A Mathematical Model of Aluminum Depth Filtration with

Ceramic Foam Filters: Part I. Validation for Short-Term

Filtration
F.A. ACOSTA G. and A.H. CASTILLEJOS E.

This work presents a mathematical model to compute the efficiency of depth filtration of molten
aluminum using ceramic foam filters. In the model, the porous structure of foam filters was represented
by a unit cell that takes into account the convergent-divergent nature of the flow field. The steady,
two-dimensional. and fully developed flow field within the unit cell was obtained from the numerical
solution of the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations. The assessment of the proper assumptions
for the model was carried out by comparing the computed velocity field with that experimentally
determined for a physical model of the unit cell with scale 10:l and containing an aqueous solution
of CaC12. The measurements were done using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The
efficiency and the coefficient of initial filtration for foam filters were obtained from the determination
of the particle limiting trajectory, resulting from a force balance on a spherical inclusion. This balance
included the buoyancy and the viscous drag forces. The last force took into consideration the wall
effect on the particle motion. The values of the computed initial filtration coefficient show an excellent
agreement with the corresponding measured ones reported for laboratory and plant tests for short-
term filtration. This comparison involves several combinations of particle sizes and downward fluid
superficial velocities. This model is further extended to study long-term filtration in the second part
of the article.

I. INTRODUCTION s the amount of articles accumulatine

THE filtration of aluminum has become widely spread
as a final refining technique used before casting the metal.
The removal of solid inclusions improves metal fluidity,
resulting in greater castability.['l Furthermore, the obtained
microstructure leads to enhanced mechanical properties, e.g.,
strength and ductility are increased providing better form-
ability and machinability, and also, an inclusion-free metal
favors a low tool wearing. Melts that have a maximum
-
inclusion concentration of 10 ppm in volume are generally
filtered using ceramic foam filters. When these melts flow
through a foam filter at typical melt superficial velocities
from 5 to 15 d s , depth filtration occurs.[21This mode of
particle removal consists in trapping the particles in the
interior of the filter itself rather than on the inlet surface, as
it happens with the other two modes of filtration, i.e., sieving
and cake filtration, which are outside the scope of the present
work. The particle concentration, C, observed in the solidi-
fied metal that remains within spent filters after depth filtra-
tion, follows an exponential profile.[3.41This profile can be
derived by integrating the following first-order rate
expression.
for the limits C = Ci at z = 0 and C = Co at z = L, where
A is a filtration coefficient, with dimension of reciprocal
length. In general, this coefficient changes during filtration
F.A. ACOSTA G., Assistant Professor, and A.H. CASTILLEJOS E.,
Professor, are with the Centro de Investigaci6n y de Estudios Avanzados
del IPN-Unidad Saltillo, Apdo Postal 663, Saltillo, Caoh., 25000 Mtxico.
Manuscript submitted September 3, 1999.
because it d e ~ e n d on
within the filier. The filtration periodLwhereA remains con:
stant is known as initial or short-term filtration, while that
period where the accumulation of particles starts to play an
effect on the value of the filtration coefficient is known as
aging or long-term filtration. The present artid: is focused
to show the results of a study on the initial filtration penod
characterized by an initial filtration coefficient, Ao. For this
case, the corresponding filtration efficiency is given by the
following equation:
q = [l - exp (-Ao L)] X 100 [21
The previous equation results from substitution of the inte-
grated Eq. [l] into the definition of filtration efficiency given
as q = (Ci - Co)lCiX 100, and it establishes the dependence
of the filtration efficiency with the filter thickness L. How-
ever, it should be noticed that the filtration coefficient does
not depend on this thickness but on the pore size and geome-
try and on the flow and particle properties as well. Equation
[2] has been used by Mutharasan et ~ l . [ to ~ ldetermine A.
for ceramic filters used for filtration of TiB2from aluminum
in laboratory tests. They found that this coefficient decreases
sharply with the melt superficial velocity in the range from
L to - 3 mmls, but it becomes nearly constant at higher
velocity values. They offered a qualitative explanation for
this result saying that at high flow velocities, the inertia of
the particles makes it easier for them to collide with the
collector wall. In a later work, Engh et a1.16] pointed out that
at high flow rates, the filtration coefficient increases with
melt velocity. Their explanation was not based on the particle
inertia, but rather on the impingement of particles against
roughness elements of the collector surface. In the late 1970s,
introduced['] the effect of surface roughness on particle depo-
sition in order to explain the small differences in filtration

