High

Rate Settling
Time reqd to move distance L = Time reqd to settle distance D

L D v D W
= vso = L
v L vso L W

Q
vso = , the overflow rate
A

Of the 6 particles with settling velocity vs1 , 3 will be
removed, and 3 will not be removed.

Removal efficiency = 50%



If we add a parallel tray at a distance

vs1 L D
d= =
vL 2
all particles with settling velocity vs1 will be removed.

Therefore, the removal efficiency increases to 100%.

Or, for the original settling velocity vso , we can reduce the surface area by 50% by adding a parallel
plate:

Q
1 Q A
vso = 2 ; A2 = ; A2 = 1 . Therefore, we get a smaller tank.
A2 2 vso 2

This gave rise to the idea of using parallel trays, but sludge removal became an issue (Fig. 9-
12).
Best solution: use inclined, self-cleansing parallel plates (Fig. 9-14).

It can be shown that the overflow rate in the area covered with parallel plates is given by:

Q w
vso =
A H cos + w
A = horizontal area covered with plates, H = vertical depth of the plates, w = plate separation, =
angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal.