BICOL STATE COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

College of Engineering and Architecture

City of Naga

Methods, Processes, and Equipment

Involved in Handling of Solids
(Separation and Classification of Solids)

Submitted by:
BLANDO, Mark Goldwyn E.

Submitted to:
Engr. Augusto A. Avanceña

BSME-5A
CONTENTS:

I. Introduction

II. Processes Involved in Handling of Solids

III. Equipment Involved in Handling of Solids

IV. Significance of Separation and Classification of Solids in

the Manufacturing Process of Industrial Plants

V. Safety Protocols

VI. References
 INTRODUCTION

Separation techniques are involved in a great number of processing

industries and represent, in many cases, the everyday problem of a practicing

engineer. In spite of this, the topic is normally not covered efficiently nor

sufficiently in higher education curricula of some engineering programs, mainly

because its theoretical principles deal with a number of subjects ranging from

physics principles to applied fluid mechanics. In recent years, separation

techniques involving solids have been considered under the general interest of

powder and particle technology, as many of these separations involve removal

of discrete particles or droplets from a fluid stream.

This chapter discusses classification and separation of solid–liquid systems.

Separation of solids from the liquid medium is generally the last step in processes

that employ slurry systems, where the solid particles separate out by settling in the

suspension medium. Particles need to be placed in a field or a potential energy

gradient to be able to be separated from the liquid phase or to its constituents

depending on the differences in physical property relevant to the field. This field

can be gravitational or its analogue centrifugal, electrical, or magnetic. The

particles are separated according to their mass, the charge that they carry, or

their magnetic susceptibility, respectively, depending on the field in which they

are placed. By far, the most extensively used separation is based on the

differences in the mass of the particles in a gravitational, or centrifugal field in

macroscale industrial operations. The solid material to be separated is generally

of colloidal size range, ranging from submicron sizes to not more than a few

millimeters.

In this term paper, various processes, methods, significance, types, and

safety protocols of Separation and Classification of Solids will be given focus.

 PROCESSES INVOLVED IN HANDLING OF SOLIDS

Techniques used to separate one material from the other is called

separation. Separations are extremely common in chemical manufacture. In fact,

much processing equipment is devoted to separate one phase or one material

from the other. There are two types of separation: diffusional and mechanical

separation. Diffusional separation is a technique used for the separation of

homogeneous mixtures. This separation includes the transfer of material between

the phases including distillation, crystallization and absorption. Mechanical

separation is used for the separation of heterogeneous mixtures. These are based

on the physical differences between the particles such as size, shape or density.

It can be applied for separating solids from solids, solids from liquids and also solids

from gases.

Sieves, or sifters, are devices for separating wanted elements from

unwanted material or for characterizing the particle size distribution of a sample,

typically using a woven screen such as a mesh or net or metal. A strainer is a form

of sieve used to separate solids from liquid. Sieving is a simple technique for

separating particles of different sizes. Coarse particles are separated or broken

up by grinding against one-another and screen openings. Depending upon the

types of particles to be separated, sieves with different types of holes are used.

Sieves are also used to separate stones from sand. Sieving plays an important role

in food industries where sieves (often vibrating) are used to prevent the

contamination of the product by foreign bodies.

 Mechanical screening, often just called screening, is the practice of taking

granulated ore material and separating it into multiple grades by particle size. This

practice occurs in a variety of industries such as mining and mineral processing,

agriculture, pharmaceutical, food, plastics, and recycling. A screening machine

consist of a drive that induces vibration, a screen media that causes particle

separation, and a deck which holds the screen media and the drive and is the

mode of transport for the vibration.

Magnetic separation is a process in which magnetically susceptible

material is extracted from a mixture using a magnetic force. This separation

technique can be useful in mining iron as it is attracted to a magnet. In the

machine, the raw ore is fed onto a conveyor belt which passes underneath two

pairs of electromagnets under which further belts run at right angles to the feed

belt. The first pair of balls are weakly magnetized and served to draw off any iron

ore present. The second pair are strongly magnetized and attracted the

wolframite, which is weakly magnetic. These machines are capable of treating

10 tons of ore a day.

Leaching is the process of extracting substances from a solid by dissolving

them in a liquid, either naturally or through an industrial process. In the chemical

processing industry, leaching has a variety of commercial applications, including

separation of metal from ore using acid, and sugar from sugar beets using hot

water.
 EQUIPMENTS INVOLVED IN HANDLING OF SOLIDS

Classifiers are traditionally grouped into wet and dry classifiers. The

difference between dry and wet methods is the medium of suspension being

used. Wet classifiers use liquids as the medium of suspension while dry classifiers

use gases. However, several technologies can be operated under either dry or

wet conditions. The examples include sieving and cyclone classification.

