University of San Carlos

Department of Chemical Engineering

CHE 512L Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2

Data Processing & Analysis Report

(Form CHE512L-2)

Prepared and submitted by:

Janus King del Mar Dia Fatima Maguikay John Christopher Torrefiel

Experiment : Write the title of the experiment here.

Objectives of the Experiment
1. Determine the specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance in the filtration of aqueous CaCO 3
slurries with different concentrations performed at constant-pressure condition.

Results & Discussion

Objective 1: Determine the specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance

Filtration is a unit operation in which solid particles from a solid-liquid mixture (slurry) is separated
mechanically by using a porous medium. The rate of which is driven by a pressure drop and is hindered by
the resistances by the cake of solids retained and the filter medium itself. Both resistances are quantified by
the specific cake resistance () and filter medium resistance (RM).
Batch filtration experiments of CaCO3 slurries (10% and 14% wt. solids) at constant pressure were done
with a plate-and-frame filter press. The weight of filtrate was monitored as a function of time t. The weight of
filtrate data were converted to filtrate volume V. These data were then used with a linearized relationship of
t/V vs V. Using only the points at constant pressure 5 psi, the equations of the lines were obtained. The
lines of t/V vs. V with their respective equations are shown in Figure 1.

1
 250000
y = 6,207,531.9733x + 1,999.2533
R = 0.9855
200000

150000
t/V (s/m3)

100000

50000

0
0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020
Vfiltrate (m3)

Figure 1. Plot of t/V vs V for 10 wt.% CaCO3 slurry

400000

350000
y = 6,936,354.9344x + 2,068.7156
300000 R = 0.9949

250000
t/V (s/m3)

200000

150000

100000

50000

0
0.000 0.003 0.005 0.008 0.010 0.013 0.015 0.018 0.020 0.023
Vfiltrate (m3)

Figure 2.Plot of t/V vs V for 14 wt.% CaCO3 slurry

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From the equation of the line, constants Kp and B were known and were tabulated in Table 1.

Table 1. Kp and B values at different concentrations

10% wt. CaCO3 14% wt. CaCO3
slope (Kp/2) 6.21E+06 6.94E+06
Kp 1.24E+07 1.39E+07
y-int. or B 2.00E+03 2.07E+03

From there, the specific cake resistance () and filter medium resistance (Rm) were calculated
using equations 4 and 5 and were tabulated in Table 2.

Table 2. Resistances values at different concentrations

10% wt. CaCO3 14% wt. CaCO3 %diff
(m/kg) 7.5913E+10 6.3281E+10 16.6398
Rc (1/m) 1.2119E+12 1.3697E+12 13.0243
Rm (1/m) 9.7578E+09 1.0213E+10 4.6628

From the results above, the values for the specific cake resistance varied with the concentration of the
slurry filtered. The specific cake resistance for the 10 wt.% CaCO3 slurry was 16.6% higher than that of the
14 wt.% CaCO3 solution (7.5913x1010 m/kg and 6.3281x1011 m/kg, respectively) which was supposed to
be equal because by definition, it only accounts for the resistance offered by the filter cake. It depends on
the type of slurry being filtered and therefore depends on the filter cake properties. These properties
include the cake porosity (), the specific surface area of the particle (S0) and the solid density (p). This
variation might be due to the state of agglomeration of particles in the slurry that varied and gave an effect
on the specific cake resistance (Geankoplis, 2003).

The filter medium resistance was lower with the 10 wt.% CaCO3 slurry compared to the 14 wt.% CaCO3
slurry (9.7578x109 m-1 and 1.0213x1010 m-1, respectively). The reason for this could be because the
pressure drop across a filter medium can be affected by the particles in the filter cake. Small particles can
penetrate into the pores of the filter medium and cause pore clogging. Larger particles can block off the
entrance to pores and thus divert the fluid flow to other pores. Also, if the filter medium is compressive, the
stress of the cake can squeeze the medium and reduce the pore cross-sectional area available for flow
(Chase, Arconti, & Kanel, 1994). All three of these effects can cause an increase in the pressure drop

3
across the medium which would lead to a higher filter medium resistance at high slurry concentration.
During the experiment, multiple leakages in the piping of the filtration set-up were observed which could
lead to changes in pressure drop that is not measured by the pressure gauge. This could contribute to a
significant amount of error in the specific cake resistance and filter medium resistance since both are a
function of pressure drop (Brown, 1951).

