W. B.

P I E T S C H Adhesion and Agglomeration of Solids During

Director, Applications,
Hutt G m b H ,
Schluchtern-Heilbronn,
W e s t G e r m a n y , a n d Consultant,
Komarek-Geaves and Company,
R o s e m o n t , III.
Storage, Flow anil Handling—A Sorvey
During storage, flow and handling of solids, particles in the micron range tend to ad-
here to walls or to each other. Such processes can cause severe disturbances and some-
times require the shut down of whole plants or costly reconditioning of caked products.
Different binding mechanisms which can be classified into five groups and several
undergroups can be responsible for adhesion and agglomeration. In Part 1 of the paper
the occurrence and importance of the different possible binding mechanisms in respect to
storage, flow and handling of solids is discussed and some equations for estimating
binding forces are presented. Part 2 discusses the buildup of deposits in pneumatic
conveying systems, the caking tendencies of fertilizers and methods for preventing severe
adhesion or agglomeration in these special cases.

Introduction portant of all is that any environmental forces (gravity, inertia,

flow, etc.) must be smaller than the binding forces between the
D U R I N G storage, flow and handling of solids adhesion adhering partners. T h e ratio between all binding forces, S , ( x ) ,
a n d / o r agglomeration v e r y often cause severe problems. Finely and the sum of the active components of the environmental
divided powders especially are troublesome; they plug machines forces, Fju{x), involved (Fig. 1) is a measure of the adhesion
and clog pipes, they hinder the continuous discharge f r o m storage tendency, ?'„.
or transport containers and make particle separations impossible;
but, on the other hand, satisfactory powder mixtures often cannot Ta = £ I'jJx) > 1 (1)
be attained, either. If moisture, pressure or chemical reactions • j
are involved, " s e t t i n g " can occur which reduces the value of
B o t h the binding and the environmental forces are mainly de-
chemical c o m p o u n d s drastically.
pendent on the size x of the powder particles. T o cause adhesion,
Frequently, experienced plant managers know a w a y to prevent T a has to be bigger than unity. T o keep the particle adhering
or at least lessen such difficulties. Sometimes, however, the the sum of all m o m e n t s must also be zero in most cases.
physical reasons are not correctly understood and wrong steps
are taken. Therefore, it is desirable to compile available data
and to classify the physical phenomena systematically. In this
paper an a t t e m p t towards these ends is made.
Mi(•*) = f
" £
j
- 0 < 2 >

Binding Forces
Parti: Adhesion Criteria T h e possible binding mechanisms can be classified best accord-
In order to cause a solid particle to adhere to another one or to ing to R u m p f [1]. 1 T a b l e 1 shows them divided into five m a j o r
a wall, certain conditions have to be fulfilled. T h e most im- groups and several undergroups. T h e y have been treated ex-
Contributed by the Materials Handling Division and presented tensively in publications b y R u m p f [1-3] and Pietsch [ 4 - 6 ] but,
at the Materials Handling Conference, Boston, Mass., October 21-23, because of the different p o i n t of view, a short repetition of the
1968, of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. most important facts is necessary.
Manuscript received at A S M E Headquarters, July 26, 1968. Paper
68—MH-21. 1 Numbers in brackets designate References at end of paper.

Nomenclature

A = constant ( ~ 1 0 - 1 2 erg) S = percentage saturation V = surface charge density

a = distance between t w o particles T = adhesion t e n d e n c y ; defined ac-
Indices
B = binding force cording to equation (1)
D = tube diameter (inside) u = velocity (flow) a = agglomerate
F = environmental force it = mean velocity (flow) b = liquid bridge
FH = dimensionless binding force V = volume e = electrostatic force
characteristic x = particle size (diameter) f = fluid
FPC = dimensionless capillary pressure V = thickness (distance f r o m wall) g = gravitational force
characteristic a = surface tension i = floating number
g = gravitational constant ft = half centriangle (see Figs. 6 and j = floating number
K = tensile strength of a solid 7) k = solid bridge
bridge (constant) e = porosity I = boundary layer
k = mean coordination number of a X = resistance factor (flow) L = liquid
particle in an agglomerate S = c o n t a c t angle m = molecular forces (Yan-der-Waals
L = length V = kinematic viscosity attraction)
M = momentum; defined according 7r = 3.14159 . . . P = particulate matter (solids)
to equation (2) P = density s = soluble (salt)
m = mass <T, = tensile strength x = perpendicular to binding force
Vc = capillary pressure T = shear stress V = parallel to binding force

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 Table 2 Effect of t e m p e r a t u r e c h a n g e s o n the s o l u b i l i t y of p o t a s s i u m
nitrate {KNO3, c o m p a r e Fig. 2). 2 5 k g " a i r d r y " KNO3 stored in a n air-
tight container

Re-
crystal-
lization
40 deg C

Temperature 15 deg C 40 deg C 15 deg C

KNO3 Solu- K N O 3 zVKNOs
Moisture Solubility diss. bility diss. diss.)
Content (g/g) <B) (g/g) (g) (g)
0 . 1 w t ' 1 = 25 g 0.26 65 0.64 160 95
1.0 w t % = 250 g 0.26 650 0.64 1600 950

contact area and pressure the bonding rate increases also.

