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Handbook of Powder Science & Technology PDF
Handbook of Powder Science & Technology PDF
OF POWDER
SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
SECOND EDITION
edited by
Muhammad E. Fayed
Lambert Otten
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2.1. Introduction 35
2.2. Dimensionless Indices of Fineparticle Shape 35
2.3. Geometric Signature Waveforms for Characterizing the Shape
of Irregular Profiles 39
2.4. Fractal Dimensions of Fineparticle Boundaries for Describing
Structure and the Texture of Fineparticles 44
2.5. Dynamic Shape Factors from a Study of the Catastrophic
Tumbling Behavior of Fineparticles 48
References 52
vii
viii HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
3.1. Introduction 53
3.2. Macroscopic Structure Parameters 54
3.3. Packing Structures of Equal Spheres 61
3.4. Packing Structures of General Systems 67
References 90
568
11. MIXING OF POWDERS
568
11.1. Basic Concepts of Powder Mixing
576
11.2. Different Mixing Machines
584
References
17.2.1.
Introduction 781
17.2.2.
Purposes and Applications 781
17.2.3.
Porous Sintered Granule Beds 783
17.2.4.
Continuous Moving-Bed Filters 784
17.2.5.
Intermittent Moving-Bed Filters 785
17.2.6.
Fluidized Bed Filters 788
17.2.7.
Granular Bed Filters Mechanically Cleaned 789
17.2.8.
Granular Bed Filters Pneumatically Cleaned 791
17.2.9.
Technological Status of Systems Under Development and
Under Commercialization 792
References 801
Bibliography 801
INDEX 883
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Since the publication of the first edition of Canada, and Australia have increased teach-
Handbook of Powder Science and Technology, ing, research, and training activities in areas
the field of powder science and technology has related to particle science and technology.
gained broader recognition and its various ar- In addition, it is worth mentioning the many
eas of interest have become more defined and books and monographs that have been pub-
focused. Research and application activities lished on specific areas of particle, powder,
related to particle technology have increased and particle fluid by professional publishers,
globally in academia, industry, and research technical societies and university presses. Also,
institutions. During the last decade, many to date, there are many career development
groups, with various scientific, technical, and courses given by specialists and universities on
engineering backgrounds have been founded various facets of powder science and technol-
to study, apply, and promote interest in areas ogy-
of powder science and technology. Many pro- Taking note of all these developments, the
fessional societies and associations have de- editors of this second edition faced the need
voted sessions and chapters on areas of parti- for evaluating and reorganizing, as well as
cle science and technology that are relevant to updating and adding to the content of the first
their members in their conferences and career edition. In this edition, topics are organized in
development programs. Two of many refer- a logical manner starting from particle charac-
ences may be given in this regard; one is the terization and fundamentals to the many areas
recent formation of the Particle Technology of particle/powder applications. Comprehen-
Forum by the American Institute of Chemical sive upgrade of many of the first edition chap-
Engineers. The second reference is the inten- ters were made and three more chapters were
sified effort given by the American Filtration added: namely pneumatic conveying, dust ex-
and Separation Society to define the areas of plosion, and fire hazard and health hazard of
particle and particle fluid science and technol- dust.
ogy with the objective to promote the inclu- The extent to which we have succeeded may
sion of courses on these topics at American be judged from the authors contributions and
universities, for undergraduate and graduate the contents of this book.
circula. On the academic level, many universi-
ties in the United States, Europe, Japan, THE EDITORS
xiii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank Nadeem Visanji, senior student at Ryerson Polytechnic University, for his
assistance in preparing the index of this book.
We also would like to thank the Editorial and Production Staff of Chapman and Hall
Publishing Co., particularly Margaret Cummins, James Geronimo, and Cindy Zadikoff for their
attention and cooperation in the production of this book.
Last, but not least, we thank our families for their patience and understanding throughout the
preparation of this text.
CONTRIBUTORS
Leonard G. Austin, Professor Emeritus, Department of David Leith, Professor, Department of Environmental
Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania State Univer- Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina,
sity, University Park, PA. (Ch. 12). Chapel Hill, NC. (Ch. 15).
Larry Avery, President, Avery Filter Co., Westwood,
NJ. (Ch. 14). Wolfgang Pietsch, President, COMPACTCONSULT,
Inc., Naples, FL. (Ch. 6).
Wu Chen, The Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, TX.
(Ch. 13).
Alan Roberts, Director and Professor, TUNRA Bulk
Douglas W. Cooper, Associate Professor, Department Solids Handling Research Associates, University of New
of Environmental Sciences and Physiology, School of Castle, New South Wales, Australia (Ch. 5).
Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA. (Ch.
18).
Keith J. Scott, (Deceased), Chemical Engineering Re-
Francis A. L. Dullien, Professor Emeritus, Department search Group, Council for Scientific and Industrial Re-
of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Wa- search, Pretoria, South Africa (Ch. 13).
terloo, ON, Canada (Ch. 3).
