully, but it is better than
randomly selecting mean definition.

EXAMPLE 2: Comparison of mass versus number count.

Consider measuring the size distribution by sieving. The results of a sieve
analysis may give the size distribution as shown in the table below, with
calculations already made to generate other data.
Sieve analysis of a sample of particles. Mass, number, and area fractions are
calculated.

The mass fraction is found simply by dividing the sample masses (sieve mass) by
the sum of the masses. Dividing the sample mass by the particle intrinsic
density (assumed here to be 2.6 g/cm 3) gives the volume of the particles in the
4
3
sample. Dividing the sample volume by the volume of one particle R where R
3
is the sieve size opening, gives the number of particles for that sample. The
total surface area of the particles of a given size is obtained by multiplying the
number of particles times the surface area of one particle (4 R2). The number
and area fractions are found by dividing the sample values by the totals.
The plot in Figure 10 shows that the modes of the three distributions vary
widely. The number distribution and surface area distribution are skewed
23

greatly to the small particle size. This shows that a small mass of the fines
contains a large number of particles.
A property such as turbidity is sensitive to the total number of particles; hence
the large number of fines will cause the fluid to be cloudy. A process such as
filtration is sensitive to the total surface area of the particles due to the drag
(to be treated later) resistance to flow across the surface.

FIGURE 11: Comparison of the fractional distributions of the particle size

distributions.
EXAMPLE 3: APPLICATION; cake filtration, cake washing, dewatering, flow
through packed beds and porous media.
If the particle size distribution is known, what definition of the mean should be
used?
In flows through a packed bed we can consider the pores to be conduits. We
can apply the concept of a friction factor and a Reynolds number. Since the
geometry of an arbitrary pore is not cylindrical, we apply the hydraulic radius,
Rh.

24

24
where is the bed porosity and a is a surface area. This surface area is related
to the specific surface area, as, of the solids (total particle surface/volume of
particles) by
25
The specific surface area in turn is related to the mean particle diameter
(assuming the particle can be represented by a sphere)

For spheres the total volume of particles is given by

and the total surface area of the particles is given by

Hence, we get the mean particle diameter to be

25

26

27

28

where the latter expression is the analytical formulation.

This latter expression defines the mean to be the arithmetic mean,
see eq.22 of the distribution by surface.
Next, we must relate this to a size distribution by mass (the usual way of
measurement). The surface distributions by surface and mass can be related by

29
where k is a constant that accounts for the geometric shape of the particles. It
is assumed here that k is independent of x.
Since the mean size is given in eq. 28 then combining eqs. 28 & 29, we get

30

where the integral is unity.

Integrating eq. 29

31
or, since k is not a function of x,

The RHS of this equation is the definition for the Harmonic mean,

26

, of the mass distribution given by eq. 23. Hence this shows that the
surface arithmetic mean is equal to the mass harmonic mean,
Therefore, for flow through packed beds, filter cakes, etc.;
the appropriate mean particle size definition is the arithmetic average of the
surface distribution. This is shown to be equivalent to the mass distribution
harmonic mean.
MODULE 3: FORCES ON SPHERICAL & NON-SPHERICAL PARTICLES
The most important force acting on particles in fluid-particle medium is the
DRAG FORCE. It has two components (1.Skin drag, 2. Form drag). The Skin drag
is due to exchanges with the boundary layer ( a Tangential stress on the body
arising from the boundary layer). The form drag is the summation of the effect
on the body of acceleration and deceleration in the streamlines as a fluid flows
pass a body. Theoretically, the drag force can be derived for only the simplest
of the case i. e, Laminar flow around a sphere, all other cases are derived
empirically. This is due to the relative motion between the fluid and the
particles. Summarized version of this force is given here;
From a free body diagram, Figure 12, we can write a balance of forces acting on
a spherical particle. The balance of forces shows that the accelerating force
acting on the particle is given by
32

27

FIGURE 12: Free body diagram on particle of diameter R

Initially, when a particle falls through a fluid the particle velocity accelerates.
After a short distance the particle reaches its terminal velocity and its
acceleration goes to zero. This means that the force of acceleration, F a is zero.
Hence, at terminal velocity the kinetic force acting on the particle is given by
33
The TERMINAL VELOCITY can be defined as Final Constant Speed of a
Falling Object(or The Terminal velocity of a body is the velocity attainment at
the end of its acceleration or deceleration) ; that is, the constant speed that a
falling object reaches when the downward gravitational force equals the
frictional resistance of the medium through which it is falling.
mp is the mass of the particle and mf is the mass of the displaced fluid with the
same volume as that of the particle. These masses are equal to the volume of
the particle times the respective particle or fluid densities. The kinetic force
becomes

We define the Drag Coefficient, Cd, by the expression

34

35
where A is the projected area normal to the flow and KE is the characteristic
kinetic energy. When we substitute in the projected area of a sphere, R 2, and
the kinetic energy, 1/2 u2, into eq. 35
then we can derive a working equation for determining the drag coefficient as
28

36
In order to use this expression to determine values for C D we must run
experiments. The experiments may be in the laboratory or they may be thought
experiments for limiting case of creeping flow around the sphere(This operation
is discussed in some detail by Bird et.al. (1960)). Lets consider the limiting case
of creeping flow( flow at very low velocities relative to the sphere) around the
sphere
CD behaviour can be divided into four regions (e. g. for spheres). For other
Shapes different from the sphere, can be gotten in Perry, 5 th edition Fig 5-70.
Recall that shapes other than sphere like disc, cylinder are defined as the
nearest shape, the shape factor for the nearest shape has to be used as the
shape factor.
The most accepted way to show the relation between drag force and velocity is
by two dimensionless groups.
1. Particle Reynolds number
2. The Friction factor, its dimensionless, its a ratio of 2 forces
shearstress
f
K .E ./ unitVolume

f
..37
2
Note Drag coefficient is analogous to friction factor. While drag coefficient is
for immersed solid, friction factor is for fluid flow only.
CD = shear stress/ K.E. per unit volume
Shear stress = (Drag force, FD/Frontal area, Af)/K. E. per unit Volume
Shear stress = CD
38

Therefore CD f NRE ,
(
shape factor or Sphericity)
Insertion of Newtons Law of viscosity(

du
), du/dy is known as rate of
dy

shear or velocity gradient for the stress tensor in Eq.34 and substitution of the
velocity profiles in Eqs.(32) and (33) yields the kinetic force as
39
This expression is known as Stoke's Law. Defining the Reynold's number as
uDp
NRE

29

Where Dp is the particle diameter, we seek a correlation to relate the drag

force to the Reynold's number. A correlation would allow us to extend our
applications to flow conditions in which the creeping flow solution does not
apply.
REGIONS OF DRAG COEFFICIENT FOR SPHERES
REGION 1
This is the creep flow or stokes law region which is usually N RE < 1
Also in this region the CD is inversely proportional to the NRE. Recall that for
this region FD which is same as Fk( the Drag force or the kinetic force)

FD Fk 3v D 6VR

Viscous force is important here.

Then from equ. 38

D 2
4

40

D 2
4
For a cylinder Ap LDp , L = Length of Cylinder
Equ. 40 becomes
24
24
CD

DV NRE
For a sphere the frontal area = R 2 or

Then we can say that in this region

24
CD
NRE

Note that FD is directly proportional to Viscocity,

REGION 2
This is the transition region then
1< NRE < 500
18.5
At this region CD
NRE 3/ 5

.41

......42

43

Here the accelerative forces become important. The boundary layer becomes
turbulent.
REGION 3
This is the region of turbulent flow in boundary layer and in the mainstream.
The CD is shown to be flat i. e. remain constant.
For spheres
CD = 0.44
.44
30

which is a constant. This region usually lies

500 < NRE < 200,000.
This is called the Newtons law region. Here it is the accelerative forces that
are more important.

FD 2

REGION 4
This is a region of high(Extreme) turbulence coupled with flow separation. The
flow separation is responsible for the drop in the graph(see Fig 3.4, Coulson &
Richardson, Vol. 2). Some of the CD here is constant relative to the NRE.
CD = 0.10
; NRE > 200,000
..45
See the figure below for the regions.

Figure 13 Drag coefficient for spheres versus Reynolds number. Three

approximate curves are overlayed onto the experimental curve. The
approximate curves are, from left to right, CD=24/NRE (Stokes Law range for
NRE<1), CD=18.5/(NRE)3.5 (Intermediate range for 1<N RE<1000) and CD=044.
(Newtons Law range 1000<NRE<100,000).
For liquid droplets moving in other liquid we can also consider it as a case of
particle in a fluid. When NRE is very low ( NRE <10 ), the particles behave like a
solid form. For NRE > 10, Oscillation comes in as well as Viscosity and surface
tension. Movement of gases in liquids can also occur. Liquid viscosity, interfacial

31

surface tensions also come in as well as the ones we have in the liquid droplets.
Using equations 43, 44,and 45 the drag forces can be computed.
Region
1

FD
3 DU

2.13 0.6 0.4D 1.4U 1.4

0.055D 2U 2

0.025D 2U 2

TERMINAL VELOCITY
CASE 1: 1-Dimensional Motion of particles through a fluid
Here the forces acting are External forces(gravitational, electrostatic,
magnetic). The line of action of all forces acting on the particle are arranged in
linear order.

