.

Int. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145

www.elsevier.comrlocaterijminpro
Settling velocities of particulate systems: 12.
Batch centrifugation of flocculated suspensions
R. Burger
a,)
, F. Concha
b

a
Institute of Mathematics A, Uniersity of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
b
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Uniersity of Concepcion, Casilla 53-C, Correo 3,
Concepcion, Chile
Received 10 May 2000; received in revised form 30 November 2000; accepted 30 November 2000
Abstract
In this contribution we show how the phenomenological theory of sedimentationconsolidation
processes can be extended to the presence of centrifugal field. The modelling starts from the basic
mass and linear momentum balances for the solid and liquid phase, which are referred to a rotating
frame of reference. These equations are specified for flocculated suspensions by constitutive
assumptions that are similar to that of the pure gravity case. The neglection of the influence of the
gravitational relative to the centrifugal field and of Coriolis terms leads to one scalar hyperbolic
parabolic partial differential equation for the solids concentration distribution as a function of
radius and time. Both cases of a rotating tube and of a rotating axisymmetric vessel are included.
A numerical algorithm to solve this equation is presented and employed to calculate numerical
examples of the dynamic behaviour of a flocculated suspension in a sedimenting centrifuge. The
phenomenological model is appropriately embedded into the existing theories of kinematic
.
centrifugation processes of ideal non-flocculated suspensions. q2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.
Keywords: phenomenological theory; sedimentationconsolidation process; flocculated suspension; centrifuga-
tion
1. Introduction
The enhanced body force obtained by the rotation of a solidfluid mixture in a
centrifuge or hydrocyclone permits the solidfluid separation of particles well below 1
mm in size, a task that gravitational forces alone are not able to meet. Slow large-diame-
)
Corresponding author. Tel.: q49-711-685-7647; fax: q49-711-685-5599.
. .
E-mail addresses: buerger@mathematik.uni-stuttgart.de R. Burger , fconcha@udec.cl F. Concha .
0301-7516r01r$ - see front matter q2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
.
PII: S0301- 7516 01 00038- 2
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 116
ter basket units use ratios of centrifugal to gravitational forces from 100=g to 300=g,
where g is the gravitational forces; most industrial centrifuges are in the range of
500=g to 5000=g; high-speed smaller decanter centrifuges can go upto 10 000=g,
while tabular laboratory units have values of 20 000=g with analytical ultracentrifuges
going up to 500 000=g. Table 1 shows a comparison of the size of separation and the
ratio of centrifugal to gravitational field.
The ability of centrifuges to adjust the external field to the particle size to be
separated has extended its use as analytical technique in the laboratory and to substitute
traditional industrial processes such as clarification, thickening and filtration.
Industrial centrifuges can be classified into two types: sedimenting and filtering
centrifuges. The principles underlying are the same of gravity sedimentation and
pressure filtration, respectively. The choice of using a sedimenting centrifuge instead of
filtering centrifuge depends on whether the suspension has a considerable amount of
material below 45 mm and whether the sediment is highly compressible, which makes
filtering centrifuges inapplicable. Sedimenting centrifuges are used extensively in min-
eral processing operations such as: dewatering of materials with a significant fraction of
fines, such as thickener discharge of calcium carbonate or fine coal; for the classification
and degritting in the calcium carbonate and kaolin production; for the elimination of
small fractions of very fine solids in leaching, solvent extraction and ion exchange; for
the elimination of contaminants dissolved in mother liquor by separating and redilution
in several stages in solvent extraction.
Despite their extended use, the theoretical treatment of centrifuges lags behind that of
gravity thickening. Although theories of centrifugal separation have been presented by

several authors for ideal suspensions Baron and Wajc 1979; Anestis, 1981; Anestis and
.
Schneider, 1983; Greenspan, 1983; Schaflinger, 1990 , the most comprehensive publica-
.
tion the field Leung, 1998 uses ad-hoc formulations and no general phenomenological
theory seems to have been presented for flocculated suspensions. We mention that
.
overviews of the use centrifuges are also given by Day 1974 and in the recent
. .
handbooks by Wakeman and Tarleton 1999 and Rushton et al. 2000 , and that
centrifuges are of particular interest in biotechnical and medical applications, in which
small solidfluid density differences make centrifugal enhancement of hindered settling
.
mandatory Wiesmann and Binder, 1982; Lueptow and Hubler, 1991 .

In this paper, we present a phenomenological theory of centrifugal separation of

flocculated suspensions in decanting, or sedimenting centrifuges, as an extension of the
phenomenological theory of gravity thickening. In a later paper, we will present a
similar theory for filtering centrifuges.
Table 1
Parameters of industrial solidliquid separation equipment
.
Size mm Equipment F rF
centrifugal gravitational
100 Gravity thickener-clarifier 0
38 Large hydrocyclone 20
5 Small hydrocyclone, low- speed centrifuge 200
3 Industrial centrifuge 2000
1 Small high-speed centrifuge 20000
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 117
This paper is organized as follows: in Section 2 the mathematical model is developed,
starting from the basic mass and linear momentum balances for the solid and the fluid
and using similar material specific constitutive assumptions as for the pure gravity case.
These equations are referred to a rotating frame of reference and are developed for the
presence of both centrifugal and gravity forces. We finally consider the case in which
both Coriolis and gravity effects are negligible and obtain one scalar hyperbolicpara-
bolic partial differential equation describing the concentration distribution as a function
of radius and time. In Section 3 we briefly present a numerical algorithm for the solution
of this equation, which we apply in Section 4 to obtain a variety of centrifugation test
cases. Conclusions that can be drawn from this paper are summarized in Section 5.
2. Mathematical model
2.1. General balance equations

The basic assumptions are the same as those stated in our previous papers Burger

.
and Concha, 1998; Burger et al., 1999, 2000e and in the monograph by Bustos et al.

