Lesson 1

EP 316 / EP 325
Separation Process
EMPLOYMENT SECTORS
 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ?
Chemical engineering is a discipline influencing numerous areas
of technology. In broad terms, chemical engineers conceive and
design processes to produce, transform and transport materials –
beginning with experimentation in the laboratory followed by
implementation of the technology in full-scale production.
 Chemical Engineering ???

• Chemical Engineering has to do with industrial

processes in which raw materials are changed
or separated into useful products.
 Chemical Engineer play a vital role in:

• Production and processing of food products

• Manufacture of fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, plastics,
synthetic fibers, elastomers drugs, pharmaceuticals, pulp,
paper etc.
• Processing of petroleum crude, production of synthetic fuels,
utilization of biomass, wind, solar, geothermal energy.
• Developing methods and equipments to control the release of
harmful substances to protect the environment.
Who is Chemical Engineer ?
• Work scope for Chemical Engineer :
 Develop, design and engineering both the complete process and the
equipment used;
 Choose the proper raw materials;
 Operate the plants efficiently, safely and economically;
 Ensure the products meet the requirements set by the customers.

• The professional stature of an engineer depends on skill in

utilizing all sources of information to reach practical solutions
and problems solving.
• Chemical engineers work in four main segments of chemical
process industries i.e. R&D, design, production and sales.
What does a Chemical Engineer do?

Video clip\What does a Chemical Engineer do.mp4

 Unit Operations
• In most chemical and biochemical production
processes, the desired products are in mixture with
other components, such as un-converted reactants,
by-products and others.
• Therefore, separation is needed to attain the products
in desired purity and form.
• The term “UNIT OPERATION” has been used for a
time to refer to the various separation processes for
the recovery and purification of products.
• Common separation processes/ unit operations
are:
Evaporation Distillation
Adsorption Crystallization
Filtration Centrifugation
Spray Drying Membrane Separation

• Separation processes are primarily based on

physical means and some on physico-chemical
means.
 General Concept & Characteristics of
Separation Processes/ Unit Operations

• Separation of components in a mixture is always

based on the difference in a physical and/or
physicochemical properties among the mixture
components.

• Based on the nature or physical mechanism of

separation, various separation processes can be
classified into:
 Separation Processes
Mechanical Separations based on size and/or density differences
Separation of different components in a mixture, for separation
of solid-solid or solid-liquid (e.g. sieving, filtration
and centrifugation)

Diffusional Separations based on molecular movement towards a

Separations favorable phase, for separation of dissolved components
(Mass transfer (e.g. distillation, absorption, extraction).
operations)
(Note: Mass transfer is the transfer of solute molecules
from one point to another or from one phase to another.)

Membrane Use of a semipermeable membrane to separate

Separations molecules with difference in size or some other
properties.
Membrane Separation
 Mechanical Separations
• Mechanical operations that involving particulate solids are:
Size reduction Crushing, grinding
Mixing Solid-solid, solid-liquid
Classification Screening, forth flotation, magnetic
separation, jigging, tabling, electrostatic
separation, wet classification
Solid-fluid Filtration, sedimentation, centrifugal
separations separation
Gas-solid separations Dust collection, bag filtration, electrostatic
precipitation
Solid handling Storage feeding, conveying
Size enlargement Pelletization, agglomeration, granulation,
extrusion
Factors Affecting the Selection of Separation Process

A. Feed conditions C. Property differences that may

1. Composition, particularly be exploited
concentration of species to be 1. Molecular
recovered or separated. 2. Thermodynamic
2. Flow rate 3. Transport
3. Temperature
4. Pressure D. Characteristics of separation
5. Phase state (solid, liquid, and/or operation
gas) 1. Ease of scale-up
2. Ease of staging
B. Product conditions 3. Temperature, pressure and phase-
1. Required purities state requirements
2. Temperature 4. Physical size limitations
3. Pressure 5. Energy requirements
4. Phase states
 Particle Size Analysis
• Particle size distribution play a key role in
determining the bulk properties of the powder.
• In industrial application, certain number will be
required to characterize the particle size of the
powder.
• This can only be done accurately and easily with a
mono-sized distribution of spheres or cubes.
 Single Particle Size
• Regular-shaped particles can be accurately described by giving
the shape and the dimensions number as shown in Table
below.

• However, no single physical dimension can adequately

describe the size of an irregularly shaped particle.
• Which dimension to use is depend on: (a) what property or
dimension of the particle that able to measure; (b) the use to
which dimension is to be put.
• Microscope (coupled with an image analyzer) can be used to
view and measure the particle’s size and shape.
• Common diameters used in microscope analysis are:

i. Martin’s diameter – length of the line which bisects the particle image.

ii. Feret’s diameter – distance between two tangents on opposite sides of the
particle

iii. Shear diameter – particle width obtained using an image shearing device.

iv. Equivalent circle diameter – the projected area diameter (area of circle with
same area as the projected area of the particle resting in a stable position.
Diameters Used in Microscopy
• Orientation of the particle on the microscope slide will affect the projected
image and consequently the measured equivalent sphere diameter.
• If we use a sieve to measure the particle size, we come up with an
equivalent sphere diameter, which is the diameter of a sphere passing
through the same sieve aperture.
• If we use a sedimentation technique to measure particle size then it is
expressed as the diameter of a sphere having the same sedimentation
velocity under the same condition.
• Other examples of the properties of particle measured and the resulting
equivalent sphere diameters as given in Figure above.
• In practice, it is important to use the method of size
measurement which directly gives the particle size
which is relevant to the situation or process of
interest.
 Sieve Diameter
• A sieve diameter is defined as the width of the minimum square aperture
through which the particle will pass.
• A common sizing device associated with this definition is a series of sieves
with square women meshes.
• Two sieve standards, i.e., Tyler Standard and American Society for Testing
and Materials (ASTM) Standard.
 Exercise 1

Consider a cuboid particle 5 x 3 x 1 mm. Calculate for this particle the

following diameters.

i. The volume diameter (the diameter of a sphere having the same

volume as the particle).
ii. The surface diameter (the diameter of a sphere having the same
surface area as the particle).
iii. The surface-volume diameter (the diameter of a sphere having the
same external surface to volume ratio as the particle).
iv. The sieve diameter (the width of the minimum aperture through
which the particle will pass).
v. The projected area diameters (the diameter of a circle having the
same area as the projected area of the particle resting in a stable
position).
 Exercise 2
A regular cylinder with diameter 0.100 mm and length 1.00 mm.
Determine the following parameters:

(a) The equivalent volume sphere diameter;

(b) The equivalent surface sphere diameter;
(c) The surface-volume diameter (the diameter of a sphere having the
same external surface to volume ratio as the particle);
(d) The sieve diameter (the width of the minimum aperture through
which the particle will pass);
(e) The projected area diameters (the diameter of a circle having the
same area as the projected area of the particle resting in a stable
position).
 Exercise 3

Calculate the equivalent volume sphere diameter xv and

the surface-volume equivalent sphere diameter xsv of a
cuboid particle of side length 1, 2, 4 mm.

Ans: Xv = 2.481 mm ; Xsv = 1.714 mm

Prepared by:
Dr. Ng Ching Yin
ngcy@ucsiuniversity.edu.my