Fig.14
FE

FD

FB

The drag force, FD, appears whenever there is relative motion between the
particle & the fluid. It acts to oppose the motion and acts parallel with the
direction of movement but in the opposite direction.
32

FB, the buoyancy force acts parallel with the external force but opposite
direction, it also acts opposite direction to the motion of the particle. F E, is the
External force.
Summing up the forces according to Newtons law
du
FNET= m
.46
d
U=Velocity, = time
FB is defined by Achimedes principle to be

FB f Vp aE

aE is gravitational., VP Vol. of particles

aE g
FE maE .
From the definition of Drag force,
C
FD D APU 2
AP = frontal area(area projected) 47
2

massP
aE

FB fluid
FB

f
maE
p

Substituting into equ. 47

C
du
maE D f Apu 2 f maE m
and rearranging
2
p
d

CD f Apu

1 f
..48
p
2m

Equ. 48, is the general equation for the total force on the body in the force
field. When the force field is gravitational it is accelerative. That is
aE g
for gravitational force field
2
aE r for centrifugal force field
aE
for electrostatic force field
angular velocity of the particle (rad/sec)
r radius of the path
du
When u ut ,
= 0 , this is by definition of terminal velocity.
d
Therefore by this definition, for gravitational force field;
du
aE
d

33

Ut 2

2 g p f m

..49

p f CD Ap

Dp 2

, m p
4
Substituting these two values into equ. 49
4 g p f Dp
Ut
3
CD
For Sphere, the frontal area

Dp 3
6
.50

Equation 50 is the general equation for the terminal velocity of a body moving in
a gravitational field.
Region 1
g p f Dp 2
24
CD
Therefore, Ut
.51
NRE
18f

Equation 51 is the general stokes law expression for terminal velocity within
the laminar flow region.

Region 2:

Ut

Intermediate range

0.153 g 0.71 p f

0.71

Dp 1.14

0.29 0.43
Region 3: Newtons range

Ut 1.75

gDp p f

APPLICATIONS
1.
In the industries, the terminal velocity experiment can be used to know
the viscosity of unknown things (Solution and Particles)
It can be used in the spray drier ( for making dry(milk) powder) by the use of
nebulizers or atomizers.
2.
To find size distribution in a slurry.
Here the particles settle down a column according to the decrease in their
sizes. For example because of their high terminal velocity (i.e. big particles)
settle first at the bottom of the column followed by the next size.
Example a.
34

A laboratory Viscometer consist of a steel ball. The ball is 0.005m in diameter

and the index mark = 0.2m. The viscosity of the steel oil syrup of density =
1300kg/m is to be determined. The measured time interval is 8secs. What is
the viscosity of the syrup. The specific gravity of the steel ball = 7.9
Solution:
Considering the flow to be laminar, using equ. 51

Ut

Ut

g p f Dp 2

0.005m

p 7900kg / m 3 ; f 1300kg / m 3

18f

0.2m
0.025m / s
8sec s

0.2m

18x 0.025m / s
9.80m / s (7900 1300)kg / m 3x (0.005)2 m 2
2

18x 0.025x 105 m .m 3 .s 2 .1

.(
)
9.80x 6600x 2.5 s .kg .m .m 2
45, 000 ms

0.278293135ms / kg
161700 kg
The unit of Viscosity in SI unit is kg/ms
Therefore
1
kg

3.59
0.278293135
ms

CRITERION FOR SETTLING REGIME

In identifying the range in which the motion of a particle lies, the velocity term
in Reynolds number has to be substituted with the terminal velocity,
For example in the stokess law range,
3
DpUt Dp g p
..52
NRE

18 2
If stokes law will apply, NRE must be less than 1.0
In general a convenient system is adopted, a criterion K is defined as

35

g f p f

K Dp

1
3

..53

1 3
K
..54
18
If the size of the particle is known, K can be calculated. If K so calculated is
less than 2.6, stokes law applies. (If you substitute N RE = 1, K=2.6)
For Newtons law range K is greater than 68.9 but less than 2,360. For values
greater than 2,360, the drag coefficient may change abruptly with small
changes in fluid velocity.
Under these conditions, as well at the intermediate range (2.6<K<68.9), the
terminal velocity is calculated from equation 50, using the value of C D found by
trial and error from the graph of CD Vs NRE.
Example b
Estimate the terminal velocity for 115-mesh to 150-mesh particles of limestone
(particle density=2800kg/m3) falling in water at 30oC
From equ. 52, NRE=

From Tyler std. screen scale 115 mesh = 0.124mm, 150mesh = 0.104mm.
at 86oF = 0.801cP, also at this temperature, density is 62.16Ib/ft 3 or
995.7kg/m3.
From the mesh sizes, the Average diameter D p = 0.114mm. To find the range
that applies here;
1

3
3 9.80x 995.7 2800 995.7
K 0.114x 10
2

0.801x 103

= 3.44
This is slightly above the stokes law range.
Let assume NRE = 4; then from CD Vs NRE graph CD 16 and substituting into
equation 50
4 g p f Dp
Ut
3
CD

4x 9.80 2800 995.7 0.114x 10 3 2

3x 16x 995.7

= 0.0130m/s
ASIDE; Viscosity data are generally reported in millipascal.seconds or
centipoises. 1cP = 0.01P
36

= 1mPa.seconds
In SI units = kg/ms or Pascal second.
In cgs,
=g/cm.s(otherwise called poise(P)).
In general case, the direction of movement of the particle relative to the
fluid may not be parallel with the direction of the F E and FB, as a result FD
makes an angle with the other two. In this situation, which is called two
dimensional motion, the drag must be resolved into two components( 1.
Horizontal,2, Gravitational)
Fx, Ux

FD, U, This is the net drag force for

body with velocity u
Fy, Uy

The METHOD OF INCREMENTAL APPROXIMATION is used in solving this

approach. (This approach will not be covered in our case, but students are
advised to read up or be familiar with this)
These expressions for Terminal Velocity and Drag Force hold with the
following assumptions;
a.
The settling is not affected by the presence of other particles in the
fluid. This condition is known as free settling; when the interference of other
particles is appreciable, the process is known as Hindered Settling
b.
That the wall of the containing vessel do not exert an appreciable
retarding effect.
c.
That the fluid can be considered as a continuous medium, that is the
particle is large compared with the mean free part of the molecules of the
fluid, otherwise the particles may occasionally slip( move smoothly with sliding
motion, moving away from the desired position) between the molecules and thus
attain a velocity higher than the calculated one.
HINDERED SETTLING
The settling of particles under crowded (concentrated) conditions is referred
to as Hindered Settling. The Drag coefficient in hindered settling is greater
than in free settling. Hindered settling could be caused by;
37

a. Particle Particle; Particle Wall collision.

b. The particles also constitute part of the medium and impact to the
medium a higher effective and .
c. Liquid displaced upward is greater, flow area is less.
What happens when particles settle in concentrated solutions?
As each particles falls it displaces fluid which in turn must move upward. In a
concentrated system this causes an upward fluid motion which interferes with
the motion of other particles. The net effect is a slower, hindered, settling
rate for the group of particles as compared to the free settling terminal
velocity of one particle by itself. See figure below;
In this phenomenon, the particles are sufficiently close together to cause the
velocity gradient surrounding each particle to be affected by the presence of
the neighbouring units. The particles in settling therefore displace liquids
and generate an appreciable upward velocity. The velocity of the liquid is then
greater with respect to the particle than with respect to the vessel.

Figure 15 :Hindered settling: as a particle falls its displaced fluid moves upward
and slows the observed settling rate of neighboring particles.

38

Coe and Clevenger (Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Met. Eng. 55, 356, 1916) observed that
during a batch settling operation, the sedimenting fluids develop several zones
(See Figure below). In zone A the particles are in low concentration and settle
at their terminal velocity. In zones B and C the particles are in hindered
settling. In zone D the sediment has particles in contact with each other; the
particles are no longer settling though the sediment may compact due to the
weight of the overburden. The concentration of the particles in zone D near the
C - D interface is approximately that of loose packing as given by the
correlation in Figure 17 below. Not all four zones are present in all settling
processes.

Figure 16. Zones of settling observed by Coe & Clevenger.

39

Figure 17. Porosity as a function of sphericity and packing structure. Loose

packed materials are ones that have not had much time to settle due to
vibrations. A normal packed material is one that may have sat for several days
or weeks. Dense packed materials are ones that have sat for a year or more and
have had ample time to settle and vibrate into its most densely packed
structure under force of gravity.