.
1999 , in which sedimentation under the influence of gravity was studied.
1. The solid particles are small with respect to the sedimentation vessel and have the
same density.
2. The constituents of the suspensions are incompressible.
3. The suspension is completely flocculated before the sedimentation begins.
4. There is no mass transfer between the solid and fluid during sedimentation.
Further assumptions will be subsequently specified as constitutive equations.
Consider a sedimenting centrifuge as a rotating system with an angular velocity
5 5 .
vsvk, where v is the scalar angular speed and k with k s1 is the unit vector of
.
its axis of rotation. Fig. 1 shows two possible cases for this system. The first Fig. 1a
consists of a tube rotating around an axis, such as for a small laboratory centrifuge, and
.
the second Fig. 1b is a bowl rotating around its axis, like an industrial decanting
centrifuge.
The solid and the liquid are modeled as superimposed continuous media. We recall
that the local mass balances of both components or, equivalently, of the solid and of the
mixture can then be written as
Ef
q=P fv s0, 1 . .
s
Et
=Pqs0, 2 .
where f denotes the local solids volume fraction, t is time, v is the solids phase
s
velocity, and q is the volume average flow velocity of the mixture defined by
qsfv q 1yf v , 3 . .
s f
where v is the fluid phase velocity.
f
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 118
. . . .
Fig. 1. a Rotating tube with constant cross-section g s0 , b rotating axisymmetric cylinder g s1 . The
. .
concentration zones are the clear liquid fs0 , the hindered settling zone 0-fFf and the compression
c
zone f)f .
c
The linear momentum balances for the solid and the fluid phases can be written, for a
frame of reference rotating at velocity v, in the form
Ev
s
D q= v Pv s=PT qD b qm, 4 .
s s s s s s
/
Et
Ev
f
D q= v Pv s=PT qD b ym, 5 .
f f f f f f
/
Et
where D , D , T and T are the constant mass densities and the stress tensors of the solid
s f s f
and the fluid, respectively, m is the solidfluid interaction force, and b and b are the
s f
external body forces that, in a rotating frame of reference, take the respective forms
b sygkyv=v=ry2v=v , b sygkyv=v=ry2v=v , 6 .
s s f f
where the first term denotes the gravitational force and the second and third terms
represent the inertial forces originating from the centripetal and the Coriolis accelera-
tions, both product of the moving frame of reference. The body forces b and b can be
s f
.
separated into two parts, a conservative force = FqV , where F and V are given by
1 1
2 2
FsygPr'gz, Vsy v=r P v=r sy v r , 7 . . .
2 2
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 119
and the non-conservative parts y2v=v and y2v=v , so that b and b can be
s f s f
written in the forms
b sy= FqV y2v=v , b sy= FqV y2v=v . 8 . . .
s s f f
The ratio between the representative centrifugal and gravity components of b is
.
2
expressed by the Froude number of the system Ungarish, 1993 , FFsv Rrg, where R

is a typical distance to the axis of rotation for example, the outer radius of the
.
container . The two limiting cases are here FFs0, corresponding to gravity settling, and
FFs` for a centrifugally dominated configuration.
2.2. Constitutie assumptions
2.2.1. Solid and fluid stress tensors
The stress tensors of the components are assumed to take the forms
T syp IqT
E
, T syp IqT
E
, 9 .
s f s f s f
where p and p are the solid and fluid phase pressures and T
E
and T
E
are the viscous
s f s f
or extra stress tensors. A detailed discussion of the possible forms of T
E
and T
E
is
s f
.
provided by Burger et al. 2000e .

The theoretical variables p and p are replaced by two experimental quantities, the
s f
pore pressure p and the effective solid stress s . The experimental variables are those
e
parts of the total pressure in the mixture which are supported by the solids network and
by the fluid filling the pores between the solid flocs, respectively. Consequently, we
have
p sp qp spqs . 10 .
t s f e
. .
Burger et al. 2000e see also Concha et al., 1996 and Bustos et al., 1999 show that the

assumption that the local surface porosity of a cross section of the network equals the
volume porosity f leads to the equations
p s 1yf p, p sfpqs . 11 . .
f s e
However, the flow in a porous medium, such as the flocculated solid network, does not
depend on the pore pressure itself, but rather on its difference to the hydrostatic
pressure. Therefore, the pore pressure p should be expressed in terms of the excess pore
.
pressure p , which is the pore pressure less the static pressure Ungarish, 1993 ,
e
1
2 2
p :spqD FqV spqD gzy v r . 12 . .
e f f
/
2
.
As in our previous papers in this series Burger et al., 1999; Garrido et al., 2000 , s

e
.
is given as a constitutive function s ss f , which depends on the local solids
e e
volume fraction only and satisfies
ds f . s0 for fFf , s0 for fFf ,
e c c
X
s f s f :s 13 . . .
e e

)0 for f)f , )0 for f)f .
df
c c
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 120
We do not require s to be continuous at fsf . A typical constitutive equation is the
e c

three-parameter function frequently referred to as power law see e.g. Landman and
.
White, 1994
0 for fFf ,
c
s f s s )0, k)1. 14 . .
k e 0

s frf y1 for f)f , .