Classification techniques can be also classified into mechanical and non-

mechanical classifiers regardless the working medium. Mechanical classifiers

incorporate moving parts which influences the motion of particles. Non

mechanical classifiers use fluid drag only to separate particles. In terms of the

forces exerted to particles, classifiers can be categorized into two major types:

gravitational and centrifugal classifiers. Gravitational classifiers are generally used

to separate very large particles and are mostly seen as a pre-treatment stage.

This is because gravity itself does not provide sufficient partition power in

classifying small particles. The advantage of centrifugal classifiers is the possibility

of obtaining fine cut sizes due to a high partition power.

Dry classification is widely used in many industrial processes. In comparison

to wet classification, dry classification does not need drying and slurry treatment.

When dry classification uses air as the working medium, it often refers to air

classification. As a complement of sieving, air classification can separate smaller

or larger particles than commercial sieving sizes. Therefore, air classification

manages a wider range of materials, typically from 2 mm down to 5 µm. The

primary application of air classification is to achieve a narrower size range of

product, which produce better flow characteristics and enhance the properties

of the final product.

Elutriation is a process of washing fines by air while allowing the coarse

product settling. The bulk of unclassified powders are usually introduced to the

elutriator from the middle inlet. The air stream flows upwards and washes the fine

particles from the bulk. The lighter or finer particles are lift against gravity to a fines

collector overhead. The denser or larger particles are too heavy to be raised and

fall against airflow into the coarse collector below. The cut size is controlled by

varying the gas velocity.

Segregation may occur when a binary mixture is fluidized in a fluidized bed.

Measures are taken to prevent segregation, which makes classification by

fluidized bed unusual. This is because segregation is often incomplete under

normal operations. In order to make classification processes feasible, some

modifications to the fluidized bed must be made to enhance the degree of

particle segregation.

Cross-flow classifiers are designed so that the direction of airflows is

perpendicular to the gravity. The gas is injected to the classifier horizontally from

the inlet on the left wall. The material inlet is nearby the gas nozzle and the

powders are fed downwardly into the classifier. The particles are spread to a fan-
shape in the chamber. The particles are separate since the coarse powders and

the fine powders have different trajectories in the separation zone due to the fluid

drag forces and gravitational forces. The coarse powders settle quicker than the

fines. By inserting the several plates at certain distances to the gas inlet, the

classified particles are collected into fractions.

Cascade air classifier; the Zigzag classifiers consist of several inclined

branch pipes vertically arranged to form a zigzag separation zone. These inclined

pipes have rectangular cross-section and are inclined alternately to the left and

to the right at the same angle. An inlet is opened at the top or the middle of the

classifier in order that the materials to be classified are fed into it. The coarse

fractions fall to the bend where they need to cross through the classifying airflow

coming from below. The separation of fines takes place at each bend and several

bends are required to increase the sharpness of separation.

Inertial air classifier separate fine powders from 40 to 400 µm. Both particles

and airflow enter the classifier from the top and flow downwardly. An outlet is set

on the sidewall and inclines by 45 degree. The fine particles are carried by air and

discharged from this outlet. The coarse particles proceed straight down by inertia

and collected below. A secondary air is introduced just below the fines outlet and

the airflow washes the remaining fine particles from the falling coarse fraction,

particularly dislodging the adhering fines from the surface of the coarse particles.
A curvilinear chamber is provided to direct the secondary airflows to the fines

outlet.

Vortex air classifiers belong to centrifugal classifiers. It is the first industrial

design which separates particles at size cut about 10 µm. An advantage of the

vortex air classifiers is that de-agglomeration occurs during classification which

leads to good dispersion the raw materials in airflow. The disadvantage is that the

product to air ratio has significant effects on the cut size. To solve this problem, a

vane is installed in the classifier to create a forced vortex in which the

circumferential velocity component is determined by the rotor speed.

Rotating wheel classifiers use rotating blades to create the air vortex or the

centrifugal field. The advantage of a rotating wheel classifier is the elimination of

any external compressor to send air as in a vortex air classifier. In addition, the

volumetric flow rate of air required for classification is much less in the rotating

wheel classifier.

Circulating air classifiers are widely used in cement industry. It has generally

complex interior geometry. Particles are fed from the top onto a plate where the

particles are scattered by rotation of the plate. Circulating airflows carry the fine

particles to the outer wall (annular chamber). The air flows back to the

classification chamber via vanes and leave the fine particles fall into the fines

collector. The coarser particles remain in the interior chamber and falls into the

coarse collector below.