Maude & Whitmore (Br. J. Appl. Phy. 9, 477-482, 1958) modeled the hindered
settling process as a power law in the concentration (volume fraction of the
liquid phase)
is Porosity, Us is Terminal velocity of suspension

55

where for dilute solutions 1 and

. Here Ut is calculated as before
for a single particle falling through a clear fluid and accounts for the hindered
settling effects. The parameter n (is an Emperical factor) is determined
experimentally. Unfortunately n is not a constant but varies as a function of the
particle geometry and the Reynolds number. Perrys Handbook (6 th edition, pg 568) shows that n varies from 2.3 to 4.5(See also McCabe & Smith fig. 7.7) for
spherical particles and has a dramatic effect on the calculated values for the
hindered settling velocity.
40

n = 4.65 for low NRE,; and n = 2.33 for high NRE

A rational approach to hindered settling is described in which the particle
settles through the slurry instead of the clear fluid. This approach is a
preferred alternative to the Maude & Whitmore approach.
If particles of a given size are falling through a suspension of much finer
solids, the terminal velocity of the larger particles should be calculated using
the density and viscosity of the fine suspension. Equ. 55 may then be used to
estimate the settling velocity with the porosity taken as the volume fraction of
the fine suspension, not the total void fraction. Suspensions of very fine sand in
water are used in separating coal from heavy minerals, and the density of the
suspension is adjusted to a value slightly greater than that of coal to make the
coal particles rise to the surface, while the mineral particles sink to the
bottom.
Drag Force on Non-Spherical Particles
The shape and orientation of the particle has an important effect on the flow
profiles around the particle. McCabe and Smith (Unit Operations of Chemical
Engineering, 6th ed, McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 2001), Figure 7.3, and Perrys Chemical
Engineers Handbook, (6th ed., McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1984) Figure 5-76) show the
correlation for the drag coefficients for spheres, disks, and cylinders.
It is not practical to try to derive correlations for all particle shapes and
orientations, especially when in the chemical process industry particles in
settling operations tumble and rotate.
Kunii and Levenspeil studied this problem and developed a correlation based
upon sphericity (1966).
Sphericity is a measure of how close a particle is to being a sphere defined as

56
Sphericity of Some Common Materials (McCabe & Smith, 6th ed, 158 Perrys
Handbook 6th ed, pg 5-54).
PARTICLE MATERIAL
Sphere
Cube
Short Cylinder (Length=Diameter)
Berl saddles

SPHERICITY
1.0
0.81
0.87
0.3
41

Raschig rings
Coal dust, natural (up to 3/8 inch)
Glass, crushed
Mica flakes
Sand
Average for various types
Flint sand, jagged
Sand, rounded
Wilcox sand, jagged
Most crushed materials

0.3
0.65
0.65
0.28
0.75
0.65
0.83
0.6
0.6 to 0.8

Kunii and Levenspiel (Fluidization Engineering, John Wiley, N.Y. 1969, pg 77)
took data from Brown (G.G. Brown et.al., Unit Operations, John Wiley, N.Y.,
1950) and calculated the relationships plotted in Figure 18, relating CD to NRE.
It turns out that the product CDNRE2 is independent of velocity, which makes it
convenient for calculations. Using Eq.36 and the definition of the Reynolds
Number we get equ. 57

42

Figure 18 Drag coefficient Reynolds number relationship for non-spherical

particles. The particle diameter is the volume equivalent diameter, x v, of the
sphere with the same volume as the particle.

.57

The last equation is known as Galileo Number.

With this chart and the correlation in Eq. 57 (line 2) the terminal velocity can
be calculated from the material properties and the sphericity.

43

Haider and Levenspeil (Powder Technology, 58, 63, 1989) also found a useful
relationship for direct evaluation of terminal velocity of particles. The
correlation is shown in Figure 19 below where a curve fit of the plot gives

.58
and the dimensionless velocity and particle diameter are defined as

59
Figure 19 below shows Plot of data taken from Kunii and Levenspiel, Fluidization
Engineering, 2nd edition, Butterworth, Boston, 1991. Dimensionless terminal
velocity and particle diameter are defined in equation 58.

44

More on Sphericity:
We represent a bed of non-spherical particles by a bed of spheres of diameter
Deff such that a bed of spheres and a bed of non-spheres have ;
The same total surface area, a , in a given volume of the bed
The same fractional voidage,
This representation ensures almost the same flow resistance in both beds.
In typical use of the Ergun Equation (McCabe & Smith), the effective diameter
of the particle is replaced with the sphericity times the defined diameter
based on sphericity;
The specific surface area of particles in either bed is found to be

.60

For the whole bed

61
Since there is no general relationship between Def and dp (particle diameter
corresponding to a sphere of the same volume), the best we can do without
running experiments is as follows:
For irregular particles with no seemingly longer or shorter dimensions
(hence isotropic in irregular shape)
.. 62
For irregular particles with one longer direction , but with a length ratio
not greater than 2:1 (eggs for example)
63
For irregular particles with one dimension shorter, but with a length
ratio not less than 1:2 (peanut, for example)
.64
For very flat or needlelike particles, estimate the relationship between
Deff and from values for corresponding disks and cylinders.
45

BULK PROPERTIES OF POWDERS AND SLURRIES

In the process industries economics usually requires us to handle and process
many particles at a time rather than individually. Because of this we must have a
working knowledge of the collective or bulk properties of these materials.
The collective properties are the measurable properties of groups of
particles. Some of these properties are analogous to properties that are
measured on individual particles while other properties may not be defined for
individual properties.
Some important examples are discussed here, but the list is not
complete.
Brief Overview of Some Bulk Properties
ANGLE OF REPOSE
The angle of repose is a characteristic of solids which characterizes the piling
or stacking nature of the particles. The way that particles stack when poured
into a pile is a function of the size/shape, particle intrinsic density, surface
forces (stickiness, electrostatic), and roughness of the particles. Many factors
can influence the way particles stack hence it is difficult to predict; normally a
simple measurement can be made to determine the angle of repose.

Figure 20. Angle of repose, , of (a) a pile of powder, (b) powder in a container,
and (c) powder in a rolling drum.
The angle of repose is considered to be mostly a measure of the internal
friction between the particles as a whole, but not between individual particles.
It is a rapid method of assessing the behaviour of a particulate mass. It is used
in a number of correlations and estimates for the behavior properties of the
bulk solids. One example given in Coulson and Richardsons text relates the angle
of repose to the height of the longest movable plug in a piston. The angle of
repose may is often incorrectly be used to estimate the angle required for the
bottom of a hopper to ensure proper discharge.

46

Angle of repose vary from about 20 o with free flowing solids, to about 60 o with
solids with poor flow characteristics. In extreme cases of highly agglomerated
solids, angles of repose up to nearly 90 o can be obtained. Generally, materials
which contains no particles smaller than 100micronmeter has a low angle of
repose. Powders with low angles of repose tend to pack rapidly to give a high
packing density almost immediately. If the repose is large, a loose structure is
formed initially and the material subsequently consolidates if subjected to
vibration.
The best use of the angle of repose is to determine the size of a pile of powder
or granular materials, either volume or ground area that such a pile will occupy.
POROSITY (VOLUME FRACTION)
Porosity is the fraction of volume space that is NOT occupied by the solid
particles. It is also called fractional voidage, or voidage. If you have a two
phase system of solids and liquid, you can add the respective volumes to obtain
the total volume of your mixed system.

Figure 21. Addition of phase volumes yields the total volume.

The porosity is defined as the volume fraction of the fluid phase:

..65

Figure 22 Porosity as a function of sphericity and packing structure.

47

Loose packed materials are ones that have not had much time to settle due to
vibrations. A normal packed material is one that may have sat for several days
or weeks. Dense packed materials are ones that have sat for a year or more and
have had ample time to settle and vibrate into its most densely packed
structure under force of gravity.
Since porosity is defined as a fraction it must have a value between 0 and 1
inclusive. is the fluid phase volume fraction. (1-) is the solid phase volume
fraction. Their sum is 1 (See figure 22 ).
BULK DENSITY
Bulk density is the effective density of a powder or particulate solid taking into
account the volume occupied by both the solid and fluid phases. The bulk
density is calculated from the porosity and the intrinsic densities of the fluid
and solid phases:
.66
EXAMPLE: An example of applying bulk density is determining the weight of
sand in a bucket. The intrinsic density of one sand particle is about the same as
that of glass, 2.6 g/cm3. If sand packs with a porosity of 0.4, how much will a
twenty five liter bucket filled level to the top with dry sand weigh?
The mass of sand in the bucket is given by
.67
Applying Eq.(4-2), neglecting mass of the air (air density is about 1/2600 that
of the sand), we get

4.2 Momentum Transport Properties

There are several properties of dispersed multiphase mixtures that are
important to predicting handling and transporting properties. These include bulk
viscosity, coefficient of friction, Janssens Coefficient, and permeability.

