Underflow

The sohd can be contacted with the solvent in a number of different ways but traditionally that part of the solvent retained by the sohd is referred to as the underflow or holdup, whereas the sohd-free solute-laden solvent separated from the sohd after extraction is called the overflow. The holdup of bound hquor plays a vital role in the estimation of separation performance. In practice both static and dynamic holdup are measured in a process study, other parameters of importance being the relationship of holdup to drainage time and percolation rate. The results of such studies permit conclusions to be drawn about the feasibihty of extraction by percolation, the holdup of different bed heights of material prepared for extraction, and the relationship between solute content of the hquor and holdup. If the percolation rate is very low (in the case of oilseeds a minimum percolation rate of 3 x 10 m/s is normally required), extraction by immersion may be more effective. Percolation rate measurements and the methods of utilizing the data have been reported (8,9) these indicate that the effect of solute concentration on holdup plays an important part in determining the solute concentration in the hquor leaving the extractor. 

If perfect mixing occurs in each stage and the solute is not adsorbed preferentially at the surface of the sohd, then the concentration of the solution in the underflow is the same as that in the overflow and... 

In the case of thickeners, the process of compaction of the flocculated material is important. The floes settle to the bottom and gradually coalesce under the weight of the material on top of them. As the bed of flocculated material compacts, water is released. Usually the bed is slowly stirred with a rotating rake to release trapped water. The concentrated slurry, called the underflow, is pumped out the bottom. Compaction can often be promoted by mixing coarse material with the substrate because it creates channels for the upward flow of water as it falls through the bed of flocculated material. The amount of compaction is critical in terms of calculating the size of the thickener needed for a particular operation. The process of compaction has been extensively reviewed in the Hterature (41,42). 

Fig. 5. Kivcet process A, concentrate burner B, fume-laden gas C, lead tap D, slag tap E, 2inc tap F, water-cooled underflow wall G, electrodes H,...

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). 

Rotating product Underflow collecting tube chute... 

The products are an oversize (underflow, heavies, sands) and an undersize (overflow, lights, slimes). An intermediate size can also be produced by varying the effective separating force. Separation size maybe defined either as a specific size in the overflow screen analysis, eg, 5% retained on 65 mesh screen or 45% passing 200 mesh screen, or as a d Q, defined as a cut-off or separation size at which 50% of the particles report to the oversize or undersize. The efficiency of a classifier is represented by a performance or partition curve (2,6), similar to that used for screens, which relates the particle size to the percentage of each size in the feed that reports to the underflow. 

The white Hquor is separated from the calcium carbonate by decantation in a clarifier and is then available for a new cooking cycle. The underflow from the clarifier, which contains the calcium carbonate and is referred to as lime mud, is diluted with water and passed to a second clarifier known as the lime mud washer. The clarified weak white Hquor (weak wash) goes to storage and then enters the dissolving tank. The lime mud residue from the lime mud washer is passed to a rotary filter and subsequently to the lime kiln where calcium carbonate is converted back to calcium oxide, thus completing the lime cycle. 

Probably more relevant to the chemical industry is the scale-up of thickeners. Thickeners are basically gravity settling tanks that, apart from producing a clear overflow, are designed to have a thick underflow with as Htfle water content as possible. The feed into a thickener is generally more concentrated than the feed into a clarifier, and quite often exhibits zone-settling behavior because of the appHcation of flocculants. 

The vessel design features a Chinese hat-like conical core stopper above the underflow sump, which is there to prevent the vortex from reaching the latter and reentraining the settled soHds. The core stopper is also beheved to stabilize and locate the vortex flow in the vessel. Overflow from the vessel is through a wide cylindrical insert through the Hd, similar to a vortex finder in a hydrocyclone (16), and an optional provision can be made for collecting any floatables in a float trap. 

The settling soHds and some Hquid move downward. The amount of the latter depends on the underflow withdrawal rate. Most of the Hquid moves upward and into the overflow which is coUected in a trough around the periphery of the basin. 

The most important design dimensions of a thickener are pool area and depth. The pool area is chosen to be the largest of the three layer requirements. In most cases, only the zone-settling and compression layer requirements need to be considered. However, if the clarity of the overflow is critical, the clarification zone may need the largest area. As to the pool depth, only the compression layer has a depth requirement because the concentration of the soHds in the underflow is largely deterrnined by the time detention and sometimes by the static pressure. Thickness of the other two layers is governed only by practical considerations. 

In general, soHds-retaining batch and batch automatic machines are limited to low feed concentrations to minimize the time required to unload the soHds. Continuous disk centrifuges can have higher feed concentration. The limit is the underflow concentration. Conveyor discharge centrifuges can handle high feed concentration and are limited only by the volume of soHds displacement, or torque capacity. 

The diameter of the air core varies with the feed volumetric flow rate. If the rate is too low, there is no air core and all of the pulp leaves the cyclone as underflow if the rate is too high, the air core expands, closing off the apex and forcing all of the pulp to leave the cyclone as overflow. Consequently there is a minimum and maximum volumetric feed rate. Because the pressure drop is proportional to the square of the volumetric feed rate, the minimum and maximum rates can be monitored by the pressure drop. The ratio of the maximum pressure drop to the minimum pressure drop should be less than 4, meaning the maximum to minimum volumetric feed rate should be less than 2. 

The apparent bypass can be estimated by assuming it is approximately equal to the water spHt, ie, the percentage of water in the feed that reports to the underflow. The water spHt has been found to foUow a straight-line relationship with the inverse of the feed water rate for cyclones having diameters greater than 7.5 cm and standard geometries. However, for cyclones of smaller diameters, the apparent bypass appears to be much greater than the water spht, and is typically proportional to the square root of the water spHt. 

Because a preconcentration step is probably needed to make the final sequence more economical, it is logical to start with the opportunistic separation. This separation produces one of the products, pure water, as the underflow and a concentrated distillate appropriate for feed into either strategic separation. Arbitrarily choosing pervaporation first, the retentate has a composition on the 2-propanol-rich side of the azeotrope, whereas the permeate is pure water. No further strategic separations are required. 

The final loose end in the process is the aqueous decanter product, A7. The hexane must be removed before the mixture can be sent to wastewater treatment, ie, accepted as a water by-product. Two opportunistic separations. Fractionators 12 and 13, are possible. Selection of Fractionator 13 gives pure water underflow, and a distillate similar to D5. Distillate D13 can be recycled back and mixed with D5 without affecting the operation of Mixer 1. AH streams are processed and the flow sheet produces both desired products (Fig. 5b). 

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