CAKE FORMATION IN CAPILLARY SUCTION APPARATUS

The fluid flow through porous media in capillary suction apparatus with cake formation was investigated experimentally and theoretically. Celite, CaCO3, kaolin, and bentonite slurries were used to study the effects of cake formation on the filter paper on capillary suction time (CST). It was found that the liquid saturation under the inner cylinder during experiments would approach a constant value when the wet front radius was large, under which the condition could be taken as a constant-pressure filtration process. The capillary suction pressure versus saturation relation was constructed. A method to estimate the averaged specific resistance from the wet front dynamic data and the liquid invasion volume was proposed. The calculation results showed satisfactory agreement with experiments.