Physical Law applicable to the Separation of two-phase mixture

Normally, the suspension to be separated by way of solid/liquid separation consists of a liquid and a dispersive solid phase characterised by varying densities.

To recall some fundamentals:

The state of matter is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous. Density is a material property and the mass of a given substance per unit volume.

The movement of a particle through a fluid requires a density difference exits between solid particle and fluid. (For Separation) Also an external force is needed to import the motion of the particle relative to the fluid. The external force is usually gravity (Weight). When it is not sufficient, to intensify the force acting on the particle Centrifugal can be used, which can be many times greater than the gravity by way of rotation. A basic precondition for proper separation is the difference between lifting power and weight of the solid phase with in the liquid. In case the liquid is a solvent for the solid phase, the solution shall moreover be saturated. (If the density of the particle and the fluid are equal the buoyancy force from the immersion of the particle in the fluid will counter balance on external force (gravity) and the particle will not move through the fluid. The greater the density difference the more effective is the separation Process.

To recall a basic physical law:

A body will settle at the bottom of the liquid provided the weight of the liquid displaced is less than the weight of the displacing body. This is only being feasible if the specific density of liquid is always less than the specific density of solid particle.

Fa Fg

Fa Fg

Fig. Shows the lifting Force (Fa) and weight / gravity acting on the solid particle in the liquid . The illustration shows that the weight of the solid particles exceeds the lifting forces, which results in settling of the solid particles on the vessel bottom. One more force which acts on the particle is Drag force (Fd). (It appears whenever there is a relative motion between the solid particle and fluid, this force adds to opposes the motion and acts parallel with the direction of the movement but in opposite direction.) Equation for the one-dimensional motion of particle through fluid F = Fg Fa Fd Basically, a two-phase centrifuge operates like a settling basin. However, the above process parameters can normally not be influenced and the possibility to vary them will rarely be significant. To increase the force that acts on the solid particles will have marked greater effects.

Gravitational acceleration g is a criterion that allows to evaluate the separating performance of a settling basin or a machine .For settling basin that value is exactly 1g (gravitational acceleration) upon intensifying the force that acts on the particle, e.g. by exposing the settling basin to the effect of centrifugal force by the way of rotation, the heavy particles will much faster to the vessel bottom. CENTRIFUGE for the separation of solids from liquids are of two general types : 1. Sedimenting centrifuges, which requires a difference in density of the two phases. (for Solid liquid or liquid - liquid) 2. Filtering centrifuges, in which the solid phase is retained by the filter medium through which the liquid is free to pass.( for solid liquid separation ) The use of centrifuges covers a broad range of application from separation of fine calcium carbonate particles of less than 10 um to coarse coal of 0.013m (0.5 in) Sedimenting Centrifuge: under centrifugal force, the solid phase assumed to be denser than the liquid phase settles out to the bowl wall sedimentation. Concurrently, the lighter, more buoyant liquid phase is displaced towards smaller diameter Flotation Some centrifuge run with an air core, i.e., with free surface, whereas other run with slurry filled to the centre hub or even to the axis in which pressure can be sustained. In Sedimenting centrifuge, the separation can be in the form of clarification, wherein solids are separated from the liquid phase in which clarity of liquid phase is of prime concern. Separation can also be in the form of classification at which separation is effected by means of particle size and density. Furthermore, separation can be in the form of thickening, where solids settle under centrifugal force to form a stream with concentrated solids. In dewatering or deliquoring, the objective is to produce dry cake with high solid consistency by centrifugation. PERFORMANCE CRITERIA Separation of given solid liquid slurry is usually measured by the purity of the separated liquid phase in the centrate and the separated solids in the wet cake, in sedimenting mode. Generally, a selected subset of the following criteria are used, depending on the objective of the process: 1. Cake dryness or Moisture content 2. Total solids recovery 3. Size recovery and yield 4. Volumetric and solids throughput 5. Solid purity and Wash ratio 6. Power consumption Cake Dryness: In dewatering, usually the cake needs to be as dry as possible. Cake dryness is commonly measured by the solids fraction by weight W. The volume fraction of the pores and void in the wet cake is measured by the cake porosity. The volume fraction of the liquid in the pores of the cake is measured by the saturation. Total solids recovery: The clarity of the effluent is measured indirectly by the total solids recovered in the cake as Rec. = mc Wc / mf Wf Where subscripts c and f denote, respectively, the cake and the feed. m is the bulk mass flow rate in Kg/s

