Centrifugal separation equipment

The termination of the cone section is the apex orifice. The critical dimension is the inside diameter at the discharge point. The size of this orifice is determined by the application involved and must be large enough to permit the solids that have been classified to underflow to exit the cyclone without plugging. The normal minimum orifice size would be 10% of the cyclone diameter and can be as large as 35%. Below the apex is normally a splash skirt to help contain the underflow slurry in the case of a hydroclone. 

In determining the proper size and number of cyclones required for a given application, two main objectives must be considered. The first is the classification or separation that is required, and the second is the volume of feed slurry to be handled. In the case of hydroclones, before determining whether these objectives can be achieved, it is necessary to establish a base condition as follows Feed liquid - water at 20 C. Feed solids - spherical particles of 2.65 specific gravity Feed concentration - less than 1 % solids by volume Pressure drop - 69 kPa (10 psi) Cyclone geometry - standard cyclone as described above. 

By convention, classification has been defined as the particle size of which 1 % to 3 % reports to the cyclone overflow with coarser particles reporting to the cyclone underflow. Recent investigations reported by Arterbum (1999) have defined classification as the particle size of which 50% reports to the overflow and 50% to 

Required Overflow Size Distribution Multiplier Required Overflow Size Distribution Multiplier  

The separation that a cyclone/hydroclone can achieve can be approximated from the following relation. The 0 50 (base) for a given diameter cyclone is multiplied times a series of correetion faetors designated by C, Cj, and C  

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Trowbridge, M. E. O K. (1962) Chem Engr, London, No. 162 (August) 73. Problems in scaling-up of centrifugal separation equipment. 

When deciding how best to measure the pressure drop over centrifugal separation equipment, we first have to decide what we mean by the term pressme drop . 

Sedimentation Equipment. Centrifugal sedimentation equipment is usually characterized by limiting flow rates and theoretical settling capabihties. Feed rates in industrial appHcations may be dictated by Hquid handling capacities, separating capacities, or physical characteristics of the soHds. Sedimentation equipment performance is illustrated in Figure 8 on the basis of nominal clarified effluent flow rates and the appHcable values. The... 

Clear-Hquor advance reduces the quantity of Hquor that must be processed by soHd—Hquid separation equipment (for example, a filter or a centrifuge). The reduction in Hquor flow through the separation equipment may allow use of smaller equipment for a fixed production rate or increased production through fixed equipment. 

Separation of two liquid phases, immiscible or partially miscible liquids, is a common requirement in the process industries. For example, in the unit operation of liquid-liquid extraction the liquid contacting step must be followed by a separation stage (Chapter 11, Section 11.16). It is also frequently necessary to separate small quantities of entrained water from process streams. The simplest form of equipment used to separate liquid phases is the gravity settling tank, the decanter. Various proprietary equipment is also used to promote coalescence and improve separation in difficult systems, or where emulsions are likely to form. Centrifugal separators are also used. 

The relative suitability of the common kinds of solid-liquid separation equipment is summarized in Table 11.3. Filtration is the most frequently used operation, but sedimentation as a method of pretreatment and centrifugation for difficulty filterable materials has many applications. Table 11.15 gives more detail about the kinds of filters appropriate to particular services. 

We report on a number of on-line chemical procedures which were developed for the study of short-lived fission products and products from heavy-ion interactions. These techniques combine gas-jet recoil-transport systems with I) multistage solvent extraction methods using high-speed centrifuges for rapid phase separation and II) thermochromatographic columns. The formation of volatile species between recoil atoms and reactive gases is another alternative. We have also coupled a gas-jet transport system to a mass separator equipped with a hollow cathode- or a high temperature ion source. Typical applications of these methods for studies of short-lived nuclides are described. 

Clear-liquor advance is used for two purposes (1) to reduce the quantity of liquor that must be processed by the solid-liquid separation equipment (e.g., filter or centrifuge) that follows the crystallizer, and (2) to separate the residence time distributions of crystals and liquor. The reduction in liquor flow through the separation equipment can allow the use of smaller equipment for a fixed production rate or increased production through fixed equipment. Separating the residence time distributions of crystals and liquor means that crystals will have an average residence time longer than that of the liquor. This should, in principle, lead to the production of larger crystals, but because the crystallizer is otherwise well mixed, the crystal population density will have the same form as that for the MSMPR crystallizer (Eq. (54)). 

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