Filtration Modeling of A Plate-And-Frame-Press: Article
Filtration Modeling of A Plate-And-Frame-Press: Article
Filtration Modeling of A Plate-And-Frame-Press: Article
net/publication/2461288
CITATIONS READS
0 2,241
1 author:
Scott Wells
Portland State University
86 PUBLICATIONS 1,032 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Research and Demonstration of Key Technology for Joint Operation of Cascade Reservoirs Based on Improving Water Environment of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its
Downstream View project
Water Quality Model and Remote Sensing of the Tigris River System in Iraq View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Scott Wells on 17 March 2014.
by
Scott A. Wells1
Abstract
The porosity distribution and filtrate production during cake filtration in a plate-and-
frame filter press were simulated mathematically. The model considered filtration that
occurs after the filling process, not filtration that occurs as the suspension fills the cell.
Governing equations for the temporal porosity distribution were developed for a plate-
Key words:
1
Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Portland State
University, Portland, Oregon 97207-0751 USA, (503) 725-4276 FAX (503) 725-5950, e-
mail: scott@eas.pdx.edu; web page: www.ce.pdx.edu/~wellss
1
plate-and-frame press, surface filtration, mathematical modeling of dewatering,
INTRODUCTION
(Avery, 1988). After emptying the cake from a cell of a plate-and-frame press from a
prior filtration cycle, a suspension is pumped under pressure into an empty cell.
During this period, some filtration occurs. After filling the cell, filtration proceeds as
the pump pressure increases. The model described in this study evaluated filtration
that occurs after the filling process. Figure 1 shows an individual plate-and-frame press
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Governing equations for cake filtration include solid and liquid continuity and the
reduced forms of the solid and liquid momentum equations (Willis, 1983) assuming
that the inertial and gravity terms of the liquid and solid phase and the solid-solid
shear stresses are negligible and that ∂/∂x=0 (where x is the spatial coordinate into the
∂ε ∂
=
∂t ∂y
( ) ∂
εVly + ( εVlz )
∂z
1
2
∂[1 - ε]
∂t
=
∂
∂y
(
[1 - ε]Vsy +)∂
∂z
(
[1 - ε]V sz ) 2
dp
ky = εµ(Vly - Vsy ) 3
dy
dp
kz = εµ(Vlz - V sz ) 4
dz
σ′ + p = ∆p 5
where ε is the porosity [-], Vl is the liquid velocity [cm/s], Vs is the solid velocity
[cm/s], σ' is the effective stress [kPa], p is the porewater pressure [kPa], t is time [s], y
and z are spatial coordinates [cm], ∆p is the total applied pressure [kPa].
By taking the derivative of Equation 3 with respect to y and the derivative of Equation
∂ ε ∂( ε V sy ) ∂ ( εV sz) ∂ ∂p ∂ ∂p
µ - - = k y + kz 6
∂t ∂y ∂z ∂ y ∂y ∂z ∂z
Using the definition of the constitutive property that m v = - ∂ε = ∂ ε and the definition of
∂ σ′ ∂ p
∂p ∂ p ∂ε
a partial differential such that ∂p = ∂ p ∂ε and = , and assuming that ∂ε/∂t >>
∂y ∂ ε ∂y ∂z ∂ε ∂z
∂ε ∂ k y ∂ε ∂ k z ∂ ε
= + 7
∂t ∂ y m v µ ∂ y ∂z m v µ ∂ z
y z
3
The boundary conditions for the domain shown in Figure 1 are
ε( y, z , t = 0 ) = ε( y, z ) initial 8
∂ε
=0 9
∂y y = L, z, t
ε( y, z = 0 and z = H , t ) = ε o ( t ) 10
ε( y = 0 , z , t ) = ε i 11
where ε i is the initial porosity of the suspension (constant over time if the porosity of
the feed solution remains constant and no filtration occurs in the manifold to the
individual filtration cells), ε o is the terminal porosity along the filter medium (a
function of time because the applied pressure changes as the pressure output of the
pump supplying the filter cells varies), and ε initial is the initial porosity distribution in
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
The governing equation was solved by finite difference methods. The spatial domain
was divided into equally spaced grid points in the y and z directions. Since the terms,
kz ky
and , were non-linear, direct solution techniques resulting in excessive
µ mvz µ mvy
4
ky
βy = 12
µm v
y
and
βz =
kz
, 13
µm v
z
linearization of the term β at the n+1 time step was accomplished by using a Taylor
∂β n
βn+1 ≈ βn + ∆t 14
∂t
where n is the time level of the numerical solution and ∆t is the time step.
