The buoyant force Fb in N on the particle of mass m kg falling at a

velocity v m/s relative to the fluid is:

where :

m/ρp is the volume Vp, in m3 of the particle and

gis the gravitational acceleration in m/s2.

(1)
WORKING EQUATIONS
The forces involved when a rigid particle is moving through a fluid are
buoyant force (Fb), gravitational force (Fg) and resistance drag force
(FD).Whenever a particle is moving through a fluid, a number of forces will
be acting on the particle .
A density difference is needed between the particle and the fluid.
Therefore, an external force of gravity is needed to impart motion to the
particle. When the densities are equal, the buoyant force will
counterbalance the external force. Forces for a rigid particle moving in a
fluid that acting on the body: gravity acting downward, buoyant force acting
upward, and resistance or drag force acting in opposite direction to the
particle motion. The density of solid particle is ρp kg/m3 solid and the liquid
is ρ kg/m3 liquid.
The gravitation or external force Fg in N on the particle is:

(2)

The drag force FDon a body in N may be derived from the fact that, as
in flow of fluids, the drag force or frictional resistance is proportional to the
velocity head v2/2 of the fluid displaced by the moving body. This must be
multiplied by the density of the fluid and by a significant area A, such as the
projected area of the particle:

(3)
 The resultant force on the body is the Fg-Fb-FD. This resultant force must

equal the force due the acceleration: (4)

Substituting Eq. (1)-(3) into (4),

(5)

When the moment of the body is released from its position of rest, the

falling of the body consist of two periods: the period of accelerated fall and

the period of constant-velocity fall.

 The initial acceleration is very short. So, the period of constant-

velocity fall is the important one. It is called the free settling velocity or

terminal velocity vt .

To solve the terminal velocity in Eq. (5), dv/dt= 0 and the equation

becomes:

(6)
 For spherical particles m = πDp3ρp/6 and A = πDp2/4.

Substituting these into Eq. (6), for spherical particles:

Where:
(7)
vt is m/s (ft/s),

ρ is kg/m3 (Ibm/ft3),

g is 9.80665 m/s2 (32.174 ft/s2)

The drag coefficient for rigid spheres has been shown to be a function of
the Reynolds number Dpvρ/µ of the sphere. In laminar-flow region, called
the Stokes’ law region for NRe<1, the drag coefficient is:

Where: µ is the viscosity of the liquid in

Pa·s or kg/m·s (Ibm/ft·s).