Abstract
In this study, the adequacy of Reynolds numbers and Froude numbers derived from about sixty domestic water treatment plants (WTPs) were analyzed in order to estimate the characteristics of hydraulic behavior within the rectangular shaped sedimentation basins used widely. From the results of analysis, most of domestic WTPs have satisfied the criteria regulated as that Reynolds number should less than 1,000(dimensionless). On the other hand, they have not been able to satisfy the Froude number criteria, which should be higher than $1.0{\times}10^{-6}$. The reasons why most of domestic WTPs could not satisfy the criteria are that its criteria basis has been not only inadequate, but also the concept of external flow occurred around a settling particle has been ignored. Accordingly, this study proved the feasibility of Archimedes number, which indicates the ratio between particle Reynolds number and Froude number, to evaluate the hydraulic efficiency and its function of scale factor.