Size recovery and yield: Centrifuges has been applied to classify poly dispersed fine particles. The size distribution of fine particles is quantified by cumulative weight fraction F less than a given particle size d for both the feed and the centrate streams. It is measured by a particle size counter, which operates based on principles such as sedimentation or optical scattering. The yield Y is defined as the fraction of feed particle of a given size below, which they report to the centrate product. me We Fe Y = -----------mf Wf Ff Volumetric and solids throughput: The maximum volumetric and solid throughput to a centrifuge are dedicated by one or several governing factors, the most common ones are the centrate solids, cake dryness and capacity (Torque and Power) of drive / gear unit The solid throughput is also governed by other factors such as solid conveyance and discharge mechanism for continuous and batch centrifuges. Solid purity and Wash ratio: Cake washing is used to remove impurities in cake solids. The wash ratio is defined as the volumetric amount of wash liquid per unit void volume of in the cake or per cake solids amount if the cake porosity is not available. Power consumption: Power is consumed to overcome windage and bearing (and seal) friction, to accelerate feed stream from zero speed to full tangential speed at the pool so as to establish the required G-force for separation, and to convey and discharge cake. The horsepower for feed acceleration is given by Pacc = 5.984(10-10 ) sg Q ( R rp ) 2 Where sg is the specific gravity of the feed slurry, Q the volumetric flow rate of feed in lt/sec, R is the speed in rpm, rp in meters corresponds to the radius of the pool surface for sedimenting centrifuge. (To convert hp to Kw, multiply by 0.746) The horsepower for cake conveyance is Pcon = 1.587(10-5) T del R T= conveyance torque in N-m del R = differential speed in rpm between bowl and conveyor.

Solid bowl or Scroll Centrifuge:

The Solid-bowl or scroll centrifuge consists of a solid bowl with a screw or scroll conveyor between the solid and the liquid bowl heads, or hubs. Both the bowl and the conveyor rotate at a high speed, yet there is a difference in speed between the two, which is responsible for conveying the sediment along the machine from the cylinder to the conical discharged end. The rotating assembly is mounted horizontally with bearing on each end. The bowl has combined conical and cylindrical sections. Slurry is introduced in to the feed accelerator /compartment through a stationary feed pipe located proximate to the axis of the machine. The feed slurry is accelerated through the contact with the rotating surface to angular speed (in the direction of rotation) before discharging to the separation pool through a series of ports in the conveyor hub. In the separation pool (cylindrical section), under centrifugal gravity the solid that are heavier compared to the liquid settle towards the bowl wall, while the clarified liquid moves radially towards the pool surface. Subsequently, the liquid flows along the helical channel formed by adjacent blades of the conveyor to the liquid bowl head, from which it discharge over the weirs. The annular pool can be changed by adjusting the radial position of the weir openings, which take the form of circular holes or crescent shaped slots. The cake solids adjacent to the bowl wall are transported by the differential speed from the cylinder up the cone, also known as beach. The cake is submerged in the pool when it is in the cylinder and at the beginning of the beach. In this region, liquid buoyancy helps to reduce the effective weight of the cake under centrifugal gravity, resulting in low conveyance torque. Farther up the beach, the cake emerges above the pool and moves along the dry beach, where the buoyancy force is absent, resulting in more difficult conveyance and higher torque. But it is also in this section that the cake is dewatered, with expressed liquid returned back to the pool. The centrifugal force to dewater, yet at the same time hinders the transport of the cake in the dry beach. Therefore a balance in cake conveyance and cake dewatering is the key in setting the pool and the G-force for a given application. The cylindrical section provides clarification under high centrifugal gravity. In some cases, the pool should be shallow to maximise the G-force for separation. In other case, when the cake layer is too thick in side the cylinder, the settled body especially the finer particles at the cake surface entrain in to the fast moving liquid .A slightly deeper pool becomes beneficial in these cases because there is a thicker liquid layer to ensure settling of resuspended solids. This can be at the expense of cake dry ness due to reduction of dry beach. It is best to determine the optimal pool for a given application through tests so that the clear centrate will results together with well-dewatered cake of matched specific application. In our case eight different arrangement available to adjust pool. Weir Diameter (mm) Dam height (mm) 807 101.5 832 89.0 860 (Existing) 75.0 891 (Previous) 59.5 920 45.0 947 31.5 971 19.5 989 10.5 The speed with which the cake transports is controlled by the differential speed. High differential speed facilitates high solid throughput where the cake thickness is kept to a minimum so as not to impair centrate quality due to entrainment of fine solid particles. Also cake dewatering is improved due to a reduction in the drainage path with smaller cake height however this is offset by the fact

