Zone compression

In gravity thickening, large and relatively fragile floes are needed to aUow high settling rates and fast coUapse in the compression zone. 

Compression bed depth will have a significant effect on the overall settling rate (increasing compression zone depth reduces unit area). 

Thickener-Basin Depth The pulp depth required in the thickener will be greatly affected by the role that compression plays in determining the rate of sedimentation. If the zone-settling conditions define the area needed, then depth of pulp will be unimportant and can be largely ignored, as the normal depth found in the thickener will be sufficient. On the other hand, with the compression zone controlling, depth of pulp will be significant, and it is essential to measure the sedimentation rate under these conditions. 

To determine the compression-zone requirement in a thickener, a test should be run in a deep cylinder in which the average settling pulp depth approximates the depth anticipated in the full-scale basin. The average density of the pulp in compression is calculated and used in Eq. (18-47) to determine the required compression-zone volume ... 

The side depth of the thickener is determined as the sum of the depths needea for the compression zone and for the clear zone. Normally, 1.5 to 2 m of clear liquid depth above the expected pulp level in a thickener will be sufficient for stable, effective operation. When the location of the pulp level cannot be predicted in advance or it is expected to be relatively low, a thickener sidewall depth of 2 to 3 m is usually safe. Greater depth may be used in order to provide better clarity, although in most thickener applications the improvement obtained by this means will be marginal. 

The particular features of the nylons should also be taken into account in extrusion. Dry granules must be used unless a devolatilising extruder is employed. Because of the sharp melting point it is found appropriate to use a screw with a very short compression zone. Polymers of the lowest melt viscosity are to be avoided since they are difficult to handle. Provision should be made to initiate cooling immediately the extrudate leaves the die. 

Locate the time when the upper interface (between the supernatant liquid and slurry) is at height Z g, halfway between the initial height, Zg, and the extrapolated zero-time compression zone height, Z g. This time represents the period in which all the solids were at the critical dilution and went into compression. The retention time is computed as t -1,., where t is the time when the solids reach the specified... 

This expression is based on our earlier assumption that the time required to thicken the sludge is independent of the interface height of the compression zone. An approximate solution to this expression can be obtained if we assume mj/m to be constant, i.e., an average mass ratio in the thickening zone from top to bottom. Then,... 

More reliable results can be obtained by assuming average conditions over divided parts of the compression zone. That is, the above expression can be applied to divisions of the compression zone and the total volume obtained by the sum of these calculations. Try some of the problems in the section on Questions for Thinking and Discussing to strengthen your understanding of the principles covered. 

The pressure build-up which occurs along a screw is illustrated in Fig. 4.2. The lengths of the zones on a particular screw depend on the material to be extruded. With nylon, for example, melting takes place quickly so that the compression of the melt can be performed in one pitch of the screw. PVC on the other hand is very heat sensitive and so a compression zone which covers the whole length of the screw is preferred. 

In the top (clarifying) zone the relatively clear liquid moves upward and overflows the top. In the middle zone the solid particles settle as the displaced liquid moves upward, and both the local solids concentration and the settling velocity vary from point to point. In the bottom (compressed) zone, the solids and liquid both move downward at a rate that is determined mainly by the underflow draw-off rate. For a given feed rate and solids... 

The appearance of air bubbles in the polymer melt may occur under certain circumstances during processing. This phenomenon is rarely related to obvious faults in the polymer, but sometimes gas bubbles can be observed in cases of decreased thermal stability. Gas bubbles appear due to a certain amount of dispersed gas in the polymer matrix. Insufficient removal of gas from the extruder, particularly from the compression zone, can also cause the problem of air bubbles in the melt. An influence of the extruder screw could be established, because gas bubbles can be removed to some extent by using special screws or changing the extrusion conditions, along with the application of a vacuum. 

The limiting operating conditions for continuous thickeners has been studied by a number of workers including Tiller and Chen(51), and the height of the compression zone has been the subject of a paper by Font(52). 

The thickness of the compression zone is about 10" cm at atmospheric pressure thus the time for compression is about lO" sec. Since the wave length of visible light is of this order of magnitude, the optical reflectivity method was developed. Experiments were carried out in which the angle of incidence on the shock front was kept constant, and the angle of observation varied. In the case of simple air shock... 

Application of SFE necessitates a CO2 source, a pump to pressurize the fluid, an oven containing the extraction vessel, a restrictor to maintain a high pressure in the extraction line, an analyte collection vessel, and an overall system controller. CO2 is drawn from the bottom of the tank with a dip tube because the liquid is the more dense of the two phases. The substantial vapor pressure of the CO2 at ambient temperature helps to displace the liquid into the pump. CO2 remains a liquid throughout the pumping or compression zones and passes through small-diameter metal tubing as it approaches the extraction vessel. A preheating zone in front of the extraction vessel allows supercritical temperature, pressure, and density conditions to be applied immediately to the analyte matrix in the vessel. 

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