Solid bridges built up b y chemical reactions (1.2) or hardening
binders (1.4) are solely dependent on the materials involved,
their chemical reactivity or their ability to harden. Elevated
temperatures and pressure sometimes increase the growth rate
and change the structure of the bridge. Chemical reactions are
often activated b y moisture.
A t the contact points between particles which partially melted—
because of friction heat for instance—liquid bridges are formed
which solidify quickly when no additional heat is introduced.
This mechanism (1.3) is often responsible for the agglomeration
and coating tendencies of thermoplastic materials.
Solid bridges can be formed b y crystallization of dissolved sub-
stances (1.5a) or deposition of suspended particles (1.5b) and in dif-
ferent ways. Fig. 2 shows four typical temperature-solubility
curves. While the solubility of sodium chloride changes little
with temperature, this fact is not true for potassium chloride or
potassium nitrate, for instance. Especially the latter one shows
a very steep curve. Some salts, like sodium sulphate, exhibit
various temperature dependent solubility ranges.
If salts or mixtures of different salts, like fertilizers for instance,
contain only a small amount of moisture, they can cake during
storage even in airtight containers or bags if they are exposed to
changing temperatures. Increasing temperatures cause more
salt to be dissolved. This recrystallizes and forms solid bridges
Fig. 2 S o l u b i l i t y curves of f o u r different s a l t s
between the particles when the temperature drops again.
T o demonstrate this effect let us assume the storage of potas-
sium nitrate in airtight bags under two moisture conditions, 0.1
and 1 w t percent at 15 deg C, respectively. During storage the
Table 1 B i n d i n g m e c h a n i s m s ( c l a s s i f i e d a c c o r d i n g fo R u m p f ) [ l ]
temperature rose to 40 deg C. If we also assume that no liquid
I Solid bridges
1 Mineral bridges evaporates during this temperature increase the figures in Table 2
2 Chemical reaction can be calculated easily. The last column in this table shows
3 Partial melting that at 0.1 wt percent moisture content in a 25 kg bag only 95 g
4 Hardening binders K N O 3 recrystallize during cooling but that at 1 wt percent mois-
5 (a) Crystallization of dissolved substances
ture content the considerable amount of 950 g builds up solid
(b) Deposition of suspended colloidal particles
II Adhesion and cohesion forces in not freely movable binders bridges.
1 Highly viscous binders, adhesives The second possibility for building up solid bridges with dis-
2 Adsorption layers (below ca. 30-50 A thickness) solved materials is simply to dry out the liquid. Often, inex-
III Interfacial forces and capillary pressure at freely movable
liquid surfaces perienced people in laboratories and plants try to desiccate moist
1 Liquid bridges and sticky chemicals. Instead of getting a powdery, free flowing
2 Capillary forces at the surface of aggregates filled with substance, the material turns out to be badly agglomerated.
liquid The sequence of photographs in Fig. 3 shows the formation of
IV Attraction forces between solid particles
such a salt bridge between a glass sphere (diameter ca. 400
1 Molecular forces: Van-der-YVaals forces, Chemical bind-
ing forces (Valence forces) microns) and a cover glass during a model experiment using a
2 Electrostatic forces saturated sodium chloride solution and a drying temperature of
3 Magnetic forces approximately 110 deg C. [7]
V Interlocking bonds
The strength of a crystalline bridge depends not only 011 the
amount of material deposited but also 011 the crystallization rate
which influences the structure [7-10], At high crystallization
Solid Bridges rates a finer crystal structure and a high strength are obtained.
Solid bridges are very commonly the cause for caking and Fig. 4 shows salt crystals formed between glass spheres during
agglomeration of chemical and mineral products during storage. drying of a saturated sodium chloride solution at room tempera-
Mineral bridges (1.1) are formed at elevated temperatures ex- ture (a) and a drying temperature of approximately 110 deg C.
ceeding about 2 / 3 of the melting temperature of the particles. The difference in the structure can be seen easily. Therefore,
They are caused b y molecular diffusion from one particle to the especially at high drying temperatures, i.e., high drying rates,
other. The rate is controlled b y the temperature, the contact surprisingly small amounts of crystallized salt can cause a high
area and the contact pressure. With increasing temperature, strength to an agglomerated aggregate. Fig. 5 shows the tensile

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 Fig. 3 F o r m a t i o n of a salt " b r i d g e " during drying. NaCI solution
0 . 3 5 g salt/g water.

Fig. 4(b) Salt " b r i d g e s " b e t w e e n g l a s s s p h e r e s (about 400 micron

d i a m e t e r ) , after d r y i n g at a b o u t l l O d e g C

Limestone: fp = 2.71g/crrr
Sail (NaCI): <?s = 2. Kg/cm-
£ = 0.47

200 300 400

Drying temperature T [°C]
Fig. 5 T e n s i l e strength (a) a n d salt content (b) of l i m e s t o n e a g g l o m e r a t e s
w i t h salt bridges as a function of the d r y i n g t e m p e r a t u r e

Fig. 4(a) Salt " b r i d g e s " b e t w e e n g l a s s s p h e r e s (about 400 micron

diameter). After d r y i n g at room temperature.
strength (curve a) of limestone agglomerates which contained
a small amount of a saturated sodium chloride solution before
they were dried in a laboratory oven at different temperatures.
Curve b is the percentage salt saturation in the dry agglomerate.
Ss = 1 means, for instance, that 1 percent of the total pore volume
of the agglomerate is filled with salt. Since:
"Is P„ 1 -
S, = 100- = 100- — • '
'"„ p. e
the percentage salt saturation can be converted into a percentage
salt content on a dry weight basis (ms/mp). The curves in Fig. 5
show that, with a salt content of slightly over 1 wt percent, and
drying temperatures of about :>•">() deg C, a tensile strength of 3.5
kg cm- could lie obtained. Compression strength curves can be
expected to show about the same tendency but the strength values
should be considerably higher.
Solid bridges can also be built up by deposition of suspended
colloidal particles at the coordination points in an aggregate
(I.nb). If a liquid bridge between two particles dries out, the
half centriangle (3 (see sketch in Fig. 6) decreases and the capillary
pressure in the bridge increases rapidly [11]. This is especially
true for small particle distances at the coordination point (n/.r <
e t o - 3 ) . Fig. 6 shows several curves for different dimensionless
) (3) distance-diameter ratios, a 'x, at the coordination point of two
spheres of equal size. FPC, the dimensionless capillary pressure
characteristic, has been calculated with a computer, assuming
complete wettability (5 = 0 deg). The capillary pressure in a
liquid bridge yields herewith:

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 Vcb — FPC (4)
X

Suspended colloidal particles are transported to the center of the

coordination area b y the retreating liquid and are " c o m p a c t e d "
b y the sometimes very high capillary pressure. After m a c r o -
scopically drying out the liquid, the small solid particles are held
together b y rather big molecular forces ( I V . 1 in T a b l e 1) which
can even be increased b y adsorption layers around the particles
( I I . 2 ) and electrostatic or magnetic forces ( I V . 2 and I V . 3 ) .
A general equation for the strength of solid bridge bonds cannot
be quoted. T h e strength depends directly on the weakest part-
ner, and the bridge-, particle- or interface-strength can be the
controlling parameter. If we assume that the entire bridge-
forming solid is uniformly distributed over all coordination points
and forms there bridges with a constant strength K which is
smaller than both the particle and interface strengths, it is only
the cross-sectional fraction of these bridges that determines the
strength. Consequently, the tensile strength, for instance, of an
agglomerate bound b y solid bridges can be expressed b y the
following formula [9]:

Pp
a, k M M
l - \ TS
( ,-s
o)
mp p5

This equation is only valid for this v e r y special case. Usually Fig. 6 D i m e n s i o n l e s s c a p i l l a r y pressure characteristic FPC for v a r i o u s
a / x - v a l u e s plotted v e r s u s the h a l f centriangle [3 of the l i q u i d b r i d g e
other, more complicated relationships must be expected which
depend on temperature, humidity, pressure, curing rate, etc.