48

BULK (SLURRY) VISCOSITY

Slurries, which are mixtures of fluids and solids, display a number of
interesting properties including Bingham Plastic, Power Law, Dilatent, and time
dependent behaviors.
Bingham Plastic (Yield Stress) flow occurs when particles in the slurry resist
motion between each other and with the pipe or container wall. The shear
stress must exceed a certain value (the yield value) before the fluid will flow.
(see Patel, R.D., "Non-Newtonian Flow," in Handbook of Fluids in Motion, N.P.
Cheremisinoff and R. Gupta eds., Chapter 6; Ann Arbor Science, 135-178, 1983).
Shear thickening and/or shear thinning behavior can occur in slurries made up
of fibrous or granular materials, respectively. Thickening occurs when the
particles become interlocked. Thinning occurs when the particle separate to
allow movement of the slurry.
For viscosity, assuming that other effects are negligible, can we predict how
the slurrys effective bulk viscosity changes with solids concentration (or
equivalently, porosity)?
Einstein (Ann. Phys., 19, 289, 1906; 34, 591, 1911) derived the theory for dilute
suspensions of rigid spheres. He shows that the slurry bulk viscosity is related
to the liquid viscosity by

..68
in the low concentration limit as 1.
Thomas (Ind. Eng. Chem., 45, 87A, 1953) extended Einsteins relation
empirically to higher concentrations of solids (on the order of 0.95
69
which offers a reasonable fit.
For highly concentrated slurries, near a critical void fraction at which the
particles are in contact forming a structural bed, c, the bulk viscosity may be
approximated by (Art Etchels, personal communication, DuPont, Delaware, 1994)

..70
which says that the closer the porosity gets to the critical porosity c the
more the slurry behaves like a solid structure.
49

To estimate the values of c one can use the porosity of a loosely packed bed.
Foust, Appendix B, gives a correlation between sphericity and porosity and
Loose, Normal, and Dense packing,figure 22 (A.S. Foust, L.A. Wenzel, C.W.
Clump, L. Maus, and L.B. Andersen, Principles of Unit Operations, Wiley, New
York, 1960
The plot in Figure 22 is obtained by curve fitting data. The loose packed
porosity is a function of sphericity given by
All three curves are generated by defining a packing parameter, , such that

and the porosity is given by

..71
PERMEABILITY
Darcys law relates the pressure drop to flow through a packed bed with the
permeability coefficient, k; Darcys showed that the average velocity, as
measured over the whole area of the bed, was directly proportional to the
driving pressure and inversely proportional to the thickness of the bed.
Given the packed bed shown in Figure 23, the permeability is defined by
k P
1 dv
uc

72a

L
A dt

..72b
Typical permeability values for some common materials are listed in Table below
Also, Coulson & Richardson (Chemical Engineeering, Volume 2, 4th ed, Pergamon,
Oxford, 1991, Table 4.1, page 133) has permeability values for common shapes
given as B where k=B/. The data reported by Coulson & Richardson show that
the permeability depends significantly upon porosity and specific surface area
of contact between the fluid and solid phases.

50

Figure 23. Typical Packed Bed.

Permeabilities of typical materials

The Darcys law expression provides a means of estimating the flow rate for a
given pressure drop of fluid. The permeability coefficient must be determined
from experiment.

51

A few correlations are available for predicting the permeability. One of the
more common correlations is Erguns equation (Bird et.al., Transport Phenomena,
Wiley, New York, 1960),

..73
where P is the pressure drop (pressure at inlet minus pressure at outlet),
L is the height (or depth) of the bed,
Vo is the approach velocity( or the average velocity of flow of the
fluid), flow rate divided by the cross sectional area of the
bedQ/A, and
gc is the gravity conversion factor 32174.ft lb m/lbf s2 in FPS units or 1kg m/N s2
in MKS units.
Erguns equation relates the pressure drop to a quadratic expression in the
superficial velocity (equivalent to) as a function of the particle size and the bed
porosity. One could make a comparison between Darcys Law and Erguns
equation to get a relation for the permeability as a first order function of the
superficial velocity. Q/A
MacDonald et.al. ("Flow Through Porous Media-The Ergun Equation Revisited,"
Ind. Chem. Fundam., 18(3) 199-207, 1979) studied data on a wider range of
particles and concluded that the 150 coefficient in Ergun Equation should be
replaced with 180 and the 1.75 coefficient should be replaced with 1.80 for
smooth particles. For rough particles the 1.75 should be replaced with 4.0.
This gives

..74
Lets define the Reynolds number and packed bed friction factor as

then the Ergun equation can be written as

52

75

76
The next expression is useful for estimating permeability for a powder of a
particular size, or estimating particle size from pressure drop flow rate data.

.77
If the particles are approximately spherical the sphericity is 1.0, and assuming
normal packing the porosity is about 0.38 (from Figure 4-5). For small Reynolds
number the 180 term dominates the denominator this equation reduces to
.78
EXAMPLE 4-2
As an example, very slow flow of water (1 liters/minute per square meter)
through a 10 cm thick packed bed of spherical Lucite particles produces a
pressure drop of 10kPa. What is the approximate size of the Lucite particles?
SOLUTION:
Solving Darcys Law;

Substitute this value for permeability into

and solving for dp gives
or the average particle size is about 15 microns.
Check the Reynolds number, to make sure the low Reynolds number assumption
holds:

53

Since Rep is much smaller than 1 then the assumption in deriving

holds.
FLUIDIZATION
Packed beds, fluidized beds, pressure drop in fluidized beds, heat &
mass transfer in fluidized beds.
Regions of Fluidization
When a fluid is passed upwards through a bed of particles the pressure loss in
the fluid due to frictional resistance increases with increasing fluid flow. A
point is reached when the upward drag force exerted by the fluid on the
particles is equal to the apparent weight of particles in the bed. At this point
the particles are lifted by the fluid, the separation of the particles increases,
and the bed becomes fluidized. The force balance across the fluidized bed
dictates that the fluid pressure loss across the bed of particles is equal to the
apparent weight of the particles per unit area of the bed. Thus:

Pressure drop =

weight of particles - upthrust on particles

------------------------------------------bed cross sectional area

For a bed of particles of density

bed of depth H and voidage

, fluidized by a fluid of density f to form a

in a vessel of cross sectional area A:

A plot of fluid pressure loss across the bed versus superficial fluid velocity
through the bed would have the appearance of.
The straight line region OA is the packed bed region. Here the solid particles
do not move relative to one another and their separation is constant. The
pressure loss versus fluid velocity relationship in this region is described in
general by the Ergun equation, Equation 3. (That is this is the equation for
pressure loss in a packed bed

54

Figure 1: Pressure drop versus fluid velocity for packed and fluidized beds

The region BC is the fluidized bed region where Equation 1 applies. At point A it
will be noticed that the pressure loss rises above the value predicted by
Equation 1. This rise is more marked in powders which have been compacted to
some extent before the test and is associated with the extra force required to
overcome interparticle attractive forces. The superficial gas velocity at which
the packed bed becomes a fluidized bed is known as the minimum fluidization
velocity, Umf. This is also sometimes referred to as the velocity at incipient
fluidization ("incipient" means "about to begin"). Umf increases with particle
size and particle density and is affected by fluid properties. It is possible to
derive an expression for U mf by equating the expression for pressure loss in a
fluidized bed (Equation 2) with the expression for pressure loss across a packed
bed. Thus substituting the expression for (- p) for a fluidized bed from
Equation 2 into the expression for (- p) for a packed bed from Equation 3:

55

And

where Ar is the dimensionless number known as the Archimedes number and Re mf

is the Reynolds number at incipient fluidization,

In order to obtain a value of U mf from Equation 7 we need to know the voidage

of the bed at incipient fluidization, = mf. Taking mf as the voidage of the
packed bed, we can obtain a crude Umf. However, in practice voidage at the
onset of fluidization may be considerably greater than the packed bed voidage.
A typical often used value of mf is 0.4. Using this value, Equation 7 becomes:

Wen and Yu (1966) produced an empirical correlation for U mf with a form similar
to Equation 8: (Eq. 10 is an alternate expression.)

56

The Wen and Yu correlation is valid for spheres in the range

0.01 < Remf < 1000.
For gas fluidization the Wen and Yu correlation is often taken as being most
suitable for particles larger than 100 m, whereas the correlation of Baeyens
(1974) , shown below in Equation 11, is best for particles less than 100 m

The correct density for use in fluidization equations is the particle density,
defined as the mass of a particle divided by its hydrodynamic volume. This is
the volume "seen" by the fluid in its fluid dynamic interaction with the particle
and includes the volume of all the open and closed pores (see Figure).

