2.

1 Motion of particles through fluids

2.1.1 Mechanics of particle motion
Three forces acting on a particle moving through a fluid:1). The external force, gravitational or
centrifugal;
2). The buoyant force, which acts parallel with the external force but in the opposite direction;
3). The drag force, which appears whenever there is relative motion between the particle and the
fluid
Drag: the force in the direction of flow exerted by the fluid on the solid is called drag.
2.1.2 Equations for one-dimensional motion of particle through fluid
Consider a particle of mass m moving through a fluid under the action of an external force Fe.
Let the velocity of the particle relative to the fluid be u, let the buoyant force on the particle be
Fb and let the drag be FD, then
(1The external force can be expressed as a product of the mass and the acceleration ae of the
particle from this force,
(2The buoyant force is, be Archimedes’ law, the product of the mass of the fluid displaced by the
particle and the acceleration from the external force. The volume of the particle is m/ p, the
mass of fluid displaced is (m/ p) , where  is the density of the fluid. The buoyant force is then
Fb = m ae/ p (3)
The drag force is
FD = CDu2 Ap/2 (4)
where CD is the drag coefficient, Ap is the projected area of the particle in the plane perpendicular
to the flow direction.
By substituting the forces into Eq(1), we have
(5)Motion from gravitational force:
In this case, ae = g
(6)
Motion in a centrifugal field:
ae = r 2
(7)
In this equation, u is the velocity of the particle relative to the fluid and is directed outwardly
along a radius.
2.2 Terminal velocity
In gravitational settling, g is constant. Also, the drag always increases with velocity. The
acceleration decreases with time and approaches zero. The particle quickly reaches a constant
velocity which is the maximum attainable under the circumstances. This maximum settling
velocity is called terminal velocity.
In motion from a centrifugal force, the velocity depends on the radius and the acceleration is not
constant if the particle is in motion with respect to the fluid. In many practical use of centrifugal
force, du/dt is small. If du/dt is neglected, then
Motion of spherical particles:
If the particles are spheres of diameter Dp, then
m =  Dp3 p/6
Ap =  Dp2/4
Substitution of m and Ap into the equation for ut gives the equation for gravity settling of spheres:
2.3 Drag coefficient
Drag coefficient is a function of Reynolds number. The drag curve applies only under restricted
conditions:
i). The particle must be a solid sphere;
ii). The particle must be far from other particles and the vessel wall so that the flow pattern
around the particle is not distorted;
iii). It must be moving at its terminal velocity with respect to the fluid.
Particle Reynolds number:
u: velocity of approaching stream
Dp: diameter of the particle
 : density of fluid
 : viscosity of fluid
Stokes’ law applies for particle Reynolds number less than 1.0
CD = 24/NRe,p (13)
From Eq(4)
FD = 3  ut Dp (14)
From Eq(11)
ut = g Dp2( p -  )/(18 ) (15)
At NRe,p =1, CD =26.5 instead of 24 from the above equation.
Centrifugal: r 2  g.
For 1000 < NRe,p <200,000, use Newton’s law
CD = 0.44 (16)
FD= 0.055 Dp2 ut2 (17)
Newton’s law applies to fairly large particles falling in gases or low viscosity fluids.
Terminal velocity can be found by trial and error after guessing NRe,p to get an initial estimate of
CD.