CHAPTER 5 Mechanical and Hydro-mechanical separations

 OUTLINES

 INTRODUCTION
 SCREENING
 SEDIMENTATION, THICKENING AND CLARIFICATION
 FILTRATION IN SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION
 CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATION AND FLOATATION
 HYDRO AND AERO-CLASSIFICATION
 GAS-SOLID SEPARATION

Experiment 5: Filtration
Experiment 6: Sedimentation
Experiment 7: Centrifugation
 INTRODUCTION….Separation…?
 Separation process is used to transform a mixture of substances into two or more
distinct products.
 The mixture can be a combination of any two or more states: solid-solid, solid-liquid,
solid-gas, liquid-liquid, liquid-gas, gas-gas, solid-liquid-gas mixture, etc.
 Separations are divided into two classes:-
 Diffusional operations:- Involves the transfer of material between phases
 Mechanical separations:- The techniques are based on physical differences
between the particles such as size, shape and density.
 These are applicable to heterogeneous mixtures not to homogeneous
solutions.
 They are applicable to separating solids from gases, liquid drops from
gases, solids from solids and solids from liquids.
 The two general methods are filtration and sedimentation.
  INTRODUCTION
 Mechanical separation of particles from a fluid uses forces acting on
these particles.
 So the separating action depends on the character of the particle being
separated and the forces on the particle which cause the separation.
 Mechanical separations can be divided into four groups;
 Sedimentation (Gravity Force)
 Filtration (Pressure Force)
 Sieving (Gravity Force)
 Centrifugal, (Centrifugal Force)
  INTRODUCTION
 How separation is carried out ?
 In order to affect a separation, separating agents are needed in the form
of either:
1. Energy input (heat, electricity, magnetism,)
2. Withdrawal of energy ( cooling, freezing)
3. Medium (filter, membrane, screens)
4. May be chemicals
 Why separations are needed?
 Isolating valuable chemicals from mixtures
 Removing impurities from raw materials
 Purification of products
  Screening
 Screening is a method of separating particles according to size alone.
 The solids are dropped on a screen surface.
 The undersize or fines pass through the screen openings, and
oversize do not i.e. retained on it.
 Screening is occasionally done wet but much more commonly dry.
 Industrial screens are made from woven wire, silk or plastic cloth,
metal bars perforated or slotted metal plates.
 Standard screens range in mesh size from 4in. To 400 mesh, and woven
metal screens with openings as small as 1micron.
 …Cont.
Screening equipment
 Coarse particles need only gravity to classify, but some uses external force like
shaking, gyrating or vibration mechanically or electronically.
Gyrating screens
 In this type of screens, two screens, one above the other, are held in casing inclined at
an angle between 16° and 30° with the horizontal.
 The feed mixture is dropped on the upper screen near its highest point and screens
are gyrated in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis by an eccentric that is set
halfway between the feed point and the discharge.
 …Cont.
…Cont
 The rate of gyration is between 600 and 1800 r/min.
 The screens are rectangular and fairly long, typically (0.5 to 1.2m)
to (1.5 to 4.3m)
 Oversize particles fall from the lower ends of the screens into
collecting ducts, fines pass through the bottom screen into a
discharge chute.
 Dry, hard, rounded and cubical grains ordinarily pass without
trouble through the screens.
 But elongated, sticky, flaky or soft particles do not.
 Due to the screening action, such particles may become wedged
into the openings and prevent particles from passing.
 …Cont.
Vibrating screens
 These are screens that are rapidly vibrated with small amplitude.
 The vibration may be generated mechanically or electronically.
 Between 1800 and 3600 vibrations per minutes are usual.
 …Cont.
Comparison of ideal and actual screens
 The objective of a screen is to accept a feed containing a mixture of
particles of various sizes and separate it into two fractions, an
underflow that is passed through the screen and an overflow that
is rejected by the screen.
 One or both of the components can be a product.
 An ideal screen would sharply separate the feed mixture in such a
way that the smallest particle in the overflow would be just larger
than the largest particle in the underflow. (100% separation)
 Actual screens do not give a perfect separation.
 …Cont.
Effect of capacity on the effectiveness of a screen
 Capacity and effectiveness are two opposing factors.
 To obtain maximum effectiveness, the capacity must be small.
 Large capacity can be obtainable with the expense of reduction in
effectiveness.
 If the screen is overloaded, the number of contacts is small and the
chance of passage on contact is reduced by the interference of
the other particles.
 Greater chance of passage → struck the surface perpendicularly.
 Lowest chance of passage → largest surface are parallel to the
screen.
 …Cont.
Factors reducing capacity and effectiveness
 Some of the factors that can reduce capacity and effectiveness are:-
 Interference of the motion of the bed
 Cohesion of particles to each other
 Adhesion of particles to the screen surface
 Direction of approach of particles to the screen
 Segregation of large particles from small ones and forming a layer
on top of the screen, preventing the smaller particles from passing.
 Moisture content of the feed
 Sedimentation, Thickening And Clarification
 Sedimentation apparatus is an industrial
equipment in which hindered settling is
conducted.
 Is simply tanks, which may be operated batch
wise or continuously.
 Sedimentation is a cheap method of
concentrating solids, the driving potential for it
is gravity.
 But, it provides only a limited final solid
concentration and the process is slow.
 However it is very often used in thickening a
suspension before a more capital intensive
operation, such as filtration.
 Batch sedimentation is a process in which
particles in a column of suspension are
separated through gravity, from their
suspending liquid, to form a sediment.
 Continuous sedimentation is an industrial process of
solid particles in a liquid takes place in a clarifier-
thickener unit, which is a large tank with a feed inlet
somewhere in the middle and outlets at the top and
bottom.
…Cont.
 …Cont.

