Pii: S0378-5173(01)00606-8

The filtration behaviour of some clay–water dispersions was studied. Two Spanish fibrous phyllosilicates (sepiolite from Vicálvaro and palygorskite from Turón) and a commercial bentonite (Bentopharm©, UK) with similar sizes and different morphologies (fibrous and/or laminar) were selected as model clays. Sepiolite from Vicálvaro is an almost pure fibrous sample, Bentopharm© presents a high amount of laminar particles and palygorskite from Turón is made up of similar percentages of laminar and fibrous particles. The disperse systems were made up using a rotor-stator mixer working at two different mixing rates (1000 and 8000 rpm), for periods of 1 and 10 min. Filtration measurements were taken and the corresponding filtration curves obtained. Finally, the desorptivity (S) of the filtration cakes was calculated and correlated to the textural characteristics of the materials, the solid fraction and mixing conditions. Filtration behaviour of the dispersions depended on all three of these factors. Laminar dispersions presented lower S values than fibrous dispersions. In the 2% w/v dispersions the bridging forces between particles did not permit formation of an interconnected network as in 10% w/v dispersions and, consequently, filtration times increased with the solid fraction (i.e. S values decreased). Regarding stability to pH changes, the results showed that filtration behaviour was highly sensitive to basic pH in the fibrous clay dispersions and almost insensitive in the laminar clay dispersions. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.