Adhesion and Cohesion Forces in Not Freely Movable Binders

Discussing only uncontrolled adhesion and agglomeration
phenomena we can exclude the influence of highly viscous bonding
media (II.1). T h e effect of such binders is so o b v i o u s that they
always must be removed before further solids handling, and in a
clean plant no possibility of recontamination with highly viscous
media should be possible.
Adsorption layers (II.2), however, v e r y often cause serious
adhesion a n d / o r agglomeration problems. M o s t finely divided
solids pick up moisture f r o m the surrounding air very easily.
T h e thin adsorption layers so formed around the particles are not
freely movable, but they can touch or penetrate each other m u c h
more easily than clean solid particles. I t can be expected that
molecular forces can be fully transmitted from particle to particle
if the thickness of the adsorbed water layer is below approxi- 0 10 20 30 i0 50
Percentage liquid saturation SL [%J
mately 30 A . Such forces are v e r y often big enough to d e -
form solid particles at the contact points but they are always big
i 1 1 1 1 1 r—
enough to displace water molecules, causing a more intimate con-
0 2.5 5 10 15
tact and a high binding force. T h e surface areas in which ad- Moisture content mL/mp100[%J
sorption layers contact can be enlarged even more if external (q =2.5g/cm3 : fL =lg/cm3)
forces act u p o n the particles. Adsorption layers can also increase
the binding strength if they d o n o t contact. This phenomenon Fig. 7 D i m e n s i o n l e s s b i n d i n g force characteristic FH of l i q u i d b r i d g e s
will be discussed later in this paper. b e t w e e n t w o s p h e r e s of e q u a l s i z e a s a f u n c t i o n of the l i q u i d content.
P a r a m e t e r s are the l e n g t h ratio a / x a n d the p o r o s i t y e. 5 = 0 ° .

FH = FH((3, 5, a/x) is a dimensionless binding force character-

Interfacial Forces and Capillary Pressure at Freely Movable
Liquid Surfaces
T h e formation of liquid bridges at the coordination points b e -
tween individual particles is one of the most c o m m o n reasons for
caking, setting or agglomeration of particulate matter during
storage and material handling.
Bridges can develop either with the freely m o v a b l e water of
moist powders or b y capillary condensation. According to
Pietsch and R u m p f [11] the binding force of a liquid bridge
stretched between two spherical particles of equal size x having a
distance a at the coordination point yields:
Bb = a-x-FH
istic which can be expressed b y a complicated function of the half
centriangle (3 (see sketch in Fig. 7), the contact angle 5
between liquid and solid and a dimensionless distance-diameter
ratio a/x. If it is assumed that the entire liquid in an aggregate
is uniformly distributed at all coordination points, the /8-values
can be converted into percentage liquid saturations, SL, and with
a formula corresponding to equation (3) the moisture content on
a dry basis can be calculated, too. Hence, the binding force
characteristic FH can be plotted as a function of either the per-
centage liquid saturation, SL, or the moisture content, mL/mp.
Fig. 7 shows some computed results [11]. Of particular sig-
nificance is, that the resulting mean binding force of a great
(6) number of liquid bridges is almost independent of the bridge size

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 since different n/x-values exist. Therefore, a Small moisture
content causes about the same strength of an aggregate as a
larger one. Using a formula which is based on a statistical
approach [3] the tensile strength of a conglomeration of particles
bound by liquid bridges is:
9 1 - 6 k ates. Since these forces depend strongly on the polarity of the
a-FH, (7)
8 IT X individual particles and the surrounding walls and also on the
or with k 7r/e [11] and F-ff (mean) = 2:
9 1 - e a
<r,b (7a)
Liquid bridges are very often the necessary supposition for the
formation of solid bridges according to the mechanisms 1.2 and
1.5 (see Table 1).
Capillary forces acting at the surface of aggregates (III.2) can
be excluded from this discussion, too. This binding mechanism
demands that the total pore volume between the powder particles
is completely filled with the liquid, and that concave menisci are
formed at the surface of the aggregate [3]. This requires liquid in
an amount usually not available.
Attraction Forces between Solid Particles
Attraction forces between solid particles or particles and walls
are frequently the cause for instantaneous adhesion and agglom-
eration during handling of solids.
The most important mechanisms are Van-der-Waals (IV. 1),
electrostatic (IV.2), and magnetic (IV.3) attraction. Although
those forces can be considerable if the adhesion partners are close
together, they decrease rapidly as the distance at the coordina-
tion point increases. Molecular and electrostatic forces especially
are typical short range forces. A necessary presupposition for the
development of such bonds is the intimate approximation of the
partners. Since the absolute roughness peaks of very fine par-
ticles are much smaller than those of bigger ones, the probability
of such particles to stick is far greater because of their ability to
approach each other more closely and with a larger relative sur-
face area.
According to Hamaker [12] the equation for the Van-der-Waals
attraction force ( I V . l a ) between two spheres of equal diameter x
having a distance at the coordination point of a <1000 A yields:
A •x
Bml = (8a)
24 -a2'
and the corresponding equation for the Van-der-Waals attraction
between a sphere and a flat wall reads for a <1,000 A:
A-x
B„,2 = (86)
12 -a 2
The constant A depends on the material properties of the sphere
and, according to Overbeek and Sparnay [13], is in the order of
magnitude between 10 ~13 and 10 ~12 erg.
Since the molecules of thin adsorption layers are so strongly
bound to the adsorbent that they are not freely movable and act
like part of the solid, they can smooth the particle surfaces thus
decreasing the active distance, a, and increasing the attraction
force. That this is true could be shown in experiments b y Turba
[14, 15] who compared the strength of briquettes made from
particles both with and without adsorption layers and found a
lower tensile strength in the latter case. Because of the strongly
polar character of the II2O molecule, adsorbed water can in some
cases also increase the electric potential of the particle and con-
tribute to the binding force.
At newly created solid surfaces, free chemical bonds (valence
forces IV. 16) are present which are, however, rapidly neutralized
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by adsorbed atoms and molecules from the surrounding at-
mosphere. Because of this neutralization and the very limited
range of the binding forces, free chemical bonds contribute to the
adhesion or agglomeration of solids only in exceptional cases.
Attraction caused b y electrostatic (IV.2) or magnetic (IV.3)
forces participates frequently in building up deposits or agglomer-
configuration of the system partners, it is very difficult to evaluate
their precise effect. For a very rough estimation Coulomb's law
which describes the forces acting between two electric charges or
magnetic poles can be employed. However, in this case pro-
visions must be made to count for the repulsion caused by the
nearest adjacent particles of similar polarity. If electrically
charged particles are attracted b y a grounded conductor, they
discharge as soon as they touch and the electrical attraction force
disappears. Yet, b y that time other binding mechanisms, like
molecular forces or liquid bridges for instance, can be strong
enough to hold the particles.
T o get an idea on the strength of a Conglomerate of particles
bound b y attraction forces B acting at the coordination points,
the already used equation derived by Rumpf [3] (equation (7))
can be used in its general form:
9 1 - e k B_
(9)
S' 7T X'2
Introducing equation (S) and assuming that k « ir/e [11], equa-
tion (9) yields for Van-der-Waals forces between spheres:
9 1 - e A 1
(9a)
24-a 2 x
For electrostatic forces one obtains b y applying Coulomb's law
[4]:
9 1 —e
(96)
I — " T ^ l y
ip is the surface charge density. With adequate adjustments,
equation (96) is valid for magnetic attraction too. While in
most other cases the tensile strength of conglomerates depends on
the particle size, this is not true for electrostatic or magnetic
forces. This can be explained by the field character of the bond.
Interlocking Bonds
Fibrous, lamellar and/01' bulky particles are liable to interlock
or fold about each other which leads to form-closed bonds.
This mechanism is important for fibers and some oddly formed
products but seldom applies to granular powders. The strength
of the bonds depends directly 011 the particle strength and the type
of the interlock.
Binding Forces—Summary
While most binding forces act instantaneously in full magni-
tude, solid bridges need considerable time to build up and gain
full strength. Therefore, solid bridges are only seldom responsi-
ble for adhesion or agglomeration during agitation, flow7 or other
material handling processes. They are, however, the most
common cause for caking and agglomeration during storage.
Adhesion or agglomeration due to all other mechanisms depends
only 011 whether or not the necessary pre-conditions are fulfilled
at the moment of contact or approach. Different mechanisms
can of course work together too.
Fig. 8 summarizes the binding mechanisms according to their
appearances. I t can be seen from this picture that there is still
another distinction possible, that is whether or not particles of
different materials can be bound together. Besides case (a)
this is possible but not without exceptions. For instance, it is
may 1 9 6 9 / 439
 Environmental Forces (Field Character)
T h e most important environmental force in this category is the
gravitational force which is always present. Its occurrence and
effects are well known and the equation is almost trivial.

