4.2.

Sedimentation
 Introduction
 Sedimentation, or clarification, is a process of letting suspended material

such as clay or silts, originally present in the water by gravity.

 More commonly, suspended material or flock is created from material in the

water by using chemicals such as lime softening are used in coagulation or

in other treatment processes.

 Sedimentation is accomplished by decreasing the velocity of the water being

treated to a point below which the particles will no longer remain in

suspension, i.e., gravity will remove them from the flow.

 Factors affecting Sedimentation
Particle properties

The size, shape and type of particles to be removed have a significant

effect on the operation of the Sedimentation tank.

Detention time

the detention time in the plant is increased so the flock has time to settle

out in the sedimentation basins.

Currents

Several types of water currents may occur in the sedimentation

basin.

• Density currents caused by the weight of the solids in the

tank, the concentration of solids and temperature of the water
in the tank.

• Eddy currents produced by the flow of the water coming into

the tank and leaving the tank. The currents can be beneficial
in that they promote flocculation of the particles.
Forces responsible for sedimentation
Sedimentation forces
 Sedimentation basin zones
Inlet zone
The inlet or influent zone
• provide a smooth transition from the flocculation zone
• distribute the flow uniformly across the inlet to the tank.
Settling zone
• is the largest portion of the sedimentation basin.
• provides the calm area necessary for the suspended particles to
settle.
Sludge zone
• located at the bottom of the tank, provides a storage area for the
sludge before it is removed for additional treatment or disposal.
Outlet zone
• provide a smooth transition from the sedimentation zone to the
outlet from the tank.

• controls the depth of water in the basin.

• control the overflow rate and prevent the solids from rising to the
weirs and leaving the tank before they settle out, particle removal.

In sedimentation, particles are falling from rest under the force of

gravity, takes in the familiar form of Stokes law.
The Batch Settling Test
Two types of settling can occur, depending on
the concentration of the initial suspension.
let F be the volumetric feed rate (m3/s) of the
slurry in to the sedimentor, Lu the rate of
discharge of underflow sludge (m3/s) and Vo
overflow rate (m3/s) of clear liquid.

Assuming that the overflow liquid contains no solid particles, a material balance
for solids yields:
Where CF, Cu = concentration of solids (Kg of
solids per m3 of slurry) in feed slurry and
underflow sludge respectively.

• An overall liquid balance gives

An existing 5 m diameter thickener is to be used to
thicken 2400 ton/24hr of flocculated slurry containing
10% solid by mass (0.037 v/v) in water. The solid
density is 2900 kg/m3. the following batch sedimentation
results were obtained in test. What will be the underflow
concentration?
Continuous sedimentation
Two types are identified: clarifiers and thickners.

• A real thickener, combining upflow and downflow

• (F, L and V are volumes; CF, CL and CV are concentrations)
4.3. Centrifugation
Centrifugation involves separation of liquids and
particles based on density.
The centrifugal force, outward to the walls of the
container cause the settling or sedimentation of particles
through a layer of liquid or filtration of a liquid through
a bed of filter cake held inside a perforated rotating
chamber.
It can be used to separate cells from a culture liquid, cell
debris from a broth, and a group of precipitates.
Figure: Sketch of centrifugal separation
In terms of gravitational forces, the centrifugal force is given as;
Example
5. Mixing
Mixing is one of the most common operation carried out in the chemical,
processing and allied industries.

 Mixing may be of interest simply as a means to achieve a desired

degree of homogeneity, but is may be of interest simply to promote:
 heat and

 mass transfer.

For example, the rotational speed of an impeller in a mixing vessel is

selected so as to achieve a required rate of heat transfer.

Excessive or over mixing should be avoided as it is not only wasteful of

energy but may detrimental to product quality. For instance, in biological
applications, excessively high impeller speeds may damage the structure
of the polymer molecules, thereby altering their properties.
Liquid mixing
The following factors must be taken into account
when choosing equipment for mixing liquids:
1. Batch or continuous operation.
2. Nature of the process: miscible liquids,
preparation of solutions, or dispersion of
immiscible liquids.
3. Degree of mixing required.
4. Physical properties of the liquids, particularly
the viscosity.
5. Whether the mixing is associated with other
operations: reaction, heat transfer.
For the continuous mixing of low viscosity fluids
inline mixers can be used.