.
0 c c
2.2.2. Solidfluid interaction force
We assume that the solidfluid interaction force m is given by a constitutive equation
linear in the concentration and the relative solidfluid velocity:
msya f v qb=f, 15 . .
r
.
where a f is the resistance coefficient, corresponding to the second constitutive
function describing the material behaviour of the mixture.
. . . .
Inserting Eq. 8 and the constitutive assumptions Eqs. 9 , 11 and 15 into the
. .
momentum balances Eqs. 4 and 5 yields
Ev
s
2
D q= v Pv sy2D v k=v qD f ygkqv r ya f v qb=f . . .
s s s s s s r
/
Et
yf=pyp=fy= s f q=PT
E
, 16 . . .
e s
Ev
f
2
D q= v Pv sy2D v k=v qD 1yf ygkqv r qa f v . . . .
f f f f f f r
/
Et
yb=fqp=fy 1yf =pq=PT
E
. 17 . .
f
.
Considering Eq. 17 at equilibrium, that is setting v sv '0, v '0 and since the pore
s f r
pressure equals the hydrostatic,
1
2
=psD ygkq v r , 18 .
f
/
2
. . .
and introducing Eq. 18 into Eq. 17 we conclude that bsp. Then, from Eqs. 16 and
.
17 the momentum balances are:
Ev
s
2
D q= v Pv sy2D v k=v qD f ygkqv r ya f v yf=p . . .
s s s s s s r
/
Et
y= s f q=PT
E
, 19 . . .
e s
Ev
f
2
D q= v Pv sy2D v k=v qD 1yf ygkqv r qa f v . . . .
f f f f f f r
/
Et
y 1yf =pq=PT
E
. 20 . .
f
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 121
2.3. Dimensional analysis
. . . .
Considerable simplification of the four field equations Eqs. 1 , 2 , 19 and 20 can
be achieved by an order-of-magnitude study. Consider a typical length scale L , a
0
typical velocity U , a typical scalar angular velocity v , a kinematic viscosity n and
0 0 0
assume that D is a typical density. Velocities are here referred to a rotating reference
s
frame with angular velocity v . A star will denote the dimensionless analogue of each
0
variable. Moreover, t sL rU will be chosen as time scale for dimensionless time
0 0 0
. .
derivatives. Introducing the characteristic parameters in Eqs. 19 and 20 , we obtain
the following equations in terms of the dimensionless variables:
D Ev
)
s s
) ) )
Fr q= v Pv
s s
)
/
D Et
f
2D Fr D
s s
2
) ) ) )
sy v k=v q f ykqFF v r . .
.
s
D Ro D
f f
Fr
)
) ) ) ) ) ) ) E
ya f v yf= p y= s f = P T , 21 . . . . .
r e s
Re
Ev
)
f
) ) )
Fr q= v Pv
f f
)
/
Et
2Fr
2
) ) ) )
sy v k=v q 1yf ykqFF v r . . .
.
f
Ro
Fr
)
) ) ) ) ) E
qa f v y 1yf = p q = P T . 22 . . . .
r f
Re
2
. .
In these equations, Fr[U r gL is the Froude number of the flow, Ro[U r v L
0 0 0 0
is the Rossby number and ResL U rn is the Reynolds number of the flow. Typical
0 0 0
numerical values for the constants and the characteristic parameters are
2
.
gs10 mrs accelaration of gravity ,
.
L s0.1 m typical size of sedimenting space in a centrifuge ,
0
y4
.
U s10 mrs settling velocity of a particle ,
0
y6 2
.
n s10 m rs kinematic viscosity of water ,
0
from which we obtain Frs10
y8
and FrrRes10
y7
. The value of v and thus those
0
of FF and Ro will be specified later.
On the basis of these estimates, and considering that the terms with stars are of the
order of one, we may neglect the viscous and the convective acceleration terms in the
linear momentum balances, i.e. those terms which bear the coefficients Fr and FrrRe,
respectively. Noting that we may express the phase velocities v and v in terms of
s f
.
v sv and q as v sqq 1yf v and v sqyfv , we obtain after rearranging and
r s s r f r
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 122
. .
inserting Eq. 22 into Eq. 21 explicit equations for the relative solidfluid velocity
and for the excess pore pressure, respectively:
)
1yf Fr 2v
2
) ) ) ) ) )
v s DD f ykqFF v r y= s f q . . . .
r e
) )
a f Ro a f . .
=
D D
s s
2
) 2 )
fy 1yf k=q y f y 1yf k=v . . . .
r
/ /
D D
f f
qOO Fr 1q1rRe , 23 . . .
a
)
f Fr 2v
)
.
) ) ) ) )
= p s v y k=q yf k=v . . .
e r f
1yf Ro 1yf
qOO Fr 1q1rRe . 24 . . .
The assumed numerical values which are independent of the applied angular velocity v
..
provide a rationale for assuming that the OO Fr 1q1rRe terms are negligible.
Before further reducing the momentum balances, we briefly discuss some properties
.
of the system of equations formed by the continuity Eq. 1 , which by using the
definition of the slip velocity v takes the form
r
Ef
q=P fqqf 1yf v f,=f,q s0, 25 . . . .
r
Et
. .
the condition =Pqs0, and the dimensional analogues of Eqs. 23 and 24 after
..
deleting the OO Fr 1q1rRe terms.
These equations provide a complete system of five scalar equations for the scalar
quantities f and p and the three components of the volume-average velocity q. This
e
means that the Coriolis terms provide the necessary coupling between the concentration
field and the volume average flow field. This is a remarkable result, since in the pure
.
gravity case by taking the curl of Eq. 24 without the Coriolis terms, and deleting these
..
also in Eq. 23 we obtain that f depends only on the vertical coordinate. In general,
the resulting field equations will then not be sufficient to determine the quantities f, p
e
and q, which can only be achieved by reconsidering viscous or advective accelaration
.
terms Burger et al., 2000e or by modeling the coupling by boundary conditions

.
Schneider, 1982 . Implications of that coupling are discussed by Burger and Kunik

.
1999 .
2.4. Final field equation
Our goal is now to obtain one scalar model equation for f. We assume that the
angular velocity v is chosen so large that centrifugal effects dominate gravity, i.e.
.
FF)1, such that it is reasonable to neglect the gravity terms in Eq. 23 ; on the other
hand, the Rossby number Ro should not be too small, in order to provide justification
for neglecting the Coriolis terms. We therefore consider the range of values 100
radrsFvF1000 radrs, corresponding to a range between about 1000 and 10 000 rpm,
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 123
and RsL s0.1 m. We then have FrrRos10
y5
, FFs100 for vs100 radrs and
0
FrrRos10
y4
, FFs10
4
for vs1000 radrs, respectively. This discussion is, of
course, not rigorous, but meant to illustrate that simultaneously neglecting both Coriolis
and gravity terms yields a reasonable approximation for the system of interest here. We
. .
then obtain from Eqs. 23 and 24 :
1yf
2
) ) ) ) ) )
v s DD f ykqFF v r y= s f , 26 . . . . .
r e
)
a f .
a
)
f .
) ) )
= p s v . 27 .
e r
1yf
.
As in our previous work Burger and Concha, 1998; Burger et al., 2000e , we replace

