FILTERS

THE GRADE EFFICIENCY CURVE

BY CHARLES T MACHAKWA.
Definition of grade efficiency.
• Classification is the art of separating solid particles in a mixture of
solids and fluid into fractions according to particle size or density by
methods other than screening.
• Most methods of separation are not 100% effective. There is usually
a range of particle sizes that are separated with varying degrees of
efficiency. This variation in the efficiency is referred to as the Grade
Efficiency Curve.
• The grade efficiency is a way of characterizing how well particles are
separated according to size (density, or some other desired property).
Cake and Depth Filtration Curves.
• In a typical cake filtration, as the filter cake depth increases, the cake
itself improves the separation and the grade efficiency shifts with
increasing efficiencies for smaller particles.
• In Depth filtration, initially the filter may perform very well. Gradually
the capture sites in a typical depth filter are occupied (though other
mechanisms such as straining may occur) and the fine particles start
to bleed through. Hence in Depth Filtration the grade efficiency curve
shifts toward larger particles as the filter becomes less efficient at
capturing small particles.
 Applications of the Grade Efficiency Curve.
• As an example, consider the water filter pumps used by backpackers on a hiking
trail to remove harmful bacteria from water. Bacteria are typically greater than
1 micron in size.
• If you have the choice of two filters with grade efficiency curves shown in Figure
11-8, the savvy backpacker would choose filter A because it is better than
99.99% effective at removing 1 micron particles. Filter B appears to be only
about 50% effective at removing 1 micron particles.
Cut Size, Sharpness of cut.
• One of the reasons for inventing the Grade Efficiency is that it makes
some calculations regarding the separation of particles by size easier.
• To compare efficiencies between steady state processes, we define
Cut size and Sharpness of cut. Normally, cut size is the particle size for
which 50% of the particles exit the separation process in the coarse
product stream and 50% exit in the fines product stream.
• Sharpness of cut is defined as a ratio of particle sizes specified at two
efficiencies, typically at 20% and 80%.
• By this definition, and because the grade efficiency is a monotonically
increasing curve, the sharpness must be greater than or equal to
unity.

• In an idealized case in which there is a perfect separation, where all

particles less than the 50% cut size exit in the fines stream and all
particles greater than the cut size exit in the coarse stream, the
sharpness of cut equals unity.

• Real separation processes have a sharpness of cut greater than unity.

THANK YOU…