For other mixing operations stirred vessels or

proprietary mixing equipment will be required.
 Inline mixing
Static devices which promote turbulent mixing in pipelines provide an
inexpensive way of continuously mixing fluids.
With injection mixers, in which the one fluid is introduced into the
flowing stream of the other through a concentric pipe or an annular array
of jets, mixing will take place by entrainment and turbulent diffusion.
Such devices should be used where one flow is much lower than the
other, and will give a satisfactory blend.
Stirred tanks
Mixing vessels fitted with some form of agitator are the most
commonly used type of equipment for blending liquids and
preparing solutions.
• Mixing occurs through the bulk flow of the liquid and, on a
microscopic scale, by the motion of the turbulent eddies
created by the agitator.
• Bulk flow is the predominant mixing mechanism required
for the blending of miscible liquids and for solids
suspension.
• Turbulent mixing is important in operations involving mass
and heat transfer; which can be considered as shear
controlled processes.
 Mechanisms of powder mixing
Different mixers being employed in the following
three mixing phenomenon:
a. Diffusive mixing is the small-scale random
motion,
b. Convective mixing is the large-scale random
motion and
c. Shear mixing is the interchange of particles by
virtue of slip zones. Mixers are employed both
for solids and liquids phases with varied
interests.
 Types of mixers(Agitators) are:
1. Tumbling mixers: it is a closed vessel rotating
about its axis. Common shapes for the vessel are
cube, double cone and V.
2. Convective mixers: it is a circulation patterns
are set up within a static shell by rotating blades
or paddles. Rotational speeds are typically less
than one revolution per second or 60rpm.
3. Fluidized bed mixers: it is the natural mobility
afforded particles in the fluidized bed. An important
feature of the fluidized bed mixer is that several
processing steps (e.g. mixing, reaction, coating
drying, etc.) may be carried out in the same vessel.
4. High shear mixers: Local high shear stresses are
created by devices similar to those used in Size
reduction. A high shear mixers is breaking down
agglomerates of cohesive powders.
 Chapter 6
Heat Exchangers
 Heat transfer occurs when thermal energy moves from one place to
another.

 Atoms and molecules inherently have kinetic and thermal energy, so

all matter participates in heat transfer.

There are three main types of heat transfer.

• Conduction requires contact.

• Convection requires fluid flow.

• Radiation does not require any medium.

Conduction

When hot matter interacts with cold matter, some energy gets transferred.
Equation for conduction heat transfer per unit time:

Q = [K A (Thot – Tcold)]/d

– Where Q is heat transfer rate, K is the coefficient of thermal

conductivity, A is the area, Thot temperature of the hot region,
Tcold is the temperature of the cold region and d is the thickness of
the body.
Convection
• Convection is transfer of heat from the movement of fluid
molecules from higher temperature to lower temperature regions.

• The equation for the rate of convection relates area and the
difference between the fluid temperature and surface temperature:

• Q = hc×A(Ts – Tf)
– Q is the heat transfer per unit time, hc is the coefficient of convective
heat transfer, A is the area of heat transfer, Ts is the surface temperature,
and, Tf is the fluid temperature.
Radiation
• Radiation is the release of electromagnetic energy.

• The Stephan-Boltzmann law describes relationship between the power

and temperature of thermal radiation:

