Using electrical conductivity measurements to monitor the local concentration of solids indirectly in settling tests is a practice already explored in the literature. However, since suspended particles may comprise a mixture of solids, a new suspension preparation methodology and calibration procedure were proposed to eliminate the influence of soluble materials on conductivity measurements. This article investigates water-barite suspensions of 10%, 15%, and 20% v/v in solids. Their settling dynamics resulted in particle Reynolds numbers and Peclet numbers always smaller than 0.0012 and larger than 2100, respectively. Particle agglomeration, multiple boundaries (layers of different maximum local concentrations), channeling (formation of flow paths or channels), and particulate stratification were some phenomena inferred from the results. Hence, this article illustrates that settling behaviors typically seen in solid–liquid mixtures of non-Newtonian continuous phase can also occur in aqueous suspensions, indicating there are still considerable challenges to understanding the process of gravitational settling.

中文翻译：

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重晶石水悬浮液的电导率测量和非均匀沉降行为

在沉降测试中使用电导率测量间接监测固体的局部浓度是文献中已经探讨的一种做法。然而，由于悬浮颗粒可能包含固体混合物，因此提出了一种新的悬浮液制备方法和校准程序，以消除可溶性材料对电导率测量的影响。本文研究了固体中 10%、15% 和 20% v/v 的水-重晶石悬浮液。它们的沉降动力学导致粒子雷诺数和佩克莱特数总是分别小于 0.0012 和大于 2100。颗粒团聚、多重边界（不同最大局部浓度的层）、通道（形成流动路径或通道）和颗粒分层是从结果中推断出的一些现象。因此，