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ChE 4755
Particle Technology

Akib Atique Khan Dhrubo

Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology, Gazipur

Single Particle Motion

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Topics
 DRAG FORCE
 Stokes’ law of drag force
 Single particle Reynold’s number

 PARTICLES FALLING UNDER GRAVITY

 Graphical interpretation of flow region
 Terminal settling velocity of a single particle
 Calculation of 𝐔𝐓 and 𝐱 from dimensionless group
 Non-spherical particles
 Effect of boundaries

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Motion of Solid Particle Through a Fluid

 Objective:
 Understanding the resisting force.
 Estimating steady-state velocity.

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Drag Force
 Stokes’ law for estimation of the total drag force:
F = 3πxμU

Single particle Reynold’s number (Re ) and a drag coefficient (C ) can be expressed by;

xUρ R′
Re = ; C =
μ 1
ρU
2
Where, R′ is the force per projected area of the particle.

It can be shown that, in the Stokes’ law region,

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C = ; [? ]
Re
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 Stokes’ law is mostly applicable for the finer particles.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩 ≤ 𝟎. 𝟑; Stokes′ law is assumed to hold for about 𝟗𝟎 % 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

Four regions of solid particle flow

Stokes’ law Intermediate Newton’s law Boundary Layer

Separation

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 Terminal settling velocity:
The forces that acts on the particle,
gravity − buoyancy − drag = acceleration
At terminal condition, acceleration becomes zero.

πx πx πx
ρ g− ρ g − R′ =0
6 6 4
Substituting, the expressions for R′; a general equation can be formed.

4 gx ρ −ρ
C =
3U ρ
Here, 𝐔𝐓 is the terminal settling velocity.

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

Region Stokes’ law Newton’s law

Re < 0.3 500 < Re < 2 × 10

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C ~0.44
Re

𝐱 𝟐 𝛒𝐏 − 𝛒𝐟 𝐠
𝐔𝐓 expression ??
𝟏𝟖 𝛍

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

Illustration:
i. Derive the relation for the upper limit of particle diameter as a function of particle density for
sedimentation in the Stokes’ law regime both in air & in water.
ii. Plot the results in the range 𝟎 ≤ 𝛒𝐩 ≤ 𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐠⁄𝐦𝟑 at ambient conditions.

Assumption:
 Particles are spherical.
 Stokes’ law is valid or 𝐑𝐞𝐩 ≤ 𝟎. 𝟑

i. The upper limit of particle size is achieved when

x U ρ
Re = = 0.3
μ
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 Terminal settling velocity can be expressed as,

x ρ −ρ g
U =
18 μ
Equating the two equations we get,

𝟏⁄𝟑
𝛍𝟐
𝐱𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟐 ×
𝛒𝐏 − 𝛒𝐟 𝛒𝐟

System Density Viscosity Expression for 𝐱𝐦𝐚𝐱

𝟏⁄𝟑
𝟏
Air 1.2 kg⁄m 1.84 × 10 Pa s 𝐱𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟓. 𝟑𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎 𝟒
×
𝛒𝐏 − 𝟏. 𝟐

𝟏⁄𝟑
𝟏
Water 1000 kg⁄m 0.001 Pa s 𝐱𝐦𝐚𝐱 = 𝟖. 𝟏𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎 𝟒
×
𝛒𝐏 − 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎

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Water system

Air system

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

Illustration: A mixture of spherical particles of materials A and B ranging between sizes of 𝟏𝟓 − 𝟒𝟎 𝛍𝐦
is to be separated using rising stream of liquid. Show that, complete separation is not possible if water is
used.
ρ A = 7700 kg⁄m ; ρ B = 2400 kg⁄m

Solution:
Stokes’ law is assumed to be applicable; hence the particles reach their respective terminal settling velocity
in negligible time.

