JIMMA INISTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTEMENT

PREPARED BY: Mr. GEBEYEHU.A

MECHANICAL MICRO PROCESSES IN A FLUID
MOTION OF PARTICLES IN A FLUID
• Many processing steps, especially mechanical
separations, involve the movement of solid particles
or liquid drops through a fluid.
• Many processes for the separation of particles of
different size and shape depend on the variation in the
behavior of the particles when they are subjected to the
action of moving fluid.

• The dynamics of a solid particle in a fluid thus

depends on many parameters and the inter-relation
among these parameters is pretty complex
Let us therefore start with a simplified analysis
of the phenomenon making the following
assumption:
• The shape and size of the particle are defined.
For e.g. spherical of diameter .
• The particle is non-porous and incompressible .
The particle is thus insoluble in the fluid and
does not react chemically with it.
• The density and viscosity of the fluid are
constant.
• The effect of surface characteristics or interfacial
condition between the solid and the fluid on the
dynamics of the particle is neglected.
• The particle is freely settling (under gravity).
• The fluid forms an infinite medium. In other words, the
wall effect on the dynamics of the particle can be
neglected.
• The fluid can be considered to be a continuous medium,
or the particle size is much larger than the mean free path
of the fluid molecules. Thus, the effect of slip between
the particles and the fluid molecules can be neglected.
 Particle Dynamics
 The movement of a particle through a fluid requires
external force acting on the particle. This force may
come from a density difference between the particle and
the fluid or magnetic fields
 There are three forces acting on a particle moving
through a fluid:
1) external force (gravitational or centrifugal)
2) buoyant force which acts parallel with the external
force but in opposite direction,
3) drag force which appear whenever there is relative
motion between the particle and the fluid.
The drag force does not act parallel to the external and
buoyant force therefore it makes an angle with them.
 Fd Fb Fd

Fe
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

………(1)
 The external force can be expressed as a product of the mass and
the acceleration ae of the particle from this force,

………(2)
 The buoyant force is, by 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/r p, the mass of fluid
displaced is (m/r p)r , where r is the density of the fluid. The
buoyant force is then
Fb = mr ae/r p ………………(3)
 The drag force is,
FD = CDu2 r Ap/2…………….(4)
CD =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 = rw 2
  …….. (7)

In this equation, u is the velocity of the particle relative to the fluid

and is directed outwardly along a radius.
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.

……….(8)

 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.

……………(9)
 Motion of spherical particles:

 If the particles are spheres of diameter Dp, then

m = p Dp3r p/6
Ap = p Dp2/4
 Substitution of m and Ap into the equation for ut gives the equation for
gravity settling of spheres:

……………(10)
Drag coefficient Cd
 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:

…………………….(11)

 Stokes’ law applies for particle Reynolds number less than 1.0

CD = 24/NRe,p …………………..(12)

 From equation (4)

……………..(13)
 From equation(10)

ut = g Dp2(r p - r )/(18m )............................(14)
 At 10-4 ≤ NRe,p ≤ 1
CD = 24/NRe,p

 For 1000 < NRe,p <200,000, use Newton’s law

CD = 0.44……………………………….(15)
 FD= 0.055p Dp2 ut2r . . . . . . . (16)

……… (17)
Terminal velocity of settling particle
 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.
Criterion for settling regime
 To identify the range in which the motion of the particle lies, the
velocity term is eliminated from the Reynolds number by
substituting ut from Stokes’ law

 If Stokes’ law is to apply, NRe,p <1.0. Let us introduce a convenient

criterion K
 Then NRe,p = K3/18. Setting NRe,p = 1 and solving
for K gives K=2.6. If K is less than 2.6 then Stokes’ law
applies.
Substitution for ut using Newton’s law
NRe,p = 1.75K1.5
 Setting NRe,p =
1000 and solving for K gives K = 68.9.
Setting NRe,p = 200,000 and solving for K gives K =
2,360.
· Stokes’ law range: K < 2.6
 Newton’s law range: 68.9 < K < 2,360
 when K > 2,360 or 2.6 < K < 68.9, 
is found from  using a value of CD found by
trial from the curve.
 Hindered settling

 In hindered settling, the velocity gradients around each

particle are affected by the presence of nearby particles. So
the normal drag correlations do not apply. Also, the
particles in settling displace liquid, which flows upward
and make the particle velocity relative to the fluid greater
than the absolute settling velocity. For uniform suspension,
the settling velocity uh can be estimated from the terminal
velocity for an isolated particle using the empirical
equation of Maude and Whitmore
uh = ut(e )n
 Exponent n changes from about 4.6 in the Stokes’ law
range to about 2.5 in the Newton’s law region. For very
small particles, the calculated ratio uh/ut is 0.62 for e =0.9
and 0.095 for e =0.6.
 Terminal Velocity under
Hindered Settling Conditions

McGhee’s (1991) equation estimates velocity for

spherical particles under hindered settling conditions for
Re < 0.3:

Vh/V = (1 - Cv)4.6
 
where
Vh = hindered settling velocity
V = free settling velocity
Cv = volume fraction of solid particles

For Re > 1,000, the exponent is only 2.5

 
If particles of a given size are falling
through a suspension of much finer solids,
the terminal velocity of the larger particles
should be calculated using the density and
viscosity of the fine suspension. The
Maude-Whitmore equation may then be
used to estimate the settling velocity
with e taken as the volume fraction of the
fine suspension, not the total void fraction.
 Introduction to Solid Beds

The extent of fluid passages through beds depends upon the

following bed characteristics;
 porosity of bed,
 diameter of packing particle,
 shape of the particles,
 orientation and nature of packing ,
 surface condition( roughness, smoothness) o f particles,
density of bed packing.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOLID BEDS
 Fixed bed:- this is a condition in which the solid particles
are arranged randomly forming a non-moveable stationary
bed of solids. The fluids percolate through the void spaces
between stationary particles at low flow rate. The porosity
of the bed depends on;
 - The shape and size distribution of particles
 - The arrangement of particles
 - The state of mixing.
 Spouted bed:- this is an intermediate solid fluid contacting
arrangement that retains (possessed) some the attributes of
a fixed bed or slow moving bed system that exhibits many
of the aspects of fluidized bed. Spouted bed is formed with
in a cone-bottomed column having an opening at the apex
of the cone for fluid introduction.
 Moving Bed:- At a sufficient gas velocity, a stream of gas
and solid particles rises in a central core, or spout, that
bursts fountain like through the beds upper surface. The
solid particles then fall back on to the annular space about
the spout and move downward substantially as moving bed.
 Fluidized beds:-
 FLOW OF FLUIDS THROUGH A GRANULAR BEDS
 This type of flow occurs widely in industry and mature
(through granular particles, rock beds , etc) example:
- flow of water down a filter bed.
-Seepage if oil through porous structure of formations
- Flow of chemicals in a packed bed reactors.