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B VOLUME 31B. JUNE 2000-491

4 1
 efficiencies measured for particle sizes between 3 and 35 p n
as opposed to that expected from the classical dependence of
7 with d;. The interpretation of results['] of water suspen-
sions with a sand bed at flow velocities between 1.3 and
8.3 mm/s introduced the following: (1) an effective size of
a spherical collector (equal to the sum of its radius plus a
small value, RK,related to the characteristic height of the
surface roughness), and (2) an attachment probability, i.e.,
the magnitude of the adhesion force between the particle
and the collector had a statistical distribution. The first con-
sideration tends to increase the filtration efficiency because
the collector radius becomes larger while the second favors
its decrement because particles detach once the hydrody-
namic drag force surpasses the local adhesion force. It was
also found1'] that factor (1) played a more important role in
determining the value of the filtration coefficient of small
particles, while (2) was more important for large ones. This
analysis resulted in computed filtration coefficients that
agrek closely with the corresponding measured values. It is
convenient to point out that small differences in filtration
efficiencies for several particle sizes have also been reported
for aluminum filtration in ceramic foam and packed bed
filters.[" With respect to particle deattachment, we believe
that it is still an open issue because there is no agreement
about its importance in determining filtration efficiency. For
example, several auth0rs[~.'~1 have claimed that particle deat-
tachment i s present during aluminum filtration: however,
they have obtained a good agreement between their calcula-
tions and measurements by assuming permanent particle
attachment. Furthermore, F r i ~ v o l dreported
l~~ that the calcu-
lated surface tension force pressing an inclusion against a
filter wall is much larger than the drag forces acting on the
inclusion. and that, therefore, perfect attachment occurs. He
explained the observed particle release, in industrial practice,
by pointing out that those particles trapped but not touching
the wall may be re-entrained by sudden flow and pressure
variations.
Depth filtration occurs for particle sizes that are several
orders of magnitude smaller than the pore size, therefore, it
is thought that particles should be transported by the flow
field and the gravity force toward the filter wall where they
may attach. This idea is reinforced by the fact that, under
the same interstitial melt velocity, higher filtration efficienc-
ies and a more consistent performance are obtained when
using filters with a small pore size, i.e., those in which
['9*]
the distance from the bulk to the wall is short. The present
work reports a study of the initial filtration coefficient using
a particle trajectory model in which the basic ideas of Paya-
takes et al.["]are further developed. In our model, the com-
plex structure of the porous medium of a ceramic foam filter
is represented by a unit cell that resembles the convergent-
divergent characteristic of the flow field. The validity of
this assumption was previously examined using permeability
measurements with water flowing through ceramic foam
filter^.['^.'^] The obtained results agreed very well with per-
meability measurements.
11. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM
A photograph of a ceramic foam filter and the unit cell
that represents its structure are shown in Figure 1. From the
figure, it can be seen that the filter pores are interconnected
492-VOLUME 31B, JUNE 2000
to neighboring ones through several windows; in contrast,
the proposed unit cell is formed by pores having only two
windows, at the inlet and at the outlet, but no lateral ones.
The reason for this simplification is based on identifying a
preferential flow direction through the domain under study
as it was discussed in previous w o r k ~ . [ ' ~In
, ~order
~ I to vali-
date the velocity field calculations within this system
domain, velocity measurements were carried out as it is
described in the following section.
A. Experimental Work
The experimental work was aimed to measure the velocity
field inside a physical model of a unit cell. The particle
image velocimetry (PIV) t e c h n i q ~ e I ' ~was
. ' ~ ~used for this
purpose because it has the capability to acquire instantaneous
full-field velocity data in a single measurement without dis-
turbing the flow field.
1. Experimental setup
The physical model consisted of a set of seven hollow
glass spheres mutually interconnected forming a simple
cubic cell structure and immersed in a basin cup, as shown
in Figure 2. The cup was further filled with individual glass
spheres, containing the model liquid, creating a flow resis-
tance to force the fluid to flow through the set of intercon-
nected spheres. In the experimental setup, as shown in Figure
2, a CaCi2 soiution flowed down toward a basin cup and
into the glass model. The fluid properties and Reynolds
numbers employed in these tests are shown in Table I. The
employed Reynolds number corresponds to typical condi-
tions used for aluminum filtration with ceramic filters. The
entrained air bubbles served as tracers to measure the flow
field in the midplane of the uppermost sphere of the set. It
is important to mention that the larger bubbles floated up
while only small bubbles, -40 pm in diameter. were dragged
down into the basin cup. The measured rising terminal veloc-
ity in static liquid, of these small bubbles, was -0.01 times
the average fluid velocity, making them ideal tracers at every
position except at the neighborhood of the wall, where the
fluid velocity is low. The motion of the tracers was observed
using a laser sheet, 5 cm in height by 3 rnm in thickness,
emitted toward the set of glass spheres, as shown in Figure
2. The image distortion caused by the refraction of light
through the sphere surface was minimized by the saturated
CaC12solution itself, which at (25" C) has a refraction index
of 1.44, which is very close to that of glass (= 1.5) as
compared to that for water (= 1.33).
2. Particle image velocirnetry technique
The experimental arrangement for measuring the flow
velocity is schematically shown in Figure 2. It consisted
basically of a charge coupled device (CCD) camera synchro-
ni?ed to an intermittent laser head and a computer forming
a PIV equipment. This technique allowed determination of
velocity vectors by obtaining a picture formed by double
exposure images of tracer particles. This picture displayed
the tracers at sequential positions over the plane formed by
the thin sheet of laser light. A control u&t provided thk
necessary electronics to control the laser intensitv. An elec-
tronic device was built to synchronize the cameia with the
laser and generate laser pulse separations from 10 to 120
ms, which were required to detect the displacement of the
METALLURGICAL W MATERIALS TRANSACIlONS B
 Direction of flow

4 4 -
Fig. I -Photograph of a ceramic foam filter and a schematic representation of the corresponding unit cell.

1 i . Basin cup
2. Glass spheres
arrangement
Laser head
Laser sheet
CCD camera
Laser controller
Camera controller
Oscilloscope
Interface
. Computer

Fig. 2-Diagram of the experimental setup to measure the velocity field in the physical model of a unit cell.