Norman Epstein, Professor Emeritus, Department of Kunio Shinohara, Chairman and Professor, Depart-
Chemical Engineering, The University of British ment of Chemical Process Engineering, Hokkaido Uni-
Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (Ch. 10). versity, Sapporo, Japan (Ch. 4).
John R. Grace, Dean of Graduate Studies and Profes-
sor, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Gabriel I. Tardos, Professor, Department of Chemical
B.C., Canada (Ch. 10). Engineering, The City College of The City University
Stanley S. Grossel, President, Process Safety & Design of New York, New York, N.Y. (Ch. 17).
Inc., Clifton, NJ. (Ch. 19).
Fred M. Thomson, Consultant, Bulk Solids Handling
Donna L. Jones, Senior Engineer, ECI Environmental
and Storage, Wilmington, DE. (Ch. 8).
Consulting & Research Co., Durham, NC. (Ch. 15).
Mark G. Jones, Senior Consulting Engineer, Centre for
Olev Trass, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemi-
Industrial Bulk Solids Handling, Glasgow Caledonian
cal Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, On-
University, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K. (Ch. 7).
tario, Canada (Ch. 12).
Jacob Katz, Consultant, Coconut Creek, FL. (Ch. 16).
Brian H. Kaye, Professor, Department of Physics and Frederick A. Zenz, Professor Emeritus, Department of
Astronomy, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Chemical Engineering, Manhattan College, Riverdale,
Canada (Ch. 1, 2, 11, 20). N.Y. (Ch. 9, 17).
xvii
HANDBOOK
OF POWDER
SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
1
Particle Size Characterization
Brian H. Kaye
CONTENTS
1.1 WHAT IS THE SIZE OF A POWDER When an irregular grain of powder is stud-
GRAIN? ied by various characterization techniques, the
different methods evaluate different parame-
It must be firmly grasped at the beginning of a ters of the fineparticle. Thus in Figure 1.1
discussion of techniques for characterizing the various characteristic parameters and equiva-
size of fineparticles that for all except spheri- lent diameters of an irregular profile are illus-
cal fineparticles there is no unique size param- trated. When selecting a parameter of the
eter that describes an irregularly shaped fineparticle to be evaluated, one should at-
fineparticle.1'2 tempt to use a method that measures the
2 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Stokes Diameter
Projected Area
Convex
Hull
Sphere of
Equal Volume Aerodynamic
Diameter
Figure 1.1. The size of a fineparticle is a complex concept for all but smooth, dense, spherical fineparticles.
parameter that is functionally important for characterize the powder grains by two differ-
the physical system being studied. Thus, if one ent methods. Thus, the movement of a
is studying the sedimentation of grains of rock fineparticle suspended in the air into and out
tailings in a settling pond one should measure of the mouth of a miner is governed by the
the Stokes diameter of the powder grains. The aerodynamic diameter of the fineparticle. This
Stokes diameter is defined as the size of a is defined as the size of the sphere of unit
smooth sphere of the same density as the density that has the same dynamic behavior as
powder grain that has the same settling speed the fineparticle in low Reynolds number flow.
as the fineparticle at low Reynolds number in However, when one is considering the actual
a viscous fluid. It is calculated by inserting the health hazard caused by the dust fineparticles,
measured settling velocity of the fineparticle one may want to look at the number of sharp
into the Stokes equation, which is: edges on the fineparticle, in the case of a
silocotic hazard, or the fractal dimension and
surface area of the profile, in the case of a
diesel exhaust fineparticle. Furthermore, if one
where is interested in the filtration capacity of a
respirator, the actual physical dimensions of a
v = the measured velocity
profile may have to be measured by image
ds = Stokes diameter
g = acceleration due to gravity analysis. In recent years there has been a great
rj = viscosity of the fluid deal of development work regarding the prob-
p P = density of powder grain lem of characterizing the shape and structure
p L = density of a liquid. of fineparticles and this recent work is the
subject of a separate chapter in this book.
On the other hand, if one is measuring the Many methods used for characterizing
health hazard of a dust one may need to fineparticles have to be calibrated using stan-
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 3
dard fineparticles. These are available from must be a large number. Although the spin-
several commercial organizations.3"6 The ning riffler is an efficient sampling device it
European technical community has evolved has two drawbacks. First, the total supply of
some standard powders for reference work.7 the powder has to be passed through the sam-
Because different methods measure different pling device to ensure efficiency; this can
parameters of irregular fineparticles the data sometimes be inconvenient. Second, if the
generated by the various methods are not di- powder contains very fine grains the rotary
rectly related to each other and one must action of this sampling device can result in the
establish empirical correlations when compar- fines being blown away during the sampling
ing the data from different characterization process. Both of these difficulties are avoided
proceedings. From time to time we discuss this if one uses the free fall tumbler powder mixer
aspect of particle size analysis in this chapter. shown in Figure 1.2b to carry out the sampling
It is useful to distinguish between direct and process. It has always been appreciated that if
indirect methods of fineparticle characteriza- a powder could be mixed homogeneously then
tion. Thus, in sedimentation methods, one di- any snatch sample from the powder is a repre-
rectly monitors the behavior of individual sentative sample. However, there has been
fineparticles and the measurements made are some reluctance to use this approach to sam-
directly related to the properties of the pling because of the uncertain performance of
fineparticles. On the other hand, in gas ad- powder mixers. Recent work has shown that
sorption and permeability methods, the inter- the device shown in Figure 1.2b is a very
pretation of the experimental data involves efficient mixer and that samples taken from a
several hypotheses. As a consequence, the container placed in the mixer would normally
fineness measurements should be regarded as constitute a representative sample.14'15 The
secondary, indirect methods of generating the mixing chamber is a small container in which
information on the fineness of the powdered the powder to be mixed or sampled is placed.