that higher differential speed also reduces cake residence time, especially in dry beach. Therefore, an optimal differential speed is required to balance centrate clarity and cake dryness. The desirable differential speed is usually maintained using a two-stage planetary gearbox, the housing of which rotates with the bowl speed, with a fixed first stage pinion shaft. The differential speed is given by Diff. Speed = Bowl rpm / gear ratio In our case, Diff. Speed = 1465 (bowl rpm) / 40 = 37 Gear reduction ratio = 40:1 Higher gear ratio gives lower differential speed and vice versa; lower gear ratio gives higher differential for higher solids capacity. The torque at the pinion shaft has been used to control the feed rate or to signal an overload condition by shearing of a safety pin. To protect the planetary gear unit against overload, the conveying torque of the screw is transmitted by shearing pin mounted on gear unit. The machine will be subjected to O/L if it has to tackle excess federates or if the solid conc.in the feed increases too strongly. The friction between the screw flights and the solid will then became so grate that solid cake establishes a rigid connection between bowl and screw conveyor .the gear unit would be damaged in case of O/L without safety device. The shearing pin will brake in case of O/L so that screw conveyor and Bowl can rotate at identical speed (zero differential) with no conveyance torque and no load at the pinion. The shearing pin will fail if the torque increases beyond the permitted limit and simultaneously limit switch (2) is actuated which stops the machine. A load cell has been fastened to the holding arm ; bending of the load cell is measured with a wire strain gauge. Since the out put signal is proportional to the gear load, machine operation can be controlled by a downstream mounted electronic evaluation unit. Drive: The solid bowl screw centrifuge is driven by V-belts. The optimum operating speed can be bet by changing the V-belt pulleys. The machine is driven by a motor, which drives the machine through a turbo or fluid coupling, this allows acceleration of large mass of centrifuge rotor with thermally overloading the motor.

MOTOR

FLUID COUPLING

BELT DRIVE

---BOWL

Fluid coupling is acting on the basis of dynamics of fluid inside of coupling assembly. It consists of two separate part i.e. static and rotary/pump part. When motor starts rotate, it simultaneously rotates pump part of the assembly. Pump part gives thrusts on the fluid/lube oil which transmits energy to rotate static part. Quantity of lube oil required in fluid coupling is 19.5 lit +- 1.5 lit. Less oil in the coupling will increase the temperature of the assembly at running condition, ultimately damage fusible plug at140 deg centigrade. If fusible plug damaged, all oil from assembly will be drained and static part of the Coupling will not be rotate. The quantity of the oil for this coupling has been determined such that the starting current and coupling slip are not excessive and bowl is accelerated to operating speed with in time. Insufficient

