Lecture Notes Bulk Material Handling: Properties of Bulk Materials Khanindra Pathak

What is meant by Bulk Material?

The commonly used term Bulk Solids in the mining and mineral industry refer to the materials that are mined. Any material that can be stored in a bin or silo are also generically referred to as a bulk solid. Thus this term indeed encompasses a wide range of materials varying in size from submicron powders to mine-run ores containing large boulders, and as chemically different as sugar, cocoa powder, limestone, coal, cement, sawdust, metal shavings and plastic pellets.

Bulk Material Handling

Bul Material Handling includes mainly transportation, transfer, transshipment and storage. The behavior of bulk solid material can be characterized by the flow function, the flow factor of the material, and the internal and wall friction angles. These parameters can be measured by a shear tester.

Characterization of Bulk Solids

Various tests are conducted to characterize the bulk solids. Some of the terms associated with bulk solid characterization are briefly defined below:

Abrasiveness
The abrasiveness of a material is determined by its hardness factor and the shape of its particles. For instance, a material which has a high Moh's hardness factor and has sharp, angular-shaped particles will be considered highly abrasive.

Adhesion

Adhering of the material to a surface or particle other than itself. (After material has been squeezed in your hand for one minute, observe the adhesive characteristic by noting particles sticking to your extended fingers.)

Adhesiveness
Adhesiveness can be described as "external cohesiveness" which is the ability of material to adhere to other surfaces.

Aeration
The action of introducing air (or gas) to a bulk material by any means. Aeration may cause the material to become fluidized or agitated.

Air Retention
Air retention is the ability of a material to retain air (or other gas) in the void spaces of the material after the air (or gas) supply to it has been terminated. Air retention capability can vary between almost zero and several days, depending on the material's other physical characteristics.

Angle of Repose

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes
The angle of repose of a bulk material is the angle formed between the horizontal and sloping surface of a piled material, which has been allowed to form naturally without any conditioning.

Bulk Density (Fluidized)

Fluidized bulk density is the apparent bulk density of a material in its fluidized state. It is generally lower than either the packed or loose bulk density due to the air absorbed into the voids.

Bulk Density (Loose)

The loose bulk density (sometimes called the poured bulk density) o a bulk material is the weight per unit of volume (usually pounds per cubic foot) that has been measured when the sample is in a loose, non-compacted or poured condition. The loose bulk density may be close to the 'as conveyed" bulk density and is preferred for the purposes of pneumatic conveying system design.

Bulk Density (Packed)

The packed bulk density of a bulk material is the weight per unit volume (usually pounds per cubic foot) that has been measured when the sample has been packed or compacted in. For instance, a silo or bin or after containerized transportation. The packed bulk density does not compare to the conditions that the loose bulk density is preferred for the purposes of conveying system design.

Bulk Material Composition

The following table describes the general compositions that may be found in a bulk material.

Term Uniform

Definition A single bulk material whose particles possess the same size and shape. A single bulk material whose particle size and shape may vary. A bulk material comprised of individual particles which can be visibly discerned. A bulk material comprised of individual particles which cannot be visibly discerned. Two or more different bulk materials which have been combined.

Non-Uniform

Granular

Powder

Mixed

Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness describes the tendency of a material to adhere to itself. The Cohesiveness of a bulk solid material can be caused by any and sometimes by all of several factors. These include electrostatic charging, surface tension effects, and interlocking of certain particle

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes
shapes, particularly fibrous types of materials. Cohesiveness in bulk solids causes erratic flow frombins. pipeline feeding problems, and adverse effects in certain kinds of valves.

Compressibility
Ability of a material to compress under head load (its own weight). Squeezing material in hand will reveal this characteristic.

Corrosiveness
Some materials have chemical properties which will, when combined with other materials such as moisture and air, cause chemical deterioration to materials of construction.

Explosiveness
In certain conditions, some bulk materials can form potentially explosive mixtures when combined with air. These conditions depend on (a) the nature of the material itself, which would include its ignition temperature, its chemical reaction with oxygen, its particle size distribution, and so on; and (b) the nature of the operation involving the material.

Floodability
Reflects a material's tendency to aerate and act as a fluid. (Squeeze material quickly in your fist. If it squirts through your fingers, then it is floodable.) Floodable materials are difficult to restrain in controlled feeding applications, and deserve conscientious sizing.

Flowability
Flowability is the ease with which a bulk material flows under the influence of gravity only.

Fluidized
Fluidized describes the state some bulk materials achieve when a gas has been entrained into the void spaces between the particles of the material. Material in a highly fluidized state tends to behave more like a fluid (as the term implies) than a solid bulk material.

Friability
Friability describes a bulk material where particles are easily crumbled or pulverized.

Hardness
A property of a solid material which contributes to its overall abrasive-ness. The harder a material is, generally, the greater the erosion for a given velocity on a pipeline. Hardness is difficult to quantify and is somewhat subjective when described. Moh's Scale of Hardness is used to describe the materials when designing pneumatic conveying systems.

