Enhancement of the Sedimentation Rates of Fibrous Suspensions

The settling of suspensions of slender rod-like particles with large aspect ratios was studied. The novel technique of enhancement of sedimentation rates by the addition of buoyant particle promoters was applied to such suspensions. The settling rates could be increased by many times by this simple technique. Sedimentation velocity increases of between 5 to 7 times have been observed for fibrous suspensions of concentrations of about 0.5%. A statistical analysis of the experimental data was performed to establish a correlation for the enhancement in settling velocities. The sediment volume was unaffected by the presence of buoyant particles. The buoyant parjticles were found to adsorb some surfactants onto their surfaces.