SEDIMENTATION

AND SETTLING
SEDIMENTATION
■ The condition whereby the solids are already at
the bottom and in the process of sedimenting.
■ Settling is not yet sedimenting, but the particles
are falling down the water column in response to
gravity. Of course, as soon as the solids reach the
bottom, they begin sedimenting. In the physical
treatment of water and wastewater,
■ settling is normally carried out in settling or
sedimentation basins
SETTLING

■ Settling- a unit operation in which solids are

drawn toward a source of attraction.
■ The particular type of settling that will be
discussed in this section is gravitational
settling.
■ It should be noted that settling is different
from sedimentation.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
CLARIFIER AND CLASSIFIER
■ A settler that removes virtually all the
particles from a liquid is known as a clarifier.
■ A device that separates the solids into two
fractions is called classifier.
■ The same principles of sedimentation apply to
both kinds of equipments.
THEORY OF SEDIMENTATION
■ The settling of the particles in sedimentation is
due to gravity. The settlement of a particle in
water brought to rest is opposed by the following
factors:
■ The Velocity of Flow which carries the particles
horizontally .
■ The Viscosity of water in which the particles in
travelling . Warm water is less viscous , thus
offers less resistance to settlement .
■ The size , shape and specific gravity of the
particles . Greater the specific gravity , more
readily the particle will settle.
 TERMINOLOGY
■ Terminal velocity : when the particle reaches a constant
velocity , which is maximum attainable under the
circumstances is called terminal velocity
■ Free settling : when the particles is at sufficient distance
from boundaries of the container and from other particles,
so that its fall is not affected by them, the process is
called free settling.
■ Hindered settling: If motion of the particle is impeded by
other particles , which will happen when the particles are
near one another even though they may not actually be
colliding the process is called hindered settling
 Stokes’s Law

Re < 1, CD = 24 /Re

Substitute in the equation for vt

Vs = g ( -l) d2
18 
Denser and large particles have a
higher settling velocity
The upflow velocity in a settling tank needs to be < Vt
APPLICATIONS

– Remove particles from gas or liquid

stream
– Eliminate dust and fumes from flue gas
– Remove solid waste from liquid
– Recovery of acid mists from waste gas
Gravity classifier
■ Principle : difference in terminal velocities of
different particles
■ Applications: closed circuit grinding used in
metallurgical operations
■ Sands: coarse particles
■ Slimes: fine particles
■ Important design factor: time for settling
■ Example :Draft tube - baffle crystallizer
Construction and working
Draft tube - baffle crystallizer
Basic technique employed

■ Particles settle under gravity in a liquid

medium (water). Higher terminal velocity of
irregular, coarser, heavier particles allows
these particles to reach the bottom at a faster
rate when compared to smaller and lighter
particles
Sorting classifiers

■ Principle : separation based on density

differences of different particles
■ 2 methods:
– Sink and float method
– Differential settling
■ Applications:
– Used to separate coarse particles (> 10
mesh)
– Cleaning coal
– Concentration of ores
Sink and float method
■ Mechanism :
Uses a liquid sorting medium, the density of
which is intermediate b/w that of the light
material and the heavy. The heavy particles settle
through medium , and the lighter one float , and
a separation is obtained.
This method is also called heavy-fluid separation
Sink and float method
 Sink and float method
■ Density of the sorting liquid medium is intermediate
between that of light material and denser material
■ Denser particles settle to the bottom and light particles
float
■ Separation is independent of size of the particles
■ Choice of sorting medium is an important design factor
■ Sorting liquid should be cheap, nontoxic and
noncorrosive
■ Ex 1: halogenated hydrocarbons and CaCl2
■ Ex 2: Pseudo liquid consisting of suspension in water
of fine particles of a heavy mineral (Magnnetite gc-
5.17, ferrosilicon gc-6.3-7, galena gc-7.5)
Differential settling methods
■ This method utilize the difference in terminal
velocities that can be exist between substances
of different density.
■ The density of the medium is less than that of
either substance.
■ Disadvantage : The mixture of materials to be
separated covers a range of particle sizes, the
larger, light particles settle at the same rate as
smaller, heavy ones and mixed fraction is
obtained.
Clarifiers and Thickeners