 Conditions for complete separation:

 If U < U < U ; both the particles will fall.
 If U > U > U ; both the particles will rise.
 If 𝐔𝐓𝐁 < 𝐔 < 𝐔𝐓𝐀; particle A will fall and particle B will rise.

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 This system will have a terminal velocity of the

expression,
𝐔𝐓 = 𝟓𝟒𝟓 𝐱 𝟐 𝛒𝐏 − 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
For both the particles.

Size (𝛍𝐦) 𝟏𝟓 𝟒𝟎

𝐦𝐦
𝐔𝐓𝐀 0.82 5.84
𝐬
𝐦𝐦
𝐔𝐓𝐁 0.17 1.22
𝐬 13

Particles Falling Under Gravity

 If the relevant region of operation is not known,
 To calculate 𝐔𝐓 for a given 𝐱; the following dimensionless group

𝟒 𝐱 𝟑 𝛒𝐟 𝛒𝐏 − 𝛒𝐟 𝐠
𝐂𝐃 𝐑𝐞𝐩 𝟐 =
𝟑 𝛍𝟐
Which is independent of U .

 To calculate 𝐱 for a given 𝐔𝐓 ; the following dimensionless group

𝐂𝐃 𝟒 𝐠𝛍 𝛒𝐏 − 𝛒𝐟
=
𝐑𝐞𝐩 𝟑 𝐔𝐓 𝟑 𝛒𝐟 𝟐
Which is independent of x.

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

The technique can be conveniently expressed graphically,

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 Non-spherical particles:
 A single value is usually required to describe the shape of a non-spherical particle. Mostly, it is the
sphericity 𝚿.
Define sphericity.

 The form of the Re expression remains same but the diameter used is the equivalent volume sphere
diameter.
Define equivalent volume sphere diameter.

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

Illustration: A sphere of density 2500 kg⁄m falls freely under gravity in a fluid of density
700 kg⁄m and viscosity 0.5 × 10 Pa s. Given that the terminal velocity of the sphere is 0.15 m⁄s.
i. Calculate its diameter.
ii. What would be the edge length of a cube of the same material falling in the same fluid at the same
terminal velocity?

Solution: 𝐑𝐞𝐩 𝐂𝐃
To find out the region of operation:
100 0.712
C 4 gμ ρ − ρ 𝟑 1000 7.12
= = 𝟕. 𝟏𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎
Re 3 U ρ
, 10000 71.2
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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 So, the particle diameter can be calculated as,
𝐱𝐔𝐓 𝛒𝐟
𝐑𝐞𝐩 = ⟹ 𝐱 = 𝟔𝟏𝟗 𝛍𝐦
𝛍

ii. Do it yourself (Careful about the use of sphericity and equivalent volume sphere diameter).

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 Problem: A particle of equivalent volume diameter 0.5 mm, density 2000 kg⁄m and sphericity 0.6
falls freely under gravity in a fluid of density 1.6 kg⁄m and viscosity 2 × 10 Pa s. Estimate the
terminal velocity reached by the particle.

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 Effects of boundaries:
If the particles fall through a pipe (or any structure with solid boundary), the velocity reached (𝐔𝐃 ) is
comparatively less then the velocity in a fluid of infinite extent 𝐔 . This can be described by the
following empirical correlation:

𝐱 𝟐.𝟐𝟓 𝐱
𝐟𝐖 = 𝟏 − 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩 ≤ 𝟎. 𝟑 & ≤ 𝟎. 𝟗𝟕
𝐃 𝐃
Here, f is referred as the wall factor and defined as the ratio of U to U .

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Particles Falling Under Gravity

 Problem: A sphere of 10 mm diameter falls under gravity at terminal velocity through a liquid in a tube
of 12 mm diameter and the terminal velocity is measured at 1.6 mm/s.
i. Calculate the viscosity of the fluid.
ii. Verify the applicability of Stokes’ law.

(ρ = 7700 kg⁄m and ρ = 900 kg⁄m )

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