Theory of hindered sedimentation of polydisperse mixtures

Abstract

Abstract The theory and application of hindred sedimentation is reviewed. Polydisperse mixtures with size and density distributions are considered. A general solution technique is established for steady‐flow regimes where a standard drag correlation for monodisperse systems is applied to each component. Solutions for discrete and continuous particle‐size and density distributions are outlined. Results are presented for the sedimentation of mixtures made up of particles of uniform density and varying size suspended in a fluid with fixed properties. Under these conditions, the sedimentation velocities of the components vary significantly with the size distribution of the particles and the total volume fraction occupied by the particles In this context, topics such as maximum flux of particles, classification and density separation are considered.