Central difference solutions of the kinematic model of settling of polydisperse suspensions and three-dimensional particle-scale simulations

The extension of Kynch's kinematic theory of sedimentation of monodisperse suspensions to polydisperse mixtures leads to a nonlinear system of conserv ation laws for the volume fractions of each species. In this paper, we show that a second-order central (Riemann-solver-free) scheme for the solution of systems of conservation laws can be employed as an efficient tool for th e simulation of the settling and the separation of polydisperse suspensions . This is demonstrated by comparison with a published experimental study of the settling of a bidisperse suspension. In addition, we compare the predi ction of the one-dimensional kinematic sedimentation model with a three-dim ensional particle-scale simulation.