Uint= interface Velocity

 Multiplication of the settling velocity by the concentration

yields the solids settling flux (Ups) or Mass flux (MxL-2T-1)
Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation
Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation
 Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation
 Three zones of constant concentration are formed.
 These are: zone A, clear liquid C=0; zone B of concentration equal to the initial suspension
concentration CB; and zone S, the sediment concentration Cs .
 The following figure is a typical plot of the height of the interfaces AB, BS and AS with
time for this type of settling.
 On this plot the slopes of the lines give the velocities of the interfaces.
 For example, interface AB descends at constant velocity, interface BS rises at constant
velocity.
 The test ends when the descending AB meets the rising BS forming an interface
between clear liquid and sediment (AS) which is stationary.
 Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation
 In the second type of settling (Type 2 settling), shown in the figure below, a zone of
variable concentration, zone E, is formed in addition to the zones of constant
concentration (A, B and S), that is caused by a slowing down of flux when the
concentration is increasing.
 The suspension concentration within zone E varies with position.
 However, the minimum and maximum concentrations within this zone, C Emin and C Emax are
constant.
…Cont.

CEmin
…Cont.

CEmin
Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation
 Types of batch settling/ Sedimentation

 The interface concentration can be determined by CB*h0 = Cint*hi at a

time interval (t)
 …Cont.
 A typical curve of interface height versus time for activated sludge is shown below.
 From A to B, there is a hindered settling of the particles and this is called liquid
interface.
 From B to C there is a deceleration marking the transition from hindered settling
into the compression zone.
 From C to D there is a compression zone where settling depends on
compression of the sludge blanket.