Table I. Fluid Properties and Reynolds Numbers Used in
the Physical Model of a 30 ppi Foam Filter
Density Viscosity
Property (kg/m3) (Pa-s)
Value 1450 0.014
particles moving at the low velocities found in the system
under investigation, 0.1 to 10 mm/s. Every image was
acquired in digital form, using a frame processor board with
a resolution of 768 V X 1024 H pixels, and stored in hard
disk. The measurements were performed over subregions
of the domain to minimize errors associated to measuring
velocities over regions with large velocity gradients.
The image analysis was carried out using the VISIFLOW
software,[16]which divided every obtained frame into a grid
of 21 V X 28 H interrogation regions to apply the autocorre-
lation method. Therefore, the analysis of each PIV frame
Reynolds of the flow occuning through the sphere produced a map
Numbers containing 588 velocity vectors. Most of the velocity vectors
in each frame were the result of successful measurements,
13 and 67
indicating the flow structure within that region of the sphere.
However, a percentage of the measurements were erroneous
$ue to excessively large particle displacement variations,
i.e., large velocity gradients, andlor due to out of plane
particle motion. Thus, data validation and interpolation were
canied out before the velocity information was used to inter-
pret the physics of the fluid flow. Data validation allowed
removal of spurious vectors by comparing each vector with
other vectors close to it. A vector was accepted if its value,
magnitude and direction, fell within some bounds, which
were defined by visual inspection of the vectors in the respec-
tive frame. The discarded vectors were replaced by new

