Inclined plate/tube separator

The inclined plate (or tube) separator is widely used throughout industry, and is often combined with fine solids removal. The solids settle downwards between the plates, to be removed intermittently from the water tank at the base. 

Geller et al. 28) conducted a series of laboratory experiments in which water was injected at a constant flow rate (fixim 0.25 to 20 mL/hr) into fracture models (smooth, parallel glass plates separated by 350 pm, and textured glass plates, inclined 60 from the horizontal) through a single capillary tube that terminated at the entrance to the fracture model. (In these experiments, we also investigated file effects of the size and material of the capillary tube and the type of contact between the capillary tube and fracture model.) Liquid pressure was monitored upstream of the entrance to the fracture. 

Tube and plate settlers have been used for many years as sedimentation units. There are a variety of designs, but basically all of them use submerged inclined surfaces with relatively close spacing that increases the separation surface area in a vessel that is smaller than conventional sedimentation units (Fig. 3.6). The water to be treated is passed between the surfaces at velocities which permit suspended sohds to settle and to coalesce on the lower tube or plate surface. The angle of inclination (45° or more) enables the settled sohds to slide downward into a sludge-concentration compartment located at the bottom of the treatment unit. 

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