.
the resistance coefficient a f by the corresponding Kynch batch flux density function
2
2
DD gf 1yf .
f f :sy , DD:sD yD . 28 . .
bk s f
a f .
. .
We substitute this function into Eqs. 26 and 27 and return to a dimensional form.
Then v and p are given by
r e
f f .
bk
2
v s yDDfv rq= s f , 29 . . .
r e
2
DD gf 1yf .
=p sDDfv
2
ry= s f . 30 . . .
e e
Due to the neglection of gravity, the equation for the solidfluid relative velocity, Eq.
.
29 , only uses the radius vector. Considering axisymmetric solutions leaves the radius r
. .
as unique space variable. The scalar versions of Eqs. 29 and 30 are
f f Es f . .
bk e
2
s yDDfv rq , 31 .
r
2
Er DD gf 1yf .
Ep Es f .
e e
2
sDDfv ry . 32 .
Er Er
.
There are now two cases possible: a Flow in a rotating tube with constant cross
. . .
section Fig. 1a : Eqs. 1 and 2 reduce to
Ef E
q fqqf 1yf s0, 33 . . .
r
Et Er
Eq
s0. 34 .
Er
Since we consider only tubes, which are closed at their outward-pointing end during
. .
rotation, we obtain q'0. Inserting Eq. 29 into Eq. 33 yields the field equation
Ef E f f v
2
r E f f s
X
f Ef . . .
bk bk e
q y s y 35 .
/ /
Et Er g Er DD gf Er
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 124
for f. Defining
f f s
X
f . .
f
bk e
a f :sy ; A f :s a s ds, 36 . . . .
H
DD gf
0
.
we may rewrite Eq. 35 as
Ef E f f v
2
r E
2
.
bk
q y s A f . 37 . .
2
/
Et Er g Er
. .
b Flow in a batch cylindrical centrifuge Fig. 1b : The governing equation is now
Ef 1 E
q r fqqf 1yf s0, 38 . . . .
r
Et r Er
. .
which we may rewrite in view of q'0 and using a f and A f as defined above as
Ef 1 E f f v
2
r
2
1 E E A f . .
bk
q y s r . 39 .
/
/
Et r Er g r Er Er
Relating the centrifugal Kynch batch settling function f to the conventional gravity
ck
. .
function f by f f :syf f rg and defining the parameter gs0 for the rotating
bk ck bk
tube and gs1 for the axisymmetric case, we obtain the partial differential equation
Ef 1 E 1 E E A f .
2 1qg g
q f f v r s r , 40 . . .
ck
g g
/
Et r Er r Er Er
which can be rewritten as
Ef E A f E
2
A f . .
2 2
q f f v ryg s A f qg yf f v q . . . .
ck ck
2 2
/ /
Et Er r Er r
41 .
Since
s0 for 0FfFf and fsf ,
c max
a f 42 . .

)0 for f -f-f ,
c max
.
it becomes evident that the governing equation for the centrifugation problem, Eq. 40
.
or Eq. 41 , is a second order strongly degenerate partial differential equation with
.
source terms in the case gs1 . It is of the first order hyperbolic type for 0FfFf ,
c
i.e. in the hindered settling zone, where the solid particles do not yet touch each other,
and of the second order parabolic type for f)f . The first-order equation is equivalent
c
. .
to that investigated by Anestis and Schneider 1983 and Lueptow and Hubler 1991 .

The location of the type-change interface, where fsf is valid, is not known a priori.
c
This unusual feature allows concentration discontinuities in the hindered settling zone
and requires a particular mathematical treatment within the framework of entropy
.
solutions. See Burger and Karlsen 2000 for details.

( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 125
In both the rotating tube and cylindrical centrifuge cases, the equation
Ep Es f .
e e
2
sDDfv ry 43 .
Er Er
can be used to calculate the excess pore pressure p a posteriori from the concentration
e
distribution.
2.5. Initial and boundary conditions
We finally have to specify initial and boundary conditions. We assume that the
variable r varies between an inner radius R and the outer radius R and assume that
0
s0 at both rsR and rsR. This implies the boundary conditions
s 0
E A f .
2
f f v R q R ,t s0, t )0, 44 . . .
ck 0 0
Er
E A f .
2
f f v Rq R,t s0, t )0. 45 . . .
ck
Er
The initial condition is
f r ,0 sf r , R FrFR. 46 . . .
0 0
For simplicity, we limit ourselves in this paper to the case that the initial concentration
f is constant.
0
3. Numerical algorithm
.
To solve the initial-boundary value problem given by Eq. 41 together with the
. .
initial and boundary conditions Eqs. 44 46 numerically, we employ a modification
of the generalized upwind finite difference method. This method has been presented in
.
detail by Burger and Karlsen 2001 for the case of a pure gravity field see also Burger

.
et al., 2000d , and shall be outlined only briefly here.
.
Let J, NgN, Dr[ RyR rJ, Dt [TrN, r [R qjDr, j s1r2,1,3r2, . . . , J
0 j 0
n
.
0
.
y1r2, J and f ff r , nDt . The computation starts by setting f [f r for
j j j 0 j
j s0, . . . , J. Assume then that the solution values f
n
, j s0, . . . , J have been calculated
j
for the time level t [nDt. To compute the values f
nq1
, we first compute the
n j
extrapolated values
Dr Dr
L n n R n n
f :sf y s , f :sf q s , j s1, . . . , Jy1, 47 .
j j j j j j
2 2
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 126
where the slopes s
n
can be calculated, for example, by the minmod limiter function
j
.
M P,P,P in the following way:
f
n
yf
n
f
n
yf
n
f
n
yf
n
j jy1 jq1 jy1 jq1 j
n
s sMM u , ,u ,
j
/
Dr 2Dr Dr
w x ug 0,2 , j s2, . . . , Jy2, 48 .
s
n
ss
n
ss
n
ss
n
s0, 49 .
0 1 Jy1 J
4 min a, b,c if a, b,c)0,
~
MM a, b,c :s . 50 . .
4 max a, b,c if a, b,c-0,

