Elaboration of Ceramic Pot Filter from Kaolinite (Cameroon Clay) for the Elimination of Suspended Particles from Domestic Drinking Water

The objective of this work was to elaborate ceramic water filters from Kaolinite (Cameroon) clay for the elimination of suspended particles from domestic drinking water. In Sub-Sahara Africa and in Cameroon in particular health issues have been linked to the consummation of domestic tap water of high turbidity values both in the rural and urban areas. In order to remedy these problems, ceramic water pot filters have been elaborated in a pilot scale unit with aim of putting in place a unit production. The chemical composition, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses of the raw materials (clay and rice husks) was determined. The crystal phases and scanning electron microscope of Wack clay was also determined. The ceramic pot filter membranes were fabricated from the formulations 70/20/10 of clay/porogen/chamotte respectively with the particle size of the raw material less than or equal to 500 μm. The formulated ceramic pot filters were then sintered at 900˚C in a furnace. These ceramic pot filters were characterized by determining their porosity, withdrawal percentages, water permeability, mechanical and chemical resistance. The study of the efficiency consisted in evaluating the retention rate and permeate flux with respect to time (days) with synthetic water suspensions of turbidity 100 NTU and particle size of 2 μm. The ceramic pot filters were made aiming at studying the efficiency after physical defouling of filters. Physical defouling consisted in brushing the inner surface of the ceramic pot filters with water and drying them at ambient temperature after being used for 11 days and reusing them under the same initial conditions. The produced ceramic pot filter had a volume of 4 L, an average porosity of 36.15%, shrinkage in mass or withdrawal percentage of 18.23%, a water permeability of 59.6 × 103 L∙h−2∙m−2, mechanical resistance of 6.8 MPa and corrosion resistance of 1.6% in acidic medium and 0.8% in alkaline medium. The evaluation of the retention efficiency reveals that the retention rate of 99.9% was obtained from the 9th day of filtration reducing the turbidity value from 100 NTU to less than 0.1 NTU. From the filtration test carried out during the 11 consecutive days, the flow rate varied between 1.46 L∙h−1 to 2.63 L∙h−1. Similar results of retention and flow rate were obtained after physical defouling of the ceramic pot filter membranes and re-using for 11 consecutive days, showing the efficiency of the ceramic pot filter membranes in eliminating suspended particles from drinking water. Cost evaluation for the production unit reveals a total cost of production for 50 ceramic pot filters of 1593.6 USD consisting of fixed assets and variable assets. An estimated selling price of 3.3 USD was obtained which is affordable for both the urban and rural population in Cameroon and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Elaboration of Ceramic Pot Filter from Kaolinite (Cameroon Clay) for the Elimination of Suspended Particles from Domestic Drinking Water

The objective of this work was to elaborate ceramic water filters from Kaolinite (Cameroon) clay for the elimination of suspended particles from domestic drinking water. In Sub-Sahara Africa and in Cameroon in particular health issues have been linked to the consummation of domestic tap water of high turbidity values both in the rural and urban areas. In order to remedy these problems, ceramic water pot filters have been elaborated in a pilot scale unit with aim of putting in place a unit production. The chemical composition, the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses of the raw materials (clay and rice husks) was determined. The crystal phases and scanning electron microscope of Wack clay was also determined. The ceramic pot filter membranes were fabricated from the formulations 70/20/10 of clay/porogen/chamotte respectively with the particle size of the raw material less than or equal to 500 μm. The formulated ceramic pot filters were then sintered at 900˚C in a furnace. These ceramic pot filters were characterized by determining their porosity, withdrawal percentages, water permeability, mechanical and chemical resistance. The study of the efficiency consisted in evaluating the retention rate and permeate flux with respect to time (days) with synthetic water suspensions of turbidity 100 NTU and particle size of 2 μm. The ceramic pot filters were made aiming at studying the efficiency after physical defouling of filters. Physical defouling consisted in brushing the inner surface of the ceramic pot filters with water and drying them at ambient temperature after being used for 11 days and reusing them under the same initial conditions. The produced ceramic pot filter had a volume of 4 L, an average porosity of 36.15%, shrinkage in mass or withdrawal percentage of 18.23%, a water permeability of 59.6 × 103 L∙h−2∙m−2, mechanical resistance of 6.8 MPa and corrosion resistance of 1.6% in acidic medium and 0.8% in alkaline medium. The evaluation of the retention efficiency reveals that the retention rate of 99.9% was obtained from the 9th day of filtration reducing the turbidity value from 100 NTU to less than 0.1 NTU. From the filtration test carried out during the 11 consecutive days, the flow rate varied between 1.46 L∙h−1 to 2.63 L∙h−1. Similar results of retention and flow rate were obtained after physical defouling of the ceramic pot filter membranes and re-using for 11 consecutive days, showing the efficiency of the ceramic pot filter membranes in eliminating suspended particles from drinking water. Cost evaluation for the production unit reveals a total cost of production for 50 ceramic pot filters of 1593.6 USD consisting of fixed assets and variable assets. An estimated selling price of 3.3 USD was obtained which is affordable for both the urban and rural population in Cameroon and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oily Wastewater Treatment by Porous Ceramics Mediums with Surface Lipophilic Modification