The height of the interface is plotted against time

 …Cont.
 Column settling tests, as previously described, can be used to determine the area needed for
hindered settling.
 The height of the interface is plotted against time and the area needed for clarification is
obtained by:- where A=surface area of the settling zone, m or ft
Q=overflow rate, m /s or gal/min
vs =subsidence rate in the zone of hindering
settling, mm/s or in/s
 A value of vs is determined from batch settling column test data by computing the slope of the
hindered settling portion of the interface height versus time curve.
 The area needed for thickening is obtained from the batch settling test of a thick suspension.
 The time tu can be determined as: draw a horizontal line through Hu and draw a tangent to the
subsidence settling curve at C2.
 Draw a vertical line from the point of intersection of the two lines drawn above to the time axis to
find the value of tu.
 With this value of tu, the critical area required for adequate thickening can be calculated by:
 …Cont.
 From the curve shown blow, the critical concentration (C2) is determined by extending the
tangent from the hindered and compression settling lines to their point of intersection and
bisecting the angle formed.
 The bisector intersects the subsidence curve at C2 which is the critical concentration.
 The critical concentration controls the sludge-handling capacity of the tank at a height of H2.
 A tangent is drawn to the subsidence curve at C2 and the intersection of this tangent with
depth Hu, required for the desired underflow (or solids concentration Cu), will yield the
required retention time tu.
 Since the total weight of solids in the system must remain constant, i.e. CoHoA=CuHuA, the
height Hu of the particle–liquid interface at the underflow desired concentration Cu is given by:

The height of the interface is plotted against time

 …Cont.
Factors affecting zone settling velocity:

1.Suspended solids concentration

2.Depth of settling column (or tank)
3.Stirring ( 0.5 – 2 rpm) to prevent “arching”)
4.Temperature
 …Cont.
Example:-
…Cont.

CBh0 = Cinth1
…Cont.

C0h0 = Cinth1
 Continuous sedimentation
Two types are identified: clarifiers and thickners
 Thickeners and clarifiers are both used to settle solids which results in
the separation of liquids and solids.
 Thickeners are used to concentrate solids, while clarifiers are used to purify liquids
 …Cont.
 In a continuous thickener, with settling proceeding as the material flows through,
and in which clarified liquid is being taken from the top and sludge from the bottom,
these same zones occur.
 The minimum area necessary for a continuous thickener can be calculated by equating
the rate of sedimentation in a particular zone to the counter flow velocity of
the rising fluid.
 In this case we have:-

 Where Vu is the upward velocity of the flow of the liquid, F is the mass ratio of liquid
to solid in the feed, L is the mass ratio of liquid to solid in the underflow liquid, dw/dt
is the mass rate of feed of the solids, ρ is the density of the liquid and A is the settling
area in the tank.
 If the settling velocity of the particles is V, then Vu = V and, therefore:
 …Cont.
EXAMPLE:- Separating of oil and water
 A continuous separating tank is to be designed to follow after a water washing plant for liquid oil.
Estimate the necessary area for the tank if the oil, on leaving the washer, is in the form of globules
having 5.1 x 10-5m diameter, the feed concentration is 4kg water to 1kg oil, and the leaving water is
effectively oil free having Viscosity of water = 0.7 x 10-3Nsm-2 and density of = 992 kgm-3. The
mass rate of feed of the solid is 200kg/hr. The feed rate is 1000kgh-1, the density of the oil is
894kgm-3 and the temperature of the oil and of the water is 38℃. Assume Stokes' Law.
 Solution: from stokes’ law, we have:

 and since the mass ratio of liquid to solid in the feed (F) = 4 and L = 0, and dw/dt = 200 kg h-1, we
have:

A = (4-0)(200)/ (0.71 x 992)

A = 1.34𝒎𝟐
 FILTRATION IN SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION

 Filtration
 Filtration may be defined as the
separation of solid from a fluid by means
of a porous medium that retains the solid
but allows the fluid to pass.
 The suspension of solid and liquid to
be filtered is known as the slurry.
 The porous medium used to retain the
solids is described as the filter medium;
 The accumulation of solids on the filter
medium is referred to as the filter cake.
 while the clear liquid passing through
the filter medium is the filtrate.
 The fluid flow through a filter
medium by virtue of a pressure
differential across the medium.
 …Cont.
Cont’d
 Most industrial filters are pressure filters, vacuum filters or centrifugal
separators.
 They are also either continuous or discontinuous, depending on whether
removal of filtered solids is steady or intermittent.
 The bed depth increase over the coarse of filtration.
 The cake voidage can stay constant (‘incompressible cake’) or decrease
with increasing bed depth (‘compressible cake’).
 The most important factors on which the rate of filtration depends are:
a) The drop in pressure from the feed to the far side of the filter medium.
b) The area of the filtering surface.
c) The viscosity of the filtrate.
d) The resistance of the filter cake.
e) The resistance of the filter medium and initial layers of cake.
 …Cont.
Factors Affecting The Rate Of Filtration
1. Permeability coefficient:
 The constant (K) represents the resistance of both the filter medium
and the filter cake.
 As the thickness of the cake increase, the rate of filtration will decrease.
 Also the surface area of the particles, the porosity of the cake, and
rigidity or compressibility of the particles could affect the permeability of
the filter.

