Estudo do comportamento da deposição das partículas de diferentes meios filtrantes

Abstract

Many studies related to bag filters have focused on minimizing the amount of energy used in the process. Seeking longer filtration cycles, lower frequency of cleaning cycles and a longer filter life, such studies search for fabrics which present easy cake removal and the least loss of residual pressure drop. There are many studies related to the formation and removal of filtration cakes but little is known about the behavior of particles deposited on the inside of the filter and what influence these particles have on the performance of filters. For this reason, the objective of this study was to investigate particle deposition behavior and particulate materials on the interior of different filter materials after the cleaning process and to evaluate the impact of these particles on the regeneration of the fabric under microscopic examination. Particulate materials utilized were phosphatic rock and manioc starch with filter mediums of treated polyester, untreated polyester, polypropylene and acrylic. The filter trials were carried out at a filtration velocity of 0.10 m/s. The cake removal process was done by reverse airflow at a cleaning velocity of 0.12 m/s. The maximum pressure drop permitted in the filtration trials was 980 Pa. Utilizing phosphatic rock and acrylic, polypropylene and treated polyester, the depth of particle deposition on the polypropylene fabric was less deep in relation to the other two fabrics studied. The residual pressure drop of this fabric was greater, demonstrating that the accumulation of particulate material in this filter medium provided a greater resistance to flow, due to the smaller spacing encountered between the fibers of this fabric and consequent closing of pores. For the manioc starch particles on treated and untreated polyester, a greater depth of particle deposition was observed on the untreated polyester, showing that the absence of treatment allowed the fabric to obtain greater particle deposition on the interior of the filter medium, which increased the resistance to flow and the system residual pressure drop. This shows that the characteristics of the filter medium and the particulate material both exercise an influence on the depth of particle deposition and on residual pressure drop in the system. Thus, the best performance encountered utilizing particulate materials of phosphatic rock or manioc starch under the experimental conditions, was with the treated polyester. A study on the effects of the operational variables on particle deposition depth was also conducted, utilizing a three level experimental plan, 3k, to evaluate the effect of the variables, filtration velocity (Vf) and filtration time (tf). Results showed that both these variables presented an influence on the response variable, but the variable that produced the greatest significant effect was the filtration velocity. The utilization of lower values of velocity and lower values of filtration times is suggested to achieve lower levels of particle deposition depth, because the increase in particle deposition on the interior of the filter obstructs the air flow through the filter, thus slowing the cleaning process and provoking an increase in residual pressure drop.