oil results in too long starting time and oil will heated up due to slip, also results in less rpm even in case of proper run. Excessive oil filling will reduce run up time causing a high starting current. Centrifugal Acceleration G : When a body of a fluid rotates in a solid body mode, the tangential or circumferential velocity is linearly proportional to radius V= Wr W= Angular velocity r = Bowl inner radius Acceleration = velocity / time = (velocity)2 / radius = V2 / r =W2 * r2 / r = W2r Centrifugal acceleration G is measured in multiples of earth gravity g G / g = W2 r / g With the speed of centrifuge W in rpm and the Bowl diameter D in met. G / g = 0.000559 W2 D In our case: G/g = 0.000559*(1465)2 * 1.01 G = 1211.73 g (1210 g appox.)

** Mitsui tried on several values of centrifugal force to check their effect and found that the centrifugal force of 1200 g is most satisfactory for separation of polymer and mother liquor. ** Torque: The gearbox is designed for Torque (max.) = 27000 N-m Torque = Force * length of rod Length of rod = 0.47 m Torque (conveyance) = Torque (Pinion) * Gear ratio 27000 = (load * 9.81*0.47) * 40 Load = 146.4 Kg (Shear Pin Break Point) ** The maximum load for which centrifuge is calibrated is =130 kg

Factor Influencing the Separation Performance

1 High solid concentration in the feed : An increase of the solid conc. in the feed suspension results in an increase of the solid level. Thus the centrate can have a higher solid conc., in other wards the separation performance decreases unless the differential speed is increased proportionally to higher solid conc. Moreover in case of compressible solids the dry substance content of the discharged cake will increase as a result of the growing mass pressure of the solid. Provided Bowl speed, differential speed, weir dia., and feed rate remain constant the following interdependencies results DS conc. of the discharged cake Separation performance Solid conc. in feed 2. High superfine particles in feed: Upon an increase in the quantity of superfine particles, dewatering of the suspension became more difficult ass more liquid will be retained by the increased surface area of solid, this results in higher residual moisture and for low dry substance content of discharged cake and possibly a higher centrate solid content. A higher cake discharge volume will result in an increased solid level, there by deteriorating the centrate and separation efficiency. These can be counteracted by A) Reducing the feed rate B) Suitably adopted the differential speed of the screw conveyor. Provided Bowl speed, differential speed, Separation Performance weir dia., and feed rate remain constant Centrate load the following interdependencies results

D.S. conc. of discharged cake Solid volume, superfine particle in feed 3. Higher feed rate : The higher feed rate means that the machine will be subjected to a higher solid load thereby raising the product level . This will entail a deteriorated centrate, which can be cancelled out by increasing the differential speed of the screw conveyor. Moreover in case of compressible solids the dry substance content of the discharged cake may slightly increase as a result of the growing mass pressure . Centrate load D.S. conc. of discharged cake Separation performance

Feed rate

4.Increased Bowl Speed: The increase in bowl speed will enhance the dry substance content of the discharged cake to the point where Down hill force acting to the conical section becomes so large that the solids are no longer transported upward the conical section but instead accumulate in the machine and clog it. The centrate quality will initially improve but then all of sudden changes and became poor. The higher G force generates more intense friction forces at the screw flights and a higher torque for solid transportation. This will entails more pronounced wear and a greater stress on the gear unit. The Power demand will grow; therefore it is recommended to have the bowl speed kept as low as possible. Centrate Load ( Provided feed rate, solid conc.,diff.speed,& Weir dia. Remain constant, following Interdependencies results) D.S content of dis. cake

Centrate load Bowl speed

Centrate Solids

Feed

axis

nb == ns

Solids Centrate

Schematic Diagram of a Solid Bowl screw centrifuge

Technical Specification Capacity: HDPE Powder n-HX + L.P. : : Normal 15.3 T/ hr 52.0 m3 / hr : : : : : 1010 mm 1500 mm 16 mm 10 deg. 1 mm Max. Guarantee 17.0 T/hr 57.0 m3/hr

