5.

2 Standard data evaluation The standard evaluation of sedimentation

measurements is performed by the classical Stokes formula for settling spheres
Stokes diameter DS (equivalent sphere diameter): g t h D S L S ( ) 18
= , PABST & GREGOROV (ICT Prague) Characterization of particles and
particle systems 5 17 where is the viscosity (of the pure liquid medium

without particles), S the density of the solid particles, L the density of the
(pure) liquid, g the gravitational acceleration, h the sedimentation path (height
of the column above the sampling point) and t the sedimentation time
(sampling time). Note that the velocity is v = h t only under steady-state
conditions, i.e. when the acceleration stage has been exceeded and the final
settling velocity has been reached. This is usually the case after a few seconds.
The Stokes equation can be derived from the force equilibrium FB FG + FR =
0 , where FB is the lift force (buoyancy force) acting on the particle in the
(specifically lighter) liquid medium FB R L g 3 3 4 = , FG the gravitational
force acting on the particle FG R S g 3 3 4 = , and FR the resistance force
(friction force) exerted by the viscous liquid medium on the particle F Rv R =
6 , with v being the (final) velocity of the particle relative to the liquid
medium and 2/ R = DS the particle radius (equivalent sphere radius). Apart
from several assumptions of physical character (laminarity of flow, steady flow
with final velocity), the validity of the Stokes equation is essentially based on
the geometrical assumption that the particles are spherical. Since this is
usually not the case for real systems, the Stokes diameters DS correspond to
equivalent diameters of hypothetical spheres with the same settling behavior
as the irregular, anisometric particles in question. The results of sedimentation
methods are mass-weighted size distributions. When all particles have the
same density, these results can be considered as identical to volumeweighted
size distributions, i.e. Q3 curves

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/SEDIMENT/sedsettle.html
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbasees/airfri2.html
https://www.gwu.edu/~phy21bio/Reading/GiambattistaRealFluids.pdf

Force due to Acceleration = Gravity Force - Buoyancy Force - Drag Force

I won't go into the derivation of these formula; I figure if you want to look for
them, that's a project you can endeavor on yourself. The important information is
this. For a particle, there are two stages when it falls. The acceleration portion
and then the portion of constant velocity, also known as the terminal
velocity or free settling velocity

The following is a diagram of the correlation between Reynold's Number and

Drag Coefficient for Rigid Spherical Bodies. Any other type of particle has it's
own special charts, but once more, I must forget those, due to space and time and
scope considerations.

Free Settling, with Wall Effect

When the diameter of the particle becomes fairly noticeable with respect to the
diameter of the container, the the particles tend to get forced away from the wall
through something known, appropriately, aswall effect.
To compensate for this, you need only know whether or not the flow is laminar,
as well as the diameter of the particle and the container. Below are two fudge
factors, or correction factors, that you can multiply your previously calculated
terminal velocities by in order to allow for wall effect. The most important ratio
in this case is what I am terming DR, which is equal to the following.
DR = Particle Diameter / Container Diameter
For laminar flow, the correction factor is
k = 1 / (1 + 2.1 * DR )
And for turbulent flow, the correction factor is slightly altered.
k = ( 1 - DR ) / ( square root of [ 1 + DR * DR * DR * DR ] )
Hindered Settling

Hindered settling is called hindered settling for a reason -- the added number of
particles in an enclosed area creates a slower-moving mixture than would
normally be expected.
In this case, everything revolves around epsilon (e), which is the volume fraction
of the slurry mixture occupied by the liquid.
What comes from that is that yet another dimensionless variable, Psi, was created
for the sole purpose of adding more confusion to this mess.
Psi = 1 / (10 raised to the 1.82*(1-epsilon) power)
Now, using this wonderful variable, we can calculate the effective viscosity of
the mixture due to the hinderance of other particles.
effective viscosity = viscosity / Psi
And now the density of the fluid phase (rhom) is altered, which is now calculated
as
rhom = epsilon * rho + (1 - epsilon)*rhop
Now we get to the important point. Calculating, as before, the terminal velocity,
for laminar flow. If it does not fall into laminar flow, then other equations well
beyond the scope of what I am doing here are needed.
Vt = g*Dp*Dp*(rhop - rho)*epsilon*epsilon*Psi / (18*viscosity)
(Here is a sketched formula for Stokes' Law. The notation is Vs for settling
velocity instead of terminal velocity if you want to compare with the equation as
typed by Chris Patillo that has other factors.)