0 otherwise
The extrapolated values f
L
and f
R
appear as arguments of the numerical centrifugal
j j
EO
.
Kynch flux density function f P,P which, according to the EngquistOsher scheme
ck
.
Engquist and Osher, 1981 , is defined by
f
EO
u, :sf
q
u qf
y
, 51 . . . .
ck ck ck
u
X X
q y
f u :sf 0 q max f s ,0 ds, f :s min f s ,0 ds. 52 4 4 . . . . . .
H H
ck ck ck ck ck
0 0
.
The interior scheme, which approximates the field Eq. 40 and from which the interior
approximate solution values f
n
, . . . ,f
n
are calculated, can then be formulated as
1 Jy1
2
v Dt
nq1 n 1qg EO R L 1qg EO R L
f sf y r f f ,f yr f f ,f
. .
j j jq1r2 ck j jq1 jy1r2 ck jy1 j
g
r Dr
j
Dt
g n n g n n
q r A f yA f yr A f yA f ,
. . . . . .
jq1r2 jq1 j jy1r2 j jy1
g 2
r Dr
j
j s1, . . . , Jy1, 53 .
. .
where the function A P was defined in Eq. 36 . The update formulas for the boundary
n n
.
values f and f follow from formula Eq. 53 for j s0 and j sJ by inserting the
0 J
. .
discrete analogues of the boundary conditions Eqs. 44 and 45 , respectively. More-
over, we do not use extrapolated values for the boundary schemes in order to avoid
referring to auxiliary solution values. We end up with the boundary formulas
v
2
Dt Dt
n ny1 1qg EO n n g n n
f sf y r f f ,f q r A f yA f , 54 . . . . .
0 0 1r2 ck 0 1 1r2 1 0
g g 2
R Dr R Dr
0 0
v
2
Dt
n ny1 1qg EO n n
f sf q r f f ,f .
J J Jy1r2 ck Jy1 J
g
R Dr
Dt
g
n n
y r A f yA f . 55 . . . .
Jy1r2 J Jy1
g 2
R Dr
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 127
To ensure convergence of the numerical scheme to the entropy weak solution of the
. . .
initial-boundary value problem Eqs. 41 , 44 46 , the CFL stability condition
Dt Dt
X
2
< <
Rv max f f q2 max a f F1 56 . . .
ck
2
Dr Dr f f
must be satisfied. In this work, this condition was ensured by selecting Dr freely in
every example and determining Dt from
0.9Dr
Dt s . 57 .
R 2
2
v u q max a f .
`
R Dr f
0
The parameter us1 was chosen in all examples, and the accuracy was Js200, except
for one case where a high resolution solution was computed with Js1000.
4. Numerical examples
4.1. Kinematic model of centrifugation of ideal suspensions
.
Anestis and Schneider 1983 studied the centrifugation of ideal suspensions in the
framework of the theory of kinematic waves which, for suspension flows, is equivalent
. .
to Kynchs theory Kynch, 1952 . Their model equation is obtained from Eq. 41 if we
set s '0 and thus A'0:
e
Ef E
2 2
q f f v r sg yf f v . 58 . . . . .
ck ck
Et Er
To establish the relation to the phenomenological theory including compression effects,
.
we briefly recall some properties of Eq. 58 see Anestis, 1981; Anestis and Schneider,
.
1983; Lueptow and Hubler, 1991 for details . To this end, we introduce new dimension-

) ) ) ) ) )
. .
less variables t , r and f by t [trT , r [rrR and f f [f f ru ,
ck 0 ck ck `
X
.
2
.
) )
where u [f 0 , T [1r v u , and define R [R rR and T [TrT . In these
` ck 0 ` 0 0 0
.
dimensionless variables, Eq. 58 reads
Ef E
) ) ) ) ) ) )
q f f r syg f f , R Fr F1, 0Ft FT . 59 . . . .
ck ck 0
) )
Et Er
.
We immediately see that solutions of Eq. 59 do not depend on R or w. These solutions
can be constructed using the well-known method of characteristics: the general solution
is given in parametric form by
1
1 du
f y
) ) )
1qg
r sC j f f , t sy qC j , 60 . . . . .
H
1 ck 2
)
0
1qg f u .
f
ck
.
where the parameter j is constant along characteristics and the functions C j and
1
.
0
C j and the lower boundary of integration, f , have to be determined from initial and
2

boundary conditions. Note that, unlike the pure gravity case Bustos and Concha, 1988;
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 128
. .
Concha and Bustos, 1991 and as is illustrated in Fig. 6 by Lueptow and Hubler 1991 ,

the solution f is not constant along characteristics.

.
It is well known that intersections of characteristics cause solutions of Eq. 59 to be
discontinuous in general, and that the propagation speed s
)
of a discontinuity SS at a

) )
.
) )
.
y
point r , t gSS in the r , t -plane, which separates two concentration values f
0 0
and f
q
is given by the RankineHugoniot condition
) ) ) q ) y
dr r f f yf f . . .
0 ck ck
)
s s s . 61 .
) q y
dt f yf
SS
) )
.
) )
.
By the change of variables r sr j , f and t st j , f , it is not difficult to
. .
derive from Eqs. 60 and 61 the ordinary differential equation
Et
)
Er
)
) q ) q ) y ) y q y
r j ,f f f yr j ,f f f q f yf . . . . . .
ck ck
dj
Ef Ef
sy ,
) )
Et Er
df
) q ) q ) y ) y q y
r j ,f f f yr j ,f f f y f yf . . . . . .
ck ck
Ej Ej
fsf
q
or fsf
y
62 .
.
describing the shock front in the j , f -plane. This front can be transformed into the

) )
. .
r , t -plane by Eq. 60 .
&
m
u f 1yf , for 0-f-f :s0.66, .
` max
f f s 63 . .
bk

0 otherwise.
We now construct the exact solution of a simple case of Anestis and Schneider
.
1983 , to compare this result later with numerical solutions of the phenomenological

model. To be specific, we take the Kynch batch flux density function Richardson and
& &
.
Zaki, 1954 where u syu rg with u sy0.0001 mrs and ms5. The constant
` ` `
initial datum, f s0.07, has been chosen in such a way that the chords joining the point
0
.. . .
f , f f with the points 0, 0 and f , 0 respectively, both lie above the graph
0 bk 0 max
.
of f in an f f versus f plot, according to a the case Ia of Anestis and Schneider
bk bk
.
1983 for centrifugation and that of a mode of sedimentation MS-1 by Bustos et al.
. .
1999 and Burger and Tory 2000 .

In this case, two kinematic shocks will form: a shock SS separating the suspension
1
.
from the clear liquid zone fs0 which is forming on the inner wall and a shock SS
2
separating the suspension from the sediment of concentration fsf . These shocks
max
will meet at the critical time t
)
and merge into a third stationary shock SS .
c 3
Unlike the gravity case, the concentration of the bulk suspension between SS and
1
) )

)
SS is not constant for 0Ft -t . In fact, by using the initial condition f r ,
2 c
. .
0 sf , we obtain from Eq. 60
0
1
1qg
) ) )
r sj f f rf f , 64 . . . .
ck 0 ck
1 du
f
)
t sy . 65 .
H
)
1qg f u .
f
ck 0
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 129
)
.
From the equation for t which, for flux density functions given by Eq. 63 with
u -0 and integers n, takes the explicit form
`
ny1 j
1 1yu 1 u
ny1
)
t st f yt f , t u :s ln y , . . .

