Using an optical settling column to assess suspension characteristics within the free, flocculation, and hindered settling regimes

Abstract

Instruments able to measure the settling velocity distribution (SVD) and investigate the flocculation behavior of suspensions for a wide range of concentrations and settling regimes are required to understand and model sediment transport in headwater catchments. Such knowledge will improve our water resource management capabilities. An optical settling column, equipped with a vertical array of optical sensors, was used to provide light transmission through a suspension during quiescent settling. A new method to determine the settling velocity and the propensity of suspensions to flocculate is proposed. Its reliability was evaluated based on settling tests for (1) noncohesive sediments, (2) cohesive sediments at medium (~1 g l−1) concentration in a natural and deflocculated state, and (3) a cohesive sediment at a very high concentration (~10 g l−1). This choice of sediments and concentrations allowed for the assessment of free, flocculated, and hindered settling regimes. The proposed data processing method provides measurements for a range of test conditions. The result showed that different populations of particles with different settling behaviors can be identified within the suspensions. In the case of noncohesive sediments, the proposed method provided SVD similar to those obtained with reference methods. The propensity to flocculate was zero as expected for inert material. The natural cohesive sediment at medium concentration exhibited a large range of SVD (10−2–10−5 m s−1) and high propensity to flocculate. These were both reduced with the addition of a deflocculant. Identified particle behaviors were consistent with independent measurement of size distribution, microscopic, and erosion properties. In the hindered regime, a narrow SVD corresponded to the hindered front settling velocity (~10−4 m s−1). An optical settling column was able to provide reliable SVD and an evaluation of the propensity of particles to flocculate. The settling column was able to detect variations of the settling velocities with settled depth, thus highlighting that settling columns with a single measurement point may provide erroneous results by not accounting for the full spectrum of settling depth.