F,j = m-g (10)

11,2,3,5a I2,4,5a,5b,Ml
Sintering Chem. reaction
N o t so trivial are the forces caused b y flowing fluids. Since very
Chem. reaction Hardening binders
Crystallization
defined conditions are assigned to each point within the fluid,
Partial melting
Crystallization (Binder dissolved n liquid) these forces can be assumed to be of the field type, too. To
(Particles soluble) Deposition understand their effect we have to take a short excursion into
Liquid bridges
fluid dynamics. T h e lefthand side of Fig. 9 shows the velocity
12,4,11,2 171,2,3
profile in a cylindrical tube after the formation of a stable turbu-
Chem. reaction Molecular forces
Electrostatic forces
lent flow [16]. For any adhering particles only the flow nearest
Hardening b inders
Viscous binders Magnetic forces to the walls, which is the region of the so called boundary layer,
Adsorption layers is influential. Because of the small radial extension of this layer,
a constant shear stress T can be assumed in this region, and hence
Y
a linear increase of the velocity f r o m zero to a value u ( at the limit
Interlocking
yi of the boundary layer. According to R u m p f [16] and Schlich-
m2 ting [17]:
Capillary forces

]X
(11)
Fig. 8 A p p e a r a n c e of the different b i n d i n g m e c h a n i s m s ( s c h e m a t i c a l l y
KNC>3, c o m p a r e F i g . 2)

Table 3 Environmental forces

and thus:
Vi
V 8

T * '
v
(12)

F I E L D CHARACTER OTHERS

Mj X M2
(13)
Vt 8 ' T
• Gravitational Tensile

Electrical Compression

Magnetic « Shear
T h e righthand side of Fig. 9 shows an enlarged area of the left
• (Fluid) F l o w
diagram. A total roughness of 15 micron has been chosen
Inertial which represents a smooth wall. !<; and yt have been calculated
according to equations (11) and (12).
T h e drag force acting at a particle depends 011 the layer in which
the particle extends, i.e., its diameter, and 011 the increase rate of
the velocity. On the other hand, the force with which a particle
impacts the wall and thus the resulting binding force depend 011
20 the thickness of the boundary layer because the particle is
1 — r 1
1 slowed down when passing this layer. Fig. 10 shows that the
—- ; i
1 thickness y t of the boundary layer decreases with increasing mean
1 / __ 1 air velocity while ul/yl grows rapidly. This means that particles
i - / —
adhere more strongly to the wall at high air velocities b u t that the
1 / — H & drag forces, which try to break the bond, increase also. Whether
1/ c
\ t 8 or not a particle is torn off again depends, therefore, mainly 011
6 1 <b the condition of the wall, primarily its roughness, and the par-
1 ticle properties. Most, deposits begin 011 adhesion of the finest
:D-0.2m
particles at the roughness peaks of the wall.
Tube diameter
Mean air velocity : u=15m/s Fig. 11 shows schematically the expected behavior of mineral
0 40 80 m 120 160 200
- Reynolds number: Distance to the waltylpmJ particles, for instance (left side) and thermoplastics (right side)
Re=2.510:'\ at different, air velocities [16]. While the formation of deposits
1 is only possible at low air velocities in the first case, a second
i • Direction of flow dangerous velocity range exists where the thermoplastic powders
0 2 4 6 & 10
Distance to the wall yCcml are concerned. A t a certain velocity the friction heat is high
enough to melt individual particles at least partially. If such a
Fig. 9 Turbulent f l o w profile in a c y l i n d r i c a l tube particle impacts the wall the heat is rather instantly drained off
due to the big heat capacity of the walls and a strong solid
bridge is built up. Since the strength of such solid bridges is al-
certainly not possible to bind hydrophilic and hydrophobic par- most constant, the binding strength curve turns soon to an almost
ticles with liquid bridges, and similar cases are conceivable. horizontal course thus crossing the drag force curve again at a
higher velocity of the fluid. T h e presence of other binding
mechanisms can influence the binding force correspondingly and
Environmental Forces cause similar conditions which favor the building u p of deposits.
Environmental forces can be either of the field type, like gravi- Other, but not as important effects which are caused b y flow
tation, or induced b y other physical or mechanical sources. T a b l e forces shall not be discussed here. It. shall be referred to an
3 shows a list which is not claimed to be complete but includes article b y Rumpf [16] which describes the mechanisms in more
the most commonly experienced forces. Those indicated with an detail.
asterisk are found frequently. T h e effects of electrical and magnetic forces on particles can be

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 its weight or the flow forces. The tube becomes rugged with
irregularly distributed smaller deposits and the flow close by the
wall is not uniform. This causes an increased stress upon de-
posits which then fall off even earlier. Therefore, although de-
position takes place fast, the tube never clogs if the bonds are not
strengthened b y quickly developing solid bridges, for instance.
A t high air velocities the thickness of the boundary layer is small
and the drag force is big. Therefore, particles impact the walls
with a high energy resulting in strong bonds. The high increase
rate of the velocity in the boundary layer tears loosely bound
particles off and smooths the surface of the deposit. The result
is a slowty growing but very strong and smooth crust which can,
over a long term, cause a tube to clog completely.
In all such cases the gravitational force plays a fairly big role.
But while at the upper part of a horizontal tube, for instance,
the gravitational force acts against the binding force it actually
increases the strength of bonds in the lower part. This is es-
Fig. 10 Thickness of the b o u n d a r y layer, yi, a n d increase of the velocity
pecially important at low flow rates. Other mechanisms and
in the b o u n d a r y layer, ui/yi, a s functions of the m e a n air velocity, u
forces can act against each other or together correspondingly.