0
/
/ / j
1qg u j 1yu
js1
66 .
we see that the concentration in the suspension varies with time, but not with the
radius r.
.
To obtain explicit expression for the shock curves SS and SS , we integrate Eq. 62
1 2
to obtain
1 1
1qg 1qg
) ) )
r sR f rf for SS , r s f yf r f yf for SS , . . . .
0 0 1 max 0 max 2
67 .
)
.
where f is a parameter and t is given by Eq. 65 . The parameter f runs from f to
0
the value
f
max

fs 68 .
. y 1qg
)
1q f rf y1 R . . .
max 0 0
obtained by interesting the shock curves SS and SS . In this example, we obtain
1 2

fs0.015298 for gs0 ands0.0031174 for gs1. The corresponding exact solutions
are drawn as iso-concentration lines in Fig. 2.
4.2. Comparison with the kinematic model
Having recalled the known results from Anestis and Schneider, we come back to the
phenomenological model of sedimentation with compression. Our emphasis is now on
. .
the order of magnitude of the terms of Eq. 41 containing A f in comparison to those
.
present in Eq. 58 . To this end, we define the dimensionless integrated diffusion
)
. . .
coefficient A f :sA f rA f . Note that the monotonicity of A implies that
max
)
.
0FA f F1.
.
Using the same dimesionless variables as before, we may rewrite Eq. 41 in
dimensionless form as
Ef E
) )
q f f r . .
ck
) )
Et Er
) ) 2 )
1 A f E A f E A f . . .
)
syg f f q g y q , 69 . .
ck
) ) 2 2
) ) /
/
Pe Er r
r E r . .
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 130
Fig. 2. Exact solution of a kinematic centrifugation problem. The lines SS , SS and SS denote kinematic
1 2 3
shocks; the vertical lines are iso-concentration lines corresponding to the annotated values.
2 2
.
where the Peclet number Pe is defined by PesR v u rA f , in analogy to the

` max
.
Peclet number introduced by Auzerais et al. 1988 in the pure gravity case. Here, Pe

characterizes the order of magnitude of the convective centrifugal hindered settling

terms to those of centrifugal compression. The actual value of Pe depends, of course, on
the effective solid stress function s of the material considered.
e
.
) ) ) )
Eq. 69 is again considered for R Fr F1 and 0Ft FT . However, solutions
0
.
of Eq. 69 now do depend on the values of R and w, and we have to specify these
.
quantities to make comparison with the solutions of Eq. 59 depicted in Fig. 2 possible.
. .
In particular, for given functions A f and f f and a vessel of fixed outer radius R,
ck
.
we observe that 1rPe0 for v`. This means that the solutions of Eq. 59 ,
w
)
x
considered on the appropriately scaled time interval 0, T , are the limit case obtained
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 131
from the phenomenological sedimentationconsolidation model when the angular veloc-
ity v approaches infinity.
. .
To illustrate this, we now include the compression terms in Eqs. 41 and 69 by
choosing the effective solid stress function
0 for fFf :s0.1,
c
s f s 70 . .
9 e

5.7 frf y1 Pa for f)f , .

.
c c

corresponding to a calcium carbonate slurry Damasceno et al., 1992; Burger et al.,

. . .
2000b . The gravity Kynch batch flux density function f f defined by Eq. 63 and
bk
.
the effective solid stress function s given by Eq. 70 are plotted in Fig. 3.
e
We choose the outer radius Rs0.3 m, the corresponding inner radius R s0.06 m,
0
and again the initial concentration f s0.07. Three different values of the angular
0
velocity v are chosen in such a way that the centrifugal force Rv
2
at the bottom of the
vessel equals 100=g, 1000=g and 10 000=g, respectively. The corresponding times
T are 30, 3 and 0.3 s. Fig. 4 shows the numerical result for both the rotating tube
0
. .
gs0 and the cylindrical vessel gs1 as settling plots iso-concentration lines in an
.
r vs. t plot , while Fig. 5 displays selected concentration profiles at different times for
the rotating tube case, together with the concentration profiles at corresponding times of
.
the exact solution for the case s '0 depicted in Fig. 2a .
e
Both Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate that the sedimentationconsolidation process terminates
in very short time. From Fig. 4 we observe that the iso-concentration lines of the
compression zone become horizontal very soon after the supernatesuspension and the
sedimentsuspension interfaces have met. As v is increased, the compression zone
.
becomes thinner, and the final maximum concentration increases, which is well visible
in Fig. 5be. However, it is worth noting that the rotating tube produces somewhat
higher bottom concentrations than the cylindrical vessel, which becomes apparent by the
fact that the iso-concentration line fs0.42 is present in Fig. 4e only. In the hindered
. .
Fig. 3. Gravity Kynch batch flux density function left and effective solid stress function right used for
comparison with the kinematic model.
(
)
R
.
B
u
r
g
e
r
,
F
.
C
o
n
c
h
a
r
I
n
t
.
J
.
M
i
n
e
r
.
P
r
o
c
e
s
s
.
6
3
2
0
0
1
1
1
5

1
4
5

1
3
2
. . .
Fig. 4. Numerical simulation of a sedimentationconsolidation process a, c, e in a rotating tube and b, d, f in a cylindrical vessel at angular velocities a, b
. .
vs57.184 radrs, c, d 180.83 radrs and e, f 571.84 radrs. The concentration lines correspond to the annotated values.
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 133

.
F
i
g
.
4
c
o
n
t
i
n
u
e
d
.
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 134

