cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering

10/1/2013

SEDIMENTATION

Downward movement of small suspended particles by gravity. Sedimentation is

classified upon the characteristics and concentration of suspended materials:
 discrete particles
 flocculent
 dilute suspension

Discrete particles (Type 1)

Particle whole size, shape and specific gravity do not change with time i.e. non-
interactive settling of particles from a dilute suspension. Examples are grit and
sand, and their mass is constant.

Flocculant particles (Type 2)

Particles which agglomerate (coalesce/flocculate) during settling i.e. no constant
characteristics. Their mass varies during the process of settling and an increase
in mass causes a faster rate of settlement.

Dilute suspension
Concentration of particles is not sufficient to cause significant displacement of
water as they settle.

Hindered particles
Or called zonal settlement, the particles interact and the concentration of particles
is high. Settlement is slow because as particles move down (large in numbers),
water is displaced upwards hindering downward settlement.

Theory of sedimentations

Discrete particles
Discrete particles will accelerate until a limiting terminal velocity is reached when
placed in a liquid of lower density.

Gravitational force=frictional drag force

Gravity force  Fg   s   w gV (1)

Where: s =density of particle

w =density of fluid
V =volume of particle

Chapter 8 Sedimentation
cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering
10/1/2013

Fdrag

Fg

vs2
Fdrag  Cd AC  (2)
2

Where: Cd =Newton’s drag coefficient

Ac =cross-sectional area of particle perpendicular to the
direction of motion
vs -settling velocity of particle

The coefficient of drag varies with shape and the regime of flow which is defined
by the Reynolds number, Re:
24
 For laminar flow, Re≤1 Cd 
Re
18.5
 Transitional flow, 1<Re≤103 Cd 
Re 0.6
24 3
 Turbulent flow, Re>103 Cd  
Re Re  0.34
v  d v d
 and Re  s w or Re  s
 

Where;  =shape factor

d =diameter of particle

At equilibrium; Fg  Fdrag

2
Therefore; s  w gV  Cd Ac w vs
2

2 gV  s   w 
 vs 
C d Ac  w

Chapter 8 Sedimentation
cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering
10/1/2013

Particles are assumed spherical:

d 3
3
4 d 
 V  Or V   
6 3 2
d 2
A
4

4 gd  s   w 
Hence vs  (Newton’s law
3C d  w

s
Or vs 
4 gd
S s  1 Specific gravity Ss 
3Cd w

gd 2 S s  1
Therefore for laminar flow: vs  (Stokes Law)
18

gd 2  s   w  gd 2 S s  S w 
Or vs  vs 
18 18

Where; Ss =specific gravity of particle

Sw =specific gravity of liquid

To use the above equations for nonspherical particle, the diameter d must be the
diameter of equivalent spherical particle. The volume of the equivalent spherical
3
4 d 
particle: Vsphere      d non
2
 spher
3 2

 d  1.24 0.33d nonsphere

Estiamte values for the shape factors (Sincero, 1996) are in Table 1:

Table 1; Estimated values of shape factors

Materila shape factor (  )

Angular sand 0.64
Sharp sand 0.77
Worn sand 0.86

Chapter 8 Sedimentation
cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering
10/1/2013

In water treatment flow is usually laminar and transitional, but the sphericity is not
always 1, i.e. particles not always spherical. The effects of irregular shape are
not pronounced in low settling velocities. This suite most sedimentation
processes because they are designed to remove small particles which settle
slowly.
absolute vis cos ity ,  
Kinematic vis cos ity ,   

mass density , 

Therefore dynamic viscosity,   

Selected examples

Chapter 8 Sedimentation
cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering
10/1/2013

Chapter 8 Sedimentation
cmutsvangwa: Water Quality and Treatment, Dept of Civil and Water Engineering
10/1/2013

References

Chapter 8 Sedimentation