Settling is the process by which particulates settle to the bottom of a liquid and form a
sediment. Particles that experience a force, either due to gravity or due to
centrifugal motion will tend to move in a uniform manner in the direction exerted by that force. For gravity settling, this means that the particles will tend to fall to the bottom of the vessel, forming a
slurry at the vessel base.
Settling is an important operation in many applications, such as
mining,
wastewater treatment, biological science,
space propellant reignition,
and
particle mechanics.