Aiming at the treatment of difficult-to-handle oily wastewater, the ceramics filter mediums made from the iron and steel plant sludge were adopted to surface lipophilic modification so as to remove oil efficiently. The hydrolysis technique by FTIR and conductivity test indicated that under acid conditions hydrogen silicon oil did not hydrolyze but release hydrogen by chemical reaction under alkaline conditions. The results of the experiments including contact angle measurement, FTIR analysis, and SEM analysis illustrate that a layer of lipophile coating indeed exists evenly on the surface of filter mediums after modification. Furthermore, the hydrogen-containing silicone oil was combined through dehydration of Si-H bond with the-OH on the surface of ceramic filter medium.

Experimental Investigation of Dust Deposit within Ceramic Filter Medium during Filtration-Cleaning Cycles

The penetration and deposit of particles within the medium is thought to be one reason that the residual pressure drop of the rigid ceramic filter increase with cycle number.In this study,the change in the microstructure of a single layer ceramic filter candle during filtration-cleaning cycle was observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and the resistance property of the filter was monitored accordingly.The experimental results show that there exists a serious dust deposit within the filter medium,especially at the surface region.This should be responsible for the decrease of the filter permeability.The deposit law of dust in the filter medium during filtration-cleaning cycle was then studied by measuring the deposit depth,the deposit amount,the particles distribution within the medium,the size distribution of deposited particles,and so on.Particles migration and fine particles penetration were found to be the main reasons,for which dust deposit within the filter medium became aggravated with cycle number.Based on a differential form of Ergun equation,an expression for the pressure drop of a used ceramic filter was developed with a good agreement with experimental results.Then,the effect of dust deposit on the residual pressure drop was studied at the different face velocities and dust sizes.It was found that face velocity and dust size significantly influence dust deposit within filter medium,and then the operation performance of the filter.

Image Analysis on Detachment Process of Dust Cake on Ceramic Candle Filter

Based on the analysis of high-speed video images, the detachment behavior of dust cake from the ceramic candle filter surface during pulse cleaning process is investigated. The influences of the dust cake loading,the reservoir pressure, and the filtration velocity on the cleaning effectiveness are analyzed. Experimental results show that there exists an optimum dust cake thickness for pulse-cleaning process. For thin dust cake, the patchy cleaning exists and the cleaning efficiency is low; if the dust cake is too thick, the pressure drop across the dust cake becomes higher and a higher reservoir pressure may be needed. At the same time there also exists an optimum reservoir pressure for a given filtration condition.

Optimization of Nozzle Design for Pulse Cleaning of Ceramic Filter

The experimental study was carried out to optimize the nozzle shape and dimension for the pulse cleaning of a ceramic filter candle. A bench scale unit of ceramic filter consisting of four commercial filter elements was used to measure the traces of the transient pressure around the nozzle and the overpressure in the filter cavity during the pulse-jet injection of pulse gas. Overpressure in the filter cavity is related to the pulse cleaning force. Nozzle design is concerned to increase the overpressure at the open end of filter element of pulse cleaning inlet, as well as to minimize the consumption of pulse gas. Convergent nozzle induces more secondary flow and generates higher pulse cleaning effect than straight nozzle. Nozzles of different convergent ratio （ratio of outlet to inlet diameter of nozzle） by changing the convergent angle and height were tested. The outlet diameter of convergent nozzle seriously influences the cleaning effect. The optimum convergent ratio increases with the increase of pulse gas pressure The nozzle position （distance of nozzle tip from the open end of filter inlet） is also important to decide the nozzle dimension. Nozzle of large outlet diameter accepts high pressure of pulse gas to provide large overpressure in the filter cavity of top position by applying long distance.

