Effect of woven structure on transient characteristics of cake filtration

Three-dimensional particles deposition on four basic woven structures was studied numerically by analyzing forces acting on the depositing particles and was applied to estimate the change of clarity of filtrate at the initial stage of filtration. The effects of woven structures, feed concentration and particle/pore size ratio on the transient behavior of cake filtration and the variation of medium resistances at the beginning stage of cake filtration were analyzed quantitatively. The simulated results show that the filtration period at the initial stage can be divided into the three modes of standard pore blocking, intermediate blocking and cake formation in accordance with the law of blocking for all types of pores. Furthermore, the critical concentration proposed by previous investigators is also confirmed quantitatively in this study. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.