Abstract
The consolidation behavior of aqueous suspensions of 20-800 nm particles was examined using a pressure filtration apparatus. The relation of applied pressure (ΔPt)-volume of dehydrated filtrate (Vf) was compared with the established filtration theory for a well dispersed suspension. The theory was effective in the early stage of the filtration but deviation between the experiment and the theory started when ΔPt exceeded a critical pressure (ΔPtc). Based on the colloidal phase transition from dispersed to flocculated state, a new filtration theory was developed to explain the ΔPt-ht (height of piston) relation for a flocculated suspension. A good agreement was shown between the developed theory and experimental results.
