SEPARATION AND

CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS
SEPARATION OF SOLIDS

• Techniques used to separate one material from the other is called

separation.
• There are two types of separation: diffusional and mechanical
separation.
DIFFUSIONAL 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.
DISTILLATION
CRYSTALLIZATION
ABSORPTION
MECHANICAL SEPARATION

• 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.
SEPARATION TECHNIQUES: SIEVES

• 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.
• Coarse particles are separated or broken up by grinding against
one-another and screen openings.
SEPARATION TECHNIQUES: SIEVES

• 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.
SEPARATION TECHNIQUES: MECHANICAL
SCREENING

• 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.
SEPARATION TECHNIQUES: MAGNETIC
SEPARATION

• 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.
SEPARATION TECHNIQUES: LEACHING

• 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.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS

• Particle classification is an important unit process in many

industries and finds demanding applications in mineral processes,
food processing, pharmaceutical, and toner or powder paint
industries.
• Particle classification is defined as a method sorting an initial
distribution of particles to achieve a desired degree of uniformity,
according to a chosen parameter.
CLASSIFIERS

• Classifiers are so designed that the fine and coarse particles have
different velocities or motion directions. The fine and coarse
products are collected according either to time or to the locations
in the classifiers.
• A classifier is usually a complex system since a number of forces
can be involved in determining trajectories of particles. These
forces include drag forces by fluids, gravitational forces,
centrifugal forces, and so on.
CLASSIFIERS

• 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.
CLASSIFIERS

• 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.
CLASSIFIERS

• 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

• 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.
• 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.
CLASSIFICATION BY ELUTRIATION

• 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.
FLUIDISED BED CLASSIFIER

• Segregation may occur when a binary mixture is fluidised in a

fluidised bed.
• Measures are taken to prevent segregation, which makes
classification by fluidised bed unusual. This is because segregation
is often incomplete under normal operations.
• In order to make classification processes feasible, some
modifications to the fluidised bed must be made to enhance the
degree of particle segregation.
CROSS-FLOW CLASSIFIERS

• 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

• These classifiers 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.
WET CLASSIFICATION

• 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.
SEDIMENTATION CLASSIFIER

• 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. 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

• 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

• 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