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B VOLUME 31B. JUNE 2000193

 Developed velocity profile
at the inlet
xis of
'rnrnetry
Fig. 3-Discretized domain employed to compute filtration efficiency of
a ceramic foam filter.
vectors estimated by interpolation from the values of neigh-
boring vectors. For obtaining an average velocity field, ten
pictures were taken for every frame. and the final velocity
fields were averaged. The observed velocity field variations
between pictures were attributed to fluctuations in the con-
centration and distribution of the tracer particles suspended
in the incoming flow.
B . Mathematical Formulation
1. Computational domain
The calculation domain consists of a unit cell formed by
two pores with diameter, d,, window diameter, d,,,, and
height, 2h, as shown in Figure 1. The boundaries of the
domain were chosen to reduce the possibility of having an
inflow over part of the outlet boundary, as it could be the
case when there is a recirculating flow in the pore. Further-
more, the limiting trajectory was conveniently determined
in this domain because it would be clear, from the computed
trajectories, whether particles would be trapped or not in
the first pore. The boundaries of the unit cell were described
with an axisymmetrical curvilinear coordinate system r-Z,
as indicated in Figure 3. The coordinates were constructed so
that the computational boundary in physical space coincided
494-VOLUME 318, JUNE 2000
Table 11. Fluid, Particle, and Filter Properties Used in
Calculations of the Filtration Coefficient
with a coordinate line in the coordinate space.[''] Addition-
ally, the plane r-z was rotated around its symmetry axis by
an azimuthal angle 4 = 0.1 radians to generate a slice of
the pores. This calculation domain was preferred over that
obtained with a rotation of 2 7 ~radians, because it allows
a proper representation of the trapped particles in a two-
dimensional domain. The cell axis was assumed in the verti-
cal direction, simplifying the particle force balance equation
to a two-dimensional case, in agreement with the velocity
field.
2. Assumptions, governing equations, and boundary
conditions
The initia! f!traticn ccefficients calculated in this work
correspond to TiB2 particles contained in molten aluminum,
which is filtered with a ceramic foam filter; the properties
of the system are given in Table 11. Calculations were carried
out under the following assumptions.
(a) The fluid flow is isothermal, incompressible, and with
constant viscositv. The filtration of molten metals
involves an initial period in which the rsrrir.:;dure of
the flowing metal changes with time. However, t h ~ s
period is shorter than the whole filtration period, even
for short-term filtration that may last several minutes.
Therefore, filtration conditions can be considered to
involve constant temperature, density, and viscosity. Fur-
thermore, the aluminum suspension is very dilute and a
Newtonian viscosity can be properly assumed for the
melt.
(b) The fluid flow is laminar. Experimental values of the
macroscopic pressure gadient and the corresponding
flow rate have allowed to identify Reynolds numbers
(NRep= U i d c / ~ vup
) to -80 for laminar flow through
ceramic foam filter~.['~,'~]
(c) The fluid flow is axisymmetrical. This assumption
means that the momentum transfer is bidimensional. As
it was mentioned before. there is a preferential flow
direction through the unit cell, which bccurs along the
. axial direction; i.e., there is no flow through lateral
windows.
(d) The particles are spherical, with uniform diameter, d,
and do not interact among themselves. Equiaxed inclu-
sions, commonly found in aluminum, are represented
by a sphere. Any deviation of the actual shape from the
spherical one may be considered by introducing a shape
factor. The present work considers aluminum suspen-
sions with a maximum particle concentration of 10 ppm,
therefore, it is assumed that particles do not interact
among themselves while moving in the suspension, and
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
 that the rate of momentum transfer from the particles
to the fluid is negligible.
(e) The motion of the particles, relative to the fluid, is
laminar. The estimated free terminal velocity for the
largest studied particles with a diameter dp = 50 p m
and a specific gravity equal to 4.5 is u, = 2.6 rnmls in
static molten aluminum. Thus, the corresponding parti-
cle Reynolds number value (NRep= dpuJv) is smaller
than one and, therefore. within the limit for creeping
flow around a sphere.
(f) The particles enter the domain at a velocity equal to the
sum of its free terminal velocity plus the local fluid
velocity. This assumption is based on the short time
and distance required for a particle to reach its terminal
velocity; e.g., for the particle data specified in clause
(e), the distance and time required to reach the terminal
velocity from rest are 22 p m and 9 ms, respectively.
These values were calculated assuming an added mass
equal to 0.5 times the mass of fluid having the parti-
cle volume.
(g) The added mass and the history term are neglected.
Because the particles are moving at quasi-steady state
with respect to the fluid, any change in the relative
particle-fluid velocity is rapidly transmitted to the inclu-
sion, which reaches its relative terminal velocity in a
very short time. Henceforth, the forces related to the
relative particle-fluid acceleraiion can be neglected.
(h) Surface forces at the pore wall are neglected. It is
assumed that these short-range adhesive-surface forces
provide negligible contribution to particle transport.
These forces only determine whether the conditions for
attachment are favorable. In this work, it is assumed
that the particles touching the pore wall adhere perma-
nently to it.
3. Governing Equations and Boundary Conditions
The fluid velocity field was obtained from the numerical
solution of the continuity
and Navier-Stokes equations
subjected to the boundary conditions indicated in Figure 3,
which are as follows: (1) zero flux conditions at the axis
were imposed as a result of axisymmetry; (2) nonslip and
impermeable conditions were imposed on the pore wall (i.e.,
flow velocities tangential and normal to the wall were zero);
(3) a zero reference pressure was specified at the outlet;
and (4) a velocity profile was specified at the inlet surface
boundary. When modeling the physical model system, the
measured velocity profile was prescribed. On the other hand,
when modeling the ceramic foam filter, a fully developed
velocity profile at the inlet, u = f(r) at z = 0, was specified.
This means that the velocity field repeats itself pore after
pore. This assumption was verified by calculating the veloc-
ity field in several interconnected pores. The inlet boundary
condition for the first pore was a uniform velocity profile,
while the computed velocity profiles at the inlet of the second
and third pores were parabolic and mutually similar, as it
will be shown in a following section.
The motion equation for a spherical body submerged in
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
Table III. Expressions for the Coefficients a of the Top (T)
and Bottom (B) Neighboring Control Positions,
According to the Hybrid Scheme[2o1
Coefficient P C -2 -21p12 P >2
*P = Peclet number, D = diffusion conductance.
A = Face area of control volume, t = top face. and b =
bottom face.
a flow field and including the viscous drag and buoyancy
forces can be written as
where A is the wall-effect correction coefficient for a sphere
falling between two parallel plates, obtained by superimpos-
ing two solutions for a single plate,[lgl and given by the
following equation:
n.e coefficient b ir! Fq. [ 5 ] is a buoyancy factor (= 1 - plp,).
111. SOLUTION PROCEDURE
The calculation of the velocity fields for both, the physical
model and the unit cell of a ceramic filter, were camed out
using a BFC mesh of 20 X 160 control volumes, as depicted
in Figure 3. The size of the control-volume elements in this
mesh was chosen to be larger than the size of tse suspended
particles but small enough to obtain a detailed representation
of the flow field. This mesh is also convenient for the veloc-
ity calculations in the physical model because there is a
large number of velocity vectors to compare with the mea-
sured flow field. Furthermore, it was shown in a previous
work[13]that mesh-independent values for the computed spe-
cific permeability are already obtained from coarser meshes.
The governing equations were solved using the control-
volume form~lation[~~1 implemented in the PHOENICS*
*PHOENICS is a trademark of CHAM Ltd., London.
The set of algebraic simultaneous linear equations
resulting from discretization is expressed as
where E , is the value of the so-called residual; gp, is the
value of the p variable at control position P; g are the
values of the p variable at neighboring control positions
Top, Bottom, North, and South; and a are coefficients that
are defined according to the hybrid scheme and are given
in Table 111. An analogous set of equations can be written
for the North and South neighboring positions along the y
direction. The set of equations in Eq. [7] was iteratively
solved until reaching a convergence criterion given as
VOLUME 31B,JUNE 2000495
 The-Lagrangian equation of particle motion was integrated
anaigiically and incorporated into the PHOENICS code as

- 97 [1 - erp (+)I
where 7 is a characteristic time given by the following
equation:

