SME Annual Meeting

March 1-3, 1999, Denver, Colorado

Preprint 99-60
FILTER CAKE STRUCTURE AS REVEALED BY
3D SIMULATION USING THE MONTE CARLO METHOD

G. E. S. Valadao
Univ. Federal de Minas Gerais
Belo Horizonte, Brazil

C. L. Lin
J. D. Miller
Univ. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

Filtration is an important solid liquid separation technology
employed widely in the mineral processing industries. The
effectiveness of the filtration operation can be influenced by
numerous variables, related to the particulate phase, the
slurry rheology and the equipment. The classical approach for
analysis is based on Darcy's law. Knowledge of the cake pore
microstructure and its correlation to macroscopic cake
properties is required to model the filtration operation from a
fundamental point of view. Since cake formation seems to
occur randomly, a 3D Monte Carlo method was used to
simulate cake formation. The configuration for simulation
was a space with width of 500 µm, length of 500 µm and
height of 4000 µm. Size distributions of five different
industrial products whose particle size distributions follow the
Rosin Rammler distribution function were used. The particle
shape was assumed to be spherical. The simulated cake
structures were described in terms of volume porosity (volume
of pore space per unit volume of cake) and surface porosity
(area of pore space per unit area of a cross section). The
results indicate: 1) it is possible to simulate 3D packing,
which mimics cake structure, using the Monte Carlo method,
2) segregation phenomena occurs during simulated cake
formation, 3) the values of calculated porosity for simulated
samples B, C, D, and E were lower than those determined for
corresponding industrial products Br, Cr, Dr, and Er, and 4)
some structures of simulated samples seem to correlate with
laboratory leaf test data obtained for different products from
plant operations.
Filtration is an important operation employed in mineral
processing plants in which slurry is forced through a medium
(usually a cloth) in such way the particulate phase (filter
cake) is retained and liquid passes through the medium
(Dahlstrom and Silverblatt, 1977; Svarosvky, 1977).
Generally, a high filter cake moisture is not desirable because
it may affect transportation costs, material handling, and
efficiency of subsequent operations (Tiller, 1975a).
A filter cake can be described as a packed bed of particles
with a complex system of interconnected inter-particle voids.
The classical approach medium (Dahlstrom and Silverblatt,
1977; Svarosvky, 1977; Tiller, 1975; Ranjan and Hogg, 1996)
for filtration is based on Darcy's law, an empirical equation
that describes the one dimensional fluid flow through a
uniform incompressible porous medium. In fact, with respect
to an actual filtration system, this description is simplified.
Research workers (Tiller, 1975a, 1975b; Kakwani et el, 1984;
Shirato, 1972; Bourgeois and Lyman, 1997; Bourgeois and
Barton, 1998) have demonstrated that a filter cake is not of
uniform character. Normally the porosity is highest at the
cake surface and decreases through its depth. The
distributions of pore size and shape for filter cakes are usually
unknown and difficult to measure.
A 3D Monte Carlo method (Yen et al, 1998) was used in this
work to simulate cake formation. Size distributions of five
different industrial products whose particle size distributions
follow the Rosin Ramler distribution function were used, The
simulated cake structures are described in terms of volume
porosity (volume of pore space per unit volume of bed) and