In this case, using an approximation for ∂β/∂t at the n time level by using a backward
difference in time [such as, (β n-β n-1)/∆t] eliminated the non-linearity, such that
β n+1 ≈ 2 βn - β n-1 . 15
The alternating-direction-implicit technique (ADI) was used for solving the linearized
partial differential equation (Anderson et al, 1984). This technique splits the solution
into 2 parts (sweeping along rows of y and columns of x) thus accelerating convergence
of the solution.
The first difference equation for advancing n+1/2 time steps was
5
ε ni,j+1/2 [1 + 0.5 α y ( βy i+1/2, j + βy i-1/2,j )] +
n n
16
After the sweep of each row, the second equation for advancing the iteration to the n+1
ε n+ [1 - 0.5 α y β y - 0.5 α y β y
1/ 2 n+1/ 2 n+ 1/ 2
i, j i − 1 /2 , j i +1/ 2 , j
]+
After advancing to the n+1 time level, iteration was continued until the solution
converged. The convergence criteria was set by the user. The iteration proceeded by
setting the ε n+1 value to ε p+1, where p was the iteration level.
6
DETERMINATION OF THE TERMINAL POROSITY AS A FUNCTION OF TIME
The value of ε o, the boundary condition along the z=0 and z=H axes, was a function of
time because of fluid pressure changes from the pump supplying the filter cells. As
suggested by Vorobjov (1993), a typical characteristic curve for a pump was necessary
p(kPa) = pa (kPa)+ pb Q + pc Q2 18
The maximum applied pressure could be determined by taking the derivative of the
- pb
Equation 18, dp/dQ = 0, and solving for Qmax at pmax. Then Qmax = and pmax was
2pc
In the model the flow of the suspension to the plates after the filling process would be
equal to the total filtrate production from all the filter cells.
7
The technique to calculate these quantities was similar to that used by Wells (1991)
where the momentum Equations 3 and 4 were inverted to solve for Vlz and Vly such as
k y dp k y ∂ε
Vly = = 19
εµ dy εµm v y ∂ y
k z dp k z ∂ε
Vlz = = 20
εµ dz εµm v ∂z
z
These equations were put into finite difference form and solved from the porosity
i =ny
Q = 2NW ∑V z=0 i ∆y ε o 21
i= 1
where W is the cell width in cm, N is the number of filter cells for the entire filter press,
the "2" is to account for the filtrate production along the z=H boundary, i is the number
of model cells along the y-axis, and ny is the number of grid cells along y.
CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
The model used functional forms of constitutive relationships from Wells (1991) and
the cake. Relationships between the cake porosity (or void ratio) and effective stress
and between the cake porosity and permeability (or similarly between cake resistance
8
Those relationships used by Wells (1991) were exponential functions where
∂ε ∂ε
m v y,z = - = = ava y,z exp( avb y,z ε ) 22
∂ σ′ ∂ p
and
where ava [gm/cm/s2], avb [-], pka [cm2], and pkb [-] are empirical coefficients. The
The terminal porosity ε o was determined by integrating the stress-strain relationship for
p ε ∂ε
∫ ∂p = ∫ 24
∆p εi mv
After integration and simplification, the porosity at any porewater pressure p was then
The terminal porosity was determined by setting p=0 kPa in the above equation.