 Electrostatic classifier are the conventional classifiers have in general cut

size above 1 µm. However, finer end products are required to obtain better

product characteristics for example in toner industry. Electrostatic classification is

a process by which aerosol particles are fractionated according to their electric

mobility.

Wet classification refers to the process of separating particulates in a liquid

suspension into fractions according to particle size or density by methods other

than screening. Wet classifiers work as a result of difference in settling rate

between fine and coarse particles. The basic principles of classification is that fine

particles have a slower settling velocity than coarse particles of same density or

light particles have a slower settling velocity than heavy particles of same size.

The applications of wet classifiers were found in the treatment of raw materials for

example effecting a simple sand-slime separation resulting in two products. In

general, wet classifier types fall into two categories: gravitational and centrifugal

classifiers. Gravitational classifiers can be subdivided into sedimentation and

hydraulic classifiers. Depending on the operation manner, each type can be

further divided into mechanical and non-mechanical classifiers.

Spiral classifiers and rake classifiers are two types of sedimentation classifiers

and are mostly used in separating coarse particles from a mixture. A typical spiral

classifier consists of a sloping elongated round-bottom tank and a sand-raking

spiral. The raw materials are fed to the central section of the pool and flow to the
weir while the suspended particles settle down. Four zones can be identified in

the poor, which are stationary zone, moving zone, hindered settling and free

settling zone. The cut size depends on a number of parameters including the

height of the weir, angle of tank slope, viscosity of the mixture, and so on.

Secondary fresh water may be supplemented to clean the coarse fraction before

discharging. Spiral classifiers produce coarse particles in good quality while they

are generally not used in separating fine particles. The rake classifiers have almost

similar configurations with spiral classifiers. The only difference is that the rakes

move following a rectangular direction in rake classifiers.

Hydraulic classifiers differ from sedimentation classifiers in that particle

settling directions are in opposite to fluid movement. It is a mechanical cone

classifier consisting of a cylinder and a conical tank. The materials are fed from

top to a slowly rotating disk. A vane is placed above the disk to generate upward

water current. The coarse particles escape from the upward stream and go to

the lower part of the classifier where being washed by water jet. The device has

around 50% of overflow capacity for 74 µm particles but the overflow drops

dramatically for finer particles. Therefore, it has been used to treat low quality

classifier sands.

Hydrocyclones consist of a top cylindrical section and a lower conical

section. The raw materials were fed into the body tangentially through the inlet

on the top sidewall. The solid-liquid mixture followed a downwards helical

pathway. The centrifugal effects pushed coarse particles away from the fluid

stream to the wall where the coarse particles felled and were collected below.

The fine particles remained in the fluid stream and discharged above.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF SEPARATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS IN

THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL PLANTS

The purpose of separation may be analytical, can be used as a lie

component in the original mixture without any attempt to save the fractions, or

maybe preparative, i.e. to "prepare" fractions or samples of the components that

can be saved. The separation can be done on a small scale, effectively

a laboratory scale for analytical or preparative purposes, or on a large scale,

effectively an industrial scale for preparative purposes, or on some intermediate

scale.

Chemical products are made by a combination of processes that include

synthesis, separation, and purification. The traditional chemical engineering

methods of separation and purification include distillation, crystallization,

adsorption, membrane processes, absorption and stripping, and extraction.

The petroleum refining industry uses the same traditional chemical

engineering separation technologies as the chemical industry, including

distillation, crystallization, adsorption, membrane processes, absorption and

stripping, and extraction. Like the chemical industry, the petroleum refining

industry would benefit from separation technologies with improved energy

efficiency, raw materials efficiency, and cost effectiveness.

Various sectors of the aluminum industry, from primary smelters to producers

of finished products, have diverse separation needs. In terms of basic processes,

the industry needs improvements in separation processes that increase metal

purity. The industry as a whole has a need for innovative separation technologies

to improve the sorting, and thereby the quality, of scrap. The recycling of scrap

reduces energy use, reduces costs for the purchase of raw materials, and reduces

the impact of waste on the environment.

The steel industry comprises two major parts. The first is called the

''integrated'' segment because iron ore and coke (made from coal) are

combined in blast furnaces to produce molten iron (called hot metal), which is

then refined and alloyed to produce various types and grades of steel. The

oxygen-based refining process, which is the one most widely used today, is

sometimes called the basic oxygen process and may be carried out in a basic

oxygen furnace (BOF) or a basic oxygen converter. Oxygen-based steelmaking

accounts for about 60 percent of the steel produced in the United States each

year. The second, and fastest growing, part of the U.S. steel industry is based on

the electric arc furnace (EAF), which can melt steel scrap to make liquid steel

without going through the ore-coke-blast furnace cycle. Fluxes and oxygen are

used to further refine the EAF output, usually by ladle treatment. Facilities that use

EAF steelmaking are popularly known as "minimills" because they are cost-

effective and much smaller than integrated plants. Minimills now produce about

40 percent of U.S. steel output.

