Transport Phenomena – Part 2

(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, Sections 4.B.1 and 4.B.2)

One form of pollution in air or water is the presence of material particles.

These are usually heavier than the air or the water and, over time,
tend to fall to (“settle on”) the bottom.

Drag on falling (rising) particles

(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, Section 4.B.1)

Particles in relative motion with respect to a fluid

are subject to a frictional drag force, Fd.
Fd

In fluid mechanics, we learn that:

1 
Fd  (drag coefficient )(frontal area )  f V p2 
2 
  2  1 
 Cd  d p   f V p2 
Vp  4  2 
where
 f = density of fluid
 Cd  f d p2 V p2
8 Vp = particle velocity
dp
particle diameter

1
The drag coefficient is not constant,
except for the very large particles that
move fast with respect to the fluid.

In general, it is a function of the speed of

the particle, measured in terms of the
Reynolds number:

 f d pV p
Re p 
f
where  f  density of fluid
d p  particle diameter
V p  particle velocity
 f  fluid viscosity

Three regimes:
24
Stokes (slow): Cd  Re p  0.3 Fd  3 f d pV p
Re p
24
Intermediate: Cd  (1  0.14 Re 0p.7 ) 0.3  Re p  1000
Re p
Newton (fast): Cd  0.445 1000  Re p Fd  0.175  f d p2V p2

Correction for the very small particles (diameter < 1 m = 10-6 m):
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, page 174)

For very small particles, the fluid molecules may not be that much smaller than the
particles, and the fluid flow around the particles begins to appear as if it had a lot of holes
through which the particle may more easily pass. This leads to a reduced drag.

The drag force is then reduced (divided) by a factor, called the Cunningham slip factor,
and denoted Cc:

uncorrected drag force 3 f d pV p

Fd  
Cc Cc

To get Cc, either use formula or graph:

g   0.55d p 
Cc  1  2.51  0.80 exp  
d p   g 
where g  0.066 m

2
Gravitational settling
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, Section 4.B.2)
When moving relatively to a fluid,
a particle is subject to 3 forces:
- its own weight
- a buoyancy force
- a drag force.

After a brief period of acceleration,

A terminal velocity is reached, and
a balance is achieved between these 3 forces:

dp Fg  Fb  Fd

 d p3
motion

weight of particle : Fg  mparticle g   p g

6
 d p3
buoyancy force : Fb  mdisplaced fluid g   f g
6
 1
drag force : Fd  Cd d p2  f V p2
4 2

Note the difference: p = density of material making up the particle, f = fluid density.

3
 Two extreme (and most common) situations:
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, page 176)

Small particles (Stokes’ regime Rep < 0.3):

Cc gd p2   p   f 
Vp   
18   f 


Large particles (Newton’s regime 1000 < Rep):

  f 
V p  3.0 g d p  p 
  
 f 

Some useful numbers in this context:

Air :  f  1.20 kg/m 3  f  1.8  10 5 kg/(m  s)

Water :  f  997 kg/m 3  f  1.0  10 3 kg/(m  s)
Sand, grit :  p  2650 kg/m 3

Particle settling
in air

Source:
Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen,
page 177

4
 Particle settling
in water

Source:
Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen,
page 178

EXAMPLE
(Nazaroff & Alvarez-Cohen, pages 179-180)

Studies have shown that a white surface becomes noticeably soiled when 0.2% of its area
is covered by black particles, such as soot.

Estimate the time required for an initially clean, horizontal surface to appear soiled if it is
exposed to an atmosphere containing 10 g/m3 of soot particles of diameter 5 m.
Assume that the particles are spherical and have a density of 2.5 g/cm3.

SOLUTION

Soot particles are small particles. So, assume Stokes drift, but there is no need to apply
the Cunningham slip correction factor (particle diameter > 1 m). The settling speed is:

Cc gd p2   p   f 
Vp   
18   f 

(1)(9.81 m/s 2 )(5  10 6 m) 2  2.5  1.2  10 3 g/cm 3 
  4

18  1.8  10 g/cm.s 
 0.189 cm/s

5
Determine the mass of each particle

 
mp   p d 3p  (2.5 g/cm 3 ) (5 10  4 cm) 3  1.636 10 10 g
6 6

Next, determine the number of particles per unit volume of air:

mass concentration in the air 10  10 - 6 g/m 3

C 
mass of each particle 1.636 10 10 g/particle
particles particles
 61,116  0.0611
m3 cm 3

The flux of falling particles is

particles
J  C V p  (0.0611 particles/cm 3 )(0.189 cm/s)  0.0116
cm 2  s

Each particle has a footprint equal to its cross-sectional area

 
Ap  d p2  (5 10  4 cm) 2  1.963  10 7 cm 2
4 4

Take 1 cm2 of the surface. It has become soiled when 0.2% of its surface is covered
by particles, which is 0.002 cm2.

This surface coverage necessitates the deposition of a certain number of particles:

surface 0.002 cm 2
N   10,186 particles
surface per particle 1.963  10 7 cm 2 / particle

At the rate the particles are falling down, this will take a time equal to

10,186 particles per cm 2 of surface

 881,157 s
0.0116 particles falling per cm 2 per second
 244.8 hours
 10.2 days