σ′ S
r y,z = r o y,z ( ) = k -1y,z
∆p 26
and
9
∆p n
∂σ ′ σ′ n e 2
-1
ε σ′ )
2(
G = -(1+ e) = Go ( ) or m v = G =
∂e ∆p 1+ e 1- ε Go 27
where G is the cake compressibility modulus, kPa; e is the void ratio, ε/(1-ε), r is the
The relationship between void ratio and effective stress can be obtained by integrating
Equation 27 from the initial void ratio to an arbitrary void ration e with n=1, such that
e ∂e σ ′ ∂σ ′ ∆ p σ ′ ∂σ ′
-∫ =∫ = ∫
eo 1 + e ∆p G Go ∆p σ′ 28
Then, after simplification, the ratio of ∆p over effective stress can be determined as a
Go Go
∆p 1+ e ∆p 1- εo ∆ p
σ ′ 1 + eo
=
1- ε
=
29
This constitutive relationship has the undesirable quality that the porosity or void ratio
at p=0 or σ'=∆p cannot be determined. This occurs because the integration of Equation
integration of Equation 24. For example, at e=ei, σ'=0, and the integral of Equation 28 is
undefined. One way to approximate this was to take the limits of integration in
10
Equation 28 from e to ei and from σ' to σsmall, where σsmall is an arbitrary, very small,
non-zero stress. Carrying out the integration, substituting σ'=∆p, and simplifying
resulted in
- ∆p
σ small G o
eo = (1 - ei ) −1 30
∆p
or in terms of porosity,
- ∆p
σsmall G o
ε o = 1- (1- ε i )
∆p 31
(Note that because of this problem in determining ε o with the second set of constitutive
parameters, a model based on effective stress, σ', rather than porosity, ε, would be
comparisons of the exponential and the power law constitutive relationships for some
hypothetical parameters. Figure 5 shows how the effective stress - porosity relationship
varies as the value of σsmall is varied using the power function constitutive relationship.
The terminal porosity (and hence the ε-σ' relationship) is a strong function of σsmall.
11
POROSITY INITIAL CONDITION
The initial porewater pressure (or porosity) distribution in the filter plate cell at the end
of the filling cycle is required for the numerical solution. Since this initial distribution
was unknown, it was estimated using different functional forms of the initial porosity
distribution that would satisfy the boundary conditions at the beginning of filtration.
from z=0 to z=H/2 (the centerline). This pressure distribution was assumed to be of the
form
p(kPa)= a + bz + cz 2 32
where a [kPa], b [kPa/cm], and c [kPa/cm2] are empirical coefficients and z is the
distance from z=0 in cm. Note that dp/dz = b + 2cz. To satisfy the boundary conditions
that p=papplied (a fraction of the theoretical maximum pressure or the porewater pressure
delivered by the pump at the end of the filling period) at z=H/2 and p=0 at z=0, the
p applied - bh
c= 33
h2
Because the filtrate production must always be non-zero and positive, the condition
2 p applied
that dp/dz > 0 required that b>0 and b < . The filtrate production along z=0
h
12
k dp k
V(y, z = 0,t = 0) = = b 34
µε dz z = 0 µε z = 0
Figure 6 shows the variation in pressure with distance from the filter medium for a
papplied of 175 kPa satisfying both the boundary conditions at each end of the domain
and the above conditions. The corresponding initial porosity distribution is shown in
Figure 7. Using Equation 34, the variation of filtrate production with the parameter “b”
is shown in Figure 8.
Data required for the model included the following: (1) relationship between
permeability and porosity (such as parameters pka and pkb in Equation 23), (2)
relationship between porewater pressure (or effective stress) and porosity (such as ava
and avb as in Equation 22), (3) relationship between pump pressure and suspension
flow rate (pump characteristic curve, where pa, pb, and pc are curve parameters as in
Equation 18), and (4) the pressure differential at the initiation of expression (p initial, some
Once pinitial (at t=0) is estimated, the initial filtrate flow rate at t=0 can be calculated from
13
pb pb 2 p -p
- ± ( ) - 4( a initial )
pc pc pc
Q= 35
2
Using Equation 21 and assuming that Vl(t=0) and ε o are not a function of y,
Q
Vl ( t = 0) = ny 36
2 NWεo ∑ ∆y
i =1
After the suspension flow rate at t=0 is known, then the parameter "b" in Equation 34
µε
b= Vl (t = 0) 37
k
where k and ε are evaluated at pinitial. Once the parameter “b” is known, then the initial
The following steps were performed in the numerical solution at the end of each time
step:
• The porosity at z=0 is calculated from Equation 25 for the exponential constitutive
relationship.
• The ADI technique is used to solve for the new porosity distribution at the next time
step.
14
MODEL RESULTS
relationships were chosen. Table 1 shows the operational parameters for the
simulation, and Table 2 shows the assumed slurry properties. Table 3 shows those
parameter values that were derived from the operational and the slurry parameters.
The initial porosity and porewater pressure distribution were shown in Figures 6 and 7
using a value of “b” of 14 kPa/cm3/s. Figure 9 shows the predicted filtrate production
over time for this simulation. Figure 10 shows the predicted porosity distribution after
60 s. Since the porosity distribution predicted by the model was largely one-
dimensional in the z-axis, this simulation result may have been successful using just a
dimensional solution is a result of both the assumed initial porosity distribution and
15
Table 1. Operational variables for a filter plate simulation.