Fig. 11 Schematic presentation of different a d h e s i o n conditions in
channels (two p h a s e flow: s o l i d s / g a s ) . The s h a d e d areas represent
flow conditions where a d h e s i o n occurs.
Conclusions
With the information given above it should be possible to
classify any adhesion or agglomeration problem according to the
binding and environmental forces involved. T o get an idea
about the adhesion tendency, equation (1) can be used. The
type of information obtained with this technique is shown in Fig.
12 using two very simple examples. The diagram shows results
for the case of spherical particles adhering from below to a flat,
horizontal wall. Besides the gravity no other environmental
forces act at the particle. Then, the adhesion tendency, Tal is
given by the ratio: binding force divided b y particle weight.
The two adhesion mechanisms examined are Van-der-Waals
attraction (IV.1) and liquid bridges ( I I I . l ) . Equation (86) has
been used for the calculation of the adhesion force in the first case
while for liquid bridges a simplified equation derived by Bowden
and Tabor [18] was employed. This equation, which reads:

Bb* = 2tt-(X-X, (14)

imagined, but usually they act in favor of adhesion rather than is only suitable if small liquid bridges are stretched between
in destruction of existing bonds.

Environmental forces ( O t h e r s )
The most active forces for the destruction of bonds between
particles or particles and walls are shear forces. While the tensile
strength caused by the different binding mechanisms is often
considerable, the shearing strength is always much lower. To
prevent or remove particle deposits or agglomeration, high shear
forces should act at the individual particles. T h e y can be caused
by any internal or external forces resulting in a momentum in re-
gard to the bond. Centrifugal forces stress particles adhering to
rotating tools or machines, and tensile forces can be caused by
force fields (gravitational, electrical, centrifugal, etc.) or directly
acting external forces. While those forces are able to destroy all
binding mechanisms, compression forces normally disrupt only
solid bridges; other bonds are usually strengthened b y compres-
sion.

Environmental Forces—Summary
A very typical feature of all environmental forces is that they
can both cause and prevent adhesion or agglomeration and that
there is only a small transition range between both effects. A
good example for this twofold action is the deposition of fine
particles in tubes. W e have seen that at a low air velocity par-
ticles are slowed down while passing the thick boundary layer
thus impacting the wall with a low energy. Since the drag forces
Fig. 12 A d h e s i o n tendencies due to V a n - d e r - W a a l s attraction (a = 100
acting at the particles are not high either, the deposit grows fast A a n d 10 A ) a n d liquid bridges between spherical particles a n d a hori-
but is only loosely bound. It falls off again easily due to either zontal w a l l if o n l y gravitational forces act u p o n the particles

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 spherical particles and a flat wall and if the liquid wets both solid Tube diameter: D=0.7m
partners entirely.
mp:M0kg/hr
The curves in Fig. 12 show that at a mean distance of 100 A
between particle and wall, particles with a diameter smaller than mf= 36kg/hr u;2.1lm/s
80 micron adhere to the wall due to Van-der-Waals attraction i100 Diameter:
and that the binding force of a 1 micron particle is nearly 10*
/ - P,
times larger than its weight. In the case of liquid bridges,
/ 13.33m
particles with 6 mm diameter already stick to the wall and the 50 P2
binding force of a 1 micron particle is more than 107 times larger 19.73 m
than its weight. Those numbers are the fundamentals for esti-
P5 •/r.
mating adhesion and the means for its prevention. Q- 0

-50
Part 2: Adhesion and Agglomeration of Solids During 50 100 150
Time ICsecJ
Storage, Flow and Handling
Fig. 13 P r e s s u r e c h a n g e s at three l o c a t i o n s of a n e x p e r i m e n t a l pneu-
Adhesion and agglomeration of finely divided particulate m a t i c c o n v e y i n g s y s t e m d u r i n g the first 1 5 0 s e c o n d s of a test run
matter always occur during manufacture, handling and storage
of such products and though sometimes negligible it is very often
of particular importance. A paper published earlier b y the
author covered some desirable and undesirable agglomeration Measured tube length: AL=5d.51 m
and adhesion phenomena during comminution, separation, Tube diameter : D = 0.7 m
mixing and particle enlargement processes [4]. Readers who 5 i -• 516 kg/hr. /m. :156 0:16 65 mA
g250 br
are interested in those fields may refer to this article. uj "Vs 325 kg/
Q.
The present paper shall treat in detail some corresponding ^200
phenomena during the pneumatic conveying of solids and the ?
storage of fertilizers. Those two examples include the most im- 4 150
Qj
portant mechanisms and show how to estimate and prevent -Q
5
agglomeration, adhesion, deposition, caking etc. Xi
too
3
50
8 r
Pneumatic Conveying Systems
C,
E

Pneumatic conveying is an example for the possible occurrence 20 40 60

O Time tCminl
of all binding mechanisms listed in Part 1 of this paper. The 0

most important are Van-der-Waals forces (IV. 1), which are usually
strengthened b y adsorption layers (II.2); electrostatic (IV.2)
1 mp = M0kg/hrm./m.'iO u=2llm/s
m = 36 kg/hr
and magnetic (IV.3) forces; liquid bridges ( I I I . l ) and solid
8 'oo
bridges due to partial melting (1.3) or crystallization of dissolved a•