material. In the case of the system shown in Figure 1.2b
a cubic mixing chamber is used. The chamber
must not be filled to capacity because this
1.2 OBTAINING A REPRESENTATIVE would restrict the movement of the powder
SAMPLE grains during the chaotic tumbling that consti-
tutes the mixing process. Usually the container
An essential step in the study of a powder should be half full. The lid of the chamber is
system is obtaining a representative sample. removable and contains the sampling cup on a
Procedures have been specified for obtaining a probe (rather like a soup ladle fixed to the top
powder sample from large tonnage material. of the mixing chamber). The mixing chamber
In this chapter we concern ourselves mainly is placed inside the tumbling drum which is
with the obtaining of a small sample for coated with rough-textured foam to cause the
characterization purposes for a sample of mixing chamber to tumble chaotically as the
powder sent to a laboratory from the tumbling drum is rotated. This chaotic tum-
plant.1'2'8"10'11'12'13'14'15 bling of the mixing chamber results in the
For many years the spinning riffler has been complete mixing of powder grains inside the
recognized as a very efficient sampling device container. When the tumbling is complete
for obtaining a representative sample. This the sampling cup attached to the roof of the
piece of equipment is shown in Figure 1.2a. In chamber contains a representative sample. The
this device a ring of containers rotates under a power of the system to act as a mixer/sampler
powder supply to be sampled. For efficient is illustrated by the data in Figure 1.3. A
sampling the total time of flow of powder into crushed calcium carbonate powder nominally
the system divided by the time of one rotation 15 microns was sampled after tumbling a con-
4 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Control
Valve
Drive Axis
b)
Tumbling Drum
Sample
Cup
Sample
Jar
Mixing Chamber
Rollers Motor
Dimpled
Lining
Figure 1.2. Systematic representative sampling of a powder can be achieved with a spinning riffler or chaos
generating devices can be used to generate representative samples taken at random, (a) Side and top views of a
spinning riffler. (b) The free-fall tumbling powder mixer can be used for powder homogenization and sampling.
tainer of the powder for 10 min. The sample Figure 1.3c the mathematically calculated size
was characterized by the AeroSizer®, an in- distribution of the mixture based on the known
strument to be described later in the text. The size distributions of the two ingredients is in-
measured size distribution and that of the distinguishable from that of the mixture as
subsequent sample taken after a further 10 obtained from the AeroSizer after the mixture
min are shown in Figure 1.3a. In Figure 1.3b had been tumbled for 20 min in the
the size distributions of a nominally 6 micron mixer/sampler. Because the powders were not
and 15 micron powder as measured by the free flowing, the ability to mix these two pow-
AeroSizer are shown along with the size distri- ders so that a representative sample matched
bution of a mixture prepared of these two exactly the predicted structure of the mixture
components in the proportion 25%, 6 micron is a good indication of the power of the system
powder to 75% of the 15 micron powder. In to homogenize a powder that had segregated
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 5
C)
Figure 1.4. Various types of special filters are available for sampling aerosols to generate fields of view for use in
image analysis procedures, (a) The appearance of a Nuclepore® surface filter, (b) Appearance of a cellulosic
depth filter, (c) Oblique view of a 25 micron "collimated hole" sieve.17
Once a representative sample of a powder tion one places the powder to be studied in a
has been obtained, preparing the sample for drop of mineral oil and spreads it gently with a
experimental study is often a major problem. glass rod. From the perspective of the finepar-
If one is not careful the act of preparing the ticle the glass rod is many hundreds of times
sample can change its structure radically. For bigger than itself and the pressure of the rod
example, some workers recommend that when can crush its structure into a myriad of frag-
preparing a sample for microscopic examina- ments. Other workers sometimes use ultra-
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 7
•
•
• 9
m
•
m
•
be inspected. If one uses a fairly dense array • * • * -
• •
of fineparticles a major problem is deciding
1 •
exactly what constitutes a separate fineparti- 1
Pi •
cle. Thus, in Figure 1.5a a simulated array of 0
monosized fineparticles deposited at random •
on a field of view to achieve a 10% coverage of 1
I
the field of view is shown. It can be seen that ft •
• •
many clusters exist in the field of view. When m
one inspects a filter through the microscope Figure 1.5. Random juxtaposition of fineparticles in a
there is no fundamental method of deciding field of view can lead to false aggregates that distort
whether a cluster viewed has formed during the measured size distribution of the real population of
fineparticles.21"23 (a) The appearance of a simulated
the filtration process or existed in the cloud of
10% covered field of monosized fineparticles. (b) The
fineparticles that were filtered from the air appearance of a simulated 3% covered field of mono-
stream. The only way that one can do this is to sized fineparticles.
