Design of an air pressure-assisted centrifugal dewatering method for fine particle suspensions

Abstract

An air pressure-assisted centrifugal dewatering unit was designed and fabricated for the dewatering of fine particles (-150 mu m), such as clay, silica, and talc. The aim of this filtration unit is to increase the filtration rate during the drainage cycle and, hence produce drier filter cakes, which in turn could reduce the cost and emission problems of thermal dryers in the preparation plants. Several dewatering parameters, including applied pressure, centrifugal force (G-force), spin time, and cake thickness were tested to optimize the processing conditions. Test results showed that at higher air pressure and centrifugal force, the cake moisture reduction was more than 60% depending on the experimental conditions. As a result, it can be concluded that the novel filtration unit effectively works on the dewatering of fine particles and can open up new opportunities in the field.