Conclusions

At constant-pressure filtration using plate-and-frame filter press, the specific cake resistance for the 10%wt.
CaCO3 was 7.5913x1010 m/kg and was 16.6% higher compared to the value obtained from the filtration of
the 14%wt. CaCO3 of 6.3281x1010 m/kg. The filter medium resistance also varied significantly for both
concentrations. For a slurry concentration of 10% wt. CaCO3, Rm is equal to 9.7578x109 m-1 and
1.0213x1010 m-1 for 14 wt.% CaCO3.

References:
Brown, G. (1951). Unit Operations. CBS Publishers and Distributors.
Chase, G. G., Arconti, J., & Kanel, J. (1994). The Effect of Filter Cakes on Filter Medium Resistance.
Separation Science and Technology, 29(16), 21792196.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01496399408002197
Geankoplis, C. (2003). Transport processes and separation process principles (includes unit operations)
(4th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall Press.

4
 ANNEX 2: Processing of Data

4
Pressure (psi)

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
TIme (s)
10%wt. slurry 14% slurry

Figure A 1. Pressure vs. time for filtration

A1. Slurry Preparation

10 wt.% CaCO3 14 wt.% CaCO3
Initial Middle Final Average Initial Middle Final Average
TH2O (C) 28 29 31.5 29.5 28 29 30 29
H2O (g/mL)* 0.9958 0.9959
Tfiltrate (C) 28 29 31.5 29.5 28.5 30 31.5 30
H2O (g/mL)* 0.9958 0.9956
filtrate (g/mL)** 0.9971 0.9967 0.992 0.9954 0.9971 0.997 0.992 0.9954
mH2O used (kg) 19.2 18.9
mCaCO3 used (kg) 2.2 3.1
* obtained from lit. (Perry's)
** obtained using densitometer

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A2. Frame Dimensions
Frame 1 Frame 2
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average
Length (m) 0.180 0.181 0.181 0.181 0.181 0.180 0.181 0.181
Thickness (m) 0.023 0.024 0.023 0.023 0.024 0.023 0.023 0.023

A3. Dry cake dimensions

10 wt.% CaCO3 14 wt.% CaCO3
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average
Length (m) 0.178 0.180 0.179 0.179 0.179 0.180 0.181 0.180
Width (m) 0.180 0.179 0.178 0.179 0.179 0.180 0.181 0.180
Thickness (m) 0.023 0.025 0.024 0.024 0.025 0.025 0.024 0.025
Filter Area (m2) 0.0320 0.0324
Total Filter Area (m2) 0.1282 0.1296

A4. 10% wt. CaCO3 slurry mass of filtate with respect to time
Mass of filtrate (g) Time (s) Vfiltrate (m3) t/V (s/m3)
400 10 0.00040 24894.9250
800 14 0.00080 17426.4475
1200 17 0.00121 14107.12417
1600 25 0.00161 15559.32813
2000 30 0.00201 14936.955
2400 45 0.00241 18671.19375
2800 58 0.00281 20627.22357
3200 79 0.00321 24583.73844
3600 87 0.00362 24065.09417
4000 99 0.00402 24645.97575
4400 120 0.00442 27158.1
4800 144 0.00482 29873.91
5200 167 0.00522 31980.40365
5600 191 0.00562 33963.79054
6000 219 0.00603 36346.5905
6400 248 0.00643 38587.13375
6800 278 0.00683 40710.52441
7200 308 0.00723 42597.98278
7600 348 0.00763 45597.02053
8000 387 0.00803 48171.67988
8400 437 0.00844 51805.15345
8800 480 0.00884 54316.2

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 9200 543 0.00924 58773.67076
9600 588 0.00964 60992.56625
10000 644 0.01004 64129.3268
10400 698 0.01044 66833.29865
10800 749 0.01085 69060.36602
11200 802 0.01125 71306.17804
11600 859 0.01165 73740.48474
12000 919 0.01205 76261.45358
12400 990 0.01245 79503.14758
12800 1059 0.01285 82386.64242
13200 1131 0.01326 85321.6975
13600 1210 0.01366 88596.64485
14000 1314 0.01406 93462.66129
14400 1389 0.01446 96052.91896
14800 1490 0.01486 100252.5358
15200 1589 0.01526 104100.0943
15600 1678 0.01567 107112.0106
16000 1783 0.01607 110969.1282
16400 1889 0.01647 114698.813
16800 1989 0.01687 117895.252
17200 2101 0.01727 121637.7615
17600 2301 0.01767 130189.1419
18000 2739 0.01808 151504.2852
18400 3003 0.01848 162496.0838
18800 3790 0.01888 200718.1984