The particle position at time At was obtained numerically

from the velocity as

It should be noted that the Lagrangian time-step, At, was

chosen such that the particle was not allowed to jump, in
the current time-step, from a given control volume to its
neighbors: when this occurred the particle crossing the con-
trol-volume boundary was placed on the boundary itself by
reducing the time-step. This condition on At allowed a proper
( Directio: of flow j
calcul~ticnof the particle velocity because the fluid velocity
used in Eq. 191 was the proper one for the actual particle
position.
The coefficient of initial filtration was obtained from the
initial efficiency of a pore, 170, wh?ch is given as the ratio
of the trapped particles ?lass rate, Wr, to the total incoming
particles mass rate, W;, according to the following Fig. 4-Schematic representation of the limiting trajectory in the unit cell.
expression:

u, plus the terminal velocity, b.This condition is important

The so-called limiting trajectory was used to determine
the trapped particles mass rate. This trajectory is the locus
formed by the moticn of a particle that enters the unit cell
at position, r f , such that it is just trapped at the end of the
pore, as illustrated in Figure 4. Therefore, those particles
that entered the unit cell at locations closer to the wall, i e . ,
at positions, r, larger than r f , were trapped. Assuming a
homogeneous suspension with particle concentration cp, the
trapped particles mass rate would be determined by integ-
rating the corresponding rate equation at the inlet of the unit
cell, from r = rT to r = r: = d,/2 - dp/2 as follows:
where dA is the differential surface area vector at the inlet,
which points outwards from the inlet surface of the unit cell.
The total particles mass rate that entered the unit cell was
obtained by an analogous expression but integrating from r
= 0 to r = r,*.It is useful to stress that most of the reports
consider that the particle velocity at the inlet of the unit cell,
up, is equal to the local velocity of the fluid,['] however, as
pointed out by Burganos et aL,[221 a more realistic value is
obtained by considering that the particle velocity, at the inlet
of the unit cell, is equal to the sum of the local fluid velocity,
because, in a downward flow, light particles may float out
by buoyancy and, thus, not entering into the unit cell, spe-
cially in those locations closer to the wall, where the fluid
velocity is low. For this situation, the traditional evaluation
of up, as the local fluid velocity would result in an overesti-
mation of the mass particles inlet rate.
The limiting trajectory was determined by a trial-and-
error procedure consisting of choosing an arbitrary radial
position for a particle to enter the domain and computing
its trajectory. By inspecting this trajectory, it was determined
whether the particle just stroke the outlet boundary of the
pore. In the case that the particle did not strike, a new inlet
position was chosen, and the procedure was repeated until
the criterion of the limiting trajectory was met. Once 770 was
determined, the initial filtration coefficient was calculated
for the length of a pore, h, as
&, = - 11h ln (1 - q,/100) [I41
Notice that &, increases with an increment in 170. As a
final note, it should be stressed that the PHOENICS code
requires that the center of a particle reaches the wall to be
trapped. For our case, a criterion for trapping of the particles
was established in a user accessible subroutine, which indi-
cated that a particle became attached to the wall when the
distance from its center to the wall was less than or equal
to its radius, R.

496-VOLUME 3 18,JUNE 2000 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B

Fig. 5-Measured velocity field in the bottom region of the upper glass
sphere, of the expenmental arrangement, when a saturated CaC12solution,
carrying small air bubbles. flows downward for NRe = 13.
0 Vr measured
18
16
-2 I I I I I I
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Radial position r, (pn)
Fig. 6-Measured velocity profile at the inlet of the physical model when
a saturated CaCI2 solution flows for NRe = 67.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Velocity Fields in the Physical Model
As mentioned previously, measurements of the velocity
field in a physical model were carried out to characterize
the velocity field for flow conditions relevant to aluminum
filtration in ceramic foam filters. Figure 5 shows a typical
photograph of a double exposure image corresponding to
air bubbles suspended in a saturated CaC12solution flowing
through the physical model. The experimentally estimated
velocity vectors appear superimposed to the photograph. In
the figure, the white-spot pairs show air bubbles at two
positions. These pair images were processed to obtain the
velocity field indicated by the arrows. The shown flow field
corresponds to the lower section of the glass sphere for a
NRe = 13. At the exit of the sphere, one can notice the
parabolic velocity profile.
The measured profiles of the axial and radial velocity
components at the inlet of the domain are plotted in Figure
6 for NRe= 67. These values were used as the inlet boundary
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
0 3000 6000 9000 12000
Radial position r, (pm)
7000
-4 1.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Radial position r, (pm)
(b)
Fig. 7-Graphical comparison between the measured and the computed
velocity profiles at ( a ) the equator of the sphere, z = 1.4 cm, and (6)the
outlet of the sphere, z = 2.4cm, when CaC12(,, flows for NR, = 67.
condition to compute the flow field inside the glass sphere.
Figures 7(a) and (b) show comparisons of the measured and
tne computed velocity component profiles at axial positions
equal to z = 1.5 and 2.6 cm, respectively, which correspond
to the equator and to the outlet of the sphere, respectively.
The good agreement between these results indicates that the
model is able to represent accurately the flow field in a unit
cell. Figure 8 shows measured velocity profiles at z = 1.5
cm for two studied flow conditions. It is shown that an
increment in the flow rate led to an increase in the radial
velocity component. It should be mentioned that a recirculat-
ing flow was set, in the physical model, once the NRe was
VOLUME 31B, JUNE 2000497
 +Vr atN,=13
-Q a-
V, atN,=13
\
\ & Vr atN,=67
- ?I -v-V, at N,, =67 h ------
-------
\
2a
V -
1-

i
b
.- 10-
->
8
P)

a Inlet of 1st pore

4 5 -
Inlet of 2nd pore
Inlet of 3rd pore

4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Radial position, r (pm) Radial position r, (prn)
Fig. 8-Measured velocity profiles at the equator of the sphere, 2 = 1.5 Fig. 9-Computed axial velocity profiles at the inlet of the first, second,
cm. for flow rates of a saturated CaCl?solution flowing at Reynolds number and third pores for the flow of molten aluminum through a unit cell of a
values of 13 and 67. 30 ppi foam filter for NRR, = 48.

equal to 70. This recirculating flow plays an important role

in pushing the inclusion particles toward the wall of a filter,
especially for small particles, as will be discussed in Sec-
tion B.