Rotor dimensions: Inside Bowl Diameter Bowl length Bowl wall Thickness Cone angle Screw Conveyor gap Speeds: max. Bowl Speed Max. Acceleration

: 1600 rpm : 1445g

Bowl speed may be adjusted by changing a pulley on the drive side For pulley size, dw = 460 mm Operating Bowl speed Centrifugal acceleration Differential speed For pulley size, dw = 485 mm Operating Bowl speed Centrifugal acceleration Differential speed Operating Conditions: Operating Temperature Operating Pressure Design 80 deg.C 0.3 Kg/cm2 (g) Normal 60 deg.C .06 Kg/cm2 (g)

: 1465 rpm : 1210g : 37 rpm

: 1550 rpm : 1355g : 39 rpm

Material Data: Feed Suspension : HDPE + Hx Max. Feed temperature: 80 deg.c Max Feed Density : 0.7 gm/cc Max solid Density : 0.97 gm/cc Max liquid Density : 0.65 gm/cc

Product Conditions (Desired): Wetness of solid : 30% Solid conc. Of Filtrate: 0.2% by weight Physical properties of powder: True Density : 0.948 0.970 gm/cc Bulk density : 0.370 0.400 gm/cc Specific Heat : 0.5 Kcal/Kg * degC Softening Point : 110 130 Angle of repose: 70 deg Physical properties of filtrate: Density Viscosity : 0.630 gm/cc (at 60 degC) : 0.22 Cp (at 60 degC)

Start Up Procedures DCS: (1) HS_2703D at S/D panel to be switched to Deactivate position (to open XV_3101, hexane supply to Centrifuge). Field: (2) Check the panel purge (open instrument air valve). (3) After the purge pressure lamp on (yellow), change the override key to ON Line position. (4) Local ESD switch pull to normal. (5) Put Control voltage ON. (6) Reset Disturbance Quite till all alarms are released. (7) Start Lube Oil pump (any one). Check flow rate & pressure. They should be 1.8 2.6 Lt/min.& 9-10 kg minimum, respectively. (8) Start N2 supply to all three flow (feed, bowl, gear box). (9) Start hexane supply to gearbox & feed (Do not start hexane flow to Bowl). (10) Start the Centrifuge. (11) Wait till current become stable, after that start hexane flow to Bowl. (12) At DCS RESET HS_2702R (S-5) on 2nd Flush Drum page. (13) After getting HS_2702R RESET, Activate HS_2703D (for XV_3101). NOTE: If step (12) is not followed i.e. S-5 is not reset, then 20min.after starting the Centrifuge, the centrifuge will trip even though the step (13) is followed. It is important that the sequence of first resetting the S-5 and changing the position of HS_2703D is followed.

Centrifuge Alarms and Trips

Nitrogen Flow: Bowl: Feed: Gearbox: Nitrogen Pressure: 2.0 kg/cm2 Lube oil flow: 2.2-2.6 lt/min. Vibration: 2.5-3.0 mm/sec Bearing Temperature: 55-60 0C Torque: Feed cut off = 104 kg-m(80% thermal load) Trip = 104 kg-m(80% thermal load) for 10 sec. Trip =117 kg-m(90% thermal load) Torque calibration, 100% =130kg SHEAR PIN BREAK =146.4 kg 85 0C 95 0C 20mm/sec for 5sec 1.0 lt/min 0.1 kg/cm2 0.04 kg/cm2 Normal 4.0 Nm3/hr 4.0 Nm3/hr 4.0 Nm3/hr Alarm 2.5 Nm3/hr 2.5 Nm3/hr 2.5 Nm3/hr Trip 1.0 Nm3/hr 1.0 Nm3/hr 1.0 Nm3/hr