2. Area of filter medium:

 The total volume of filtrate flowing from the filter will be proportional
to the area of the filter.
 The area can be increased by using larger filters.
 In the rotary drum filter, the continuous removal of the filter cake will
give an infinite area for filtration.
 …Cont.
3. Pressure drop;
 The rate of filtration is proportional to the pressure difference across
both the filter medium and filter cake.
 The pressure drop can be achieved in a number of ways:
 Gravity: A pressure difference could be obtained by maintaining a head
of slurry above the filter medium.
 The pressure developed will depend on the density of the slurry.
 Vacuum: The pressure below the filter medium may be reduced below
atmospheric pressure by connecting the filtrate receiver to a vacuum
pump and creating a pressure difference across the filter.
Pressure: The simplest method being to pump the slurry into the filter
under pressure.
Centrifugal force: The gravitational force could be replaced by
centrifugal force in particle separation.
 …Cont.
4. Viscosity of filtrate:
 It would be expected that an increase in the viscosity of the filtrate will
increase the resistance of flow, so that the rate of filtration is inversely
proportional to the viscosity of the fluid.
 This problem can be overcome by two methods:
 The rate of filtration may be increased by raising the temperature of the
liquid, which lowers its viscosity.
 Dilution is another alternative but the rate must be doubled.

5. Thickness of filter cake;

 The rate of flow of the filtrate through the filter cake is inversely
proportional to thickness of the cake.
 Preliminary decantation may be useful to decrease the amount of the
solids.
 …Cont.
 Filters are divided into three
main groups:-
 Cake filters:- separates relatively
large amounts of solid as a cake of
crystals or sludge, including
provisions of washing the cake and
for removing some of the liquids
from the solids before discharge.
 Clarifying filters:- Remove small
amounts of solids to produce a
clean gas or a sparkling clear
liquids such as beverage.
 Crossflow filters:- The feed
suspension flows under pressure at a
fairly high velocity across the filter
medium.
 …Cont.
 Two basic types of filtration processes may be identified:-
1. Cake filtration:-

 The particles from the suspension, which usually has a high

proportion of solids are deposited on the surface of a porous
septum which should ideally offer only a small resistance to
flow.
 As the solids build up on the septum, the initial layers form the
effective filter medium, preventing the particles from
embedding themselves in the filter cloth, and ensuring that a
particle-free filtrate is obtained.
 …Cont.
 …Cont.

