Elutriators

Countercurrent Separation and Elutriation. The process known as elutriation in cell separation is a refined method for separation of cells having close mass densities. Cells can be separated by making use of differences in the critical velocity of cells. If the mass densities of two cells are identical, but the sizes are different, then the larger particle has a higher critical velocity than the smaller one. 

The two principal appHcations of countercurrent flow are found in the Beckman elutriators and the Haemonetics apheresis equipment. The Beckman elutriators are capable of very specific cell separation of small batches of cells. The Haemonetics surge technique can separate platelets and lymphocytes from four Hters of donor blood in one hour and forty minutes. 

Beckman Elutriation Method. The Beckman elutriation method uses a chamber designed so that the centrifugal effect of the radial inward fluid flow is constant (Fig. 3). The separation chambers are made of transparent epoxy resin which faciUtates observation of the movements of the cell boundary in strobe light illumination. This enables detection of the radius at which the cells are separating. When a mixture of cells, eg, mononuclear white cells, enters the chamber, separation can be achieved by fine tuning centrifuge speed and inward fluid flow to the specific cell group. This is a laboratory method suitable for relatively small numbers of cells. Chambers are available in sizes to handle 2-3 x 10 , 1 2 x 10 , and 1 x 10 ° cells. The Beckman chambers can be appHed to collect mononuclear cells from bone marrow aspirates. 

Cla.ssifica.tion. Slurry leaving precipitation is classified into a coarse and one or more fine fractions, usually by elutriation in hydroclassifiers. Cyclones and combinations of hydroclassifiers and cyclones are gaining popularity. In smelting grade alurnina plants, the coarse fraction, called primary product, is sent to calcination the fine fractions, called secondary and tertiary seed, are recycled to be grown to product size. 

The terminal velocity in the case of fine particles is approached so quickly that in practical engineering calculations the settling is taken as a constant velocity motion and the acceleration period is neglected. Equation 7 can also be appHed to nonspherical particles if the particle size x is the equivalent Stokes diameter as deterrnined by sedimentation or elutriation methods of particle-size measurement. 

A number of high temperature processes for the production of titanium carbide from ores have been reported (28,29). The aim is to manufacture a titanium carbide that can subsequently be chlorinated to yield titanium tetrachloride. In one process, a titanium-bearing ore is mixed with an alkah-metal chloride and carbonaceous material and heated to 2000°C to yield, ultimately, a highly pure TiC (28). Production of titanium carbide from ores, eg, ilmenite [12168-52-4], EeTiO, and perovskite [12194-71 -7], CaTiO, has been described (30). A mixture of perovskite and carbon was heated in an arc furnace at ca 2100°C, ground, and then leached with water to decompose the calcium carbide to acetjdene. The TiC was then separated from the aqueous slurry by elutriation. Approximately 72% of the titanium was recovered as the purified product. In the case of ilmenite, it was necessary to reduce the ilmenite carbothermaHy in the presence of lime at ca 1260°C. Molten iron was separated and the remaining CaTiO was then processed as perovskite. 

Glassification. Classification (2,12,26,28) or elutriation processes separate particles by the differences in how they settle in a Hquid or moving gas stream. Classification can be used to eliminate fine or coarse particles, or to produce a narrow particle size distribution powder. Classification by sedimentation iavolves particle settling in a Hquid for a predetermined time to achieve the desired particle size and size distribution or cut. Below - 10 fim, where interparticle forces can be significant, gravitational-induced separation becomes inefficient, and cyclone and centrifugation techniques must be used. Classification also separates particles by density and shape. Raw material separation by differential sedimentation is commonly used in mineral processiag. 

Fluidized combustion of coal entails the burning of coal particles in a hot fluidized bed of noncombustible particles, usually a mixture of ash and limestone. Once the coal is fed into the bed it is rapidly dispersed throughout the bed as it bums. The bed temperature is controUed by means of heat exchanger tubes. Elutriation is responsible for the removal of the smallest soHd particles and the larger soHd particles are removed through bed drain pipes. To increase combustion efficiency the particles elutriated from the bed are coUected in a cyclone and are either re-injected into the main bed or burned in a separate bed operated at lower fluidizing velocity and higher temperature. 

