Countercurrent washing

Production Technology. Processes for extraction of P2O3 from phosphate rock by sulfuric acid vary widely, but all produce a phosphoric acid—calcium sulfate slurry that requires soHds-Hquid separation (usually by filtration (qv)), countercurrent washing of the soHds to improve P2O3 recovery, and concentration of the acid. Volatilized fluorine compounds are scmbbed and calcium sulfate is disposed of in a variety of ways. 

Washing by successive dilution is used when the soHds are separated into a slurry, such as in filter thickeners. The soHds, thickened into a small amount of mother Hquor, are diluted into a wash Hquid and then separated again, diluted, separated, etc until clean of mother Hquor. The consumption of the wash Hquid can be reduced in countercurrent washing systems, sometimes referred to as countercurrent decantation. Cocurrent dilution washing, however, can be built into some dynamic filter-thickeners such as the Escher-Wyss filter. 

Horizontal belt filters are well suited to either fast or slowly draining soHds, especially where washing requirements are critical. Multistage countercurrent washing can be effectively carried out due to the sharp separation of filtrates available. Horizontal belt vacuum filters are classified according to the method employed to support the filter medium. 

Combinations of centrifugation, countercurrent washing, filtration, and uv-irradiation are being investigated to avoid alloimmunization or GvHD. 

The softened seawater is fed with dry or slaked lime (dolime) to a reactor. After precipitation in the reactor, a flocculating agent is added and the slurry is pumped to a thickener where the precipitate settles. The spent seawater overflows the thickener and is returned to the sea. A portion of the thickener underflow is recirculated to the reactor to seed crystal growth and improve settling and filtering characteristics of the precipitate. The remainder of the thickener underflow is pumped to a countercurrent washing system. In this system the slurry is washed with freshwater to remove the soluble salts. The washed slurry is vacuum-filtered to produce a filter cake that contains about 50% Mg(OH)2. Typical dimensions for equipment used in the seawater process may be found in the Hterature (75). 

Sedimentation is also used for other purposes. For example, relative motion of particles and Hquid iacreases the mass-transfer coefficient. This motion is particularly useful ia solvent extraction ia immiscible Hquid—Hquid systems (see Extraction, liquid-liquid). An important commercial use of sedimentation is ia continuous countercurrent washing, where a series of continuous thickeners is used ia a countercurrent mode ia conjunction with reslurrying to remove mother liquor or to wash soluble substances from the soHds. Most appHcations of sedimentation are, however, ia straight sohd—Hquid separation. 

In the United States boric acid is produced by United States Borax Chemical Corp. in a 103,000 2 3 ric ton per year plant by reacting cmshed kernite ore with sulfuric acid. Coarse gangue is removed in rake classifiers and fine gangue is removed in thickeners. Boric acid is crystallised from strong hquor, nearly saturated in sodium sulfate, in continuous evaporative crystallizers, and the crystals are washed in a multistage countercurrent wash circuit. 

Intensive soluble recovery or removal of contaminants from the cake as accomplished by countercurrent washing operations. This is especially the case with horizontal belt, tilting pan and table filters, which are described later in this subseetion,... 

O When intensive cake washing is required since belt filters make it possible to apply countercurrent washing. 

The cycle of a table filter that includes three countercurrent washing stages consists of the following zones ... 

Another option is to use open filters, which are generally constructed in concrete. They are normally rectangular in configuration. The filter mass is posed on a filter bottom, provided with its own drainage system, including bores that are needed for the flow of filtered water as well as for countercurrent washing with water or air. 

Figure 4-53. Cyclones used for countercurrent washing system. By permission, Krebs Engineers.

In the multistage process described on Fig. 20-14 feed enters one of several crystallizers installed in series. Crystals formed in each crystallizer are transferred to a hotter stage and the liquid collected in the clarified zone of the crystallizer is transferred to a colder stage and eventually discharged as residue. At the hot end, crystals are transferred to a vertical purifier where countercurrent washing is performed by pure, hot-product reflux. TSK refers to this multistage process as the countercurrent cooling crystallization (CCCC) process. In... 

In the production of caustic soda by the action of calcium hydroxide on sodium carbonate, 1 kg/s of sodium carbonate is treated with the theoretical quantity of lime. The sodium carbonate is made up as a 20 per cent solution. The material from the extractors is fed to a countercurrent washing system where it is treated with 2 kg/s of clean water. The washing thickeners are so arranged that the ratio of the volume of liquid discharged in... 

Figure 10.11. Flow diagram for countercurrent washing of calcium carbonate...

If, in a battery of thickeners arranged in series for countercurrent washing, the amount of solvent removed with the insoluble solid in the underflow is constant, and independent of the concentration of the solution in the thickener, then the amount of solvent leaving each thickener in the underflow will then be the same, and therefore the amount of solvent in the overflow will also be the same. Hence the ratio of the solvent discharged in the overflow to that in the underflow is constant. This will be taken as R, where ... 

Figure 10.12. Series of thickeners arranged for countercurrent washing...

NUMBER OF STAGES FOR COUNTERCURRENT WASHING BY GRAPHICAL METHODS... 

For the countercurrent washing system shown in Figure 10.13, the ratio of solute to solvent in the overflow at any stage v," may be related to the ratio of solute to insoluble solid in the underflow 5 by means of a simple material balance. Using this notation ... 

To obtain MSMA, the DSMA solution is partially acidified with sulfuric acid and the resulting solution concentrated by evaporation. As the aqueous solution is being concentrated, a mixture of sodium sulfate and sodium chloride precipitates out (about 0.5 kg per 100 kg of active ingredient). These salts are a troublesome disposal problem because they are contaminated with arsenic. The salts are removed by centrifugation, washed in a multistage, countercurrent washing cycle, and then disposed of in an approved landfill. 

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