Motion of particles

through fluids
P R E PA R E D BY: M U K H T I A R A L I

Q U A I D – E - AWA M U N I V E R S I T Y O F E N G I N E E R I N G , S C I E N C E A N D T E C H N O L O GY
N AWA B S H A H

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT QUAID-E-AWAM UNIVERSITY NAWABSHAH 1

Mechanical separations

Involve the movement of solid particles or liquid drops through the

fluid.
The fluid may be gas/liquid , it may be flowing/at rest
Examples:
Elimination of dust and fumes from air/ flue gases
The removal of solids from liquid wastes
The recovery of acid mists from the waste gas of an acid plant

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Mechanics of particle motion
The movement of particle through fluid requires an external force acting on
the particle.
This force may come from
 gravitational
 centrifugal force
 electric field
 magnetic field

Three force act on particle moving through a fluid.

1. An external force (Gravitational/centrifugal force)
2. The buoyant force, which acts parallel with external force but in opposite direction.
3. The drag force, which appears whenever there is relative motion b/w particle and fluid.

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Equation for one dimensional
motion of particle through fluid
Consider a particle of mass m moving through the 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 the resultant force on the particle is Fe -Fb –FD , The acceleration of the particle is du/dt ,
since m is constant

mdu/dt= Fe-Fb –FD

Fe =mae

The boyant force = the product of the mass of the fluid displaced
by the particle and the acceleration from external force

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Mass of fluid displaced = mρ / ρp

Fb = mρ ae/ ρp
FD = CD u2 ρAp /2

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Substituting these forces

du/dt= ae (ρp - ρ )/ρp -CD u2 ρAp /2m

Motion in gravitational force
du/dt= g (ρp - ρ )/ρp -CD u2 ρAp /2m ___________________(A)

Motion in centrifugal field (put ae = rω2)

du/dt= rω2 (ρp - ρ )/ρp -CD u2 ρAp /2m

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Terminal velocity
In gravitational settling, g is constant , the drag always increase with velocity.
Equation (A) shows that the acceleration decrease with time and approaches zero.
The particle quickly reaches a constant velocity, which is maximum attainable under the
circumstances and which is called the terminal velocity
The equation for terminal velocity ut is found for gravitational settling by taking du/dt =0

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In many practical uses of centrifugal force however du/dt is small so it is neglected a terminal
velocity at any given radius can be defined

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Thank You

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