Solid-Liquid Separations in Pilot and Commercial Scale Operations

Bench top processes that are developed with the intent of being run at the demonstration scale present a multitude of technical challenges. Solid-liquid separations are among the most common process operations that become large and often unanticipated capital and operational costs due to insufficient development effort in the research phase. Often separation technologies from established industries can be applied to new processes to mitigate the risk involved with scale up. The presentation will focus on Hazen's experience with solid-liquid separations, including dissolved air flotation (DAF), counter current decantation (CCD), as well as various incarnations of filtration and centrifugation.