2. Depth or deep-bed filtration:-

 The particles penetrate into the pores of the filter medium, where
impacts between the particles and the surface of the medium are largely
responsible for their removal and retention.
 This configuration is commonly used for the removal of fine particles
from very dilute suspensions, where the recovery of the particles is not of
primary importance.
 The filter bed gradually becomes clogged with particles, and its resistance
to flow eventually reaches an unacceptably high level.
 For this reason, the filter commonly consists of a bed of particulate solids,
such as sand, which can be cleaned by back-flushing, often accompanied
by fluidization.
 …Cont.
Cake filters
 Discontinuous pressure filters:- apply a large pressure differential across
the septum to give economically rapid filtration with viscous liquids or
fine solids.
 Filter presses:- contains a set of plates and frames designed to provide a
series of chambers or compartments in which solids may collect.
 Slurry is admitted to each compartment under pressure, liquor passes through
the canvas and out a discharge pipe leaving a wet cake of solids behind.
 Filtration continued until liquor no longer flows out the discharge or the
filtration pressure suddenly rises.
 These occur when the frames are full of solid and no more slurry can enter. The
press is then said to be jammed.
 Wash liquid may then be admitted to remove soluble impurities from the solids
after which the cake may be blown with steam or air to displace as much
residual liquid as possible.
 The press is then opened, and the cake will be removed from the filter medium.
 …Cont.
Cont’d
The Operation
 The slurry enters the frame from the feed channel,
 The filtrate passes through the filter medium on to the surface of the plate while the
solids form a filter cake in the frame.
 The filtrate then drained down the surface of the plate , between the projections on the
surface and escapes from the outlet.
 Filtration is continued until the frame is filled with filter cake, when the process is
stopped , the frame emptied, and the cycle re-started.
 …Cont.
 Advantages of the filter press
 Because of its basic simplicity the filter press is versatile and may be used for a
wide range of materials under varying operating conditions of cake thickness and
pressure.
 Maintenance cost is low.
 It provides a large filtering area on a small floor space and few additional
associated units are needed
 Most joints are external and leakage is easily detected.
 High pressure operation is usually possible.
 It is equally suitable whether the cake or the liquid is the main product.
 Disadvantages of the filter press
 It is intermittent in operation and continual dismantling is apt to cause high
wear on the cloths.
 Despite the improvements mentioned previously, it is fairly heavy on labour.
 It is a batch filter, so it is a time consuming.
 The filter press is an expensive filter, the emptying time, the labour involved, and
the wear and tear on the cloths resulting in high costs.
 …Cont.
Continuous vacuum filters:-
 In all continuous vacuum filters, liquor is sucked through a moving septum
to deposit a cake of solids.
 The cake is moved out of the filtering zone, washed, sucked dry, and
dislodged from the septum, which then re-enters the slurry to pick up
another load of solids.
Rotary drum filter:-
 The most common types of continuous vacuum filter.
 A horizontal drum with a slotted face turns at 0.1 to 2 r/min.
 A filter medium, such as a canvas, covers the face of the drum, which is
partially submerged in the liquid.
 As the face of the drum dips under the surface of the liquid, vacuum is applied
through the rotary valve.
 A layer of solids builds up on the face of the drum as liquid is drawn through
the cloth into the compartment, through the internal pipe, through the valve, and
into a collecting tank.
 …Cont.
Cont’d
 As the drum leaves the slurry and enters the washing and drying zone,
vacuum is applied to the drum from a separate system, sucking wash liquid
and air through the cake of solids.
 After the cake of solids on the face of the drum has been sucked as dry as
possible, the drum leaves the drying zone, vacuum is cut off, and the cake is
removed by scraping it off with a horizontal knife known as a doctor blade.
 The operation of any given drum therefore, is cyclic, but since some panels
are in each part of the cycle at all times, the operation of the filter as a
whole is continuous
…Cont.
 …Cont.
Advantages of Rotary Filter:
 The rotary filter is automatic and is continuous in operation, so that the labour costs
are very low.
 The filter has a large capacity , so it is suitable for the filtration of highly
 Variation of the speed of rotation enables the cake thickness to be controlled.
 Pre-coat of filter aid could used to accelerate the filtration rate.

Disadvantages:
 The rotary filter is a complex piece of equipment , with many moving parts and is very
expensive,.
 In addition to the filter itself, some accessories are connected ,e.g, a vacuum pump,
vacuum receivers , slurry pumps and agitators are required.
 The cake tends to crack due to the air drawn through by the vacuum system, so that
washing and drying are not efficient.
 Being a vacuum filter, the pressure difference is limited to 1 bar and hot filtrates may
boil.
 It is suitable only for straight- forward slurries
 …Cont.
 Centrifugal filters
 A centrifuge consists of a basket in which mixture of solid and liquid , or
mixture of two liquids is rotated at high speed so that it is separated into
its constituents by the action of centrifugal force.
 Types of baskets in Centrifugal Filters:
A- Imperforated:- in which the liquid is removed through a skimming
tube , while the solid particles, sediment to the wall. In pharmacy, the
centrifuge is commonly used for drying crystals and for separating
emulsions into their constituent liquids.
B- Perforated basket:- in which the liquid passes out through the holes.
 …Cont.
Advantages of a centrifuge:
 It is very compact, occupying very little floor space,
 It is capable of handling slurries with high proportions of solids .
 The final product has generally, a very low moisture content if
compared to a filter cake of a similar material.

