Gravity settler

A gravity settler is simply a long chamber, which the contaminated

air passes slowly, allowing time for the particles to settle by gravity to
the bottom. An old, unsophisticated device must be cleaned manually at
regular intervals. However, it is simple to construct, requires little
maintenance, and has some use in industries treating very dirty gases,
e.g., some smelters and metallurgical processes. Further-more, the
mathematical analysis for gravity settlers is very easy, it can collect
particles very effectively down to about 100 µm. Specialized designs can
collect efficiently down to 50 µm diameter. The use of a gravity settler
instead of another type of device will often make possible the use of a
smelter model of a second device, with an overall saving in cost.

wg F
Buoyancy friction
force
m
mg

mg mg

By force balance 𝑚𝑔 − 𝑤𝑔 − 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎

𝑚𝑔 − 𝑤𝑔 − 𝐹 = 0
Stocks law for friction 𝐹 = 3𝜋𝜇𝑑𝑉𝑡

𝑑3𝜋 𝑑3𝜋
𝜌 𝑔− 𝜌 𝑔 − 3𝜋𝜇𝑑𝑉𝑡 = 0
6 𝑝 6 𝑓
𝑑 2 (𝜌𝑝 − 𝜌𝑓 )𝑔
𝑉𝑡 = 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
18𝜇

𝑑 = 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝜌𝑝 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑

𝜌𝑓 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑

𝜇 = 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑

Laminar flow in settling chambers:

For calculating the efficiency of the settling chamber, assume that a

particle enters the space between two trays at a distance y above the
lower tray. It will travel horizontally with a velocity V equal to that of the
gas. Its vertical velocity will be the settling velocity.

The time required for the particle at height y above the lower tray
to settle onto the tray is given by;
𝑦
𝑡=
𝑉𝑡
 If the particular particle just settles out by the time it reaches the
end of the tray, this time is also given by the time required for the particle
to travel from one end of the tray to the other. This time is given by;
𝐿
𝑡=
𝑉
By equating the equation one can obtain;
𝐿𝑉𝑡
𝑦=
𝑉
The collection efficiency of particle having the diameter used in
the calculating 𝑉𝑡 is;
𝑦 𝐿. 𝑉𝑡 𝑛𝑊𝐿𝑉𝑡
𝜂= = =
∆𝐻 𝑉. ∆𝐻 𝑄

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑄 = 𝑛. 𝑊. ∆𝐻. 𝑉

Consider a settling chamber containing n trays including the

bottom surface of the chamber.

The hydraulic diameter 𝐷ℎ for the passage between trays is given by;

In general ∆𝐻 = 10 𝑐𝑚

So Reynolds number can be written in terms of the flow rate if it is

noted that;

𝑉𝐷ℎ 𝜌 𝑉𝐷ℎ
𝑅𝑒 = =
𝜇 𝜐

2𝑄𝜌
𝑅𝑒 = 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙
𝑛𝜇(𝑊 + ∆𝐻)
 2𝑄𝜌
If no dust layer collected on the tray 𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇(𝑛𝑊+𝐻)

If a layer dust collected on the tray, the equation become

2𝑄𝜌
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇(𝑛𝑊 + 𝐻 − 𝑛𝐻𝑑 )

Turbulent flow in settling chambers

The derivation is made subject to two assumptions;

First there is a laminar layer adjacent to the bottom surface of the

passage into which turbulent eddies do not penetrate, so that any particle
that crosses into this layer will be captured shortly.

Second, in the remainder of the flow passage the eddying motion

due to turbulence will cause a uniform distribution of particles of all
sizes.
 The fraction of the total particles of a particular diameter that are
collected in the length dx is equal to the fraction of the total area that is
located inside dy. Thus, we may write;

To evaluate the constant C we note that when x=0 then N=No, so that
C=No.

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Economic sizing of settling chambers

Since the materials cost use to bulid the gravity settler are
proportional to the volume of materials; and for since the thickness is
the same for all competing designs, so that material costs are proportinal
to the surface area. Thus let as take the total cost as a linear function of
the surface area of the unit.

One can see efficiecy equations of settling chamber is independent of the

height of the chamber, Also, both equations have the factor 𝑛𝑊𝐿 as well
as the flow rate and the settling velocity.So that the efficiency is the same
for same height and same constant 𝑛𝑊𝐿 .

In our case, we are interesed in the relative costs of different

gravity settler for which 𝑛𝑊𝐿 and ∆𝐻 are fxed, with n,W, and L
separately variable.
 1⁄
(𝑛𝑊𝐿) 3
𝑛= 2⁄
(2∆𝐻) 3
Dust removal

In some chambers,the dust is removed by hand when it has reached

a certain level in the bottom of the chamber. In others, an automatic
emptying mechanism is employed which operates periodically at fixed or
variable intervals. If the chamber operates at variable intervals, then most
likely it will be set to operate when the accumulation of dust reaches a
certain value.

The interval of dust removal can be predicted from the gas - flow
rate,mass - volume concentration, and allowable accumulation just prior
to removal.

𝑚̇𝑃 = 𝐶𝑚𝑣 𝑄

The mass of accumulated dust is then given as a function of time

by;

𝑚𝑑 = 𝜂𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑡 = 𝜂𝐶𝑚𝑣 𝑄𝑡

The volume of accumulated dust is given as

𝑚𝑑 𝜂𝐶𝑚𝑣 𝑄𝑡
𝑉𝑑 = =
𝜌𝑑 𝜌𝑑

Solving the above eqs. for t gives the time of removal as;
𝑚𝑑 𝑉𝑑 𝜌𝑑
𝑡= =
𝜂𝐶𝑚𝑣 𝑄 𝜂𝐶𝑚𝑣 𝑄