Solid/Liquid Separation
June 3, 2025, Tuesday
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM ET, USA
$USD 350
$USD 175 (Member Only )
Course Objective
Separation of particles from a liquid can be accomplished by filtration (liquid filtration - separation with a filter medium) or field separation (separation without a filter medium). This course will focus on the field separation from the industrial application perspective. In addition, pretreatment which is commonly used in the industry to enhance filtration and separation performances will be discussed. Practical information and examples based on the instructor’s extensive field experiences are used to allow the audience good understanding and appreciation of this technology.
This course goes hand-in-hand with “Liquid Filtration” and “Liquid Filtration Equipment” to provide a complete view of the Solid/Liquid Separation Technology. The contents are designed for people who are new to the filtration industry either in technical, sales or business functions. It is also a very good refreshing course for those who have been involved in filtration for a while, especially in relating fundamental principles to practical operations.
After the course, participants will have the basic knowledge and practical insights to select, design, and evaluate solid-liquid separation processes across various industries, including water treatment, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, energy, electronics and more.
Course Outline
1. Introduction to Solid-Liquid Separation
- solid-liquid separation and liquid filtration
- what are involved in solid-liquid separation
- Industry applications and relevance
2. Particles and Liquid Properties Related to Solid-Liquid Separation
- Particle size, concentration, density and charge
- Liquid viscosity, density, pH
- Slurry flow rate and characteristics
3. Principles of Field Separation
- Gravity Settling
- Centrifugal Settling
- Other Field Separations
4. Field Separation Equipment Operation & Design
- Gravity Settling (clarifier, thickener, inclined plate settler,…)
- Centrifuges (tubular, disc, solid bowl, hydrocyclone,…)
5. Pre-treatment
- Filter Aids (precoat, body feed)
- Type of Filter Aids (diatomaceous earth, perlite, cellulose, rice hull ash)
- Coagulation and Flocculation
- Pretreatment Evaluations (Jar test, Capillary Suction Time)
6. New Developments, Opportunities, and Trends
- The Role of Solid/Liquid Separation in Sustainability
- New Opportunities and Trends
Instructor Biography
Dr. Wu Chen
Instructor
Dr. Wu Chen is a recently retired R&D Fellow at Dow. He has 35 years of industrial experience in all areas of solid/liquid separation and air/gas filtration. His experiences include laboratory filtration evaluation, pilot study, full scale installation, startup, production scale operation and trouble shooting. He also has expertise in carbon capture, water management, project management, process design, and plant startup. He has been teaching this course in numerous organizations and countries for 30 years. He is very active in the filtration industry and has been the plenary and keynote speakers in major conferences, served as the chair of the American Filtration and Separation Society (AFS), AFS board of directors, conference chairs, and various committee members. His was awarded AFS Frank Tiller Award for outstanding technical achievements, AFS Well Shoemaker Award for leadership and service to the filtration industry and Fellow Member Award for sustained significant contributions to filtration technologies and filtration industry. In 2024, he received the AFS Lifetime Achievement award which recognized his significant lifetime contribution to the filtration industry.
Mr. Richard Lydon
Panelist
Mr. Richard Lylon, Secretariat of The Filtration Society, UK, is is a leading expert in the global filtration industry. He has led and held a number leadership positions at public and private businesses in a career spanning 35 years. Having both a business and technology background, he has helped companies grow and develop on global platform basis through SEED Funding, M&A, VC and PE. Businesses Richard has helped lead & grow include Molymem(UK), Veco/ Muon Group (The Netherlands, now part of IDEX Corp), Filtration Group (USA), Clear Edge Filtration (Globally), Madison Filter (UK) Scapa Group plc (UK) and Porvair plc (UK). Richard has also held a number of institutional roles including Visiting Professor roles at Loughborough & Leeds University. He is External Advisory Board Chair (Materials) at University of Manchester and IEO, TU Dublin. He is Advisory Board Member of WFI and co-chair of the WFI annual conference for the past 5 years.
Mr. Mark Willingham
Panelist
Mr. Mark Willingham, President of Filtrate Solutions, is a High Point, NC - based industrial filtration consultant. He was formerly Vice President of Sales for Purolator Advanced Filtration in Greensboro, NC. There, he led a global team in sales/marketing of industrial filtration products, primarily to Fortune 500 companies in the chemical processing, pharmaceutical, power generation, and oil and gas market segments. He served in various sales management roles at Purolator for 20+ years. Willingham’s career began in the porous metal filter cleaning industry where he was responsible for new business development and developing new cleaning formulas with a focus on cleaning efficicncy, lowest environmental impact, and the safety of cleaning technicians.He is a past Chairman of the American Filtration & Separations Society (2013-2014). Willingham has extensive experience in all areas of sales and marketing management, with a particular focus on new product research and product launches, developing/training/motivating sales teams, value add - based pricing, and incentive compensation plans.