.
F
i
g
.
4
c
o
n
t
i
n
u
e
d
.
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 135
.
Fig. 5. Concentration profiles in a rotating tube at t st siPT r3, is0, . . . ,6 and t s4T : a exact solution
i 0 7 0
. . . .
of Eq. 59 , b to d : numerical solutions of Eq. 41 with R s0.06 m, Rs0.3 m and different values of v.
0
.
settling zone, the numerical scheme accurately reproduces to within numerical errors
the exact solution of Fig. 2.
( )
4.3. Comparison with results by Sambuichi et al. 1991
.
Sambuichi et al. 1991 published experimental results of the centrifugation of three
different aqueous suspensions, namely of limestone, yeast, and clay, in a cylindrical
sedimenting centrifuge. For each material, the measurement of gravitational settling
. .
velocities led to a function that can be transformed into our functions f f or f f .
bk ck
Moreover, compression data obtained by both the compressionpermeability cell method
.
and the settling method Shirato et al., 1970 determined a unique effective solid stress
.
function s f for each material.
e
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 136
In this paper, we choose the published experimental data referring to the clay
.
suspension. Sambuichi et al. 1991 approximated the measured gravity settling veloci-
ties u for the clay experiments by three different connecting straight segments in a
g
log u versus log f plot, depending on whether f falls into an assumed dilute
g
. .
0.02FfF0.056 , intermediate 0.056FfF0.107 or a concentrated region fG
. .
b
2
0.107 . Consequently, we obtain for each of these segments u f sb f with
g 1
suitable real constants b and b . Converting the function u into f via f
1 2 g bk bk
. .
f sfu f whereby we take into account that the measured settling velocities are
g
.
propagation velocities of the clear liquid-suspension interface , and smoothly connecting
the first segment with the origin by a second-order parabola, we obtain the continuous,

piecewise differentiable function the precise representation has been cut here to five
.
significant digits
0 for fF0 or fGf :s0.5,
max
2 y8
23.229f y2.1673f =10 mrs for 0-fF0.02,
.
y9 0.72715
~
y5.8558=10 f mrs for 0.02-fF0.056, f f s .
bk
y10 y0.57139
y1.3869=10 f mrs for 0.056-fF0.107,
y10 0.132
y6.68=10 f for 0.107-f-f .
max
71 .
.
The last expression in Eq. 71 , corresponding to the concentrated segment, has been
.
proposed by Sambuichi et al. 1991 . Since that expression does not assume the value
zero, the flux function had to be cut at a maximum concentration f . This value has
max

been chosen here as 0.5. The actual choice of this value in a reasonable range say
.
greater than 0.3 does not influence the result for sedimentation with compression, since
the maximum concentration possible with compression essentially depends on the
. .
Fig. 6. Gravity Kynch batch flux density function of left and effective solid stress function right used for
.
comparison with experimental data by Sambuichi et al. 1991 .
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 137
. .
Fig. 7. Comparison of clear liquidsuspension circles and suspensionsediment black dots interfaces,
.
measured by Sambuichi et al. 1991 during centrifugation of a clay suspension using three different angular
velocities, with numerical solution of the phenomenological model.
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 138
behavior of s on intervals of f that are close to the critical concentration f , and only
e c
to a small degree on the value of f . However, this value needs to be well-defined for
max
our purpose of a comparison with the purely kinematic model.
.
The published constitutive equation Fig. 3 of Sambuichi et al., 1991 ,
es0.86y0.74=10
y3
p , 72 .
s
where es1yf is the porosity and p is Sambuichi et al.s compressive solid pressure

s
measured in pascals, can be converted into the effective solid stress function
0 for fFf ,
c
s f s 73 . .
e k

a fyf for f)f , .

1 c c
where the constants have the values f s0.14, a s1.142=10
7
Pa and ks3.509.
c 1
3
.
The density difference for the material was rs1600 kgrm . The functions f f and
bk
. . .
s f defined by Eqs. 71 and 73 , respectively, are plotted in Fig. 6.
e
Fig. 7 shows numerical solutions of the phenomenological model calculated with
. .
these parameters and functions Eqs. 71 and 73 . The initial concentration, f s0.089,
0
and the three different angular velocities vs146.4 radrs, 167.76 radrs and 230.59
.
radrs have also been chosen according to Sambuichi et al. 1991 . The maximum time
..
2
for each diagram was chosen as 25 000P vr 146.4 radrs , such that, in a similar way
as in the previous example, all three plots can compared with the high-accuracy solution
for the case A'0 depicted in Fig. 8.
The solution shown in Fig. 8 displays some additional features as compared to those
.
given in Fig. 2. The fact that the point f , f f can no longer be connected with the
0 bk 0
. .
point f , 0 by a straight line lying above the graph of f see Fig. 6 implies that
max bk
the bulk suspension is no longer separated from the sediment by a single kinematic
shock. Rather, the sediment with fsf s0.5 is separated from the initial concentra-
max
.
Fig. 8. High accuracy reference solution without compression A'0 for the centrifugation experiment by
.
Sambuichi et al. 1991 and the settling plots of Fig. 7.
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 139
tion f s0.089 by a contact discontinuity at fs0.107, followed upwards by a centred
0
rarefraction wave. The transition between f s0.089 and the time-dependent concentra-
0
tion value of the bulk suspension also takes place continuously, as is well visible in the
concentration profiles plotted in Fig. 9. Moreover, we observe that the minimum
nonzero concentration of the system is 0.056, corresponding to the local minimum of
f , which is marked by a circle in Fig. 9. The sedimentation process of that figure is
bk
.
one of Type II according to the classification of Anestis and Schneider 1983 .
Due to the obvious difficulties related to measuring concentration profiles in a
.
rotating system, Sambuichi et al. 1991 could only measure the propagation of the
supernatesuspension and of the suspensionsediment interfaces. These experimental
data are plotted in Fig. 7. The numerical solution, displayed with additional iso-con-
centration lines, approximates well both interfaces for small times and correctly predicts
the final heights of the sediments. However, the simulated settling process takes place
somewhat faster than the observed, and this discrepancy consistently increases with v.
This phenomenon has, however, a simple explanation: the model equation solved was
.
Fig. 9. Simulated concentration profiles of the high accuracy reference solution without compression A'0
.
for the centrifugation experiment by Sambuichi et al. 1991 and of numerical the simulation of centrifugation
..
with compression with vs230.59 radrs see Fig. 7 a .
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 140
formulated under the assumption that Coriolis terms are negligible. Since it is well
known that Coriolis effects produce a retrograde rotation of the solid phase and thereby
.
enhance the separation time Schaflinger et al., 1986; Schaflinger, 1987 , it is not
surprising that our model underpredicts the separation time, as visible in Fig. 7.
5. Conclusions
The present work shows how the phenomenological theory of sedimentationcon-
solidation processes, which had been formulated so far a gravity field only, can be
extended to a rotating system in order to provide a rational model for the centrifugation
of flocculated suspensions. In this paper, we consider the simple case where the
gravitational field and the Coriolis force are negligible compared to the centrifugal force,
but that also Coriolis forces are negligible. Clearly, these restrictions imply both a lower
and upper limit of the angular velocities possible with a given centrifuge. However,
these assumptions are also inherent in the simpler kinematic treatments for centrifuga-