Figure 2: Hydrodynamic volume of a particle

mass of particle
Particle density = ------------------------------hydrodynamic volume of particle
For non-porous solids, this is easily measured by a gas pycnometer or specific
gravity bottle, but these devices should not be used for porous solids since they
give the true or absolute density, abs , of the material of which the particle is
made and this is not appropriate where interaction with fluid flow is concerned.
mass of particle
Absolute density = -----------------------------------------------volume of solids material making up the particle
For porous particles, the particle density p (also called apparent or envelope
density) is not easy to measure directly although several methods are given in
57

Geldart (1990). Bed density is another term used in connection with fluidized
beds; bed density is defined as:

mass of particles in a bed

Bed density = ------------------------------------------------------volume occupied by particles and the voids between them
For example, 600 kg of powder is fluidized in a vessel of cross-sectional area 1
m2 and achieves a bed height of 0.5 m. What is the bed density?
Mass of particles in the bed = 600 kg.
Volume occupied by particles and voids = 1 x 0.5 = 0.5 m 3
Hence, bed density = 600/0.5 = 1200 kg/m3
If the particle density of these solids is 2700 kg/m 3, what is the bed voidage?
Bed density B is related to particle density p and bed voidage by Equation 12:
B

= (1 - ) p . . . . (Eq. 12)

Hence, voidage = 1 - (1200/2700) = 0.555

Another density often used when dealing with powders is the bulk density: it is
defined in a similar way to fluid bed density:

Bulk density =

mass of particles
---------------------------------------------volume occupied by particles and the voids between them

The most appropriate particle size to use in equations relating to fluid-particle

interactions is a hydrodynamic diameter; ie. an equivalent sphere diameter
derived from a measurement technique involving hydrodynamic interaction
between the particle and fluid. In practice, however, in most industrial
applications sizing is done using sieving and correlations use either sieve
diameter, xp or volume diameter, xv. For spherical or near spherical particles x v
is equal to xp. For angular particles, xv 1.13 xp.
For use in fluidization applications, starting from a sieve analysis the mean size
of the powder is often calculated from:
mean xp = 1 / (mi/xi) . . . . . . (Eq. 13)
58

where xi is the arithmetic mean of adjacent sieves between which a mass

fraction mi is collected. This is the harmonic mean of the mass distribution,
which is equivalent to arithmetic mean of a surface distribution.
Bubbling and non-bubbling fluidization
Beyond the minimum fluidization velocity bubbles or particle-free voids may
appear in the fluidized bed.
An equipment Two - dimensional fluidized bed ,a favourite for researchers
looking at bubble behaviour consists of a vessel with a rectangular cross
section, whose shortest dimension ( in the direction being viewed is usually only
1cm or so. The equipment can reveal the effect of gas flow on bubbles in powder
either at (1) lower gas velocity (2) higher gas velocity
At superficial velocities above the minimum fluidization velocity, fluidization
may in general be either bubbling or non-bubbling. Some combinations of fluid
and particles give rise to only bubbling fluidization and some combinations give
only non-bubbling fluidization. Most liquid-fluidized systems, except those
involving very dense particles, do not give rise to bubbling. A bed of glass
spheres fluidized by water can exhibit non-bubbling fluidized bed behaviour.

Figure 4: Expansion of a liquid-fluidized bed. (i) just above U mf, (ii) liquid
velocity several times Umf. Note the uniform increase in void fraction
59

Gas-fluidized systems, however, give either only bubbling fluidization or nonbubbling fluidization beginning at Umf , followed by bubbling fluidization as
fluidizing velocity increases. Non-bubbling fluidization is also known as
particulate or homogeneous fluidization and bubbling fluidization is often
referred to as aggregative or heterogeneous fluidization.
Classification of Powders
Geldart (1973) classified powders into four groups according to their
fluidization properties at ambient conditions. The Geldart Classification of
Powders is now used widely in all fields of powder technology( see figure 6).
Group A powders, when fluidized by air at ambient conditions, give a region of
non-bubbling fluidization beginning at U mf , followed by bubbling fluidization as
fluidizing velocity increases .
Group B powders give only bubbling fluidization under these conditions.
Geldart identified two further groups:
Group C powders - very fine, cohesive powders which are incapable of
fluidization in the strict sense.
Group D powders are large particles that are distinguished by their ability to
produce deep spouting beds. Figure 6 shows how the group classifications are
related to the particle and gas properties.
The fluidization properties of a powder in air may be predicted by establishing
in which group it lies. It is important to note that at operating temperature and
pressures above ambient a powder may appear in a different group from that
which it occupies at ambient conditions. This is due to the effect of gas
properties on the grouping and may have serious implications as far as the
operation of the fluidized bed is concerned. Table 1 presents a summary of the
typical properties of the different powder classes

60

Figure 6: Geldart's classification of powders

Since the range of gas velocities over which non-bubbling fluidization occurs in
Group A powders is small, bubbling fluidization is the type most commonly
encountered in gas-fluidized systems in commercial use. The superficial gas
velocity at which bubbles first appear is known as the minimum bubbling velocity
Umb. Premature bubbling can be caused by poor distributor design or
protuberances inside the bed. Abrahamsen and Geldart (1980) correlated the
maximum values of Umb with gas and particle properties using the following
correlation:

where F is the fraction of powder less than 45

m.

Expansion of a Fluidized Bed

Non-bubbling fluidization
In a non-bubbling fluidized bed beyond Umf the particle separation increases
with increasing fluid superficial velocity whilst the pressure loss across the bed
remains constant. This increase in bed voidage with fluidizing velocity is
61

referred to as bed expansion (see Figure on Expansion of a liquid fluidized

bed).

The relationship between fluid velocity and bed voidage may be determined by
recalling the analysis of multiple particle systems (see Rhodes, 1998, Chapter
2). For a particle suspension settling in a fluid under force balance conditions
the relative velocity between particles and fluid, U rel is given by:

where Up and Uf are the actual downward vertical velocities of the particles and
the fluid, and UT is the single particle terminal velocity in the fluid. In the case
62

of a fluidized bed the time-averaged actual vertical particle velocity is zero (U p

= 0) and so:

where Ufs is the downward volumetric fluid flux. In common with fluidization
practice, we will use the term superficial velocity (U) rather than volumetric
fluid flux. Since the upward superficial fluid velocity (U) is equal to the upward
volumetric fluid flux (-Ufs), and Ufs = Uf , then:

Richardson and Zaki (1954) found the function f( ) which applied to both
hindered settling and to non-bubbling fluidization. They found that in general, f(
) = n where the exponent n was independent of particle Reynolds number at
very low Reynolds numbers, when the drag force is independent of fluid density,
and at high Reynolds number, when the drag force is independent of fluid
viscosity. ie.

Khan and Richardson (1989) suggested the correlation given below, which
permits the determination of the exponent n at intermediate values of Reynolds
number (although it is expressed in terms of the Archimedes number Ar there
is a direct relationship between Rep and Ar). This correlation also incorporates
the effect of the vessel diameter on the exponent.

63

Thus Equations, 21, 22 and 23 in conjunction with the correlation of Khan and
Richardson above, permit calculation of the variation in bed voidage with fluid
velocity beyond Umf. Knowledge of the bed voidage allows calculation of the
fluidized bed height as illustrated below:
mass of particles in the bed = MB = (1 - )

A H . . . . . (Eq.24)

If packed bed depth (H1) and voidage ( 1) are known then if the mass remains
constant the bed depth at any voidage can be determined:

Bubbling Fluidization
The simplest description of the expansion of a bubbling fluidized bed is derived
from the Two-Phase Theory of fluidization of Toomey and Johnstone (1952).
This theory considers the bubbling fluidized bed to be composed of two phases;
the bubbling phase (the gas bubbles) and the particulate phase (the fluidized
solids around the bubbles). The particulate phase is also referred to as the
emulsion phase. The theory states that any gas in excess of that required at
incipient fluidization will pass through the bed as bubbles. Thus, in bubbling
fluidization, bed expansion at velocities beyond minimum bubbling velocity is due
to the presence of bubbles. Thus, referring to Figure below,

64

Q is the actual gas flow rate to the fluid bed and Q mf is the gas flow rate at
incipient fluidization, then
gas passing through the bed as bubbles = Q - Qmf = (U - Umf) A . . . (Eq. 26)
gas passing through the emulsion phase
= Qmf = Umf A . . . . . (Eq.27)
Expressing the bed expansion in terms of the fraction of the bed occupied by
bubbles, B:

where H is the bed height at U and H mf is the bed height at U mf and UB is the
mean rise velocity of a bubble in the bed (obtained from correlations -- see
below). The voidage of the emulsion phase is taken to be that at minimum
fluidization mf. The mean bed voidage is then given by:

In practice, the elegant Two-Phase Theory overestimates the volume of gas

passing through the bed as bubbles (the visible bubble flow rate) and better
estimates of bed expansion may be obtained by replacing (Q - Q mf) in Eq.28 with
visible bubble flow rate, QB = Y A (U - Umf) . . . . . (Eq.30)
where for Group A powders 0.8 < Y < 1.0
for Group B powders 0.6 < Y < 0.8
for Group D powders 0.25 < Y < 0.6
The above analysis requires a knowledge of the bubble rise velocity U B, which
depends on the bubble size dBv and bed diameter D. The bubble diameter at a
given height above the distributor depends on the orifice density in the
distributor N, the distance above the distributor L and the excess gas velocity
(U - Umf).
65

For Group B powders:

For Group A powders: bubbles reach a maximum stable size which may be
estimated from:

Entrainment
The term entrainment will be used here to describe the ejection of particles
from the surface of a bubbling bed and their removal from the vessel in the
fluidizing gas. In the literature on the subject other terms such as carryover,
and elutriation are often used to describe the same process. Here we are going
to study the factors affecting the rate of entrainment of solids from a
fluidized bed and develop a simple approach to the estimation of the
entrainment rate and the size distribution of entrained solids.
Consider a single particle falling under gravity in a static gas in the absence of
any solids boundaries. We know that this particle will reach a terminal velocity
when the forces of gravity, buoyancy and drag are balanced (see Rhodes, 1998,
Chapter 1). If the gas of infinite extent is now considered to be moving upwards
at a velocity equal to the terminal velocity of the particle, the particle will be
stationary. If the gas is moving upwards in a pipe at a superficial velocity equal
to the particle's terminal velocity then:

(a) in laminar flow: the particle may move up or down depending on its
radial position because of the parabolic velocity profile of the gas in the
pipe.
66

(b) in turbulent flow: the particle may move up or down depending on its
radial position. In addition the random velocity fluctuations superimposed
on the time-averaged velocity profile make the actual particle motion less
predictable.