8 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a)
Original
b)
24
Figure 1.6. Computer-aided image analysis system routines allow routine characterization of convoluted profiles.
(a) A typical carbonblack profile traced from a high-magnification electromicrograph. (b) Dilation can be used to
fill internal holes and/or deep fissures in a profile being evaluated. (The number indicates the number of dilations
applied to reach this stage from the original profile.) (c) Repeated application of the erosion routine suggests that
this cluster was formed by the collision of several subagglomerates. (The number indicates the number of erosions
applied to reach this stage from the original profile.)
10 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a)
b) 1.50-n
Direct Measurement
Trapped Glass Beads
1.25- Trapped Sand Grains
Normalized
Aperture 1.00-
Size
0.75-
0.50- I I I
5 10 20 50 80 90 95 98
Percent of Apertures of the SAME or LARGER Size
Figure 1.7. A major problem in sieve characterization of powders arises from variations in the mesh aperature
size. The aperture size range increases with sieve usage, (a) Magnified view of the apertures of a woven wire sieve.
(b) Variations in aperture size can be determined either by direct examination of the apertures by microscope or
by examining near mesh size fineparticles that were lightly trapped in the mesh during sieving and subsequently
removed by inverting the sieve and rapping it on a hard surface.
grains that were trapped in the mesh, is shown. aperture size in the surface of a sieve, another
It can be seen that the range of sizes trapped major problem when carrying out characteri-
in the mesh depends on the shape of the zation by means of sieve analysis is to deter-
powder grains. Thus, in Figure 1.8a a typical mine when the fractionation of the powder on
set of the sand grains used in the calibration is a sieve with given apertures is complete.
shown. The shape distribution of the sand Methods have been developed to predict the
grains as determined from a study of the grains ultimate residue on a sieve from the rate of
trapped in the mesh is shown in Figure passage of materials through the sieve but
1.8c.26'27 these techniques have not found wide accep-
(For a recent discussion of techniques for tance. The falling cost of data processing
calibrating sieves see Ref. 28. For a discussion equipment, however, will probably lead to a
of the various ways in which a sieve mesh can renewed interest in automated characteriza-
be damaged and the subsequent changes of tion of powders by sieve fractionation.
aperture sizes monitored see the extensive dis- When carrying out a sieve fractionation
cussion given in Ref. 1.) study one must carefully standardize the ex-
Apart from the uncertainty as to the exact perimental protocol and several countries have
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 11
a)
Length
b) 1.50-n • Data set 1
+ Data set 2
1.25-
Normalized
Grain I
Size
1.00-
Width
• Data set 1
i • Data Set 2
0.75- 1
i • 1
i i i i
> 5 10 20 50 80 90 95 98
Percent of Grains Smaller Than or Equal to Stated
c) 1.50-n
1.40 -
1.30-
Elongation
Ratio
i l
5 10 20 80 90 95 98
Percent of Grains Smaller Than or Equal to Stated
Figure 1.8. As a byproduct of calibrating a sieve mesh using trapped nneparticles, one obtains a subset of powder
grains, typical of the powder being characterized, which can be used to generate a shape distribution of the
powder grains, (a) Typical sand grains removed from a sieve mesh, (b) Length and width distributions of two sets
of sand grains removed from a sieve mesh, (c) Distribution of the elongation ratio of two sets of sand grains
removed from a sieve mesh.
prepared standard procedures for carrying of tests for sieves. The mesh number refers to
out sieve characterization studies.29 Specialist the number of wires per inch with the wire
sieve equipment is available from several diameter being the same as the aperture of
companies.30"35 the sieve.) The nominal size of a 30-mesh sieve
Electrostatic phenomena can interfere with is 600 microns. When the fractionated powder
the progress of a sieve fractionation of a pow- was characterized by image analysis study there
der. Thus, in Figure 1.9 the size distributions were considerable numbers of fmeparticles less
of a plastic powder fractionated on a 30-mesh than 150 microns clinging to the coarser grains.
ASTM sieve are shown. (ASTM stands for the On a mass basis, the fines do not constitute a
American Society for Testing of Materials; significant fraction of the weight of powder of
this organization has specified a whole series nominal size 600 to 1100 microns but their
12 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a)
" 8
Size (microns)
b)
•
0.6-
aS&si • •„ ..
