Compression phase, pressure filters

Vapor Pressure. The Shiley Infusaid implantable infusion pump utilizes energy stored in a two-phase fluorinated hydrocarbon fluid. The pump consists of a refillable chamber that holds the dmg and a chamber that holds the fluid. The equiUbrium vapor pressure of the fluid, a constant 60 kPa (450 mm Hg), compresses the bellows, pumping the dmg through a bacterial filter, a capillary flow restrictor, and an infusion cannula to the target body site (56,116). 

At n = 1 N-s/m, hj, = 1 m and u = 1 m/s, the value r = AP. Thus, the specific cake resistance equals the pressure difference required by the liquid phase (with a viscosity of 1 N-s/m ) to be filtered at a rate u = 1 m/s for a cake 1 m thick. This hypothetical pressure difference is, however, beyond a practical range. For highly compressible cakes, the value ro reaches 10 m or more. Assuming V = 0 (at the start of filtration) where there is no cake over the filter plate, the equation becomes ... 

When the cake structure is composed of particles that are readily deformed or become rearranged under pressure, the resulting cake is characterized as being compressible. Those that are not readily deformed are referred to as sem-compressible, and those that deform only slightly are considered incompressible. Porosity (defined as the ratio of pore volume to the volume of cake) does not decrease with increasing pressure drop. The porosity of a compressible cake decreases under pressure, and its hydraulic resistance to the flow of the liquid phase increases with an increase in the pressure differential across the filter media. 

Filtration separates components according to their size. Efficiency depends on the shape and compressibility of the particles, the viscosity of the liquid phase and the driving force, which is the pressure created by overpressure or by vacuum. Filtration can be performed either as dead-end filtration, where the feed stream flows perpendicular to the filter surface (Lee, 1989) or as tangential flow filtration, where the feed stream flows parallel to the filter and the filtrate diffuses across it. Examples of the former are the continuous rotaiy vacuum dram filter, where a rotaiy vacuum filter has a filter medium covering the surface of a rotating drum and the filtrate is drawn through the dram by an... 

In such systems, the filter fabric, which may be fabricated to envelop the filter element or simply caulked into its drainage surface, will operate in both vacuum and pressure modes (Fig. 3.16). During the initial phase, dewatering commences as the slurry is drawn by vacuum onto the surface of the immersed fabric and, as the equipment rotates, this continues until the completion of approximately two-thirds of a revolution. At this point, the vacuum is replaced with compressed air, which causes the... 

Two significant operating parameters influence the process of filtration the pressure differential across the filtering plate, and the temperature of the suspension. Most cakes may be considered compressible and, in general, their rate of compressibility increases with decreasing particle size. The temperature of the suspension influences the liquid-phase viscosity, which subsequently affects the ability of the filtrate to flow throu the pores of the cake and the filter medium. 

The principal objective of an expression test is to determine the compression deliquoring characteristics of a cake. However, the nature of the test allows both filtration and compression characteristics to be determined when the starting mixture is a suspension (i.e. where the solids are not networked or they are interacting to a significant extent). Cake formation rate, specific resistance and solids volume fraction data can be determined for the filtration phase while analysis of a subsequent consolidation phase allows the calculation of parameters such as consolidation coefficient, consolidation index and ultimate solids concentration in the cake. Repeated use of the expression test over a range of constant pressures allows the evaluation of scale-up coefficients for filter sizing and simulation as described in Section 4.7. 

A larger pressure drop across a compressible cake could cause more compaction, however, the time taken to compact a thicker cake is greater than that needed to compact a thinner one (Figure 6.19), and hence the filtrate flux from a thicker cake tends to be rather lower. An uneconomic flux is therefore reached when the cake is in a less consolidated state, leaving the thicker cake with a more open structure in the particular examples shown, during the consolidation phase the thickness of the 40 mm cake (per filter surface) is... 

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