Numerical Investigation of Coupling Effect in Muitipipe Ceramic Filter Vessel

The Reynolds stress transport model and the Eulerian two-fluid model provided by the FLUENT code were applied to evaluate the gas-particle two-phase flow in the ceramic filter vessel. The ceramic filter vessel contains six candle filters, which are arranged in the form of equilateral hexagon. The variation of the areal density of the filter cake during the filtration and the back-pulse process were analyzed. The coupling effect between filters, gas and solid, filtration and pulse cleaning process were investigated, respectively. The numerical results show a good approach to predict the particle distribution in the vessel and the particle deposition on the filter element. This study provides the base for the intensive study on the analysis of the gas-particle flow in the filter vessel.

Current Status and Application of Ceramic Foam Filter for Aluminum Melt

The importance of purification for aluminum and aluminum alloy casting was outlined. By comparing ceramic foam filters （CFF） in China and overseas, the existing problems and challenges of China＇ s CFF for aluminum were given. Measures to improve the performance of CFF were put forward based on material, preparation process, utility evaluation, etc.

Effects of SiC and MgO on alumina-based ceramic foams filters

Alumina-based foam ceramic filters were fabricated by using alumina,SiC,magnesia powder as major materials.It has been found that this ceramic filter has a uniform macrostructure for filtering molten metals.The influences of SiC and magnesia content,the sintering temperatures on ceramic properties were discussed.Alumina-based foam ceramic filters containing 2.2 mass% magnesia and 7.6 mass% SiC has a compressive strength of 1.36 MPa and a thermal shock resistance of 5 times.Its main phases after 1 hour sintering at 1 500℃ consist of alumina,silicon carbide,spinel and mullite.

Virtual analysis of influence of a filter on mould filling

Ceramic filters are used to avoid slag and impurities in foundry applications. When not properly applied, the presence of these filters may have a significant influence on mould filling. 3-D casting simulation has been applied to study the effects of the use of a ceramic filter on the metal flow in a gating system. Instead of using a pressure drop model to represent the behaviour of a fluid metal flow passing through a filter, a real exact filter geometry, which is created by a high resolution CT-scan and a non-destructive imaging technique, in the gating system is applied in the simulation. In this research, nodular cast iron is poured into a block casting. A depressurized gating system is used. After a choke, a filter with different orientations is placed in the system. Mould filling coupled with temperature is simulated. Geometries using different orientations of the filter, and without the filter have been researched. The simulated results show that the filter has no influence on the pouring time of the casting if the choke section is small enough compared to the effective section of the filter. Although the filter has no significant influence on the flow patterns in the block casting itself, the flow patterns in the filter zone are different. When the liquid metal passes a horizontal filter, it will be broken into many small streams and show a shower effect. After the part under the filter is full, the shower effect disappears. When the filter is located at the vertical position, due to the gravity, the shower effect is less. If no filter presents on the system, the liquid metal passes through the filter zone with a high speed and causes surface turbulence.

A study on effects of ceramic foam filter on flow aspect through water modeling experiment

Casting defects that are closely related to entrapped air bubbles and metallic oxides occur very frequently in the sand mold casting process. Many researchers have shown that these defects can be reduced by adopting an appropriate gating system design. However, it is difficult for field engineers to identify a specific gating system that is more appropriate for their products. In this study, we tried to draw a comparison between two gating system designs with and without a ceramic foam filter. The ceramic foam filter was added to the horizontal runner just after the down sprue to prevent air bubble generation and reduce turbulence without a change of gating system design. The water modeling experiment was conducted with four different amounts of the initial volumes of water in the reservoir to verify the effects of initial pouring velocity. The results of the experiment applying the filter showed remarkably changed flow characteristics. The use of the filter was found to convert the flow pattern of water in the desired direction. The ceramic foam filter performed well to reduce flow velocity and stabilize the water stream.The flow pattern without a filter can be improved significantly even with the the use of just a 10 PPI irregular filter. Although the study confirmed that use of the filter may change the flow characteristics, it needs to be noted that the use of the ceramic filter alone cannot solve all the problems caused by a poorly designed gating system.