Median " °" •
0.4-
}s Chunkiness afP B m \
1
9L-D a B m
6 r& «" *
a
0.2- •
a
- a
0.0- i 1 I l l I l I l
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Normalized Size
Figure 1.9. Electrostatic forces cause fines to cling to oversize fineparticles on the surface of a sieve, preventing
them from passing through the sieve apertures, (a) Size distribution of a sieved plastic powder showing a large
number of fines still contained in the oversize fraction of the powder, (b) Chunkiness versus size domain for the
plastic powder of (a). (Note that chunkiness is the reciprocal of aspect ratio.)
presence could severely modify the flow and 1.5 CHARACTERIZING THE SIZE OF
packing behavior of the powder. The fines FINEPARTICLES BY SEDIMENTATION
clinging to the coarser grains had a wider TECHNIQUES
range of shapes as demonstrated by the chunk-
iness size data domain of Figure 1.9b. Some- As stated earlier in this chapter, in sedimenta-
times the fines of such a powder can be re- tion methods for characterizing fineparticles
moved by adding a silica flow agent into the the settling dynamics of the fineparticles in
powder while sieving the powder. (For a dis- suspension are monitored and the observed
cussion of the effect of flow agents on the data substituted into the Stokes equation to
behavior of a powder see the discussion in calculate what is known as the Stokes diame-
Ref. 36.) ter of the fineparticle. During the 1960s and
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 13
1970s sedimentation methods were the domi- ance pan suspended inside the suspension, as
nant techniques in size characterization shown in Figure 1.10a, is used to monitor the
studies and many different instrument con- settling behavior of suspension fineparticles.
figurations have been described.1'2 Several This type of instrument is known as a "homo-
international standard protocols for using sed- geneous suspension start" instrument. The
imentation equipment have been prepared. presence of the pan in the suspension inter-
Recently the International Standards Organi- feres with the dynamics of the settling
zation of the European Community has pre- fineparticles but this interference can be
pared standards for centrifugal and gravity allowed for in the interpretive equations
sedimentation methods.37 In Figure 1.10 some and minimized by specialized design of the
of the basic instrument designs that have been equipment.
used to study the sedimentation dynamics of a In an alternate method, the suspension of
suspension of fineparticles are shown. In in- fineparticles to be studied is introduced as a
struments known as sedimentation balances layer at the top of a column of suspension.
the weight of fineparticles settling onto a bal- The movement of the settling fineparticles
a) scale
Balance Pan N
Scattered
Light
Forward
Beam
Detector
Clear v
d) Homogeneous Suspension
Pisk
rial \ Rotation ^Suspension
\
Light 'Clear'
Photodetector
Beam Fluid
Figure 1.10. Sedimentation methods for characterizing the size distribution of powders uses the settling speed of
the fineparticles in suspension and is interpreted as the size of the equivalent spheres using Stokes' law. (a) In
sedimentation balances the fineparticles are weighted as they arrive at the base of the sedimentation column, (b)
In a photosedimentometer, fineparticles are monitored by noting the scattering or extinction of light or X-rays
passing through the suspension, (c) In the linestart centrifugal method, a thin layer of suspension is injected onto
the surface of a clear fluid so that all the fineparticles start at the same distance from the wall of the disc, (d) In
the homogeneous start centrifugal method the disc is filled with suspension.
14 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a)
I ft
*
.> •# • * •
jm # * '• »
b)
Figure 1.11. When interpreting the physical significance of the diffraction pattern data of a random array of
fineparticles, one should remember that the structural features and the texture of a fineparticle affect the light
scattering behavior of the fineparticle.52 (a) A random array of dots and its associated diffraction pattern, (b) The
effect of shape and sharp points on the diffraction pattern of a single profile.
tion from machine to machine, but in essence given the impression that the deconvolution
Fraunhoffer or Mie theory of diffraction pat- (the mathematical term for the appropriate
tern analysis is used to interpret the diffrac- process) of the diffraction pattern proceeds
tion pattern. In the various presentations of without any basic assumptions. In practice
the theory of the instrument, one is sometimes many diffractometers take short cuts in the
16 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
0.1-
10 20 200
Size
(Jim)
35
a) Wheat flour
d l a s e r = 792um
a) Wheat flour
30: • Sieve
\ 1 1 Diffraction
Ghost coarse
120 d
sieve = 6 6 6 l^ m
d
1 laser = 7 9 2 V™
llllLi
Particle Size (microns) Particle Size (microns)
20- Maize flour
b) b)
18-: Maize flour d 754 m 30-: • Sieve
laser = ^
16-f \
25: H Diffraction
Ghost coarse
201 d
sieve = 7 2 8 ^ m
5 10-=
15J dlaser = 754um
I" 8i
1
*\
A\
10
5-j
i ifeyi
Hill,
Ghost fines.
0
• •••••l
(O (O <O S C O C M T - I O O S C V J
r
iod' :
r^Vrvrrr
Figure 1.14. The similarity of size distribution func- Figure 1.15. The "real" size distributions of the pow-
tions for various food powders analyzed by a light ders in Figure 1.14, as measured by sieve analysis, is
diffraction size analyzer is an illusion created by insen- quite different from the self-similar curves generated
sitive software used to deconvolute the group diffrac- by the software of the diffractometer. The sieve distri-
tion pattern of the random array of flneparticles.49 bution data do not conform to any simple distribution
function.49
to indicate both the presence of an excess of equipment, such distortions of the data are
coarse and fines that did not match reality is misleading. In particular, the soya bean meal
not a serious problem. If, however, one is appears to have a Gaussian distribution rather
wanting to assess the performance of equip- than a bimodal log-normal distribution. It is
ment, such as an air classification piece of very difficult to fit simple distribution func-
18 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
tions to the sieve data of Figure 1.15 and in light explores an area of a suspension and the
fact the writer feels that a rush to fit distribu- size of the particles in suspension is measured
tion functions to any size analysis data can be by the time it takes for the laser beam to track
a self-defeating process. The analyst should across the profile of the fineparticle. Sophisti-
report the data that he finds even if it does not cated electronic editors are used to generate
fit simple distribution functions. Distribution the size distribution data from the information
functions are of use only if one can interpret generated by the scanning laser. The basic
the formation dynamics in terms of the distri- system of this type of instrument developed by
bution function produced by a given process. the Galai Instruments of Israel is shown in
(For an extensive discussion of distribution Figure 1.16. (Note that for many years this
functions that have been used for size analysis, instrument was sold in the United States by
see the first edition of this book and Ref. 2. the Brinkman Instrument Company and so
For a discussion of the physical significance of many publications in which this instrument is
the various distribution functions that have used refer to it as the Brinkman Size Ana-
been used see the discussion in Ref. 54.) It is lyzer). The fineparticles to be characterized
not possible to give general guidance on how are placed in the suspension and the laser is
to interpret diffractometer data because the rotated by means of a rotating optical wedge.
software used by the various companies is The system also incorporates a video camera
constantly changing. However, when reporting for inspecting the actual fineparticles being
size characterization data generated by dif- measured. The logic of the Galai system can
ferent diffractometers the research worker be manipulated to provide shape information.
should specifically detail the year and model It also provides logic modules for advanced
of the equipment being used in their studies. image analysis using the video camera data
If possible comment on the deconvolution al- collection system.55
gorithms being used to interpret the data. In Another time-of-flight analyzer that uses a
recent years many manufacturers of diffrac- system similar to the Galai instrument is
tion size analyzers have modified their equip- known as the Lasentech Instrument. This sys-
ment to be able to work with dry aerosols tem is portable and has been used for online
and/or sprays. This has necessitated the de- monitoring of fineparticles moving in the slurry
velopment of systems for generating aerosols or suspension as well as for size analysis in the
from dry powder supplies prior to size analysis. laboratory.56
This is not an easy task and the ancillary Another time-of-flight instrument, the
equipment for generating the necessary AeroSizer®, is manufactured by Amherst Pro-
aerosol can be expensive. Again it is not possi- cess Instruments Inc., in Massachusetts.57 The
ble to give firm figures or exact descriptions of basic system of this instrument is shown in
the equipment because manufacturers are
constantly modifying and changing the design
of their equipment.
Rotating
/Wedge
Prism
Figure 1.17a. The aerosol flneparticles to be of clean air that confines the aerosol stream to
characterized are sucked into an inspection the measurement zone. The use of a stream of
zone operating at a partial vacuum. As the air clean air to focus an aerosol stream to be
leaves the nozzle at near sonic velocity the characterized is a widely used technique known
fineparticles in the stream are accelerated as hydrodynamic focussing. The term is some-
across this inspection zone. It should be noted what confusing because it was originally devel-
that, as the aerosol stream emerges into the oped with instruments employing liquid
inspection zone, it is surrounded by a stream streams to examine a series of flneparticles.
Time
of
Flight
(US)
1 10 100
Particle Diameter (urn)
c)(l) 1.0
0.8-
Percent 0.6—
at Stated
Size 0.4-
0.2-
0.0
I I I I AA
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 °°- I I I I I T
Size frim) 0.0 1.0 2.0
Size
Figure 1.17. The Amherst Process Instruments Aerosizer® is a "time-of-flight" size analyzer.57 (a) The basic
layout of the AeroSizer. (b) Calibration curves for materials of various densities, (c) The AeroSizer can distinguish
the various components in a mixture of standard polystyrene latex spheres, (i) Results for a mixture of 0.494 /im,
0.806 jxm, and 1.037 fim latex spheres. (Density 1.05 g/cm 3 .) (ii) Results for 1.037 fim latex spheres alone.
20 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Frequecy
Shifter " Sample Flow
Laser
I.
High Filter
1 Counter
Gain
0 1 1
o
Oscilloscope
£> o
Low Filter Multiplier
Doppler Burst
Signal
Data out to Processor
Computer
Figure 1.19. In the Doppler shaft-based technique of size characterization, the aerodynamic diameter of finepar-
ticles is determined by accelerating the fineparticles through the inspection zone created by crossed laser beams. 1
22 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
interrogation zone. As in the case of the time- nation of particle sizes. Its major strong point is that
of-flight instruments, the instrument is cali- it is difficult to imagine a faster technique for sizing
brated with flneparticles of known size. When submicron particles. Average particle sizes and dis-
one reads the theory of the methods such as tribution width can be determined in a few minutes
that in Figure 1.19 it is sometimes hard to without elaborate sample preparation. However,
discover how the Doppler effect is involved reasonably accurate resolution of the shape of the
because the interpretation of the data is some- particle size distribution requires extremely accu-
rate measurements over a period of ten hours and
times phrased in terms of movement of the
more.64
aerosol flneparticles through the interference
fringes created by the two laser beams. In fact
the optical arrangement of Figure 1.19 is iden- The recent trend for this application is the
tical to that used in introductory physics labo- development of measuring systems that allow
ratories to generate Newton's interference the control of production processes by on line
fringes. The fringes constitute a series of lin- and in situ measurements in highly concen-
ear fringes perpendicular to the plane of the trated dispersions. It should be noted that the
light beam intersection and to the flow of the method is known by several names; thus it is
aerosol. Therefore to an external observer sometimes referred to as quasi elastic light
the aerosol flneparticles appear to be moving scattering (QELS) and DLS, standing for dy-
through a series of interference fringes. The namic light scattering. Commercial equipment
speed of the aerosol fineparticle is deduced
based on PCS is available through several
from the frequency with which the aerosol
companies.63
fineparticle moves past the fringes (see dia-
Another instrument that used Doppler shifts
gram in Ref. 1). The interpretation of the data
to investigate the size of airborne flneparticles
in terms of interference fringes is not strictly
is known as the E-SPART analyzer. This in-
correct from a physical theory point of view,
but can help one to intuitively understand strument can measure aerosol sizes in the
what is happening to the interrogation zone. range 0.3 to 70 microns aerodynamic diameter.
This instrument was developed by Mazumder
If the fact that the method used in the
and co-workers.65~67 The E-SPART analyzer
system outlined in Figure 1.19 involves the
is an acronym for the term the Electrical Sin-
Doppler method is difficult to understand from
published discussions, then it is even more gle Particle Aerodynamic Relaxation Time an-
difficult to track down the involvement of the alyzer. This instrument is used not only to
Doppler shifts in a technique known as photon measure size but also to measure the electro-
correlation spectroscopy (PCS). In this method static charge of aerosol flneparticles, a param-
the size of flneparticles in suspension undergo- eter of importance when predicting the behav-
ing Brownian motion are studied by looking at ior of electrostatic copying machines and
the Doppler shifts of laser light scattered by therapeutic aerosol sprays used in the phar-
the wandering flneparticles. The technique is maceutical industry. The basic system of the
useful for flneparticles several microns in di- instrument is shown in Figure 1.20. A knowl-
ameter downwards. In particular it is widely edge of the electrostatic charge distribution on
used to look at the size distribution of latex aerosol flneparticles is also of interest when
and colloidal flneparticles.62 studying the efficiency of crop dusting with
In a recent review article Finsy makes the pesticides and the electrostatic coating of ob-
following comments: jects in industry such as the automotive indus-
try.68 The instrument must be calibrated using
Originating some 20 years ago from a research tool particles of known particle size. Typical per-
in a form only suitable for experts, PCS has become formance data for the E-SPART analyzer are
a routine analytical measurement for the determi- shown in Figures 1.20b and 1.20c.