If we now introduce into the moving gas stream a number of particles with a
range of particle size, some particles may fall and some may rise depending on
their size and their radial position. Thus the entrainment of particles in an
upward-flowing gas stream is a complex process. We can see that the rate of
entrainment and the size distribution of entrained particles will in general
depend on particle size and density, gas properties, gas velocity, gas flow
regime - radial velocity profile and fluctuations and vessel diameter. In addition
(i) the mechanisms by which the particles are ejected into the gas stream
from the fluidized bed are dependent on the characteristics of the bed in particular bubble size and velocity at the surface,
(ii) the gas velocity profile immediately above the bed surface is
distorted by the bursting bubbles. It is not surprising then that
prediction of entrainment from first principles is not possible and in
practice an empirical approach must be adopted.
This empirical approach defines coarse particles as particles whose terminal
velocity is greater than the superficial gas velocity (U T > U) and fine particles as
those for which UT < U and considers the region above the fluidized bed surface
to be composed of several zones shown in Figure below:

67

Fig. Particle distribution image and rotated plot of particle density vs height
showing the zones in the freeboard of a fluidized bed.

Freeboard: the entire region between the bed surface and the gas outlet.
Splash zone: the region just above the bed surface, in which coarse
particles fall back down.
Disengagement zone: the region above the splash zone, in which both the
upward flux and the suspension concentration of fine particles decreases
with increasing height.
Dilute-phase transport zone: region above the disengagement zone, in
which all particles are carried upwards; particle flux and suspension
concentration are constant with height.

Note that, although in general fine particles will be entrained and leave the
system and coarse particles will remain, in practice fine particles may stay in
the system at velocities several times their terminal velocity and coarse
68

particles may be entrained. The height from the bed surface to the top of the
disengagement zone is known as the transport disengagement height (TDH).
Above TDH the entrainment flux and concentration of particles is constant.
Thus, from the design point of view, in order to gain maximum benefit from the
effect of gravity in the freeboard, the gas exit should be placed above the
TDH. Many empirical correlations for TDH are available in the literature (e.g.
Zenz, 1983, Horio 1980). We will use that of Horio, which is presented in
Equation 37.

(dBvs = equivalent volume diameter of a bubble at the surface).

The empirical estimation of entrainment rates from fluidized beds is based on
the following rather intuitive equation:

where elutriation rate constant (the entrainment flux at height h above the bed
surface for the solids of size xi, when mBi = 1.0).
MB = total mass of solids in the bed
A = area of bed surface
mBi = fraction of the bed mass with size xi at time t.
For continuous operation, mBi and MB are constant and so:

and total rate of entrainment,

The solids loading of particles of size xi in the off-gases is

the total solids loading leaving the freeboard is T = i.
69

= Ri / (U A) and

For batch operation, the rates of entrainment of each size range, the total
entrainment rate and the particle size distribution of the bed change with time.
The problem can best be solved by writing Equation Eq.38 in finite increment
form:

where (mBi MB) is the mass of solids in size range i entrained in time increment
t.
Then total mass entrained in time

(for k size ranges) and mass of solids remaining in the bed at time

(where subscript t refers to the value at time t.) Bed composition at time

Solution to a batch entrainment problem is by sequential application of

Equations 41 to 44 for the required time period.
The elutriation rate constant K* ih cannot be predicted from first principles and
so it is necessary to rely on the available correlations which differ significantly
in their predictions. Correlations are usually in terms of the carryover rate
above TDH, . Two of the more reliable correlations are given below:
For particles > 100

m and U > 1.2 m/s Geldart et al. (1979) give

70

For particles < 100

m and U < 1.2 m/s Zenz and Weil (1958) give

Heat Transfer in Fluidized Beds

The transfer of heat between fluidized solids, gas and internal surfaces of
equipment is very good. This makes for uniform temperatures and ease of
control of bed temperature.
Gas-Particle Heat Transfer
Gas to particle heat transfer coefficients are typically small, of the order of 5
- 20 W/m2K. However, because of the very large heat transfer surface area
provided by a mass of small particles (1 m3 of 100 m particles has a surface
area of 30,000 m2), the heat transfer between gas and particles is rarely
limiting in fluid bed heat transfer. One of the most commonly used correlations
for gas-particle heat transfer coefficient is that of Kunii and Levenspiel (1969):

where Nu = Nusselt number [hgpx / kg] and the single particle Reynolds number
is based on the relative velocity between fluid and particle as usual.
Gas to particle heat transfer is relevant where a hot fluidized bed is fluidized
by cold gas. The fact that particle-to-gas heat transfer presents little
resistance in bubbling fluidized beds can be demonstrated by the following
example:
Consider a fluidized bed of solids held at a constant temperature T s. Hot
fluidizing gas at temperature Tg0 enters the bed. At what distance above the
distributor is the difference between the inlet gas temperature and the bed
solids temperature reduced to half its original value?

71

Consider an element of the bed of height L at a distance L above the

distributor (Figure below).

Fig Analysis of gas-particle heat transfer in an element of a fluidized bed

Let the temperature of the gas entering this element be T g and the change in
gas temperature across the element be Tg. The particle temperature in the
element is Ts.
The energy balance across the element gives:

where
a = surface area of solids per unit volume of bed
Cg = specific heat capacity of the gas
g = gas density
hgp = particle-to-gas heat transfer coefficient
U = superficial gas velocity
Integrating with the boundary condition Tg = Tg0 at L = 0,

72

The distance over which the temperature distance is reduced to half its initial
value, L0.5 is then:

For a bed of spherical particles of diameter x, the surface area per unit volume
of bed, a = 6 (1 - ) / x where is the bed voidage. Using the correlation for h gp
in Eq. 47, then

As an example we will take a bed of particles of mean size 100 m, particle

density 2500 kg/m3 fluidized by air of density 1.2 kg/m3, viscosity 1.84 x 10-5
Pas, conductivity 0.0262 W/mK and specific heat capacity 1005 J/ (kg K).
Using the Baeyens equation for Umf (Equation 11), Umf = 9.3 x 10-3 m/s. The
relative velocity between particles and gas under fluidized conditions can be
approximated as Umf / under these conditions.
Hence, assuming a fluidized bed voidage of 0.47, Urel = 0.02 m/s.
Substituting these values in Equation 51, we find L0.5 = 0.95 mm. So, within 1 mm
of entering the bed the difference in temperature between the gas and the bed
will be reduced by half. Typically for particles less than 1 mm in diameter the
temperature difference between hot bed and cold fluidizing gas would be
reduced by half within the first 5 mm of the bed depth.
Bed-to-surface heat transfer
In a bubbling fluidized bed the coefficient of heat transfer between bed and
immersed surfaces (vertical bed walls or tubes) can be considered to be made
up of three components which are approximately additive (Botterill,1975):
h = hpc + hgc + hr
73

hpc is the particle convective heat transfer coefficient and describes the heat
transfer due to the motion of packets of solids carrying heat to and from the
surface. hgc is the gas convective heat transfer coefficient describing the
transfer of heat by motion of the gas between the particles. h r is the radiant
heat transfer coefficient. Figure below, after Botterill (1986) gives an
indication of the range of bed-surface heat transfer coefficients and the
effect of particle size on the dominant heat transfer mechanism.

Figure: Range of fluidized bed-to-surface heat transfer coefficients

Particle convective heat transfer: On a volumetric basis the solids in the
fluidized bed have about one thousand times the heat capacity of the gas and
so, since the solids are continuously circulating within the bed, they transport
the heat around the bed. For heat transfer between the bed and a surface the
limiting factor is the gas conductivity, since all the heat must be transferred
through a gas film between the particles and the surface (Figure below).
74

Figure 13: Heat transfer from bed particles to an immersed surface

The particle-to-surface contact area is too small to allow significant heat
transfer. Factors affecting the gas film thickness or the gas conductivity will
therefore influence the heat transfer under particle convective conditions.
Decreasing particle size, for example, decreases the mean gas film thickness
and so improves hpc. However, reducing particle size into the Group C range will
reduce particle mobility and so reduce particle convective heat transfer.
Increasing gas temperature increases gas conductivity and so improves h pc.
Particle convective heat transfer is dominant in Group A and B powders.
Increasing gas velocity beyond minimum fluidization improves particle
circulation and so increases particle convective heat transfer. The heat
transfer coefficient increases with fluidizing velocity up to a broad maximum
hmax and then declines as the heat transfer surface becomes blanketed by
bubbles. This is shown in Figure below for powders in Groups A, B and D.