 The use of sands to make moulds and cores is nearly universal in the metal

casting industry. A pattern (often made of wood) is used to make the mould,

which establishes the external shape of the metal casting. To make a sand mould,

clean sand is mixed with small amounts of hydrophilic clay, usually bentonite, and

pulverized coal. Water is added to facilitate handling, and the mixture is placed

in two boxes called the "cope" and the "drag." The pattern is then used to transfer

the desired external shape of the metal casting in the packed sand in the cope

(top of the casting) and the drag (bottom of the casting). The two boxes with the

pattern impression constitute the mould. The core is the interior piece of the mould

needed to make hollow castings. In the core room of a metal casting facility, new

sand is mixed with resin and sometimes a catalyst and formed into the core. The

core is then placed in the mould, and the two mould boxes are assembled into a

''flask'' ready for casting. In the mould production process for investment casting,

a wax pattern is repeatedly dipped into ceramic slurry and coated with dry

ceramic grit until the mould is of adequate thickness. The mould is then dried via

water evaporation before it can be used. Drying is the rate-limiting step for this

kind of mould production, and the metal casting industry would benefit from a

separation technology that reduced drying time in investment casting mould

production.
 SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Separations are extremely in chemical manufacture. In fact, much

processing equipment is devoted to separate one phase or one material

from the other. Before starting work with a chemical a “chemical hazard

pocket guide” should be consulted for necessary information about the

chemical. It will give the type of reaction the chemical may produce, its

inflammability, carcinogenicity, prevention and treatment procedures etc.

No eating, drinking, or smoking where chemicals are used. Skin should be

covered with protective clothing. Clothing should be removed

immediately it gets wet or contaminated with a chemical. Eyes or skins

should be washed with plenty of water after an accident. Face mask may

be used in toxic dust or gases. Workers working in antibiotic related

products must be changed routinely so that an individual is not exposed to

a certain antibiotic for a long period of time. Whenever a dust allergy or

respiratory problem precipitates the worker should immediately be

removed from the work place and put under proper healthcare. In case of

inflammable gas or solvent leakage the exhaust fans should be started and

all the source of fire should be extinguished.

 Grinding or milling of drugs, excipients, or herbal products. During

weighing dusts may float on air. During powder mixing dusts may be

generated. During coating operation dusts are generated. During capsule

filling and tablet punching operation dusts may be generated.

Filtration Air is sucked through a suitable filter medium (like paper,

wool, cotton-wool and nylon). Filter bags can be attached with machines

where dust is produced. Inertial separator In cyclone separator the air is

circulated at high speed in a spiral manner. Due to centrifugal force the

dust particles are thrown outward and the particles are collected at the

bottom and the clean air comes out through the top. Electrostatic

separator It consists of metal tubes though which a conductor wire is

passed. Several thousand volts of DC current is applied on the metal wire.

When air is passed through the pipes the dust particles becomes charged

and precipitates on the inner wall of the tube and clean air passes out.

Periodically the dust is collected.

There are different fire hazards and sources. Types of fire Class A Fires

are fires in ordinary combustible materials such as wood, cloth, paper etc.

those produce glowing ember. Class B Fires These are fires of flammable

petroleum products, liquids, gases and greases etc. Class C Fires These fires
involve energized electrical equipment. Class D Fires These are fires in

combustible metals.

To prevent fire hazards, there are two types of water-based foams

available, Chemical foams and Mechanical foams. Chemical foams are

bubbles filled with CO 2 produced by chemical reaction in an aqueous

solution mixed with a foaming agent. The reacting chemicals are usually of

sodium carbonate and ammonium sulfate. Mechanical foams are bubbles

filled with air. Foams forms barrier and prevents contact between fuel and

air. Dry chemicals These are finely divided solid particles usually discharged

through a hose pipe. Usually they contain sodium bicarbonate, potassium

bicarbonate and ammonium sulfate.

REFERENCES:

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/shubhrajit-3057268-industrial-

hazards-safety-precautions/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_process

https://www.nap.edu/read/6388

https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444522375500102

https://www.scribd.com/document/392563376/IP4-Separation-and-

Classification-of-Solids-docx

https://www.slideshare.net/vicky937/separation-screening-and-

classification