the bottom line is that traditional sediment bowls were/are dependent on gravity to separate debris from the fuel. and in order to do that the fuel must enter AND EXIT from the top. giving it time as it travels from the entry point to the exit point, if only a second or two, for the heavier debris to settle toward, if not reach, the bottom before the clean fuel it reaches the exit point on the other side of the bowl.
and if one thinks that the distance to travel from the entry point to the exit point and the amount of time that that would take determines just how how effective it would be, then they would be right. IOW the diameter of the bowl is of some consequence.