75

Figure: Effect of fluidizing gas velocity on bed-surface heat transfer

coefficient in a fluidized bed.
The maximum in hpc occurs relatively closer to Umf for Group B and D powders
since these powders give rise to bubbles at U mf and the size of these bubbles
increase with increasing gas velocity. Group A powders exhibit a non-bubbling
fluidization between Umf and Umb and achieve a maximum stable bubble size.
Botterill (1986) recommends the Zabrodsky (1966) correlation for h max for
Group B powders:

and the correlation of Khan et al. (1978) for Group A powders:

76

Botterill (1986) recommends the correlations of Baskakov and Suprun (1972)

for hgc:

where Um is the superficial velocity corresponding to the maximum overall bed

heat transfer coefficient.
For temperatures beyond 600oC radiative heat transfer plays an increasing role
and must be accounted for in calculations. For more readings see Botterill
(1986) or Kunii and Levenspiel (1990) for treatment of radiative heat transfer
or for a more detailed look at heat transfer in fluidized beds.
Application of Fluidized Beds
Physical Processes
Physical processes which use fluidized beds include drying, mixing, granulation,
coating, heating and cooling. All these processes take advantage of the
excellent mixing capabilities of the fluid bed. Good solids mixing gives rise to
good heat transfer, temperature uniformity and ease of process control. One of
the most important applications of the fluidized bed is to the drying of solids.
Fluidized beds are currently used commercially for drying such materials as
crushed minerals, sand, polymers, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and crystalline
products. The reasons for the popularity of fluidized bed drying are:
the dryers are compact, simple in construction and of relatively low
capital cost.
the absence of moving parts, other than the feeding and discharge
devices, leads to reliable operation and low maintenance.
the thermal efficiency of these dryers is relatively high.
fluidized bed dryers are gentle in the handling of powders -this is useful
when dealing with friable materials.
Fluidized beds are often used to cool particulate solids following a reaction.
Cooling may be by fluidizing air alone or by the use of cooling water passing
through tubes immersed in the bed (see Figure below for example).
77

Figure: A fluidized bed solids cooler

Fluidized beds are used for coating particles in the pharmaceutical and
agricultural industries. Metal components may be plastic coated by dipping them
hot into an air-fluidized bed of powdered thermosetting plastic.
Chemical Processes
The gas fluidized bed is a good medium in which to carry out a chemical reaction
involving a gas and a solid. Advantages of the fluidized bed for chemical
reaction include:
The gas-solids contacting is generally good.
The excellent solids circulation with the bed promotes good heat
transfer between bed particles and the fluidizing gas and between the
bed and heat transfer surfaces immersed in the bed.
This gives rise to near isothermal conditions even when reactions are
strongly exothermic or endothermic.
The good heat transfer also gives rise to ease of control of the reaction.
The fluidity of the bed makes for ease of removal of solids from the
reactor.
78

However, it is far from ideal; the main problems arise from the two phase
(bubbles and fluidized solids) nature of such systems. This problem is
particularly acute where the bed solids are the catalyst for a gas-phase
reaction. In such a case the ideal fluidized bed chemical reactor would have
excellent gas-solid contacting, no gas by-passing and no backmixing of the gas
against the main direction of flow. In a bubbling fluidized bed the gas by-passes
the solids by passing through the bed as bubbles. This means that unreacted
reactants appear in the product. Also, gas circulation patterns within a bubbling
fluidized bed are such that products are back-mixed and may undergo
undesirable secondary reactions.
These problems lead to serious practical difficulties particularly in the scalingup of a new fluidized bed process from pilot plant to full industrial scale. This
subject is dealt with in more detail in references: Kunii and Levenspiel (1990),
Geldart (1986), Davidson and Harrison (1971).

79

Figure 16: Kellogg's Model A Orthoflow FCC Unit

This figure is a schematic diagram of one type of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC)
unit - a celebrated example of fluidized bed technology -- for breaking down
large molecules in crude oil to small molecules suitable for gasoline etc. Other
examples of the application of fluidized bed technology to different kinds of
chemical reaction are shown in Table 2.

80

UNIT OPERATIONS 1
The five key components thumb rules of chemical engineering are : material
balance, energy balance, momentum balance, equilibria relations or rate
equations, and cost equations or economy equations. All chemical engineering
problems and calculations fall under 5 categories. Chemical engineering
operations used to be classified as 1. Unit operations, 2. Unit processes. In
unit operations, there is no chemical reaction but only physical change. Examples
include filtration, drying, evaporation etc. In unit process, there is chemical
reaction. Examples include; oxidation, hydrogenation and halogenation etc. In
chemical engineering and related fields, a unit operation is a basic step in a
process. For example in milk processing, homogenization, pasteurization, chilling,
and packaging are each unit operations which are connected to create the
overall process. A process may have many unit operations to obtain the desired
product. Historically, the different chemical industries were regarded as
different industrial processes and with different principles. In 1923 William H.
Walker, Warren K. Lewis and William H. McAdams wrote the book The
Principles of Chemical Engineering and explained the variety of chemical
industries have processes which follow the same physical laws. They summed-up
these similar processes into unit operations. Each unit operation follows the
same physical laws and may be used in all chemical industries. The unit
operations form the fundamental principles of chemical engineering.
Chemical engineering unit operations consist of five classes:
1. Fluid flow processes, including fluids transportation, filtration, solids
fluidization etc.
2. Heat transfer processes, including evaporation, condensation etc.
3. Mass transfer processes, including gas absorption, distillation,
extraction, adsorption, drying etc.
4. Thermodynamic processes, including gas liquefaction, refrigeration etc.
5. Mechanical processes, including solids transportation, crushing and
pulverization, screening and sieving etc.
Chemical engineering unit operations and chemical engineering unit processing
form the main principles of all kinds of chemical industries and are the
foundation of designs of chemical plants, factories, and equipment used.

81

FILTRATION
Filtration is the removal of solid particles from a fluid by passing the fluid
through a filtering medium (A FILTER), or septum, on which the solids are
deposited. Depending on the application, the solid, the fluid, or both may be
isolated. Examples of filtration include a coffee filter which separates the
coffee grounds from the brewed coffee; the use of consumer water filters to
improve the taste or appearance of municipal water; and the use of HEPA
filters in air conditioning to remove particles from air. To separate a mixture of
chemical compounds, a solvent is chosen which dissolves one component, while
not dissolving the other. By dissolving the mixture in the chosen solvent, one
component will go into the solution and pass through the filter, while the other
will be retained. This is one of the most important techniques used by chemists
to purify compounds.
Fluid flows through a filter medium by virtue of a pressure differential across
the medium. They are also classified into those that operate with a pressure
above atmospheric on the upstream side of the filter medium & those that
operate with atmospheric pressure on the upstream side and a vaccum on the
downstream side. The simplest method of filtration is to pass a solution of a
solid and fluid through a porous interface so that the solid is trapped, while the
fluid passes through. This principle relies upon the size difference between the
particles making up the fluid, and the particles making up the solid. In the
laboratory, a Bchner funnel is often used, with a filter paper serving as the
porous barrier.

Figure: showing a simple filtration process

Most industrial filters are pressure filters, vaccum filters, and centrifugal
separators. They are either continuous (discharge of both solids & fluid is
interrupted as long as the equipment is in operation) or discontinuous(The flow
82

of fluid through the devise is continuous, but it must be interrupted periodically

to permit discharging the accumulated solids), depending on whether the
discharge of filtered solids is steady or intermittent.
Filters are divided into three main groups: cake filters, clarifying filters, and
cross flow filters. Cake filters separate relatively large amounts of solids as a
cake of crystal or sludge. They often include provisions for washing the cake
and for removing some of the liquid from the solids before discharge. Clarifying
filters remove small amounts of solids to produce a clean gas or sparkling clear
liquids such as beverages. The solid particles are trapped inside the filter
medium or on its external surfaces. Clarifying filters differ from screens in
that the pores of the filter medium are much larger in diameter than the
particles to be removed. In Cross flow Filter the feed suspension flows under
pressure at a fairly high velocity across the filter medium. A thin layer of solids
may form on the surface of the medium, but the high liquid velocity keeps the
layer from building up. The medium could be ceramic, metal, or polymer
membrane with pores small enough to exclude most of the suspended particles.
Some of the liquid passes through the medium as clear filtrate, leaving a more
concentrated suspension behind. Ultra filtration is a cross flow type containing
a membrane with extremely small openings, used for the separation and
concentration of colloidal particles and large molecules.
EXAMPLES OF FILTERS
DISCONTINUOUS PRESSURE FILTERS( Pressure filters apply a large
pressure differential across the septum to give economically rapid filtration
with viscous liquids or fine solids, most pressure filters are discontinuous):
Filter press (pg 304, Coulson & Richardson, Vol 2), Shell and leaf filters,
Automatic belt filter
VACUUM FILTERS( They are usually continuous, though a discontinuous
vacuum filter is a useful tool. The pressure difference across the septum in a
continuous vacuum filter is not high). Example of Continuous type is the Rotary
drum filter( e.g. in a Zinc leaching operation). Where vacuum filtration cannot
be used, other means of separation, such as continuous centrifugal filters,
should be considered.

