Prediction of clean-bed head loss in crumb rubber filters
Open Access
- Author:
- Tang, Hao
- Graduate Program:
- Environmental Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- September 22, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Yuefeng F Xie, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Yuefeng F Xie, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
John Michael Regan, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- filtration
clean-bed head loss
Kozeny equation
crumb rubber
Ergun equation - Abstract:
- Pilot crumb rubber filters were tested to study their clean-bed head loss under the influences of three design and operational parameters (media size, media depth, and filtration rate). Filter media compressions were observed during the filtration test. Statistic analysis of the field data was used to investigate the applicability of the Kozeny and Ergun equations in predicting the clean-bed head loss in crumb rubber filters. A statistical model was also developed to evaluate the effects of the three parameters and to better predict the clean-bed head loss. Both the Kozeny and Ergun equations were unacceptable for crumb rubber filters, especially when the compressed media depth and porosity from the filtration tests were not available. The statistical model developed based on the original media depth and porosity was statistically valid and was able to provide best-fit to the actual head loss data without using the compressed media depth and porosity obtained in filter tests. The results from this study indicated that the statistical model could be used in place of the Kozeny and Ergun equations for the prediction of clean-bed head loss in crumb rubber filters.