Operational variables Symbol Assumed value
Applied pressure differential at Papplied 690 kPa
maximum pressure
Pressure after filtration cell is Pinitial 175 kPa
filled
Cell length ∑ ∆y , where ny is the number of 50 cm
ny
16
Table 3. Derived variables for a filter plate simulation.
Derived variables Symbol Assumed value
Pressure initial condition shape b (Equation 32) 14 kPa/cm
parameter
Pressure initial condition shape c (Equation 32 and 33) -0.28 kPa/cm2
parameter
Initial filtrate velocity at V(y,z=0,t=0) (Equation 34 and 0.006 cm/s
initiation of filtration 35)
Initial porosity at z=0 at t=0 at ε(z=0, t=0) 0.56 [-]
Pinit of 175 kPa
Terminal porosity at p=690 kPa εo 0.51 [-]
11 and 12 show porosity profiles after 60 s for ky/kz=10 and ky/kz=100, respectively.
For these simulations shown in Figures 11 and 12, the same parameter values were
used in Tables 1 and 2 except that the value of pkya was increased by a factor of 10 and
predicted velocity field and streamlines are shown in Figures 13 and 14 for ky/kz=10
and ky/kz=100, respectively, after 60 s. The predicted velocities were highest at the
inlet and were affected significantly by the ratio of lateral to vertical permeability. The
predicted rate of filtrate volume production though was the same for these simulations
as for the case of ky/kz=1 since kz was not changed between runs.
17
CONCLUSIONS
developed. How the model parameters could be used to solve the governing equations
was demonstrated. The model was especially sensitive to the assumed initial porosity
distribution at the end of the filling cycle and to the chosen constitutive parameter
permeability is also an area of research since it affects the predicted porosity and
The model is not applicable prior to filling the filtration cell since inertial and solid-
solid shear stress terms may be important and is also not applicable to very small
pressure differentials where gravity forces may become important. Since the initial
parabolic distribution of applied pressure (Equation 32) was chosen for mathematical
REFERENCES
18
Filtration and Separation, American Filtrations Society, Ocean City Maryland, pp. 583-
602.
Ukraine.
filtration and expression: new methods for combined analysis and calculation of the
process with due account of the cake consolidation dynamics and the filter medium
107-116.
helpful discussions at the Sugar Research Institute, Kiev, Ukraine while the author was
a Fulbright Scholar at the Ukrainian State University of Food Technology. Those who
contributed to the success of this project at the Ukrainian State University included Dr.
Ivan Malejik, chairman of the Food Processing Cathedra, Dr. Leonid Bobrivnik, Vice-
Rector and Chief of Research, and Dr. Ivan Guhly, Rector of the University.
19
Figure captions
Figure 2. Characteristic curve for plate-and-frame pump where Pmax is 690 kPa. The
characteristic curve parameters from Equation 18 were pa=690 kPa, pb=-1.3 kPa/cm3/s
Figure 3. Variation of effective stress with porosity for constitutive relationships using
the exponential form (Equation 22) and the power-law form (Equation 27). The
following parameter values were used: ava=2.1E-11 kPa-1, avb=28.9[-]; Go=6900 kPa,
the exponential form (Equation 23) and the power-law form (Equation 26). The
following parameter values were used: pka=2.1E-16 cm2, pkb=18[-]; ro=1E14 m2, S=0.5,
σsmall=0.007 kPa.
Figure 6. Variation of porewater pressure with distance from the filter medium (z=0 is
at the filer medium and z=1 is at the centerline of the cell) as a function of the parameter
Figure 7. Variation of porosity with distance from the filter medium (z=0 is at the filter
medium and z=1 is at the centerline of the cell) as a function of the parameter
20
“b”[kPa/cm] in Equation 32 for a pressure differential of 175 kPa and using Equation
Figure 8. Variation of filtrate velocity at z=0 as a function of the parameter “b” using
175 kPa.
and 2.
Figure 10. Predicted porosity distribution after 60 s for simulation based on parameters
in Tables 1 and 2.
