Cake Moisture
also known as residual moisture · cake dryness
Cake moisture is the liquid still held in the cake after filtration, washing and air blowing, expressed as a percentage of the wet cake mass. It comprises surface moisture, liquid held in capillaries and crevices, and liquid inside the particles. Only the first two can be removed mechanically; the third requires thermal drying.
Why it matters in practice
Cake moisture sets both the metal lost with the solids and the cost of any downstream drying. Because capillary-held liquid responds to air blowing and to finer solids, a few minutes of blow-down often reduces moisture more cheaply than adding drying capacity.
Where this appears on this site
Calculators that use this
Equipment referenced in this entry
Related terms
Reference entry GL-CAKE-MOISTURE. Definitions on this page describe engineering practice in hydrometallurgical process design; they are not a substitute for test work on your own material.