substances (1.5a). Sometimes particles interlock (V.) with

50
rough walls or badly machined or mounted interconnections thus
causing deposits.
Usually depositions start with the adhesion of the smallest 0 5 10 15
particles at the roughness peaks of the walls. Later the surface Time tCminl
covered with particles offers an ideal base for other particles to Fig. 14 P r e s s u r e drop a l o n g the m e a s u r e d tube length of a n experi-
adhere. This deposition takes place very rapidly. m e n t a l p n e u m a t i c c o n v e y i n g s y s t e m as a function of time
Some results published by Moller [19] shall be reported in this
paper to illustrate typical features of pneumatic conveying
systems. Moller investigated the pneumatic transport of
particulate matter in a horizontal tube which was 58.51 m long
and had an inside diameter of 0.07m. The local pressure within
the system could be determined at 7 locations distributed along
the measured length of the tube. A p = Pi — pi is the total
pressure drop in the conveying system.
In Fig. 13, the pressure at three different locations 1, 2 and 5
is plotted versus time. Since a fan, located behind the dust
collector at the end of the conveyor, generates a slight under-
pressure in the filter housing, a minor negative pressure can be
measured as long as the tube is clean. After a few seconds,
however, the pressure pi rises and the other locations follow after
short delays. Part of the pressure increase is caused b y loading Crust
the air with particles but a major portion is due to building up
depositions in the tube. When the tube was inspected following
Flow
runs of 20 and 50 seconds, respectively, there was no deposition '-{Dune
in the first case but in the second case deposits had built up in the
feed end portion of the system while the other portion remained
clean. Fig. 14 shows the total pressure drop between both ends
of the tubing. The lower diagram represents results of the same Growing "massy" "Massy" deposit
test as shown in Fig. 13. After about 2 to 2.5 minutes the total
pressure drop in the system remained almost constant. This deposits Crust
indicates that at least macroscopically no further deposition
Fig. 15 Sketch a n d p h o t o g r a p h of a m o d e l e x p e r i m e n t s h o w i n g different
takes place after this time. t y p e s of d e p o s i t i o n s in a h o r i z o n t a l p n e u m a t i c c o n v e y e r tube

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 Dune

Fig. 16 V i e w in the tube of a h o r i z o n t a l p n e u m a t i c c o n v e y e r after

c o n v e y i n g a slightly moist, finely d i v i d e d quartz p o w d e r at a l o w v e l o c i t y

The upper diagram in Fig. 14 shows a completely different

behavior. The total pressure drop increases more slowly. This
is mainly due to the lower solid-fluid ratio, m p / m f , (1.58 kg/kg as
compared with 40 k g / k g ) and the higher velocity u (18.65 m / s as
compared with 2.11 m / s ) . At rather regular time intervals,
however, a high pressure peak has been measured which could lie
first observed at the feed end and propagated in a few seconds to
the discharge end. This, together with some other observations,
indicated that deposits fell off and were carried along thus in-
creasing momentarily the pressure drop. When the tubing was
opened immediately after such a pressure wave went through,
the inner walls were almost completely clean. The pressure
drop curve shows further that the adhesion tendency is about
constant for a given material and a conve3'ing system operated
under fixed conditions.
At high conveying velocities or in vertical tubes deposits are
built up about uniformly. Such depositions shall be called
"crusts" in the following. While in the upper part of a horizontal
tube, for instance, bonds between particles and walls and between
each other are stressed by the weight of the deposit, they are
strengthened in the lower part of the tube by gravitational
forces. Therefore, especially when conveying at low velocities
and high solid-fluid ratios in horizontal tubes, a second type of
deposition is observed which shall be called "massy" deposit.
In Fig. 15 the formation of such deposits is described schematically
r<5 [19]; they are effected by gravitational forces, grow in direction
of the mass flow and are composed of the finer particle fraction
Moller pump because of their high adhesion tendency and a certain "sieving"
(schematically) or classification effect taking place in the charge. The lower part
of Fig. 15 shows a photograph which was taken during a model
Mixture solids/air experiment. Besides the formation of a crust all other stages,
including a "dune" of freely mobile particles moving slowly over
Mixing chamber the deposits, can be distinguished clearly. Fig. 16 is a view in a
tube after pneumatically conveying a slightly moist quartz
powder (particle size < 5 0 micron) showing the heavy build-up
in crust and "massy" deposit and the remainder of a dune.
Nozz'.e Massy deposits can also be caused by the action of other forces
like centrifugal and inertial forces in an elbow.
Another important phenomenon, which can be derived from
the fact that the separation or drag forces define the adhesion
tendency, is the controlled deposition yielding a more effective
Compressed air shape of a flow channel. Particles build up preferably in dead
water zones or where the direction of the stream lines is changed,
as by eddies for instance. A tj^pical example of such deposits is
Fig. 17 Sketch a n d p h o t o g r a p h of a M o l l e r - p u m p . The photograph
s h o w s V e n t u r i l i k e deposits after c o n v e y i n g finely d i v i d e d z i n c o x i d e shown in Fig. 17. In the lower part a partial cross-section view

