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Figure 7 shows that the entrance regions are always less than the length of the plate setltlers. Thus, based on this analysis, the best designs would include plates that are more closely spaced. All of the plate settlers will have a significant entrance region. It is likely that the only way flocs can successfully pass thorugh the entrance region is to grow into larger flocs so they have a higher sedimentation velocity.
A more detailed process of More detail on the above mentioned calculations calculation process can be found the in the Math CAD File attached.
*Math CAD File