B . Results from the Mathematical Model

1 . Fullv developed flow
The chosen boundary condition for modeling particle tra-
jectory and filtration efficiency of ceramic foam filters was
the fully developed velocity profile as it is justified in Figure
9, which shows the computed axial velocity at the inlet of
each of three interconnected pores. The calculations corre-
spond to a typical flow condition of molten aluminum and
Reynolds number, NRer equal to 48 in a 30 ppi ceramic foam
filter, The boundary condition at the inlet of the first cell
was a uniform velocity profile, and the computed velocity
profiles at the inlet of the second and third pores were
parabolic and mutually similar, as it can be seen in the figure. 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
-
According to the previous result, the fully developed flow Gravity number N,
is established in most of the space of an actual filter. The
unit cell model is intended to represent the flow field that Fig. 10-Computed initial filtration coefficient in a 30 ppi foam filter as
a function of the Gravity number for three unit cell inclinations, 0, 2, and
predominates in an actual filter, i.e., that was obtained with 4 deg.
a fully developed velocity profile as inlet condition.
2. The effect of cell inclination on the Gravity number
The fluid flow calculations were based on the hypothesis irklination angles, 0, 2, and 4 deg, for molten aluminum
that the flow field is two-dimensional. This condition is filtration at a flow rate corresponding to NRe = 32 and using
valid even in those unit cells that have an inclination angle, a 30 ppi foam filter. This figure indicates that in a vertical
8, larger than zero as it was discussed by the authors in a unit cell, the initial filtration coefficient has a small value,
previous article.[121However, two-dimensional particle tra- which is practically independent of the Gravity number;
jectory calculations are strictly valid for flow through verti- however, for inclination angles larger than zero, there is a
cal cells because the radial position of the limiting trajectory, strong dependence of the initial filtration coefficient with
rl*, is symmetrical only for unit cells with t9 = 0. Figure 10 the gravity number. In a vertical unit cell, the radial compo-
shows the computed initial filtration coefficient as a function nent of the gravity force on the particle is zero; therefore,
of the Gravity number, NG ( = d ; (pp - p)gll SpU,),for three only those particles entering at low-gravity number values

498-VOLUME 31B. JUNE 2000 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B

 Particle diameter
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 1 6 -L
Supemcial velocity, U, (rnmls) w
Fig. 1 l-Computed and reported initial filtration coefficient and filtration
efficiencies for 30 ppi foam filters as a function of the melt velocity for
several panicle sizes.
are pushed by the flow field toward the collecting wall.
Those particles exceeding a critical gravity number value
tend to follow vertical straight trajectories avoiding collision
with the wall. The situation in a tilted unit cell is rather
different because the gravity force has a nonzero component
in the radial direction. This component increases with the
Gravity number allowing a strong dependence of the filtra-
tion coefficient to be obtained with this dimensionless num-
ber. An inclination angle, 0, equal to 4 deg was chosen for
the trajectory calculation to obtain a dependence of the initial
filtration coefficient proportional to INc\'.', as it has been
found for depth filtrati~n.[~.~]These results mean that actual
particle trajectories are closely simulated when the fluid
flows in a quasi-vertical cell assuming an axisymmetrical
particle trajectory.
3. Results of the computed initial filtration coeficient
Figure 11 shows the computed initial filtration coefficient,
using 0 = 4 deg, as a function of the melt superficial velocity
for the filtration of TiB2 particles in aluminum using 30 ppi
foam filters. The curves shown in the figure belong to parti-
cles of different diameter, and the spot values indicate
reported measurements. The figure also shows the corres-
ponding filtration efficiencies for filters of 2.5 and 5 cm
thickness. From the figure, it is seen that the computed
filtration coefficient decreases with the melt superficial
velocity until reaching a minimum value at a critical melt
velocity. At higher flow velocities, the filtration efficiency
increases with an increment in the superficial velocity. The
value of the critical velocity at which the minimum filtration
coefficient is reached depends on the particle size. For exam-
ple, the critical velocities for particle sizes of 8 and 50 p m
are -3 and 13 mm/s, respectively. The computed filtration
coefficients agree with experimental values reported by sev-
eral authors; for example, the classical laboratory results
reported by Mutharasan et ~ l . [ for~ ] the depth filtration of
TiB2particles using filters of 30 ppi include a velocity range
up to nearly 8 mm/s. These experimental results are clearly
within the range of the computed filtration coefficients for
particles between 8 and 15 pm. The calculated coefficients
for particle sizes of 20 and 30 pm agree with plant filtration
efficiencies obtained by Keegan et a1.r81 for particle sizes
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSAmIONS B
Fig. 12-Computed trajectories of TiBz particles with (a) 15-pm and ( 6 )
5 0 - p n diameter, suspended in molten aluminum that flows at superficial
velocities rllf 3 = 16) and ! 5 mm/s (NR, = 80) through a unit cell of
a 30 ppi filter.
between 15 and 20 and 30 and 35 pm, respectively. Finally,
the plant measurements reported by Tian and Guthrierglfor
the filtration of 40 to 60 p m alumina particles are well
represented by the computations carried out for a particle
diameter of 50 pm.
The predicted dependence of the filtration coefficient with
particle size and fluid velocity agrees with the corresponding
measured behavior and explains the relatively small differ-
ence in filtration efficiency observed for particles with differ-
ent size. For example, a closer inspection to Keegan et
al.[8] measurements shows that the ratio of the filtration
coefficients for particles within the size range of 55 to 60
p m to that for particles within the range of 15 to 20 p n is
equal to 2.2. This ratio is almost four times lower than
the value expected from the generally accepted quadratic
dependence of the filtration coefficient with particle diame-
ter. This low ratio agrees with the behavior shown in Figure
11, where at high superficial velocities the values of the
filtration coefficient, for particles with different size, become
closer to each other. Therefore, the computed behavior of
the filtration coefficient is consistent with these observations
and with those reported in the chemical engineering litera-
turef7]where the small differences in the values of the filtra-
tion coefficient, for large and small particles, are explained
by introducing a surface roughness, RK,on the wall collector,
as it was described previously.
4. Mechanism of particle trapping at different flow
rates
The mechanism explaining the increment in the filtration
coefficient of small particles with the increase in the flow
rate is depicted in Figure 12(a). This figure shows computed
trajectories for a 15 p m particle of TiB2suspended in molten
VOLUME 31B.JUNE 2000499