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 of a Moller-pump Ls presented which is used for feeding powders
in a pneumatic conveying system. Powder and air enter a mixing
chamber through a screw conveyor and a nozzle, respectively, and
are then forced into the piping of the pneumatic conveyor. The
photograph in the upper part of Fig. 17 shows a view (in direction
A - A ) of such a mixing chamber which was opened after conveying
zinc oxide. Opposite to the nozzle a deposit has built up forming
a Venturilike channel which represents the most effective flow
channel at this point. Similar depositions can often be found in
not optimally designed and/or arranged pneumatic conve3'ing
systems.
In conclusion it can be summarized that both powder and piping
system influence deposition during pneumatic conveying. A
variety of binding mechanisms is possible the effect, of which can
be lowered by designing and constructing the system optimally.
This includes that any walls and interconnections must be as
smooth as possible. Sharp bends, sudden widenings or con-
tractions and dead water zones have to be avoided and all parts
should be shaped according to the known laws of fluid dynamics.
T h e binding forces depend on the material, the physical con-
dition, the particle size and theflow properties while the separation
forces caused by the flow are influenced by the particle size and
the flow properties. Usually, deposits grow more slowly but
exhibit a higher strength if the flow near the walls is high in
energy. It Ls possible that above a certain velocity, which de-
pends 011 the material and its physical condition, 110 deposition
takes place. In curved portions of a pneumatic conveying system
deposition properties are changed due to centrifugal forces and
altered energy distributions. In horizontal tubes massy deposits • . B w Us ' •. .-'v I
are caused by gravitational forces.
Fig. 18 U n l o a d i n g a s h i p l o a d of c a k e d sylvite
Fibrous materials, thermoplastics and powders carrying electric
charges or being easily charged by friction differ from the
general trend. Fibrous materials interlock and are, therefore,
very form-dependent. Thermoplastics can partially melt and
a caked mass is broken b y severe methods it will not exhibit the
adhere more strongly at higher conveying velocities (compare
same uniform conditions as an uncaked fertilizer and hence will
Fig. 11). If electrostatic forces are involved the adhesion
influence its uniform distribution in the field.
tendency depends on the conductivity of both particles and walls
[16]. The strongest binding forces result if one of the two Different materials become caked from different causes but
partners is a conductor and the other one a nonconductor. I11 while in our first example, pneumatic conveying, nearly all
this case the electrical charge cannot be drained off due to the binding mechanisms were possible, caking is almost exclusively
nonconducting property of the one, while in the other a big caused by solid bridges (I) or more specifically by chemical re-
opposite charge Ls induced. N o binding force results if both action (1.2) and crystallization of dissolved substances (1.5a).
particle and wall are conductors; and if both are nonconductors, Other mechanisms contribute only slightly to caking.
the binding forces are very low due to the small opposite charge The rate and extent to which caking takes place vary with the
which can be induced. Since particularly bad conductors tend moisture content, the particle size, the pressure under which the
to be charged by friction, nonconducting walls are always material is stored (top or bottom of pile), the temperature and its
advantageous. variation during storage, and the time of storage. The effect of
these factors changes with different materials. Fig. 21 shows
results obtained b y Adams and Ross [20] in their "caking b o m b . "
It can be seen that the crushing strength of caked masses increases
Caking of Fertilizers with increasing moisture content (curves a in Fig. 21), caking
Caking of fertilizers and other minerals has long been and still pressure and time of storage. The influence of temperature and
is a problem to producers and consumers of such materials. T o temperature variations depends 011 the solubility (compare Fig.
get an idea about the importance and scale of this problem three 2) and has been already covered in Part 1 of this paper. The
examples shall be shown at the beginning. Fig. 18 shows the crushing strength depends furthermore on the number of bridges
unloading of a shipload sylvite which was expected to arrive as a per unit volume and therefore decreases with increasing particle
free flowing powder but caked badly during transportation. size.
Due to the limited room within the ship the very costly and time I11 conclusion it can be stated that caking of a fertilizer mixture,
consuming method of manual unloading had to be chosen. Fig. for instance, will vary with the physical and chemical properties
19 shows the recovery of nongranular triple superphosphate from of the materials and their proportions in the mixture. It also
a curing pile which had to be blasted to break the so called "pile depends 011 the method of mixing, the particle size after processing
set." This picture, taken b y T V A in 1947, already lias historical and the storage conditions to which the finished product is ex
value for this company because modern granular products do not posed [20-22],
cake to such an extent that they require blasting. But, since What can be clone to prevent or at least lessen caking? The
especially high-nitrogen fertilizers are extremely hygroscopic they answer is the same as in all other cases where adhesion or ag-
must still be stored in bulk storage buildings with controlled glomeration should be prevented: Detect the binding mechanisms
humidity to prevent caking. involved and the influencing parameters and try then to reduce
The third photograph (Fig. 20) shows an example of the their effect. I11 the following some examples shall be discussed
difficulties confronting the consumer. The granular fertilizer in briefly.
the left bag shows the desired free flowing behavior while the a) If chemical reactions between components of a mixture do
same fertilizer Ls caked in the other bag (bag set). Even if such occur, such components should be mixed separately until the

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 F i g . 19 R e c o v e r y of a n o n g r a n u l a r triple s u p e r p h o s p h a t e f r o m a c u r i n g
p i l e after b l a s t i n g to b r e a k " p i l e - s e t "

v -wv \
\ m \
^-CCV^X

••Is.::*.

Fig. 2 0 G r a n u l a r fertilizer treated with Armoflo (left) and untreated

c o n t r o l (right) s h o w i n g s e v e r e " b a g - s e t "

reaction took place. This product can then be mixed with the
other components and no longer induces caking. An example
for this is any recipe which contains both ammonium sulphate and
superphosphate.
b) An almost trivial precaution is very often the reduction of
the moisture content. However, this is not always necessary.
There are different maximal moisture levels depending on the
materials. Fig. 21 shows that the crushing strength of super-
phosphate containing 1.1 percent moisture is v e i y low while the
strength of some other materials is much higher although the}'
contain considerabfy less water.
Silverberg, et al. [22], found during microscopic studies of
several types of high-analysis granular fertilizers that caking
usually resulted from bonding by the crystals of soluble salts.
These crystals often covered the entire granule in the form of a
veneer or hull. Fig. 22 shows typical granules of granular 12-12-
12-grade fertilizer made from urea-ammonia solution, after three
months storage. They were photographed in transmitted light
at a higher magnification to reveal details of the crystalline hull.
Bonding-phase salts identified during the study were potassium
nitrate, ammonium chloride, monoammonium phosphate, am-
monium nitrate and an urea-ammonium chloride complex which

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 Particle size * 177pm \_

Time of storage: 7days

a (0.67)
b(0.3)

b(0.25)

a (002)

e(0.06)

Caking pressure [kg/cmO Time of storage [days J

F i g . 21 V a r i a t i o n of c r u s h i n g s t r e n g t h w i t h c a k i n g p r e s s u r e (left) and
l e n g t h of s t o r a g e ( r i g h t ) , (a) N a N O g , (b) ( N H , ) > S 0 4 / (c) U r e a , (d) K C I ,
(e) ( N H i ) HoPOj, ( 0 S u p e r p h o s p h a t e . The numbers in b r a c k e t s indicatj
t h e r e s p e c t i v e m o i s t u r e c o n t e n t in p e r c e n t .

Fig. 2 2 G r a n u l e s of 1 2 - 1 2 - 1 2 - f e r t i l i z e r s h o w i n g t y p i c a l c r y s t a l l i n e h u l l s
of a n u r e a - a m m o n i u m c h l o r i d e c o m p l e x a f t e r s t o r a g e for t h r e e m o n t h s in
bags. (Left) u n c u r e d , (right) c u r e d 7 d a y s p r i o r to b a g g i n g .

- v .; N

4 /••»•"
t- * »
V

v - ; •; f Jf

Fig. 2 3 D i f f e r e n c e in t h e h u l l t h i c k n e s s of u n t r i e d (top) a n d d r i e d (bot-

tom) 1 2 - 1 2 - 1 2 g r a n u l a r fertilizer m a d e w i t h a m m o n i a - u r e a solution

. i

are all extremely soluble. Those salts migrated to the particle

*
surface leaving numerous small cavities within the granules.
This mechanism needs water and drying shoidd, therefore,
reduce caking. Fig. 23 is a microphotograph taken with crossed
Nicol prisms. It shows the differences in the hull thickness
between undried and predried 12-12-12-grade fertilizer granules.
The crushing strength after storage decreased correspondingly.
. ^ * i ...' .
c) Curve b (ammonium sulphate) in the right side diagram of l/im X ; «. « '.»•'.-
Fig. 21 shows the typical behavior of materials which respond
favorably to several days of bin or pile curing prior to bagging.
Such products cake in a few days to their final strength but the Fig. 24 Microphotograph of a typical diatomaceous earth product
lumps are broken up before the cured materials are finally bagged ( A q u a f i l N - 8 1 ) w h i c h is u s e d a s a n l i c a k i n g a g e n t for f e r t i l i z e r s