Disadvantages:
 Batch process
 It involves a considerable labour cost, making the process expensive.
 …Cont.
Filter media
 The septum in any filter must meet the following requirements

1. It must retain the solids to be filtered, giving a reasonably

clear filtrate.
2. It must not plug or blind.
3. It must be resistant chemically and strong enough
physically to withstand the process conditions.
4. It must permit the cake formed to discharge cleanly and
completely.
5. It must not be prohibitively/ too expensive.
 …Cont.
1. Woven filters: These include wire screening, fabrics of cotton, wool and
nylon.
 Wire screening e.g. stainless steel is durable, resistance to plugging and
easily cleaned.
 Cotton is a common filter ,however, Nylon is superior for pharmaceutical
use, since it is unaffected by mold, fungus or bacteria and has negligible
absorption properties.
2. Non-woven filters: Filter paper is a common filter medium since it
offers controlled porosity, limited absorption characteristic, and low cost.
3. Membrane filters: These are basic tools for micro-filtration, useful in the
preparation of sterile solutions. These filters are made by casting of various
esters of cellulose, or from nylon, Teflon, polyvinyl chloride. The filter is a
thin membrane with millions of pores per square centimeter of filter surface.
4. Porous plates: These include perforated metal or rubber plates, natural
porous materials such as stone, pottery or ceramics, and sintered glass.
 …Cont.
 Filter aids
 Usually, the resistance to flow due to the filter medium itself is very low, but will
increase as a layer of solids builds up , blocking the pores of the medium and
forming a solid cake.
 The objective of the filter aid is to prevent the medium from becoming
blocked and to form an open, porous cake, so reducing the resistance to
flow of the filtrate.
 The particles must be inert, insoluble, incompressible, and irregular shaped
 Filter aids may be used in either or both two ways:
1. Pre-coating technique: by forming a pre-coat over the filter medium by
filtering a suspension of the filter aid.
2. Body-mix technique: A small proportion of the filter aid (0.1-0.5 %) is added to
the slurry to be filtered. This slurry is recirculated through the filter until a clear
filtrate is obtained, filtration then proceeds to completion.
 The following filter aids may be used:
 Diatomite, obtained from natural siliceous deposites.
 Perlite , it is an aluminium silicate.
 Cellulose and Asbestos.
 …Cont.
 Principles of cake filtration
 Filtration is a special example of flow through porous media in which the
resistances increase with time as the filter medium becomes clogged or a
filter cake builds up.
 The most important parameters here are flow rate and pressure drop.
 As time passes during filtration, either the flow rate diminishes or the
pressure drop rises.
 Constant Pressure Filtration:- the pressure drop is held constant and the
flow rate allowed to fall with time (less commonly used).
 Constant Rate Filtration:- the pressure drop is progressively increased at
constant flow rate.
 …Cont.
 In cake filtration, the liquid passes through two resistances in series
 The cake &
 The filter medium
 The filter medium resistance is normally important only during the early stage of
cake filtration.
 The cake resistance is zero at the start and increases with time as filtration
proceeds.
 If the cake is washed after it is filtered, both resistances are constant during the
washing period and that of the filter medium is usually negligible.
 The overall pressure drop at any time is the sum of the pressure drops over
medium and cake.
 If Pa is the inlet pressure, Pb is the outlet pressure, and P’ the pressure at the
boundary between cake and medium, then:-
 …Cont.
 Pressure drop through filter cake:-
 First consider a thin layer of thickness dL lying in the cake at a distance L
from the medium.
 In a filter bed the velocity is sufficiently low to ensure laminar flow So,
from the Ergun equation:-

