Applications of the phenomenological theory to several published experimental cases of sedimentation processes

In one space dimension, the phenomenological theory of sedimentation predic ts the sedimentation-consolidation behavior of a flocculated suspension in dependence of two constitutive functions describing its material behavior, the solids flux density (or hindered settling function) and the solid effec tive stress. These functions are assumed to depend only on the local volume tric solids concentration. In this contribution, we review several experime ntal and theoretical studies of sedimentation in settling columns. We first resume the theories that have been employed to interpret the experimental measurements and then apply the phenomenological model to the available dat a. The two constitutive functions involved are determined from the publishe d concentration, permeability and effective stress data. The mathematical m odel is then solved numerically using these functions, and the resulting pr edictions of settling behavior are compared with the respective authors' ex perimental findings and interpretations. In one case, the information obtai ned from a batch settling experiment is used to simulate continuous sedimen tation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.