Hygroscopicity

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes
The ability of a material to absorb moisture from its surroundings. Moisture may be absorbed from either the ambient air (especially during high humidity conditions) or the conveying air of the pneumatic system. (After squeezing material in hand, it will show a thin layer coating on opened fingers). Sugar is a good example.

Internal Friction Angle

This is the internal first favored vertical flow channel angle the material makes in flowing downward through itself. It identifies the first favored flow stream. It can be approximated by drawing your finger through a mound of the material. If the angle is 45 degrees or less, no flow inducement is needed. If angle is 60 degrees or more (with horizontal), the material will probably "core" - i.e. plug flow, and will require "cycling" if accompanied by a feeder.

Material Temperature
Generally, most bulk materials are handled at ambient temperature conditions. However, in some cases, the material may be at an elevated temperature. Elevated temperature can affect both the condition of the material itself and its surroundings - particularly the equipment that is being used to convey it. Care should be taken, when considering high temperature materials that the temperature range is clearly and accurately stated, and any effects on the material (particularly its handling characteristics) should be noted. The temperature of the bulk material, measured in F. or C., for purposes of pneumatic conveying design, is the material temperature taken at the point of entry to the system.

Material Temperature Sensitivity

The temperature at which a bulk material changes its characteristics.

Maximum Particle Size

Maximum particle size is the maximum dimension in inches (in the case of lumpy materials) or the maximum sieve size (in the case of powders and granules) of the largest lump or particle in the bulk material. Maximum particle size can be critical in the design of pneumatic conveying systems.

Median Particle Size

The median size or mid-point of the particle size distribution.

Particle Density
The mass of a particle divided by its volume. For a bulk material, average particle density is used, found by dividing the mass of the material by its volume, excluding the voids.

Permeability
The permeability of a bulk material is the degree to which air (or other gas) may be passed through the void spaces between the particles of the material.

Particle Shape
The shape and form of the particles of a bulk material can vary considerably. The following

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes
table specifically describes the individual particle shape only and not the bulk material as a whole.

Term Definition
Needle-like Long. thin, rigid, straight, and pointed. Angular Sharp-edged or having a multi-faced, irregular shape. Crystalline of geometric shape or multi-faced regular shape. Dendritic Having a branched, crystalline shape with the branches extending from the faces of the body. Fibrous Regularly or irregularly thread-like with a flexible structure. Flaky Paste-like. Spherical Globe-like.Out-of-Round Similar to spherical but being somewhat deformed or elongated. Cylindrical Cylinder-shaped. Agglomerated Several individual particles bonded together.

Particle Size Distribution

The particle size distribution of a bulk material is a tabulation of the -percentage of particles by mass in each particle size range. The percentage described is either that passing or being retained on a specific screen size. In the United States, the screens used are 'U.S. Standard Screens" or "Tyler Test Screens". Other methods of size analysis may be used, particularly in the case of very fine and/or cohesive powders. These methods include photo sedimentation, optical microscopy, electrical sensing zone techniques (sych as the Coulter counter), and laser diffraction spectrometry.

Permeability

The permeability of a bulk material is the degree to which air (or other gas) may be passed through the void spaces between the particles of the material.

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes

Working principle of a shear tester

The bulk material is poured into a shear cell. The lid is loaded centrally with a normal force N. The upper part of the shear cell is displaced horizontally against the fixed bottom ring by a motor driven stem which pushes against the bracket. Due to the displacement of the upper ring and the lid against the bottom ring, the bulk solid is sheared. The shear force F which is exerted by the stem is then measured and used to characterize the bulk solid.

Application of Shear Tester Product optimization by adding a flow aid

An important quantity, which is measured with the Ring Shear Tester, is the flowability ffc. The flowability is a measure for the effort required to initiate flow. The larger the flowability is, the better a powder flows. To find out the effect of a flow aid on the flowability, mixtures of the powder with different flow aid concentrations have been prepared and then tested with a shear tester.

In the diagram to the right the flowability ffc of the product is plotted vs. the concentration of the flow aid (a very fine powder). The red curve shows the instantaneous properties, whereby the blue curve shows the properties after 22 hours storage at rest (e.g. storage of the product in a silo or a container). One can see clearly that the flowability after the 22 hours storage at rest is smaller. This shows that the product shows a pronounced time consolidation effect. Time consolidation is also known as "caking".

The flowability shows a maximum at a flow aid concentration of 0.55%, i.e. this flow aid concentration yields the best flowability. An increase of the flow aid concentration beyond 0.55% has a negative effect on the flowability.

K. Pathak

Lecture Notes Further application examples: Quality control: Ensuring a product with good dosing behaviour by limitation of the range of flowability. Quality control: Ensuring a product which has a sufficient flowability even after storage at rest over a long period of time. Investigation of the influence of the particle size distribution on the flow behaviour. Investigation of the influence of the storage temperature on the tiome consolidation effct (caking). Optimization of production processes regarding good flowability of the products..

Optimization of the powder composition for homogenous filling of the dies of a tablet press.

K. Pathak