 Substituting
 …Cont.
 Often the pressure drop is expressed as a function
of the surface-volume ratio instead of the
particle size.
 Flotation
 In some cases, where it is not practicable to settle out fine particles, these can sometimes
be floated to the surface by the use of air bubbles.
 This technique is known as flotation and it depends upon the relative tendency of air
and water to adhere to the particle surface.
 The water at the particle surface must be displaced by air, after which the buoyancy of the
air is sufficient to carry both the particle and the air bubble up through the liquid.
 Because it depends for its action upon surface forces, and surface forces can be
greatly changed by the presence of even minute traces of surface active agents,
flotation may be promoted by the use of suitable additives.
 In some instances, the air bubbles remain round the solid particles and cause froths.
 These are produced in vessels fitted with mechanical agitators, the agitators whip up
the air/liquid mixture and overflow the froth into collecting troughs.
 Flotation
Application of froth flotation:
 The greatest application of froth flotation is:
 In the concentration of minerals,
 But one use in the food industry is in the separation of small particles of
fat from water.
 Dissolving the air in water under pressure provides the froth.
 On the pressure being suddenly released, the air comes out of
solution in the form of fine bubbles which rise and carry the fat with
them to surface scrapers.
 Centrifugal Separations
 The separation by sedimentation of two immiscible liquids, or of a liquid and a solid,
depends on the effects of gravity on the components.
 Sometimes this separation may be very slow because the specific gravities of the
components may not be very different, or because of forces holding the
components in association, for example as occur in emulsions.
 Also, under circumstances when sedimentation does occur there may not be a clear
demarcation between the components but rather a merging of the layers.
 For example, if whole milk is allowed to stand, the cream will rise to the top and there
is eventually a clean separation between the cream and the skim milk.
 However, this takes a long time, of the order of one day, and so it is suitable, perhaps,
for the farm kitchen but not for the factory.
 Much greater forces can be obtained by introducing centrifugal action, in a
centrifuge.
 Gravity still acts and the net force is a combination of the centrifugal force with
gravity as in the cyclone.
 Because in most industrial centrifuges, the centrifugal forces imposed are so
much greater than gravity, the effects of gravity can usually be neglected in the
analysis of the separation.
 Centrifugal Separations
 The centrifugal force on a particle that is constrained to rotate in a circular path is given
by:-
Fc = mrω2
 where Fc is the centrifugal force acting on the particle to maintain it in the circular
path, r is the radius of the path, m is the mass of the particle, and ω(omega) is the
angular velocity of the particle.
 Or, since ω = v/r, where v is the tangential velocity of the particle
Fc = (m𝒗𝟐 )/r
 Rotational speeds are normally expressed in revolutions per minute, so that the above
eqn. can also be written, as ω = 2ℼN/60; as it has to be in 𝑺−𝟏 , divide by 60.
 Fc = mr(2ℼN/60)2 = 0.011 mrN2
where N is the rotational speed in revolutions per minute.
Example: Centrifugal force in a centrifuge.
How many "grams (g)" can be obtained in a centrifuge which can spin a liquid at 2000
rev/min at a maximum radius of 10cm?
Solution:
 Centrifugal Separations
 The centrifugal force depends upon the radius and speed of rotation and upon the mass of the
particle.
 If the radius and the speed of rotation are fixed, then the controlling factor is the weight
of the particle so that the heavier the particle the greater is the centrifugal force acting on it.
 Consequently, if two liquids, one of which is twice as dense as the other, are placed in a bowl and
the bowl is rotated about a vertical axis at high speed, the centrifugal force per unit volume will
be twice as great for the heavier liquid as for the lighter.
 The heavy liquid will therefore move to occupy the annulus at the periphery of the bowl and it
will displace the lighter liquid towards the center.
 This is the principle of the centrifugal liquid separator, illustrated diagrammatically in the
Figure below.

Liquid separation in a centrifuge

 Reading Assignment
on

 HYDRO AND AERO-CLASSIFICATION

 GAS-SOLID SEPARATION
…Cont.