Fig. 13-Computed fields for aluminum that flows at Nuc of (a) 16, (b)
32, ( c ) 64, and (d) 80 through a unit cell of a 30 ppi filter.
aluminum flowing at two superficial velocities, 3 mm/s (NRe
= 16) and 15 mm/s (NRe= 80); in both cases, the particle
trajectories start at a common position at the inlet of the
domain. It is seen that at 3 d s , the particle follows a
trajectory that takes it to the lower pore where it is trapped.
In contrast, at the high melt velocity of 15 mm/s, a similar
particle collides with the wall of the upper pore. This result
means that the increment of the melt velocity improved the
filtration efficiency of the upper pore,* and, therefore, of
*Notice that, in order to trap a particle in the upper pore at 3 W s , it
should enter the domain at some position closer to the wall, i.e., at position
r f , larger than for the case of melt velocity equal to 15 W s . From Eqs.
[12] through [14]. it can be seen that this larger value in r,* means a lower
value of the filtration coefficient. Therefore, the modification of a particle
Irajectory, resulting in the trapping of the particle at lower positions of the
domain, will be interpreted in the article as a decrement in the filtration
coefficient and efficiency.
the whole filter. The computed trajectories for a 50 pm
particle (Figure 12(b)) indicate that the increment in the
melt superficial velocity from 3 to 15 mm/s decreased the
filtration efficiency of the upper pore for this particle size.
The flow pattern computed at high flow velocities is the
reason for the behavior previously described for the particle
trajectories. Figure 13 shows velocity fields computed at
several Reynolds number values: (a) 16, (b) 32, (c) 64, and
(d) 80. Notice that the flow field in the upper and the lower
500-VOLUME 31B,JUNE 2000
Fig. 14-Computed trajectories of TiB2particles of 8 and 20 p m in diame-
ter, suspended in molten aluminum that flows at a superficial velocity of
15 mmls (Nu== 80) through a unit cell of a 30 ppi filter.
pore are mutually equivalent, as obtained from the fully
developed boundary condition previously described. In Fig-
ure 13(a), there are no recirculatory flows, and the velocity
gradient in the radial direction is relatively snialler than
that obtained in Figure 13(b), which does not exhibit any
recirculatory flow either. Figure 13(c) shows incipient recir-
culatory flows and a steeper velocity gradient in the radial
direction than those shown in the previous cases. Figure
13(d), at the highest Reynolds number condition, presents
also recirculatory flow and the steepest velocity gradient in
the radial direction. These recirculatory flows pushed the
small particles towards the wall, favoring their trapping. In
this regard, Figure 14 compares the computed trajectories
of two particles with diameters of 8 and 20 pm under an
identical velocity field at NRe = 80. From this figure, it is
seen that the small particle was pushed upwards by the
recirculatory flow and was trapped at a higher position with
respect to the large particle. Because this recirculatory flow
was also present in the upper pore, the filtration efficiency,
obtained from the analysis in this pore, was higher for the
smaller particle than for the large one, as it can be seen in
Figure 11.
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
A two-dimensional mathematical model has been devel-
oped to quantitatively represent the fluid flow and the filtra-
tion efficiency obtained during depth filtration of molten
aluminum with ceramic foam filters. The model is based on
the calculation of the particle trajectory obtained from the
motion equation for a submerged body in a fluid flowing
METALLURGICAL AND MATWALS TRANSAC'ONS B
 within a unit cell. The filtration efficiency obtained in this
representative unit cell is used to evaluate the overall effi-
ciency of the filter.
The velocity field within the chosen unit cell was charac-
terized in a physical model. using the PIV technique, for
typical flow conditions for aluminum filtration in foam fil-
ters. The corresponding computed flow field was determined
using the measured velocity profile at the inlet of the pore
as a boundary condition. The good agreement between these
results indicates that the model properly represented the
flow field.
The assumption of an axisyrnmetric particle trajectory was
justfied on the basis that a unit cell inclination angle equal to
4 deg was sufficient to obtain the strong dependence of the
filtration coefficient with the gravity number V(Y IN^^'.^. This
result means that actual inclusion trajectories describe. as an
average, quasi-vertical trajectories within the filter.
The computed initial filtration coefficient decreased with
melt velocity until reaching a minimum value at some critical
melt velocity. At superficial velocities above this value, the
filtration coefficient increases with the increase in melt
