Objectives

This experiment is aimed to let the researchers measure the settling rate as a function of concentration

and volume in a static water system. It also aims for the researchers, to construct batch settling curves

from the experimental results and be able to design industrial settling tanks and thickeners using the

curves and lastly, to understand the significance of laboratory batch sedimentation.

Theoretical background

The phenomenon of the settling of particles in stagnant or slowly moving waters is of great

importance, which can be observed in our daily lives and naturally occurring processes like the sea, river,

canals etc. and most particularly in water and wastewater treatments.

The particle in a fluid moves due to the forces acting on it, these forces includes the gravitational

force, buoyant force, drag force and the centrifugal force. The gravitational force is what makes the

particle settle down at the bottom of the fluid which forms what we call sediments, the buoyant force

opposes the gravitational force thus acting upwards and the drag force or more commonly termed as the

viscous force is the fluid’s resistance to the particles passage through the fluid which is also acting

upwards. There are a lot sedimentation processes or methods which separates two fluids (solid, liquid or

gas), some of these include centrifugal sedimentation; clarifiers, classifiers, the sink and float method,

flocculation, and batch sedimentation which are all under gravitational sedimentation or settling.

Sedimentation that uses centrifugal force settles a material in a given fluid at a maximum given

fixed rate. Some examples of centrifugal separators are: cyclones, which separates particles from gas

streams; hydro cyclones, which separates the solids from liquids; centrifugal decanters, which separates

two immiscible liquids; and centrifugal classifiers which separates particulates from liquid. Though this

type of sedimentation has greater efficiency than that of the gravitational settling, it is not that much

used as gravitational settling because of its high cost (capital, maintenance and operational).

Gravitational sedimentation on the other hand uses gravity to settle particulates. (McCabe, Smith,

& Harriott, 2001) said that particles, in gravitational sedimentation, which are heavier than the

suspending fluid may be removed from a gas or a liquid in a large settling tank if the fluid has low

velocity and the particle is given a lot of time to settle. Types of gravitational sedimentation include;

gravity classifier which separates solids that have the same density into two fractions on the basis of size;

gravity clarifier which converts dilute slurry into a concentrated suspension; and batch sedimentation

which involves the different stages of settling of a flocculated suspension in which different zones are

formed as the sedimentation process proceeds.

 For this experiment, we focused on the batch sedimentation.. At the start of batch sedimentation

the concentration of solids in the sedimentation tank is uniform throughout (Brown, Foust, Katz, &

Schneidewind, 1950). Soon after letting the sedimentation tank at rest the process of sedimentation

begins. According to (McCabe, Smith, & Harriott, 2001), the concentration of solids is high enough that

the sedimentation of the individual particles or flocs is hindered by the other solids to such an extent that

the solids at a given level settle at a common velocity. As said earlier, the batch sedimentation has

settling regimes which includes the free settling, flocculant settling, the hindered settling and the

compression settling.

The free settling or discrete particle settling starts when the particles settle independently at a

constant rate in which the particles are assumed to be moving at its terminal velocity. The terminal

velocity is defined as the maximum and constant velocity that is reached by the particle while falling

through the fluid which is dependent on the size and shape of the particle and the difference of the

specific gravity of the particle and that of the settling medium. After the free settling is the flocculant

settling, this regime is where the particles clump together forming flocs making the settling velocity faster

as the mass of the particles increase due to their clumping. Next is the hindered settling in which the

particles settling are impeded by the other particles which happens when the particles are near each

other. In this regime, due to the particles impeding each other, the rate of settling is not constant and is

decreasing. In this regime, the slower particles impede the faster ones causing all the particles to settle

as a whole mass. Lastly, the compression settling involves the process in which the particles have slowly

settled below and compressed as a whole giving a highly concentrated sludge. In this regime, the settling

velocity has decreased much more than in that of the hindered settling.

There are a lot of factors that needs to be considered to attain a much efficient sedimentation

process. Some of these include the concentration, particle size, temperature, height effect, density and a

lot more. For the particle size, the bigger or the heavier the particle the more it is easy to settle thus the

flocculation settling. The higher the density as well the higher the settling velocity having a lesser

retention time. The concentration has an inverse proportionality with the rate of sedimentation, that is, a
higher concentration yields a smaller sedimentation rate which is observed in the compression as well as

the hindered settling.

References:

Brown, G. G., Foust, A. S., Katz, D. L., & Schneidewind, R. (1950). Unit Operations. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.

McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C., & Harriott, P. (2001). Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering Sixth Edition.
New York: McGraw-Hill.