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 and p u t in storage. Curing can even accelerate the hull f o r -
mation as defined b y Silverberg et al. [22] due to the retention of
heat and moisture in the pile. In products that respond well to
curing, the hull formation is apparently almost completed after
curing and there is not sufficient additional d e v e l o p m e n t of
crystals during subsequent storage to cause strong caking.
M a n y products, however, d o not improve during this t y p e of
curing. Fig. 22 shows a comparison of uncured (left) and cured
(right; 7 days prior to bagging) 12-12-12-fertilizer m a d e f r o m
ammonia-urea solution, a m m o n i u m sulphate, superphosphate,
potassium chloride and sulfuric acid [22]. Although containing
a m m o n i u m sulphate the caking behavior of the other constituents
dominates and b o t h cured and uncured material show continued
growth of the hulls and caking during storage. Another curing
method will be discussed in Paragraph e.
d) T h e oldest method of conditioning fertilizers is the coating
with a parting agent [23-25]. Storage properties are improved
after adding up to 3 percent of an extremely finely divided powder,
like diatomaceous earth, kaolin, vermiculite, limestone, m a g -
nesium oxide and miscellaneous other inexpensive powders.
Silverberg and associates' microscopical studies [22] revealed
again the fundamental functions of the conditioner which are
threefold. Firstly, the p o w d e r coating the granules acts as a
separator between the individual fertilizer particles and prevents
intergrowth of crystals during and after their formation. Sec-
ondly, the hulls f o r m beneath the coating of conditioner and
crystals seldom p r o j e c t b e y o n d the layer of conditioner. Thirdly,
the moisture is distributed uniformly over the surface of the
granules due to the high sorptive capacity of the finely porous
coating. T h u s , the localized growth of crystals at the c o o r d i -
nation points is prevented and the surface hulls are m u c h finer
grained, m o r e intergrown and more densely packed then those
covering unconditioned products.
Fig. 24 shows a microphotograph of a typical parting agent
conditioner (diatomaceous earth: Aquafil N - 8 1 ) [26]. Such
anticaking agents are usually mixed with the fertilizer in a rotary
tumbler prior to bagging.
e) A modern variation of the a b o v e mentioned conditioning
process is the coating with surface active organic chemicals. It was
found out, however, that not all surfactants improved the
physical conditions of mixed fertilizers. K u m a g i and Hardesty
[27] reported that caking tendencies of mLxecl fertilizers were
decreased b y as m u c h as 45 percent if nonionics were used but
increased b y as m u c h as 37 percent with the use of anionics.
Where in the process the surface active agents were added was
found to be of decisive importance t o o .
T y p i c a l cationic anti-caking agents are f a t t y amine chemicals
known as Armoflos [28-33], T h o s e amines, the general chemical
formula of which is R - N H 2 with R representing a Ci 6 or Ci S chain,
are believed to attach directly to the fertilizer particles with their
surface active amine group. T h e n the fatty, h y d r o p h o b i c
portion of the molecule extends outward f r o m the surface thus
preventing hygroscopic products f r o m attracting water. This is,
of course, only true if a monomolecular layer covers the fertilizer
particle and all amine molecules extend their h y d r o p h o b i c portion
outward. Therefore, too m u c h conditioner will cause, rather
than prevent, caking due to the alternately h y d r o p h o b i c and
hydrophilic properties of additional layers.
This makes a modified curing process advantageous. The
molecules of a second molecular layer, if attached, would position
themselves with the amine group extending outward. These
amine groups are free to interact with other fertilizer particles,
especially the phosphate portion of incompletely coated granules,
to f o r m an amine-phosphate salt. Pressure intensifies this effect.
This chemical " b r i d g e " is not as strong as the ciystallized salt
bridge and the " s e t " can be broken under slight pressure. Since
the amine-phosphate b o n d is stronger than the R - R b o n d , a
more uniformly covered p r o d u c t which is unlikely to set or cake
again results f r o m a short bin cure (1 to 2 days) (see Fig. 20; left
side).
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Sometimes a combination of the two t y p e s of conditioners is
used. An example for this approach is the A C Clay, a finely
divided kaolin treated with a surfactant ( P e t r o - A G Special),
marketed b y United Sierra [25].
/ ) A last m e t h o d is t o d a y almost obligatory at least for mixed
fertilizers; that is granulating. Granular fertilizers offer less
coordination points per unit v o l u m e where solid bridges can be
built. If the strength of the bridges is low anyway, like super-
phosphate with 1.1 percent moisture or m o n o - a m m o n i u m p h o s -
phate with 0.06 percent moisture (see Fig. 21), granulating alone
is sufficient to prevent severe caking. Another benefit of granu-
lar mixed fertilizers is that the c o m p o n e n t s d o not separate during
handling.
Summary
During storage, flow and handling of solids, particles in the
micron range tend t o adhere to walls or to each other, thus
narrowing channels, building-up bridges, forming agglomerates,
caking, etc. Different binding mechanisms which can be classified
into five groups and several undergroups can be responsible for
adhesion and agglomeration.
In Part 1 of the paper the occurrence and importance of the
different possible binding mechanisms in respect to storage, flow
and handling of solids were discussed and some equations for
estimating binding forces were presented. T h e discussion
showed that the strength of the so formed aggregates depends
highly on the binding mechanisms involved, the particle size, the
packing structure, the binder content and the physical and
chemical properties of the adhesion partners. A n y precautions
taken to prevent or lessen adhesion or agglomeration have to
consider the same parameters correspondingly.
In Part 2 of the paper the buildup of deposits in pneumatic
conveying systems, the caking tendencies of fertilizers and
methods for preventing severe adhesion or agglomeration in these
special cases were discussed in detail. T h e complexity of the
problems has been shown, which indicates that the knowledge
of the mechanisms involved is v e r y important for b o t h estimating
and controlling adhesion and agglomeration.
Acknowledgments
T h e author wishes to acknowledge the helpful contributions of
the following persons and companies—especially for preparing
Part 2 of this p a p e r : R . E. Baarson, A r m o u r Industrial C h e m i -
cals, M c C o o k , 111. (18, 2 0 ) ; R . S. Meline and J. Silverberg, T e n -
nessee Valley A u t h o r i t y , M u s c l e Shoals, Ala., (19, 22, 23); C. R .
M o e b u s , United Sierra, Trenton, N . J. (24) and H . Moller,
Johannes Moller, H a m b u r g , W e s t G e r m a n y (15, 16, 17). The
numbers in brackets are figure numbers of illustrations used.
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448 / M AY 1 96 9 Transactions of the ASME

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