tion ideal suspensions Anestis, 1981; Anestis and Schneider, 1983; Lueptow and
.
Hubler, 1991 , to which the phenomenological theory has been compared explicitly. As

in the gravity case, this theory leads to one scalar hyperbolicparabolic degenerate
convectiondiffusion equation with a type-change interface marking the sediment level.
Solutions of such equations are discontinuous in general and require a treatment within a
.
suitable entropy solution framework Burger et al., 2000c; Burger and Karlsen, 2000 . In

particular, it must be ensured that the numerical scheme applied to such an equation
approximates the right discontinuous solution. However, this is the case with the
.
presented modification related to the rotating frame of reference of the generalized
upwind scheme, which is computationally simple and correctly approximates the
supernatesuspension and suspensionsediment interfaces without the necessity to track
these explicitly. This fact sharply contrasts with the numerical solution procedure
.
advanced by Sambuichi et al. 1991 : their algorithm is essentially based on alternately
. .
solving Eq. 58 in the hindered settling zone and the equation in our notation
.
2
.
Es f rEfsDfrv , which is obtained from Eq. 31 by assuming that is negligible
e r
in the compression zone. The appropriate supernatersuspension and suspensionrsedi-
ment interfaces are determined by a trial-and-error repetition of these solution proce-
dures, combined with global mass balance considerations, several times during each
time step. We doubt not only the efficiency of this algorithm, but also the validity of
neglecting in the compression zone, since our dimensional analysis does not provide
r
justification to do so.
As has become apparent in the example of comparison with the experimental data of
.
Sambuichi et al. 1991 , the current phenomenological formulation is limited to those
cases where Coriolis terms are indeed negligible. However, retaining these terms in Eq.
.
23 and assuming that the flow variables depend on the radius only will again produce
.
an explicit though more complicated equation for , and a corresponding
r
hyperbolicparabolic partial differential equation for the volumetric solids concentra-
tion. For ideal suspensions, obtained by letting s '0 in our theory, such treatments
e
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 141
. .
have already been performed by Schaflinger et al. 1986 and Schaflinger 1987 . An
analogous extension of the present work to the presence of Coriolis terms, as well as
.
comparisons with additional experiments such as those of Eckert et al. 1996 , are in
preparation.
.
Finally, we mention that Burger et al. 2000a derive a mathematical model of

pressure filtration from the phenomenological theory of sedimentationconsolidation

processes. This model leads again to a scalar partial differential equation of the
mentioned mixed type, but with a free boundary modeling the movement of the mixture
top boundary. In view of these advances, it is feasible now to unify the models of
centrifugation and filtration in a phenomenological theory of filtering centrifuges
.
Sambuichi et al., 1987 , to which we will come back in one of the next articles in this
series.
6. List of symbols
.
Variables that occur in both dimensional and dimensionless starred forms are listed
here only in their dimensional version.
Latin symbols
.
a f diffusion coefficient
.
A f integrated diffusion coefficient
b body force per unit mass
b , b
s f
external body forces
B
.
negative potential of b
. .
C j ,C j
1 2
integration constants
.
f f
bk
Kynch batch flux density function
.
f f
ck
centrifugal Kynch batch flux density function
EO
.
f u,
ck
numerical Kynch batch flux function
FF Froude number of the system
Fr Froude number of the flow
g acceleration of gravity
g gravity force
I identity tensor
j space index
J integer defining spatial discretization
k
.
exponent in a constitutive equation s ss f
e e
k upwards pointing unit vector
L
0
typical length
m solidfluid interaction force
.
MM a, b, c Minmod limiter
m Exponent of the RichardsonZaki flux density function
n time index
N integer defining time step
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 142
p pore pressure
p
e
excess pore pressure
p , p
s f
solid and fluid phase pressures
p

s
.
compressive solid pressure Sambuichi et al., 1991
p
t
total pressure
q volume average flow velocity
r radius
r
j
value of r in numerical method
r radius vector of the system
R outer radius of the container
R
0
.
inner radius suspension surface
Re Reynolds number of the flow
Ro Rossby number
s
n
j
slopes in numerical method
SS, SS , SS , SS
1 2 3
symbols denoting kinematic shocks
t time
t
0
time scale
t
c
critical time
T , T
s f
solid and fluid stress tensors
T
E
, T
E
s f
solid fluid extra stress tensors
u
`
.
coefficient of f f
ck
&
u
`
.
coefficient of f f
bk
u
g
gravity settling rate
U
0
typical velocity
v , v , ,
s f s f
solid and fluid phase velocities
v ,
r r
solidfluid relative velocity
z height
z axis of rotation
Greek symbols
a
1
.
coefficient in equation for s f
e
.
a f resistance coefficient
b coefficient in the approach for m
b , b
1 2
.
parameters in the equation for u f
g
g parameter indicating rotating tube or axisymmetric case
Dr space step of numerical method
Dt time step of numerical method
DD solidfluid mass density difference
f volumetric solids concentration

f value of f at intersection of kinematic shocks

f
y
, f
q
approximate limits of f at a discontinuity
f
0
initial concentration
f
c
critical concentration
( )
R. Burger, F. ConcharInt. J. Miner. Process. 63 2001 115145 143
f
n
j
value of f in numerical method
f
L
, f
R
j j
extrapolated numerical values of f
f
max
maximum solids concentration
F potential of gravity force
m , m
s f
phase viscosities
n
0
kinematic viscosity of water
D , D
s f
solid and fluid mass densities
s propagation velocity of a discontinuity
s
0
.
coefficient in a constitutive equation s ss f
e e
.
s f
e
effective solid stress function
.
t u
.
auxiliary function defined in 66
u parameter in numerical method
v scalar angular velocity
v
0
typical value of v
v angular velocity
V potential of centrifugal force
Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support by the Collaborative Research Programme Sonder-

.
forschungsbereich 404 at the University of Stuttgart and by the Fondef Project
D97-I2042 at the University of Concepcion.

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