Sedimentation

sedimentation

In geology, the process of deposition of a solid material from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (usually air or water). Broadly defined it also includes deposits from glacial ice and materials collected under the effect of gravity alone, as in talus deposits, or accumulations of rock debris at the base of cliffs.

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Sedimentation (industry)

The separation of a dilute suspension of solid particles into a supernatant liquid and a concentrated slurry. If the purpose of the process is to concentrate the solids, it is termed thickening; and if the goal is the removal of the solid particles to produce clear liquid, it is called clarification. Thickening is the common operation for separating fine solids from slurries. Examples are magnesia, alumina red mud, copper middlings and concentrates, china clay (kaolin), coal tailings, phosphate slimes, and pulp-mill and other industrial wastes. Clarification is prominent in the treatment of municipal water supplies.

The driving force for separation is the difference in density between the solid and the liquid. Ordinarily, sedimentation is effected by the force of gravity, and the liquid is water or an aqueous solution. For a given density difference, the solid settling process proceeds more rapidly for larger-sized particles. For fine particles or small density differences, gravity settling may be too slow to be practical; then centrifugal force rather than gravity can be used. Further, when centrifugal force is inadequate, the more positive method of filtration may be employed. All those methods of separating solids and liquids belong to the generic group of mechanical separations. See Centrifugation, Clarification, Filtration

Particles too minute to settle at practical rates may form flocs by the addition of agents such as sodium silicate, alum, lime, and alumina. Because the agglomerated particles act like a single large particle, they settle at a feasible rate and leave a clear liquid behind.