ESTIMATION OF OPTIMUM FLUID VELOCITY IN HIGH-GRADIENT MAGNETIC FILTRATION

A high gradient magnetic cleaning process is favored by several branch es of industry for the high purification of various technological flui ds involving magnetic(ferro, para, or diamagnetic) particles. This pap er presents a theoretical study about the effects of the parameters of a magnetic filtration system on the fluid velocity to be chosen. A mo del is presented to estimate the optimum filtration velocity needed to satisfy a predefined filter performance. The model is applicable for magnetic filter systems with packing fractions of up to 0.62 and for f luids containing magnetic particles. It is essentially based on the ba lance of moments acting on particles captured and accumulated in the m agnetic filter. The boundary layer approach is used in the development of the model. The results indicate that the optimum filtration veloci ty depends on the properties of the fluid and on the parameters of the filter system. Model predictions and experimental data given in the l iterature are in a good agreement.