ANALYSIS OF DEEP BED FILTRATION DATA - MODELING AS A BIRTH-DEATH PROCESS

To simulate the performance of a deep bed filter in terms of the pressure drop dynamics under a constant flow condition, a fairly general stochastic model, namely, the birth-death process, which takes into account both blockage of the pores by suspended particles and scouring of deposited particles, is combined with the Carman-Kozeny equation. This model is relatively simple in that the entire bed is spatially lumped and it contains only two parameters, alpha and beta , which are fairly easy to identify. In spite of this simplicity, the model is capable of representing the majority of the available experimental data.