P = e × σ ×A (Tr – Tc)4

• P is the net power of radiation, A is the area of radiation, Tr is

the radiator temperature, Tc is the surrounding temperature, e is
emissivity and σ is Stefan’s constant (σ = 5.67 × 10-8Wm-2K-4)
 6.2. Heat exchanger types
Double pipe heat exchanger
 It is the simplest type of heat exchanger used in industry.
 It is used when the heat transfer area required is relatively small.
 One of the fluids flows through the inside pipe and the other fluid
flows through the annular space created between two concentric
pipes either in co-current or counter-current fashion.
 It is usually employed for decreasing the temperature of a hot fluid
with the help of a cold fluid when flow rates are low.
The major disadvantages of a double pipe heat exchanger are :
1. Small heat transfer surface in a large floor space as compared to
other types (e.g., shell and tube heat exchanger).
2. Dismantling requires large time and
3. Maximum leakage points.
Advantages
• It is very attractive where the total heat transfer surface required is
small.
• It is simple in construction, cheap and easy to clean.
Shell and tube heat exchanger
Heat transfer in condensation of single vapours :
The processes involving a phase change, like condensation and
boiling are also very important in industrial practice. The change
from liquid to vapour state is known as vaporisation and that
from vapour to liquid is known as condensation. In either case,
the latent heats involved are identical. In the condensation of a
pure vapour, it is necessary to remove the latent heat of
vaporisation. Condensation is a convection process that involves
a change of phase from vapour to liquid and it occurs whenever
a saturated vapour comes into contact of a cold surface, for
example, in surface condensers, heat transfer from the vapour
to the surface takes place and the vapour gets condensed on the
surface. The process of condensation, which is the reverse of
boiling, occurs by two distinct mechanisms/modes and that too
at very different rates of heat transfer.
The two distinct mechanisms are :
(i) dropwise condensation and
(ii) (ii) filmwise condensation.
The condensing film coefficient depends upon
the nature of surface and whether the surface,
on which condensation occurs, is mounted
vertically or horizontally.
For film-wise condensation on a vertical surface,
the mean heat transfer coefficient is given by;

hm - mean heat transfer coefficient over the tube length L - tube length g -
gravitational acceleration µ - liquid viscosity λ - latent heat of vaporisation k - thermal
conductivity of liquid ∆Tf - temperature difference between vapour and metal
For filmwise condensation on a horizontal tube
of outside diameter do, the mean heat transfer
coefficient hm is given as :

Drop-wise Condensation : When a saturated vapour comes into contact with a cold
surface (a surface at a lower temperature), it condenses and if condensate does not wet
the surface, the droplets are formed on the surface. These droplets grow and ultimately
fall down the surface in a random fashion under the influence of gravity leaving behind the
bare metal surface on which further condensation takes place. The condensation
occurring by this mechanism is known as dropwise condensation.
Film-wise Condensation :
When a saturated vapour comes into contact with a cold surface, it condenses and if
condensate wets the surface, it forms a continuous film of condensate, which covers
the entire surface, through which heat must be transferred. The additional vapour is
then required to condense into the liquid film rather than directly on the surface. The
condensate ultimately flows down the surface under the influence of gravity. The
condensation occurring by this mechanism is called as filmwise condensation. In film-
wise condensation, the film covering the surface acts as a resistance to heat transfer,
while in drop-wise condensation, a large portion of the surface is directly exposed to
the vapour. Because of this the heat transfer coefficients (hence the heat transfer
rates) in drop-wise condensation are four to eight times larger than those for filmwise
condensation. Drop-wise condensation needs a physical preparation of surfaces which
is very difficult and needs to be promoted by introducing certain additives into the
vapour stream. This type of condensation is very unstable, i.e., difficult to maintain
and also the design methods are not available. Because of these reasons, dropwise
condensation is not common in industry. In general, smooth, clean, uncontaminated
surfaces seem to promote film-wise condensation and oily or greasy surfaces and
presence of dirt on the surfaces, i.e., when impurities are present and surface is
contaminated, seem to promote dropwise condensation.
Film-wise condensation is very common and reliable since
most surfaces become wetted after being exposed to the
condensing vapours over a period of time and it is difficult to
achieve dropwise condensation and therefore the condensing
equipments in use are designed on the basis of film-wise
condensation. Condensers are widely used in the chemical
industry. For example, in the separation of the constituents of
a liquid mixture by distillation, a condenser converts vapours
from the top of the column into liquid distillate and reflux. In
power plants the surface condensers are used for condensing
steam from the exhaust of turbines into liquid. The home air
conditioning unit makes a use of air cooled condenser for
liquefication of refrigerant.