1 Copyright © 1999 by SME

surface porosity (area of pore space per unit area of a cross SIMULATION USING MONTE CARLO METHOD
section). The values of calculated cake porosity for each
simulated sample (A, B, C, D and E) were compared with Since particle bed of a filter cake seems to be organized
laboratory leaf test data obtained for different products from randomly together with some kind of segregation, a Monte
plant operations. Carlo method could be a useful tool for the simulation of cake
structure. A 3D Monte Carlo computer simulation has been
PARTICLE PACKING STRUCTURE done in this work to simulate cake formation. The
methodology follows the work of Rosato et al (1986) but in
The knowledge of pore microstructure and its correlation to this case the cake structure is achieved in 3D. A random
macroscopic cake properties seems to be an appropriate number (rn) is initially used to generate the center coordinates
approach for filtration modeling based on fundamental of each hard spherical particle within a right vertical
considerations (Miller and Lin, 1997). Some techniques can container. The pair interaction energy U(s) is defined as:
be used, within limits, to obtain direct information about the
3D pore structure (Owen and Green, 1996). Nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) imaging instruments map spin densities
and relaxation times of hydrogen, and in this way resolves the
filling of pore space by fluids. Computerized tomography
(CT) is able to show the distribution of solid grains, and pore where:
space filling by liquids or gases. Finally it appears that laser
scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) can precisely image ds = the sum of radii of two spherical particles
the thin optical planes within thicker porous rock samples. s = the separation distance between the centers of the two
particles
Pore structures have been characterized by experimental
observation. Carman (1937) commented on research carried When simulation starts the particles are created an denoted
out using spheres to simulate packing beds. More recently, by:
other researchers (Dexter and Tanner, 1972; Van Brakel and
Heertjes, 1974; Wakeman, 1975) studied the effect of size
distribution on the packing density.
where:
Microscopic data of thin or polished sections of porous
medium have been used to characterize the pore structure
rj = the location (xj, yj, zj) in the coordinate system and j
(Bourgeois and Barton, 1998; Jernot et al, 1992; Saltzman et
denotes the jth particle.
al, 1987; Orem et al, 1996). A 3D image can be obtained
from these microscopic data by: direct analysis of material
The total energy of the system E(r*) can be calculated:
using a set of sections, and mathematical/statistical models.

Theoretical models (Ranjan and Hogg, 1996; Ouchlyama and

Tanaka, 1984; Yu and Standish, 1987) have been proposed to
estimate structural properties and transport phenomena in where:
porous beds. In some cases a reasonable agreement is found
between the predicted and calculated parameters.

Computer simulations have been performed in 2D (Kaush et

al, 1971; Rosato et al, 1986) and 3D (Chatzis and Dullien,
1977; Rodriguez et al, 1986; Soppe, 1990; Konakawa and where:
Ishizaki, 1990; Reyes and Iglesia, 1991; Nolan and
Kavanagh, 1993; Hogue and Newland, 1994 and Hwang et m = mass of the jth particle
al, 1997) in order to obtain and study packing structures. It g = gravitational acceleration
was observed that the 3D models are more realistic for mimic
the cake structure than the 2D models. The Boltzmann distribution gives the probability that a
specified configuration having energy E(r) will occur:

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 Table I. Size distribution by weight, number of spheres
calculated for each size interval, the values of a, and dc,
for simulated samples A, B, C, D and E.
where:
nf = partition function (normalization constant)
kb = Boltzmann constant
T = absolute temperature

During a cycle, all particles are moved one at a time. The new
particle position (trial position) is obtained by the
multiplication of a triplet of generated random number (nx,
ny, nz) by a small positive number. After each trial, if the total
energy decreases (∆E = Ei(r*)-E(r*) < 0) the trial is accepted
to replace the current configuration. If it does not occur, the
probability p(∆E) is calculated:

If the value calculated p(∆E) > rn the new configuration

replaces the old one as the current configuration. If p(∆E) < rn
the old configuration is kept as the current configuration. The
simulation stops according to a fixed number of cycles.

The 3D cake formation simulation was performed using a

computer program (Yen and Lin, 1996) which was written in
C language and run in a Sun Workstation. The configuration
of the environment for simulation was a space with width of
500 µm, length of 500 µm and height of 4000 µm. Initially,
the size distribution of five industrial products (pellet feed)
(At, Br, Cr, Dr, and Er) of Mineracoes Brasileiras Reunidas
(MBR), in the iron concentrators of Aguas Claras and Pico
(Minas Gerais, Brazil), were considered for simulated
samples (A, B, C, D, and E). Table I shows, for each sample
considered, the size distribution, the number of particles
considered for each size interval of these samples, the values
of α (dispersion constant) and dc (absolute size constant). The
number of particles was obtained from the weight of particles
in each size interval using the particle density and size.