To figure out whether the flow is laminar, use the following equation. If the value
is below one, you are okay; the flow is laminar. If it is above one, then you need
to look elsewhere.
Reynolds Number = Diameter of particle * Vt * rhom / (effective viscosity *
epsilon)
How to measure settling velocity experimentally

You can measure the height of the clear liquid interface as it changes over time.
After that, you can plot that. You get a plot something like this.

The average settling velocity for a particular plot at any given time is then
equivalent to
settling velocity = (height at time 1 - original height) / (time required to reach
current height)
Quick Conclusions

The fastest settling particles are huge, heavy, spherical molecules. The slowest
settling particles, which sometimes cannot be settled accurately or properly, are
tiny, light, irregularly shaped molecules. And for anything in between, here is a
general guide as to what characteristics increase the rate of thickening.

 Spherical or Near-Spherical Particles

Heavy Particles
Dilute Slurries. See Also: Concentration
Particles whose Diameter does not rival that of the
Container
Flocculation, or "clumping," of particles into spherical
shapes
Autocoagulation due to mineral or chemical traits inherent
in the particle

The relationship between velocity and viscous resistive forcecalled the drag force
is complicated and depends on the nature of the fluid. Generally speaking, in
liquids the drag force is proportional to the velocity, while in gases the drag force is
proportional to the square of the velocity. Walter Lewin does an excellent job of
explaining the two regimes in this lecture from MITs Physics I course.
One way to express the drag force, FDFD, is through this equation:

FD=12CDAv2FD=12CDAv2
where is the density of the fluid, AA is the cross-sectional area of the
object, vvis the velocity of the object, and CDCD is the drag coefficient, which well
talk about more in a little while.
When a falling object reaches terminal velocity, the drag force equals the objects
weight. You probably recall from your physics class that weight can be expressed
as mgmg, where mm is the mass of the object and gg is the acceleration due to
gravity.
Setting the two forces equal to one another,

mg=12CDAv2mg=12CDAv2
and solving for vv gives

v=2mgCDAv=2mgCDA
This is the expression for terminal velocity.
(Dont be tempted to do some cancellation with mm and to get a volume.
The mm is the mass of the object and the is the density of the fluid. They have
no relationship.)
You might be wondering why we use an equation with just a v2v2 term when we
said earlier that for some fluids the drag force is directly proportional to vv. The
answer lies in how we define the drag coefficient.
Note that we dont call it the drag constant. Thats because theres nothing
constant about it. It depends on the shape of the falling object and, critically, the
velocity of the falling object.

Nowadays, you can go to Wolfram Alpha to calculate the drag coefficient of, for
example, a sphere, but when I was a student youd get it off of graphs that looked
like this:

From Engineering Fluid Mechanics by Roberson & Crowe

The horizontal axis is the Reynolds number, one of the many nondimensional
numbers you run into in fluid mechanics. Supersonic flight has made the Mach

number more well known, but the Reynolds number has more applications in
engineering. Using our terminology, its defined as

Re=vdRe=vd
where dd is some characteristic cross-sectional dimension (the diameter of sphere,
for example) and is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Low Reynolds numbers
are associated with slow movement in viscous fluids, where the fluid flow around
the object is laminar; high Reynolds numbers are associated with fast movement
and turbulence.
In the upper left of the graph, youll see a straight line and the
formula CD=24/ReCD=24/Re. This is the special case of laminar flow around a
sphere, the situation covered by Stokes Law. If we substitute

CD=24vdCD=24vd
into our expression for FDFD and express the cross-sectional area of the sphere in
terms of its diameter, we get

FD=1224vd(d24)v2=3dvFD=1224vd(d24)v2=3dv
This is usually written

FD=6rv
where we use the radius instead of the diameter and the dynamic viscosity, ==.
Either way, you can see that for low Reynolds numbers, the definition of drag coefficient
leads us to a result in which the drag force is directly proportional to velocity.

How can I be sure this commercial is from the 70s? Just look at Lauren Huttons
hair at the end of it.
If Stokes Law holds, calculating the terminal velocity is pretty easy:

mg=6rvmg=6rv
v=mg6rv=mg6r

At higher Reynolds numbers, where the flow is turbulent, the calculation isnt so
easy. You have to make a guess at the Reynolds number, get the drag coefficient
from the graph, and plug that in to calculate the terminal velocity. Then you have to
use that velocity to calculate the Reynolds number to see how good your initial
guess was. Chances are, youd have to adjust your guess and go through the process
again.
If youre on a relatively flat part of the graph, the drag coefficient doesnt change
much with the Reynolds number and your initial guess isnt so critical. For
example, a falling sphere can have a Reynolds number anywhere from 1,000 to
100,000 and the drag coefficient will pretty much stay in the range of 0.4 to 0.5.