Solid circulation Entrainment in bubble wake Elutriation by bursting of bubbles... 

The modeling of fluidized beds remains a difficult problem since the usual assumptions made for the heat and mass transfer processes in coal combustion in stagnant air are no longer vaUd. Furthermore, the prediction of bubble behavior, generation, growth, coalescence, stabiUty, and interaction with heat exchange tubes, as well as attrition and elutriation of particles, are not well understood and much more research needs to be done. Good reviews on various aspects of fluidized-bed combustion appear in References 121 and 122 (Table 2). 

Classified removal of course material also can be used, as shown in Figure 16. In a crystallizer equipped with idealized classified-product removal, crystals above some size ate removed at a rate Z times the removal rate expected for a perfecdy mixed crystallizer, and crystals smaller than are not removed at all. Larger crystals can be removed selectively through the use of an elutriation leg, hydrocyclones, or screens. Using the analysis of classified-fines removal systems as a guide, it can be shown that the crystal population density within the crystallizer magma is given by the equations... 

Various methods are used for evaluatiag the quaflty, ie, physical strength and ensyme dust formation, of the granulate. In the elutriation process, a sample of product is fluidised ia a glass tube with a perforated bottom plate for 40 miautes. Dust from the sample is collected oa a filter and the ensyme activity measured. An acceptable dust level is when less than 5—10 ppm of the activity of the sample has been collected. In the so-called Heubach method, 20 g of granulate is elutriated. During the elutriation, four steel balls are rotated ia the bed ia order to evaluate the impact of attritioa oa the dust release of the ensyme. The dust is collected oa a filter and measured. The acceptable dust level is very low. 

If an elutriation leg or other product-classifying device is added to a ciystaUizer of the MSMPR type, the plot of the population density... 

For group B and D particles, nearly all the excess gas velocity (U — U,nj) flows as bubbles tnrough the bed. The flow of bubbles controls particle mixing, attrition, and elutriation. Therefore, ehitriation and attrition rates are proportional to excess gas velocity. Readers should refer to Sec. 17 for important information and correlations on Gel-dart s powder classification, minimum fluidization velocity, bubble growth and bed expansion, and elutriation. 

Residence time distiabution (RTD) In the case of elutriation of tracer from a vessel that contained an initial average concentration the area under a plot of E t) = between the ordinates at ti and to is the fraction of the... 

The proeedure provides pre-eoneentration and separation 238,239,24op Am and Cm by anion exehanger eolumn AV-17 in NO - form and eation exehanger eolumn KU-2-8 in NH -form, Pu, Am, and Cm elutriated step-by-step by 2-hydroxy-Ao-butyrie aeid with pH 4,75. The sepai ation of Am -I- Cm and rai e eailh elements is eanied out on a eation exehanger eolumn KU-2-8 in H+-form by strip saturated HCl eontaining 20 % C,H OH. 

As measured by the vertical elutriator cotton-dust samples. 

The sampling rate must be maintained at 1 liter per minute. Sampling at a higher rate may elutriate the solvent vapors from the first section, in which case they may be adsorbed in, or even elutriated from, the second section. 

A variety of forced-circulation evaporator designs are available, with and without elutriating legs or cyclones. Different inlets and outlets are used on the vapor body, tailored for the particular application. For some applications, such as super-... 

The rotational operation of a CFB leads to a vortex motion in the freeboard which tends to inhibit particle loss by elutriation. Because of the relatively compact nature of the CFB and the operating flexibility provided by the rotational motion, the CFB has been proposed for a variety of applications including coal combustion, flue gas desulfurization, gas combustion, coal liquefaction and food drying. 

Elutriation The separation of particles in a fluid by gravity, which allows those with the greater falling speed settle as the fluid flows through an elutriator. 

One method for improving the size distribution still further is to employ fines destruction (Jones etal., 1984 Jones and Chianese, 1988). In this technique, a classified stream of suspension, i.e. containing only fine not coarse crystals, is removed from the crystallizer in an elutriation leg (Figure 7.6(a)). 

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