Abstract
The objective of this study is to suggest a new method to estimate the settling velocity of mud flocs. The settling velocity is estimated based on the particle size distribution measured by Laser Diffraction Particle Size Analyzer (SHIMADZU: SALD-2000J). The accuracy and validity of the suggested method were investigated by comparing with the results obtained from Monte Carlo simulation. The relative errors are about 5 % when distilled water was used, and it becomes to be equal to 10 % (while 20 min) when salt water was used. Therefore, it is considered that the accuracy of the suggested method is high. These results suggest that the suggested method is valid for estimating the settling velocity of mud flocs that have different organic matter contents either in distilled water or salt water conditions.