velocity. The critical velocity value depends on the particle
size; for example for particle sizes of 8 and 50 p m the
critical values are around 3 and 13 rnmls, respectively. The
increment in the filtration coefficient is a consequence of
the formation of a recirculatory flow pattern that pushes the
particles toward the wall. Large particles are less sensitive
to this recirculatory flow.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express gratitude to The National Council
of Science and Technology of MCxico (CONACyT) for
the financial support to this work and for the scholarship
(Catedra Patrimonial) granted to FAAG as a graduate stu-
dent at CINVESTAV. Also, we thank Mrs. Noemi Neira
for locating and supplying the technical information for
this work.
LIST OF SYMBOLS
a; coefficients corresponding to the north, south,
top, and bottom neighbors in the control vol-
ume discretization method, Eq. [7].
as a~9
coefficients corresponding to the bottom (or
downstream) and top (upstream) neighbors
(Table 111), respectively
A fluid flow area or downstream control volume
face area (m')
Ab?Ar areas of the bottom (or downstream) and top (or
upstream) control volume faces (m2), respec-
tively, and equal to AxAy
b buoyancy factor (1 - pip,)
C Eulerian particle concentration in the melt that
flows through a filter (g/cm3)
Ci Co particle concentration in the melt at the inlet and
at the outlet of the filter, respectively
c~ particle concentration in the melt before filtra-
tion (ppm and g/cm3)
d,,d,, d, particle, window, and pore diameters (mm),
respectively
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
diffusion conductance at the bottom and top con-
trol-volume faces and equal to pb/(zp - zb)
and ~ r / ( ~ - bzp), respectively
absolute value of the residual
vector function defining velocity profile along
the radial direction ( d s )
acceleration of gravity (9.8 d s 2 )
distance between successive windows (mm)
filter thickness (cm)
distances from the particle center to each one of
the plates that bound it (mm)
half-length of separation between the plates that
bound a particle (mm); in our case, it is con-
sidered to be equal to half the pore cord length
measured horizontally at particle position z
mass of the suspended particle (kg)
gravity number defined as d i (p, - p)gl18pUl
Reynolds numbers for the fluid, NRe = U,d,lv,
and for the particle, NRe., = Udjplv
Eulerian pressure in the fluid (Pa)
reference pressure in the fluid at the outlet of
the unit cell (Pa)
Peclet number evaluated at the bottom and top
control-volume faces and equal to PU:,~ (z, -
zb)/,ub and pu,, (z, - z )lpr, respectively
voluminic flow rate (cm3"Is)
coordinate distances in the radial and axial direc-
tions, respectively (mm)
maximum radial position at which a particle can
enter the unit cell (mm)
inlet radial position of the particle that follows
the limiting trajectory (rnm)
particle position and particle initial position vec-
tors (mm), respectively.
radius of the suspended particle (pm)
radius of the collector grain m d dwrage length
of roughness elements (mm),respectively
time and Lagrangian time-step(s)
Eulerian velocity vector of the fluid ( c d s )
interstitial melt velocity (Urn/&)(cmls)
melt superficial velocity (QlA) (cmls)
Lagrangian particle velocity and particle termi-
nal velocity ( c d s ) , respectively
velocity of the particle in a previous time ( c d s )
radial and axial components of the fluid velocity
( c d s ) , respectively
radial component of the fluid velocity at the
bottom and top control volume faces,
respectively
mass flow rates of trapped particles and particles
entering the pore (g/s), respectively
size of the control volume in the x and y direc-
tions, respectively (m)
axial positions of the bottom face, the control
point, and the top face of the control volume,
respectively (m)
main flow direction of the fluid through the filter
Greek letters
E filter porosity (pct)
4 azimuthal angle, radians
cPi, &, values of the dependent 4 variable at neighbor
position i and control position P,respectively.
VOLUME 31B,JUNE 2000-501
 filtration efficiency of the filter defined by (Ci
- C,)/Ci x loo (pct)
filtration efficiency of a pore determined from
Eq. [I21 (pet)
filtration coefficient and initial filtration coeffi-
cient (m- ')
wall-effect correction coefficient for a sphere
falling between two parallel plates and
defined in Eq. 6
dynamic and kinematic melt viscosities, (Pa-s
and m2/s), respectively.
melt viscosity at the bottom and top faces of the
control volume (Pa-s), respectively
constant, 3.141592654 ' pp. 889-99.
angle between the unit cell axis and the main
flow direction, (rad and deg)
density of the fluid and particle, respectively
(kg/m3)
characteristic time given by Eq. [lo] (s)
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METALLURGICAL AND MATWALS TRANSACfI( 'NS