■ Gravity separation under hindered settling

conditions is often used to convert a dilute slurry
of fine particles into clarified liquid and a
concentrated suspension, this process is carried
out in a large open tanks called as Thickeners or
clarifiers .
■ The concentrated suspension /sludge may have
to be filtered which is lower cost than original
slurry been filtered.
Flocculation
■ It is a process in which colloids come out of suspension in the
form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition
of a clarifying agent.
■ The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to
flocculation, colloids are merely suspended in a liquid and not
actually dissolved in a solution. In the flocculated system, there
is no formation of a cake, since all the flocs are in the
suspension.
■ Flocculated particles have different settling characteristics from
suspensions of dispersed solids.
■ The aggregates formed have high porosity, they are definable.
loosely bonded, shape, size and effective density are not readily
■ The thickeners designs is generally based on measurements of
settling rates obtained from batch tests in laboratory.
At t =0 At t =t∞
At t =t1 At t =t2 At t =t3
Z =Z0 Z =Z∞
Z =Z1 Z =Z2 Z =Z3
Factors effecting the
sedimentation
■ Density
■ Temperature
■ Turbulence
■ Size , shape
■ Stability
■ Flocculation
Centrifugal Sedimentation
Processes
■ A given particle in a given fluid settles under
gravitational force at a fixed maximum rate
■ To increase the settling rate the force of
gravity acting on the particle may be replaced
by much stronger centrifugal force.
■ The centrifugal separators
– Cyclones
– Hydroclones or hydrocyclones
– Centrifugal decanters
Hydroclones
 Hydroclones
■ Cyclones are also used for separating solids from liquids, some
times as thickeners but more commonly as classifiers.
■ In these service these are called as hydrocyclones or hydroclones
■ In thickening operations, nearly all the solids are removed from
the overflow, the underflow concentration must be less than about
12% by volume.
■ In classifying hydroclones the underflow can be more
concentrated, up to a maximum of about 50% by volume for
slurries of limestone and coal.
■ The pressure drop in hydrocyclone varies with the feed rate raised
to the power of between 2.0 and 3.3.
■ To handle large flows, many small hydroclones are connected in
parallel, with as many as 480 units with 10mm diameter in a
single assembly.
 Centrifugal Decanters

■ Immiscible liquids are separated industrially by centrifugal decanters.

■ The separating force is much larger than that of gravity force, and it acts
in the direction away from the axis.
■ The main types of centrifugal decanters are
– Tubular centrifuge
– Disk centrifuge
– Nozzle discharge centrifuge
Centrifugal Decanters
 Tubular centrifuge

■ In tubular liquid - liquid centrifuge the bow is tall and narrow, 100 to
150mm in diameter and turns at about 15,000 rpm.
Tubular Centrifuge
 Disk Centrifuge

■ Some liquids – liquid separations the disk type centrifuge is highly

effective.
■ A short, wide bowl of 200 to 500 mm in diameter turns on a vertical
axis
■ The bowl has a flat bottom and a conical top.
Disk Centrifuge
 Nozzle Discharge Centrifuge

■ When feed liquid contains more the specified percent of solids,

provision must given to the vessel to discharge solids automatically.
■ One way of doing this is by nozzle discharge
■ This separator is modified version of disk centrifuge with double
conical bowl.
Nozzle Discharge Centrifuge
Coagulation
■ Coagulation has been defined as the addition of a positively
charged ion such as Al3+,Fe3+ or catalytic polyelectrolyte that
results in particle destabilization and charge neutralization.
■ The purpose of coagulation is removal of finely divided
suspended solids and colloidal material from the waste liquid.
■ These contaminants cannot be separated by sedimentation alone
except by the use of reasonably long detention periods; truly
colloidal particles cannot be removed by settling.
■ If these suspended pollutants are organic, they can often be
oxidized by biological means,as on trickling filter; biochemical
oxidation, however, is slower for suspended matter than for
dissolved organic contaminants.
■ If the quantity of insoluble organic matter is large, bio-oxidation
equipment must be increased in size to care for this added duty;
it is usually more economical to remove the greater part of such
matter by chemical coagulation instead of in a trickling filter or
activated sludge tank
Coagulation
■ Colloidal solutions that do not agglomerate naturally
are called stable. This is due their large surface-to-
volume ratio resulting from their very small size.
■ The colloids contained in the water are negatively
charged and positively charged. These colloids are
stable due to the repulsive forces between the negative
charges.
■ These colloids are destabilized by positively charged
ions formed from the hydrolysis of coagulants.
■ Destabilization of colloidal particles can be
influenced by the double layer compression,
adsorption and charge neutralization, entrapment in
precipitates (sweep flocculation) and interparticle
bridging.
Flotation

■ Flotation is a process of separation and concentration based on

differences in the physicochemical properties of interfaces.
■ Flotation can take place either at a liquid–gas, a liquid–liquid, a liquid–
solid or a solid–gas interface.
Applications of Flotation
Species recovered Recovered from Industrial process or
interest
Non-ferrous metal Mineral ores Metal production
sulfides (Cu, Pb, Zn,
Ni, Co, Mo, Hg, Sb)
Potassium chloride Potash Fertilizer
Coal fines Ash-producing shales Electric power
and rocks, and SO2
emission-producing
metal sulfides
Ink particles Waste paper Paper recycling
Silver Photographic materials Recycling
Copper Acid mine effluents Metal production
Bitumen Oil sands Petroleum industry
Flotation Fundamentals
Flotation Fundamentals

■ Performance calculation
■ Hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity
Ylvcosθ(Ysv - Ysl)
■ Particle/Bubble contact
■ Collection in the froth layer
■ Reagents
– Collectors
– Frothers
– Activators
– Depressants
– pH
Flotation Cell
Collectors and frothers

■ These are surface-active agents that are added to the flotation pulp,
where they adsorb selectively on the surface of the particles and
render them hydrophobic
■ The hydrophobic and hydrophilic character of the surfaces can be
changed using surfactants. A surfactant which makes the surface
hydrophobic, is called a collector and possess at least one non-polar
group. The non-polar group is usually represented by a hydrocarbon but
it may be a fluorocarbon or a siloxane.
■ Collectors commonly used in mineral flotation include short chain
alkylxanthates for base metal sulfides, long chain amines for quartz,
mica, feldspars, potash, and long chain fatty acids and their alkali
soaps for phosphates, hematite, and oxidized sulfides or calcium
soap in flotation deinking.
Modifiers

■ Activators. These are used to make a mineral surface amenable to collector coating. Copper
ion is used, for example, to activate sphalerite (ZnS), rendering the sphalerite surface
capable of absorbing a xanthate or dithiophosphate collector. Sodium sulfide isused to coat
oxidized copper and lead minerals so that they can be floated by a sulfide mineral collector.
■ pH regulators. Regulators such as lime, caustic soda, soda ash, and sulfuric acid are used to
control or adjust pH, a very critical factor in many flotation separations.
■ Depressants. Depressants assist in selectivity (sharpness of separation) or stop unwanted
minerals from floating. Typical are sodium or calcium cyanide to depress pyrite (Fe 2S2)
while floating galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), or copper sulfides; zinc sulfate to depress ZnS
while floating PbS; sodium ferrocyanide to depress copper sulfides while floating
molybdenite (MoS2); lime to depress pyrite; sodium silicate to depress quartz; quebracho to
depress calcite (CaCO3) during fluorite (CaF2) flotation; and lignin sulfonates and dextrins to
depress graphite and talc during sulfide flotation.
■ Dispersants. These are important for the control of slimes that sometimes interfere with the
selectivity and increase reagent consumption. For example, soda ash, lime sodium silicate,
and lignin sulfonates are used as dispersants, and starch and polyacrylamide are used as
flocculants