83

CENTRIFUGAL FILTERS; The main types of filtering centrifuges are

suspended batch machines, which are discontinuous in their operations:
automatic short cycle batch machines; and continuous conveyor centrifuges.
The most important factors on which the rate of filtration depends will be
1. The drop in pressure from the feed to the far side of the filter
medium.
2. The area of the filtering surface.
3. The viscosity of the filtrate.
4. the resistance of the filter cake.
5. The resistance of the filter medium and initial layers of cake
To increase flow rate( Consider Darcys law), it is favoured by; Increase
pressure, Increase area, Change media( more permeable), change fluid(less
viscous), thinner media. The Septum must also ; 1. Retain the solids to be
filtered, with a reasonably clear filtrate. 2. Must not plug or blind. 3. Must be
resistant chemically and strong enough physically to withstand the process
conditions. 4. Must permit the cake formed to discharge cleanly & completely.
5. Must not be prohibitively expensive.
Filter Aids : Very fine solids moving across the medium often plug any medium
that is fine to retain them. So, it is required that the porosity of such material
be increased to permit passage of the liquor at a reasonable rate. This is done
by adding a filter aid. Examples are; diatomaceous silica, perlite, purified wood
cellulose to the slurry before filtration. The aid subsequently may be separated
from the filter cake by dissolving away the solids or by burning out the filter
aid. Another way of using a filter aid is by precoating, that is, depositing a
layer of it on the filter medium before filtration. In batch filter it is thin, in a
continuous precoat filter, the layer of precoat is thick. Precoats prevent
gelatinous solids from plugging the filter medium and give a clearer filtrate. The
precoat is part of the medium not that of the cake.
Filter cakes can be divided into two classes, incompressible cakes and
compressible cakes. For incompressible cake, the resistance to flow of a given
volume of cake is not appreciably affected either by the pressure difference
across the cake or by the rate of deposition of material. On the other hand,
84

with a compressible cake, increase of the pressure difference or of the rate of

flow causes the formation of a denser cake with a higher resistance. In
filtration, the complete cycle is made up of; a. The filtration process, b.
Washing; c. Dismantling/reassembly. In all, the filtration time is evaluated by
considering the incompressible cake and the compressible cake.
FILTRATION THEORY
Filtration is a special example of flow through porous media. As the flow
increase with time the medium becomes clogged or a filter cake builds up. The
quantities of interest are the flow rate through the filter and the pressure
drop across the unit. As time goes on in the operation, either the flow rate
diminishes or the pressure drop rises. In Constant-pressure filtration the
pressure drop is held constant and the flow rate allowed to fall with time; less
commonly, the pressure drop is gradually increased to give a constant-rate
filtration. In cake filtration, two resistances are available, the cake and that of
the filter medium. The overall pressure drop at any time is the sum of the
pressure drops over medium and cake.
PRINCIPLES OF CAKE FILTRATION
Overall material balance based on a unit area in a filtration operation is given as
Mass of slurry = Mass of Cake + Mass of Filtrate
wc w c
.1

v
s
sc
m
wc = total mass of dry cake solids per unit area
A
v = Filtrate volume per unit area
s = mass fraction of solids in the slurry
sc= average mass fractions of solids in the cake
= density of filtrate.
s
wc
v
s cv
From equ. 1
..2
1
sc
s
c
s
Where
1
sc
C = concentration expressed by mass of dry cake per unit volume of filtrate.

85

wc
, if the mass of solids in the cake can be obtained.
v
However, draining the slurry can often lead to difficulties in accurate
determination of cake mass. An alternative approach is to consider the cake
thickness. The cake thickness is given as L, this can be related to the cake
mass wc by
wc s 1 av L
m
wc s 1 av L
3
A
m s 1 av AL
s = true density of the solid; m = mass of solids in layer
1 av AL = Volume of solids in the layer; av = average porosity of the cake.
wc cv s 1 av L
c
L
v
s 1 av
Combining 2 & 3
c

From 2,

L
v
cL is the ratio of cake thickness L to the per unit area filtrate volume, v. The
thickness L is in fact the primary parameter related to filter design.
PRESSURE DROP THROUGH FILTER CAKE
A typical diagram showing a section through a filter cake and the filter medium
at a definite time t, from the start of the flow of filtrate reveals that in the
bed the velocity is sufficiently low to ensure laminar flow. Accordingly, as a
starting point for treating the pressure drop through the cake, an equation of
the form
2
p 150vo 1

..4
L
s 2Dp 2 3
L cLv ;cL

Equation 4 is known as Kozeng Carman equation and is applicable for flow

through beds at particle Reynolds numbers up to about 1.0
If we designate the superficial velocity of the filtrate as u , equation 4
becomes
2
dp 150 u 1

2
5
dL
D 3

Expressing as a function of surface volume ratio instead of particle size

dp

dL

4.17 u 1

s p

v p

.6
86

Sp = surface area of single particle ; vp = vol. of single particle

= viscosity of filtrate ; u = linear velocity of filtrate, based on filter area
dp
= pressure gradient at thickness L
dL
dv / dt
The linear velocity u
..7
A
V = volume of filtrate collected from the start of filtration to time t
dm s 1 AdL
.8
Eliminating dL from 6 & 8 gives us

k1 u s p /v p 1
2

dp

s A 3

dm

K1 replaces the coefficient 4.17 If FPS units are used, Newton law
proportionality factor gc must be included in the denominator of equation 9.
Integrating equation 9 with limits p1 pa and 0 mc

k1 u s p /v p 1 mc
2

pc

s A 3

.10

pc = pressure drop over cake = pa p1

Filter cake that equation 10 applies is said to be incompressible
For use in equation 9, we define specific cake resistance
p A
c
..10
umc

k1 s p /v p 1
2

Where

s 3

.11

The cake resistance may also be expressed in terms of the particle size D p,
with a new coefficient K2
k2 1

2
..12
s Dp s 3

For incompressible cakes is independent of the pressure drop and of position

in the cake. is the resistance of a cake that gives a unit pressure drop when
m
, u , and c all equal 1.0, Equation 12 shows that is influenced solely by the
A
physical properties of the cake, especially the particle size D p and the porosity
.
For Compressible filter cake equation 10 does not precisely apply. In a
compressible cake, varies with distance from the septum, since the cake
nearest the septum is subject to the greatest compressive force and has the
lowest void fraction.
87

FILTER MEDIUM RESISTANCE

A filter medium resistance , 0 can be defined by analogy with the cake
p
Rm m
pm Pressure drop over medium = p1 pb
resistance .
u
The filter medium resistance Rm may vary with the pressure drop, since the
higher liquid velocity caused by a large pressure drop may force additional
particles of solid into the filter medium. Rm also varies with the age and
cleanliness of the filter medium;
p pc pm
um c

Rm u
A
m
dv / dt Q
P u c Rm ;u

..13
A
A
A

Q m
P c Rm , Q = Volumetric flow rate
A A

mc
wc cv
A
mc ACV

dv Acv

Rm
2
dt .A A

dv cv

Rm

dt .A A

dt
cv

Rm

dv A p A

dt
cv

Rm

dv A p A

dv cv
p
.
Rm
dt A A

13 becomes

Or

.14

CONSTANT PRESSURE FILTRATION

At constant pressure, the variables that vary are v,and t.
When t=0, v=0 and p pm , hence

88

Rm dt
1

A p dv 0 q 0
dt
1
1

kcv
dv q
q0
c
kc 2
A p

14 becomes
Where

15
.16
..17

Integrating equation 16 between limits (0,0) & (t,v), results as

t
v
v
1
dt

k
vdv

dv
c
0

q
0
0 0

t kc

v2 v

2 q0

v
1
t v kc

2 q 0

t kc
1
v
v 2
q0
y mx c
So the plot of t/v versus v will be linear, with a slope equal to k c/2 and the
intercept of 1/q0. from this graph and using equ. 15 & 17 , Rm & may be
evaluated.

t/v

Slope=kc/2
Intercept=1/q0
v

A centrifugal pump will deliver a constant head(Pressure)

EMPERICAL EQUATIONS FOR CAKE RESISTANCE
Conducting constant pressure experiments at varying p 's , variation with
p can be found. If is independent of p , the cake is incompressible.
Ordinarily is expected to increase with p ,at least to some extent most
89

cakes are incompressible. For highly compressible cakes increases rapidly

with p .
The empirical equation is given as

0 p

.18

, 0 are empirical constants, s = compressibility coefficient of the cake. s=0

for incompressible cakes. S= positive for compressible cakes. It usually ranges
from 0.2 and 0.8
PRACTICE QUESTION: Question 29.3 page 1059. McCabe & Smith
CONSTANT RATE FILTRATION
For constant rate filtrate flow, the linear velocity is constant, from equ.7,
v
u
19
At
, substituting mc cv and equation 19 into 10
P A
c
umc
2

Pc c v
20

t A
If is known as a function of Pc and values of pm can be evaluated, equation
20 can be used to relate the overall pressure p to time when the flow rate of
filtrate is constant. To achieve constant rate filtration, a positive displacement
pump is used.

90