Suitability of Some Selected Clay Deposit from Edo, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti State of Nigeria for Ceramic Water Filters Production

This study is designed to investigate the suitability of selected Nigeria clay deposit for clay based ceramic water filters (CWFs). Clay samples were taken from five randomly selected locations in Nigeria Namely: Okpella (Edo1) and Ojirami (Edo2) in Edo;Ikere in Ekiti state;FUTA in Ondo state and Onibode in Ogun to determine their suitability for clay based ceramic water filters (CWFs). Experimental analysis for linear shrinkage, water absorption, bulk density, compressive strength X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) was carried out on each of the clay samples. Test results reveal that all the clays contain high contents of alumina (Al2O3) and silica (SiO2) with minor contents of P2O5, Fe2O3, MgO, K2O, MnO and TiO2. The average crystal sizes of the clay were between 15 and 27 nm. Lattice structure indicates that the sample is Monoclinic and Anorthic. Ceramic water filters (CWFs) were made from a mixture of clay and sawdust at different volume ratios, and processed into test samples. Water absorption, linear shrinkage and compressive strength of the clay based ceramic filters (CWFs), reveal that as the volume ratio of sawdust increases these properties decrease. Flow rate analysis indicates that Edo and Ekiti ceramic water filters (CWFs) have higher flow rates. The research indicates that Edo and Ekiti Clay with specification of some industrial clays shows that the samples can be recommended for use in clay based ceramic water filters production.

Pulse cleaning flow models and numerical computation of candle ceramic filters

Analytical and numerical computed models are developed for reverse pulse cleaning system of candle ceramic filters. A standard turbulent model is demonstrated suitably to the designing computation of reverse pulse cleaning system from the experimental and one dimensional computational result. The computed results can be used to guide the designing of reverse pulse cleaning system, which is optimum Venturi geometry. From the computed results, the general conclusions and the designing methods are obtained.

Efficiency characterization of ceramic filtering materials used for drinking water treatment

For ceramic filtering materials, their adsorption capacities, purification efficiencies to remove organic compounds from drinking water, and correlation between adsorption capacities and pore structures were tested and analyzed. The results show that correlation coefficient between the specific surface area and the adsorptive amount of iodine molecule is 0.99; correlation coefficient between the pore volume and the adsorptive value of tannin molecule is 0.92, and correlation coefficient between the most probable diameter and the adsorption parameter is 1.0. A new method of morphology characterization for ceramic filtering materials was developed, which offered a sort of standard for the evaluation on water purification efficiencies and selection of ceramic filtering materials.

Effects of filter materials on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91

The present investigation studied the effects of different kinds of ceramic foam filters (CFF) incorporating gas bubbling on the microstructure and mechanical properties of virgin AZ91 alloys, and the reactions between filters and Mg melt during filtration. The results show that the purification process of CFF incorporating gas bubbling process can obviously improve the R m and A of AZ91 alloy, especially the A. Amongst the selected four kinds of CFF, the MgO filter is the most suitable for filtrating Mg melt, and the filtration effective sequence of four kinds of filtrating materials is as follows: MgO>Al2O3>ZrO2>SiC. With MgO filter incorporating gas bubbling treatment under Ar flow rate of 2 L/min and temperature of 730 °C, the ultimate tensile strength R m and elongation A can be improved greatly from 175.3 MPa and 2.74% to 195.4 MPa and 4.54%, respectively. No inclusions are found on the fracture surface of the sample filtrated by MgO ceramic foam filter, and the fracture mode is quasicleavage crack.

Design of a Microwave Filter Based on a Novel Negative Coupling Structure with Conical Through-Hole

This article introduces the design theory of ceramic waveguide filter and proposes a new type of negative coupling structure with a conical throughhole,which has fine-adjustment of negative coupling without significantly increasing the insertion loss of the filter.Based on this,the article proposes an eightcavity ceramic waveguide filter design for 5G base stations.It also presents a detailed discussion on the influence of the cross-coupling slot lengths L2 and L4 on the transmission zeros positions during the filter optimization process and the relevant change rules.For the proposed optimized filter,the observed performance indicators include the center frequency of 3.5 GHz,working bandwidth of 200 MHz,an insertion loss of≤2.0 dB,return loss of≥19 dB,and out-of-band nearend suppression and out-of-band far-end suppression of≥39 dB and≥63 dB,respectively.The test performance results obtained for the sample,with structural parameters as per the simulation model,were in good agreement with the simulation results.