Penalists
Mr. Scott Yaeger, President/CEO of FAST, USA
Mr. Yaeger has over 40 years of experience in Membrane Filtration with leading companies such as Sartorius, Cuno/3M, Gelman/Pall, and PTI Advanced Filtration/Parker Hannifin. He has held senior roles in Sales, Marketing, Engineering, R&D, Manufacturing, and General Management. Since 2004, as President of FAST Consulting, LLC, he has developed new membranes, technologies, and applications for leading filtration companies.
Scott was the Founding Chairman and a past Board Member and Program Chair of the American Filtration and Separation Society (AFS). He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Electrocoat Association (EA). He has received the Wells Shoemaker Award from AFS and the Brewer Award from EA. Scott holds 4 US patents, has presented over 400 technical papers to more than 10 technical societies, and serves on the Editorial Board for Filtration News.
Dr. Swarna Agarwal, Senior Material Scientist at PTI Technologies, USA
Dr. Agarwal is currently at PTI responsible for all the liquid, air and fuel cell filter product development for aviation industry. Prior to this, she was Engineering Manager for filtration media R&D at Parker Hannifin, Engine and Mobile Original Equipment Division, USA. At Parker she was responsible for R&D for diesel fuel, hydraulic nand H2 fuel-cell filters. While working at Parker she has developed more than 50 new products and improved the R&D technology and capabilities to an advanced level. Prior to Parker, she worked as a filtration scientist at UCLA, Water Planet Inc. Los Angeles and ITV Denkendorf Germany. She has over 18 years of academic and industrial experience in new product development for various filtration applications, nonwovens manufacturing, nanotechnology and surface functionalization. She is an expert for coalescence through porous media, emulsion formation, characterization and separation, interfacial and wetting science, bio-inspired textiles, medical textiles, and project management She received the AFS Senior Scientist Award in 2018, Parker Inventor appreciation Award 2021, WFI product of the Year Award 2021. She has over 30 publications, one book and 3 patents. Dr. Agarwal received her PhD from University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Dr. Christine Sun, President, World Filtration Institute, USA
Dr. Sun is a globally renowned technical and market expert in the filtration and nonwovens industry. With over 30 years of experience in academia and industry, she has in-depth knowledge of filtration and extensive hands-on expertise in product and business development, with over 100 technical publications and patents in the field. She is also actively involved in the development of many air and liquid filter test standards, such as ASHRAE and ISO. Dr. Sun worked for Freudenberg Filtration Technologies from 2004 to 2011 as an R&D manager and then served as Technology Director for Donaldson Company from 2011 to 2013. She was the Chair of the American Filtration and Separation Society (AFS) from 2016 to 2017 and has received the AFS Fellow Award in 2019, the Sr. Scientist Award in 2012, and the best paper awards from INDA (Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry) in 2008. She is also an editorial board member for the Journal of Industrial Textiles. Dr. Sun received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and her Executive Certificate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, USA.
Dr.-ing Nicolas PETILLON, CTO of IFTS (Institut de la Filtration et des Techniques Séparatives) in France, has over 25 years of experience in liquid filtration testing and over 10 years of experience in cleanliness expertise. He serves as Convenor and expert at ISO committee, such as ISO TC 70/SC7; ISO TC 22/SC34; ISO TC 131/SC6. He worked as a ssistant professor at the University of CAEN and a research engineer at SOGEFI FILTRATION in the past. He gratuated from Chemical engineering, ENSIC – Université de Lorraine (1991) and received his Ph.D. in 1996, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, France.
Dr. Eric Hoek, Professor in UCLA, USA
Eric Hoek is a professor in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, specializing in nanomaterials, membrane technology, and electrochemistry for water, energy, and environmental applications. Dr. Hoek has advised over 50 graduate and post-graduate students, published over 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, and filed over 30 primary patents. He is the founding and former editor-in-chief of the Nature journal npj Clean Water and former associate editor of the Elsevier journal Desalination. He has authored books on Sustainable Desalination & Water Reuse and Oil & Gas Produced Water Management, and also was co-editor-in-chief of The Encyclopedia of Membrane Science. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Hoek has co-founded several successful technology companies, including NanoH2O, PolyCera Membranes, IntelliFlux Controls,Water Planet, SpecifX Lithium and Active Membranes. Dr. Hoek holds a Ph.D. from Yale, an M.S. from UCLA, and a B.S. from Penn State - all in engineering.