Figure 11. Predicted porosity distribution after 60 s for simulation based on parameters
Figure 12. Predicted porosity distribution after 60 s for simulation based on parameters
Figure 13. Predicted fluid velocity distribution after 60 s for simulation based on
parameters in Tables 1 and 2 except that ky/kz=10. Streamlines are shown illustrating
Figure 14. Predicted fluid velocity distribution after 60 s for simulation based on
parameters in Tables 1 and 2 except that ky/kz=100. Streamlines are shown illustrating
21
no
flux
boundary
z=H
Slurry inflow
centerline
inlet half width
filter
medium
z=0
y=0 y=L
22
P=-0.055Q2-1.3Q+690
700
600
500
Pressure, kPa
400
300
200
100
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Slurry flow rate, cm3/ s
23
exponential
power-law
1.E+ 0 3
Effective stress, kPa
1.E+ 0 2
1.E+ 0 1
1.E+ 0 0
0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85
Po r o s i t y [ - ]
24
exponential
power-law
1.E-07
1.E-08
Permeability, cm2
1.E-09
1.E-10
1.E-11
1.E-12
0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9
Porosity [-]
25
6.9 kPa
0.69 kPa
0.069 kPa
0.0069 kPa
0.00069 kPa
1000
Effective stress, kPa
100
10
1
0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9
Porosity [-]
26
180
160
140
Porewater pressure, kPa
120 0.1
2
100
5
80
10
60 14
40
20
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
z, dimensionless distance
27
0.85
0.8
0.75 0.1
2
Porosity
0.7 5
10
0.65 14
0.6
0.55
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
z, dimensionless distance
28
1.E- 0 2
1.E- 0 3
Filtrate velocity, cm/s
1.E- 0 4
1.E- 0 5
1.E- 0 6
0 5 10 15
b, pressure coefficient kPa/ cm
29
2000
1600
Filtrate volume, ml
1200
800
400
0 20 40 60 80
Time, s
30
50 0.52
0.54
0.56
0.59 0.59
40
0.61
0.83
0.78
0.63 0.63
0.6
5
0.65
30 0.67 0.67
0.70
0.72 No flux
Z, cm
0.72
0.74 0.76 0.74 boundary
0.78
0.81 0.83
0.83 0.83
0.70.81
8 0.81
0.78
0.74 0.76 0.74 0.76
0.72 0.72
0.70
0.67 0.67
20
0.65
0.63 0.63
0.61
10
0.59
0.56
0.54 0.54
0.52
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Y, cm
31
50 0.52 0.52
0.54
0.56
0.59 0.59
40
0.61 0.61
0 .7
0 .0
6 0.63
72.81
0.7 8
0.65 0.65
30 0.67 0.67
0.70 No flux
Z, cm
0.72
0.74
0.76 0.74
0.76 boundary
0.78
0.81
0.81 0.83
0.83 0.81
0.76 0.78 0.76
0.74 0.74
0.72 0.72
0.70
0.67
20
0.65
0 .7 0
7 5
0 .60 .6 0.63
0.63
0.61
10
0.59
0.56 0.56
0.54
0.52 0.52
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Y, cm
32
50 0.52 0.52
0.54
0.56
0.59
40
0.61 0.61
0.63
0.63
0.65
30 0.7
0.8 1
0 0.67
0.70 No flux
0.7 2
Z, cm
4 0.72
0 .7 0.70
0.
0.67
20
0.65
76 0.63
0. 0.63
0.61 0.61
10
0.59 0.59
0.56
0.54 0.54
0.52
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Y, cm
33
Velocity, cm/s, at t=60 s, ky/kz=10
50 1.4E-03 1.4E-03
3.7E-04 3.7E-04
1.0E-04
40
1.0E-04
9E
-02
30
Z, cm
4
E-0
3.73 1.0E-04
1.0E-04
1.0E-04
1.0E-04
.7 E
-04
1. 4
20
E-
03
-0 1
4E
1.0E-04
10
-04
7 E04
3.7E-04
3.7E -0
1.03.E-
1.4E-03 1.4E-03
0 4
0 10 20 30 40 50
Y, cm, drainage face
34
Velocity, cm/s, at t=60 s, ky/kz=100
50 1.4E-03 1.4E-03
3.7E-04 3.7E-04
1.0E-04
40
3.7E-04
5.2E-03 1.4E -0
3
4
E -0
30 3 .7
Z, cm
E-03
1.43.7E-04 1.0E- 04 1.0E-04 1.0E-04
1.0E-04
5 .2 E
-03 3.7
E -0 4
20
1.0E-04
1.4E-03
3.7E-0 4
10
3.7E-04 3.7E-04
1.4E-03 1.4E-03
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Y, cm, drainage face
35