Identification of an Appropriate Formulation for Domestic Water Ceramic Filters from Soukamna Clay(Cameroon)

This paper deals with the formulation of ceramic filters having the porosity adapted to domestic potable water treatment.The filters were made from clays and rice husk obtained from the Far North region of Cameroon(Logone Valley).Nine formulations were investigated to choose those that might have the porosity standing between 35 and 50%(the ideal porosity adapted for water treatment).The nine formulations investigated were as follows:clay:rice husk mixture weight ratio 0.7:0.3;0.8:0.2 and 0.9:0.1 with the particle size of 100:100 microns.The sintering temperatures of 900℃,950℃ and 1000℃ were applied for each of the mixtures.The results showed that only filters with weight ratio 0.7:0.3 sintered at 900℃,950℃ and 1000℃ had porosity between 35 and 50% with values of 39.41±0.96;40.15±1.59;40.14±1.31 respectively.Mechanical strength,permeability and iron leaching behavior were investigated for these three formulations.The formulation 0.7:0.3 with sintering temperature of 1000℃ had the higher permeability and was the more stable for iron leaching so it is the more adapted for water treatment in terms of flow rate and iron leaching behavior,pore size distribution showed that these filters were macroporous and designed for microfiltration with average pore diameter of 0.46μm.

Purification performance on molten steel of novel Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filter prepared from microporous powder and nano-Al_(2)O_(3) powder

Reticulated ceramic foam filters provide an effective way to purify molten steel by removing non-metallic inclusions.We proposed a novel strategy to improve the purification performance of Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filters by using microporous corundum-spinel raw materials to replace dense raw materials.Three kinds of Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filters fabricated from dense α-Al_(2)O_(3) micro-powder or microporous corundum-spinel powder were selected to carry out the immersion tests with molten steel.On the one hand,the higher surface roughness of the filter skeleton prepared from microporous raw materials increased the adsorption capacity of skeleton surface on inclusions in molten steel.On the other hand,the higher apparent porosity and larger pore size of the filter skeleton were more beneficial to the penetration of molten steel in the micropores of skeleton.The reaction process at the solid-liquid interface also improved the wettability of the interface between skeleton and molten steel,resulting in a larger penetration depth and a better adsorption effect on the inclusions.In summary,the novel Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filter prepared with microporous corundum-spinel powder and addition of 5 wt.% nano-Al_(2)O_(3) powder reduced the total oxygen content of the steel from 40.2×10^(-4) to 12.7×10^(-4) wt.% by 68.4% and the Al content from 0.46 to 0.18 wt.% by 60.9% after immersion test,presenting the most excellent purification performance on molten steel.

Non-flux purification behavior of AZ91 magnesium alloy

The effects of non-flux purification techniques on the mechanical properties and microstructure of AZ91 magnesium alloy were investigated by ICP,OM,XRD and SEM.The results show that Ar spraying with high flow rate could remove non-metallic inclusions and improve the mechanical properties of AZ91.The alloy obtains the best properties after argon spraying for 30 min at the melt temperature of 740 °C.The ceramic foam filter(CFF) could effectively improve the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of AZ91 alloy,especially the elongation,which increase with increasing pores per inch(ppi) and the thickness of CFF.Non-flux purification does not change the microstructure of AZ91 alloy.However,filtration has a certain effect on the fracture pattern of AZ91 alloy.To improve the mechanical properties effectively,both filtration and gas spraying should be utilized together.

Preparation and Characterization of Nanotitanium Dioxide Coating Film Doped with Fe^(3+) Ions on Porous Ceramic

The nanotitanium dioxide （TiO2） photocatalytic and porous ceramic filtering technique is one of the advanced methods to effectively treat organic wastewater. The TiO2 sol doped with Fe^3＋ ions was prepared by sol-gel processing. The influences of the process conditions of coating nanophotocatalytic material- Fe^3＋-TiO2 film on the surface of porous ceramic filter by dipping-lift method on the performance of porous ceramic filter were studied. The porous ceramic filters have two functions at the same time, filtration and photocatalytic degradation. The results of this study showed that the pH and viscosity of the sol, amount of Fe^3＋ ions doped as well as the coating times greatly affect the quality of coating film, the performance parameters and the photocatalytic activity of the porous ceramic filter. When the pH of the sol is 3-4, the viscosity is about 6 mPa.S, the amount of doped Fe^3＋ ions is about 2.0 g/L, the porous ceramic filter has been shown to have the best filtering performance and photocatalytic activity. In this condition, the porosity of porous ceramic is about 42.5%, the pore diameter is 8-10μm. The degradation of methyl-orange is 74.76% under lighting for 120 rain.