Abstract
The Brinkman model, previously extended to the concentrated region of monodisperse flocculated solid–liquid system, is used here with respect to polydisperse flocculated system. This model can describe fluid flow relative to a swarm of flocs of uniform permeability over a wide concentration range, and can be used to estimate the concentration dependence of permeability. For checking the model, permeability determination by the constant-rate expression method, floc solidosity (packing fraction) estimation by gravitational drainage of floc bed, and floc size analysis by a photographic method were performed for polydisperse flocculated Korean kaolin. The agreement between theoretical and experimental characteristics of flocculated Korean kaolin was satisfactory. It is also shown that the empirical Tambo–Watanabe floc density function can be theoretically derived from the model, and is closely related to the separation kinetics of flocculated dispersion.
