For the experiment, the Armfield UOP12 Filtration Unit (Figure 1) was used. It consists of a plate-and-frame filter to help demonstrate filtration and the application of Darcy’s law (Equation 1). Figure 2 is a representation of the basic piping and instrumentation of the filtration unit used for the experiment.
Two experiments were completed and in each experiment three runs were performed. In experiment 1, the volumetric flow rate was kept constant, whilst in experiment 2, the pressure was kept constant. This was done to determine the efficiency of perlite using the Armfield Filtration unit (Figure 1), by measuring the amount of cake recovered after the filtration process and the filtration time.
Figure 1: Photograph of filtration unit.
Figure 2: Basic P&ID of filtration unit.
The experimental procedure is divided into the following sections: descriptions of the materials and
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It also shows values for pressure, temperature, and optical absorbance (Armfield, 2014). The slurry to be filtered, is contained in the feed tank with a motor-powered stirrer (Armfield, 2014), which allows for a homogenous solution to be maintained. The feed tank has three openings: a drain (V8 in Figure 2), an entrance for the feed and an opening for the return of the filtrate. It also contains a cut-off sensor for the pump, therefore ensuring that the pump does not operate if the water level is too low. This allows the pump to be operated at its optimum capacity and to avoid it being damaged in the process. The total volume of the tank was calculated to be 13.5L. The feed pump used is a progressive cavity pump and is capable of flow rates up to 130L/h (Armfield, 2014). A pressure relief valve is connected to ensure the system operates at 2.5 bar (Armfield, 2014). The pump also has a bleed valve to allow trapped air to escape, which is especially important when cleaning the