3 Copyright © 1999 by SME

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The porosity values obtained at 10000 cycles for samples A,
B, C, D and E, are respectively: 46.97%, 42.76%, 43.11%,
44.09%, 43.75%. These values represent packing structures
usually referred to as random-loose packings (Reyes and
Iglesia, 1991), and were calculated considering the total space
occupied by the particles which was 512 µm in length, 512
µm in width and a final height of cake structure formed. The
cake porosity of actual industrial products was roughly
estimated from leaf test data using the weight of dry and wet
cakes. The results were 36.48% for Ar, 55.43% for Br,
54.71% for Cr, 57.29% for Dr, and 56.79% for Er. It is
evident that the industrial products have a higher porosity
than the simulated samples, except for sample Ar whose
value is lower than the corresponding simulated sample A.
The 3D image of the simulated cakes and the surface porosity
characteristics with respect to the cake depth can be observed
for all samples in Figures 1(a,c,d), 2 (a,c,d), 3(a,c,d), 4(a,c,d),
and 5(a,c,d). A screen capture program, and View3d (Eberly,
1998) software were used to obtain these images, It can be
observed, from the 3D images, that the coarse particles tend
to reach the top of the cake structure due to segregation.
Similar behavior was observed by Rosato et al (1986) for 2D
packing structures. This segregation mechanism may be seen
more clearly in the Figures l(c,d), 2(c,d), 3(c,d), 4(c,d), and
5(c,d) which show images of the top view and bottom view of
the simulated cakes through 10000 cycles. The coarse
particles predominate at the top of the cake and smaller
particles at the bottom. The cake bottom structures may be
grouped according to their similarity: samples A, B, D in one
group, and samples C, E in another group. The smaller
particles are predominant in the first group and the structures
seem to be more “closed”. Particles from different sizes join
the smaller particles and form a more “open” structure in the
second group. It should be noted that the industrial plant and
leaf test data establish the filtration performance, which under
normal conditions, is higher (i.e. > form filtration rate and <
cake moisture) when Cr and Er are used as filtration feed.
Therefore, a preliminary relationship between these cake
structures and the filtration behavior is supposed.
Cross-sections, every 1 µm of depth, were done for the
simulated cakes and the surface porosity was determined for
each section by means of a computer program (Lin, 1997).
The surface porosity behavior for the simulated cakes is
shown in Figures 1(b), 2(b), 3(b), 4(b), and 5(b). Higher
values of surface porosity are observed at both the bottom and
top of the cake structure. Although sample A presents higher
values of surface porosity, the variation of the surface porosity
with cake depth is similar for all samples. This behavior is in
good agreement with the experimental results reported by
4 Copyright © 1999 by SME
Van Brakel and Heertjes (1974) who used x-ray absorption to
determine the variation in surface porosity with depth in the
packing structures.
Detailed information regarding the structure of filter cake is
an important technological matter since mathematical models
will require this information in order to predict and optimize
the industrial operations. The simulated cake structures
reported in this work will be used subsequently for the
analysis of filtration data, and for the development of a
structure-based mathematical model. It is expected that x-ray
microtomography eventually will be used to experimentally
examine actual cake structures in order to verify such
simulations.
CONCLUSIONS
• It is possible to simulate a 3D packing, which mimics
cake structure, using the Monte Carlo method.
• The simulated cakes represent what is usually referred to
a random-loose packing (ε > 42%).
• The calculated values of porosity for simulated samples
B, C, D, and E were lower than those determined for
industrial products Br, Cr, Dr, and Er. The value of the
porosity for sample A was greater than for sample Ar.
• The 3D images obtained for simulated samples (A, B, C,
D, and E) indicate the significance of segregation
mechanism in cake formation.
• The simulated cake bottom structures obtained for
samples A, B, C, D and E seem to correlate with
laboratory leaf test data obtained for different products
Ar, Br, Cr, Dr, and Er from plant operations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the NSF Grant No.
CTS-9724315 for the financial support, and CNPq - Conselho
Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Teenologico-of the
Ministry for Science and Technology of Brazil, which has
granted scholarship for one of them.
Figure 1. – (a) 3D image of sample A simulated for 10000cycles, (b) height of cake A versus
surface porosity, (c) top view of sample A, (d) bottom view of sample A.

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Figure 2 – (a) 3D image of sample B simulated for 10000cycles, (b) height of cake B versus
surface porosity, (c) top view of sample B, (d) bottom view of sample B.

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Figure 3 – (a) 3D image of sample C simulated for 10000 cycles, (b) height of cake C versus
surface porosity, (c) top view of sample C, (d) bottom view of sample C.

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Figure 4 – (a) 3D image of sample D simulated for 10000 cycles, (b) height of cake D
versus surface porosity, (c) top view of sample D, (d) bottom view of sample D.

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Figure 5 – (a) 3D image of sample E simulated for 10000 cycles, (b) height of cake E versus
surface porosity, (c) top view of sample E, (d) bottom view of sample E.

9 Copyright © 1999 by SME

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