Falling hydrodynamics

Before beginning a size determination, it is customary to look at the material, preferably under a microscope. This examination reveals the approx size range and distribution of the particles, and especially the shapes of the particles and the degree of aggregation. If microscopic examination reveals that the ratios between max and min diameters of individual particles do not exceed 4, and indirect technique for particle size distribution based on sedimentation or elutria-tion may be used. Sedimentation techniques for particle size determination were first used by Hall (Ref 2) in 1904, He showed that the rate of fall of individual particles in a fluid was directly related to the particle size by the hydrodynamic... 

For Ca < 0.1 in Figure 7 the critical capillary pressure is also independent of the initial film thickness. In this case, the hydrodynamic resistance to fluid filling or draining is small enough that the film reaches the periodic steady state in less than half a pore length. Figure 7 confirms the trend observed by Khatib, Hirasaki and Falls that P falls with increasing flow rate (5). c... 

In principle, using the porous layer theory, it is possible to obtain the hydrodynamic thickness of an adsorbed layer using the experimental density profile and the permeability function. The results of this calculation are given in Table I. In figure 2 it can be seen that the calculated 6jjsans values fall within the tail of the s.a.n.s. density profiles. However, comparison with the results obtained by p.c.s. (Table I) show a large systematic discrepancy. 

A hydrodynamic model of fluidization attempts to account for several essential features of fluidization mixing and distribution of solids and fluid in a so-called emulsion region, the formation and motion of bubbles through the bed (the bubble region ), the nature of the bubbles (including their size) and how they affect particle motion/distribution, and the exchange of material between the bubbles (with little solid content) and the predominantly solid emulsion. Models fall into one of three classes (Yates, 1983, pp. 74-78) ... 

Usually the function [Cn) M] (intrinsic viscosity times molecular weight) is used to represent hydrodynamic volume which is plotted versus elution volume. For such a plot the calibration curves of many polymers fall on the same line irrespective of polymer chemical type. Universal calibration methodology usually requires knowledge of Mark-Houwink constants for the polymer/ temperature/solvent system under study. 

When an interfacial film has reduced the circulation within a drop, the wake vortex becomes more marked, while the extraction rate falls to that for a stagnant sphere (74) More detailed studies of the hydrodynamics of naturally moving drops have recently been carried out (75). The mass-transfer rate in 2-component systems should correlate 76) with... 

In the narrow tubes used by Beek and van Heuven, the bubbles assumed the shape of Dumitrescu (or Taylor) bubbles. Using the hydrodynamics of bubble rise and the penetration theory of absorption, an expression was developed for the total absorption rate from one bubble. The liquid surface velocity was assumed to be that of free fall, and the bubble surface area was approximated by a spherical section and a hyperbola of revolution. Values calculated from this model were 30% above the measured absorption rates. Further experiments indicated that velocities are reduced at the rear of the bubble, and are certainly much less than free fall velocities. A reduction in surface tension was also indicated by extreme curvature at the rear of the bubble. 

Hydrodynamics of free fall or rise of a spherical crystal The following is the method to calculate the free fall or rise velocity of a spherical crystal (Clift et al., 1978). For a small particle (see below) or viscous fluid, the ascent or descent velocity U can be calculated using Stokes law ... 

Use the hydrodynamics equations to calculate Re and the crystal falling or rising velocity u by solving Equations 4-120, 4-121, and 4-122. 

At larger Re and for more marked deformation, theoretical approaches have had limited success. There have been no numerical solutions to the full Navier-Stokes equation for steady flow problems in which the shape, as well as the flow, has been an unknown. Savic (S3) suggested a procedure whereby the shape of a drop is determined by a balance of normal stresses at the interface. This approach has been extended by Pruppacher and Pitter (P6) for water drops falling through air and by Wairegi (Wl) for drops and bubbles in liquids. The drop or bubble adopts a shape where surface tension pressure increments, hydrostatic pressures, and hydrodynamic pressures are in balance at every point. Thus... 

The concept of a unique hydrodynamic volume for all rodlike polymers was derived from examination of the Mark-Houwink constants, K and a, of the equation [rj ] = KMa. Macromolecules with values of a greater than unity are commonly accepted to be stiff or rigid rods. However, it was also found that such molecules (even for values of a less than unity) obey a relation illustrated by close concordance with the curve in Fig. lb (13) flexible, branched or otherwise irregular polymers, on the other hand, show dispersion around the upper part of the curve. The straight line curve in Fig. lb implies that the constants K and a are not independent parameters for the regular macromolecules to which they apply. Poly (a- and polyQJ-phenylethyl isocyanide) fall on this line the former has a value of a > 1 while the latter has a value a < 1 (14) both polymers give linear concentration dependence of reduced specific viscosity for fractionated samples... 

As the mechanics and hydrodynamics of water cooling became better understood, fill or packing material was included in designs to slow the vertical fall of water and to provide greater air/water interfacial contact for more difficult cooling. Today, every one of these techniques is utilized in some form or another. 

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