Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng.

, NUST, 01/10/2013

Type settling (Discrete particles)

Settling in an ideal settling basin for type 1 particles

An ideal horizontal settling zone is free from inlet and outlet disturbance, in which
particles settle freely at terminal settling velocities in quiescent conditions without
any disturbances and flocculation is absent (Fig. 1). The particles are distributed
uniformly

In the design of sedimentation basins, the usual procedure is to select a particle

with a terminal velocity vs and to design the basin so that all the particles that
have a terminal velocity equal to or greater than vs will be removed.

Q  Av s
(1)

Where: A =surface area of sedimentation basin

Q
vs =settling velocity or surface loading, m3/m2.day ( v s  )
A

D
Outlet
Inlet vp zone
zone

Particle trajectory vs

h
vp
Settling zone

Fig. 1 Type I settling in a horizontal basin

Design velocity for a continuous flow sedimentation:

depth D
vs  
T
det ention time

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

The length of basin and time a unit of water is the basin (detention time) should
be such that all particles with velocity vs will settle at the bottom of basin, but
adjustments must be made for:

 effects of inlet and outlet

 turbulence
 short circuiting
 sludge storage

Particles with velocity less than vs will not be removed during the detention time,
but some particles with velocity less than vs which enter the tank at distance
from the bottom greater than H will be removed e.g. at h. Assuming that
particles of various sizes are uniformly distributed on the entire depth D, at inlet,
then particles with settling velocity vp less than vs will be removed in the ratio:

vp
Xr 
vs

Where: Xr =fraction of particle with settling velocity vp that are removed

i.e. particle with settling velocity vp less than vs which enter the tank at a
distance from the bottom not greater than H will be removed.

To determine the efficiency of removal for a given settling time, t it is necessary

to consider the entire range of settling velocities present in tank

Determination of settling velocities

 sieve analysis and hydrometer test combined with Stokes Law:

g S s  1d 2
vs 
18
 settling column

Settling column analysis

 a settling column 2 to 3m deep, and diameter at least 100x largest particle
size to prevent wall effects is used (Fig. 2).
 the initial suspended solid concentration of the suspension is noted, Co in
mg/l
 sample is placed in a jar and mixed completely to ensure uniform
distribution of particle.
 suspension is allowed to settle quiescently
 samples are drawn at time intervals at a point h (one point) discrete
settling particles, the depth of sampling will not affect the resultant
h
distribution curves of the settling velocities: vi 
ti

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

 all particle with velocity vp>vs will pass the sampling point and settle, and
particles remaining must have settling velocity less than vs (vp<vs).
However, there us a partial removal of some particles with velocity vp<vs
and will be removed in the ratio:

vp
Xr 
vs
 the procedure is repeated for time intervals t2, t3; t4; t5……..tn, and these
values of settling velocities are plotted against mass fraction remaining to
give the settling velocity characteristic distribution curve for the
suspension (Fig. 3).

vp<vs

Sampling point
h

vp>vs

Fig. 2 Column analysis for discrete particles

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

1.0

1-Xs
Proportion of particles with less

Xs Removed particles
than stated velocity

Xp
Suspension settling velocity distribution
curve for the mass fraction remaining

vp vs

Settling velocities

xs
vp
The total removal is given as: R  1  x s    dx
0
vs

Where; Xs =particles with vp=vs

1=Xs =fraction of particles with vp≥vs removed

xs
vp
v
0 s
dx =fraction of particles with vp<vs removed

Example
Determine the total removal efficiency given the following data:

 settling analysis results Table 1

 column is 1.6m deep
 surface loading is 30m/day
 Co=200mg/l

Table 1

Time, min 0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280

Conc, Ci, mg/l 200 175 170 160 155 110 80 35

Solution
Compute mass fraction remaining and corresponding velocities (Table 2)

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

Time 40 80 120 160 200 240 280

(min)
Mass 0.88 0.85 0.8 0.78 0.55 0.4 0.175
fraction
remaining,
C
xi  i
Co
h 0.04 0.02 0.013 0.01 0.008 0.0067 0.0007
vs  ,
t
m/min
vs 4x10-2 2x10- 1.3x10-2 1x10-2 0.8x10-2 0.67x10- 0.07x10-
2 2 2
(m/min)

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)

Cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment: Dept. Civil and Water Eng., NUST, 01/10/2013

Chapter 9 Type 1 settling (discrete particles)