A5. 14 wt.% CaCO3 slurry mass of filtrate with respect to time

Mass of filtrate (g) Time (s) Vfiltrate (m3) t/V (s/m3)
400 7 0.00040 17423.8225
800 15 0.00080 18668.3812
1200 23 0.00121 19083.2341
1600 30 0.00161 18668.3812
2000 36 0.00201 17921.646
2400 46 0.00241 19083.2341
2800 60 0.00281 21335.2928
3200 89 0.00321 27691.4321
3600 99 0.00362 27380.2925
4000 119 0.00402 29620.4982
4400 144 0.00442 32584.8109
4800 168 0.00482 34847.645
5200 213 0.00522 40783.2328
5600 231 0.00562 41070.4387

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 6000 257 0.00603 42646.8798
6400 290 0.00643 45115.2546
6800 326 0.00683 47732.4885
7200 366 0.00723 50612.0558
7600 403 0.00763 52795.4922
8000 442 0.00803 55009.4967
8400 491 0.00844 58197.9377
8800 538 0.00884 60870.2370
9200 624 0.00924 67530.8000
9600 658 0.00964 68243.3079
10000 708 0.01004 70491.876
10400 762 0.01045 72950.2898
10800 825 0.01085 76056.3680
11200 886 0.01125 78762.7894
11600 954 0.01165 81883.3825
12000 1022 0.01205 84795.9361
12400 1089 0.01245 87440.2889
12800 1158 0.01286 90074.9395
13200 1238 0.01326 93379.6201
13600 1317 0.01366 96416.6984
14000 1407 0.01406 100062.523
14400 1499 0.01446 103644.08
14800 1597 0.01486 107435.692
15200 1704 0.01527 111617.269
15600 1827 0.01567 116605.53
16000 1961 0.01607 122028.9854
16400 2131 0.01647 129373.398
16800 2351 0.01687 139331.3153
17200 2644 0.01728 153051.783
17600 3154 0.01768 178424.4681
18000 3796 0.01808 209970.8896
18400 4472 0.01848 241985.51
18800 5365 0.01888 284130.1146
19200 6487 0.01928 336393.8588
19600 7109 0.01969 361125.2308

Sample Calculations:

From the general filtration equation,

= Equation 1
()2

8
 and integrating at constant-pressure, equation 1 becomes a linear equation in the form of y=mx+b,

= 2
+ Equation 2
2() ()

where t is the filtration time (s), V is the filtrate volume (m3), is the filtrate viscosity (Pa-s), A is the
filter area (m2), -P is the pressure drop (Pa), Rm is the filter medium resistance (1/m), is the
specific cake resistance (m/kg), and Cs is the slurry concentration (kg solids/m3). Grouping the
constants and simplifying, equation 2 becomes,

= + Equation 3
2

Thus, plotting a t/V vs. V graph should generate a straight line with the slope, K p/2 and y-intercept,
B. In order to determine the resistances, and Rm, in the filtration of aqueous CaCO3 slurries at
different concentrations and at constant-pressure condition, plots of t/V vs V were generated as
seen in Figures 1 and 2 for 10 wt.% and 14 wt.% CaCO3 slurries, respectively.

2 ()
= Equation 4

() Equation 5
=

Solving for Cs:

3 3
= = 1000
3 + 2

2.2 3
= 0.9954 3 1000
(2.2 3 + 19.2 )

= .

Solving for total filter area:

= = 4 (0.179 0.179) = .
Solving for :

2 ()
=

(2.4655 107 )(0.12822 )2 (30681.67 )

=

(0.8059 103 )(102.33 3 )
9
 11
= 7.5913 10

Solving for Rm:

()
=

(1,9999.25)(0.12822 )(30681.67 )
=
(0.8059 103 )

= 9.7578 109

10