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 23
Focussing
a) Aerosol in | Optics Photomultiplier
Transducer,
to
Computer
Laser Doppler
Velocimeter
Beams Aerosol out
b) 15 000-
12 5 0 0 -
10 0 0 0 -
7 500-
5 000-
2 500-
0
1 1 I ~ T
0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10
Aerodynamic Diameter (u,m)
c)
Percent 15—
Particle
Count -JO—
14 000
12 0 0 0 -
10 0 0 0 -
Number 8 000-
of
Occurrences 6 000—
4 000-
2 000-
away from heavier gold grains that settle down ing stream of liquid and the entrained smaller
to the bottom of a container of moving fluid. fineparticles.) It is difficult to predict the cut
Today the term elutriator refers to any device size of an elutriator and the fractionation is
in which powder fractionation is achieved by never clean cut. (See chapter on elutriators in
means of fluid movement with differential set- Ref. 1.) To accelerate the fractionation pro-
tling of the fineparticles. In the 1950s and cess, cyclones are often used. In a cyclone, as
1960s elutriators were some of the first devices illustrated in Figure 1.23b, the fluid stream of
used to characterize fineparticles. In general fineparticles entering the main body tangen-
they tend to have been displaced in modern tially is made to spiral around the fractiona-
technology by diffractometers and stream tion chamber. Under the influence of centrifu-
counters. However, they are still the basic gal force the larger fineparticles are thrown to
devices for fractionating powders into differ- the walls of the vessel and slide down into the
ent groups. For example, the preparation of bottom of the chamber. A tube placed axially
various grades of fine diamond polishing pow- into the fractionation chamber accepts the re-
der is still achieved using liquid elutriation. turning fluid which is made to spiral out (vortex
(See Blythe elutriator in Ref. 1.) Various con- finder of Figure 1.23b). The fluid dynamics of
figurations of elutriator have been devised as cyclones is a complex subject and usually the
illustrated by the systems shown in Figure exact cut size of the cyclone has to be estab-
1.23. In the basic gravity elutriator, the lished empirically. Part of the problem in pre-
fineparticles to be fractionated are placed in a dicting the performance of the cyclone is that
cylinder through which a liquid is moved. The the concentration of fineparticles in the enter-
cut size of the elutriator is the size of finepar- ing fluid stream can effect the performance of
ticle that cannot settle down the column but the device. Personnel cyclones are widely used
must move out of the system with the fluid as to fractionate industrial dusts into respirable
it exits from the elutriator chamber. Complex and nonrespirable hazards (see Chapter 20).
flow takes place in the elutriator body. (Not Another type of elutriator that is widely used
only is there a parabolic flow front because of to study aerosols and to sample aerosol sys-
the cylindrical structure of the chamber, but tems is the impactor shown in Figure 1.23c.
the settling fineparticles interfere with the ris- An air stream containing suspended fineparti-
26 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Suspension qf_
fineparticles to
be fractionated
Fineparticles ,
are elutriated
up the body of Coarse
the elutriator fineparticles are
thrown out and
slide down the
cone to the
bottom
Filter
c)
Airstream
containing
suspended
fineparticles
Deposited fineparticles
Figure 1.23. Elutriators are devices in which fineparticles are fractionated by a moving fluid, (a) A gravity
elutriator. (b) A centrifugal elutriator, also known as a cyclone, (c) In an impactor fineparticles are centrifugally
deposited on a slide as the jet of air is forced to turn by the slide.
cles is deflected by a glass slide or other col- known as permeability methods that are indi-
lection surface. The turning fluid acts as a rect techniques for studying the fineness of a
centrifugal system, throwing a certain size out powder. The basic concept of a permeability
onto the surface of the slide. The deposition method for fineness assessment is that the
of the fineparticles is controlled by the speed resistance to flow offered by a compact of the
of the air jet and the distance from the de- powder can be used to characterize the fine-
flecting surface.75 ness of the powder.76 The permeability meth-
ods for assessing fineness of substances such
as pyrotechnical powders, pharmaceutical
1.11 PERMEABILITY METHODS FOR powders, and cement powders was widely used
CHARACTERIZING FINEPARTICLE for 50 years and is still a major technique in
SYSTEMS the cement industry. The techniques have
tended to fall into disuse in recent years be-
Thus far in our discussion we have been deal- cause of the availability of instruments such as
ing with direct methods of fineness assess- the diffractometer and the time-of-flight in-
ment. In this section we will study what are struments; however, they still have a role to
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 27
play in quality control of the heavy industries der plug; otherwise different operators using
particularly since the sampling problems asso- different pressures and assembly technique
ciated with permeability measurements are can change the apparent fineness of the
much less severe than those for diffractome- powder.79'80
ters. Thus a sample of cement for assessment In an alternative design of permeameter
with a permeability instrument can be as large circuit suggested by Kaye and Legault, the
as 200 g of powder as compared to the mil- powder plug to be used in the studies is com-
ligrams of powder used in diffractometers. It is pressed using hydrostatic pressure. The use of
much simpler to obtain the 200 g as a repre- the hydrostatic compression technique makes
sentative sample than it is to go all the way it possible to automate the loading and empty-
down to a few milligrams. The inherent cost of ing of the permeability cell. The use of the
permeameters is also low. Studies aimed at the equivalent of a wheatstone bridge circuit per-
optimization of permeability equipment for mits automated calibration of a feedback con-
quality control situations would seem to offer trolled instrument. Work is underway to com-
the potential for a renewed interest in the pletely automate permeability control of
permeability methods. One of the work horses cement circuits using this design. Relating the
of industrial powder fineness measurement measured fineness of a cement or other pow-
over the last 50 years was an instrument known der to the constitution of the powder plug is
as the Fisher Subsieve Sizer. The basic instru- not a simple matter because the resistance to
mentation of this device is shown in Figure flow of the powder plug is related not only to
1.24a. The components represent 50 year old the fineness of the powder but also to the pore
technology and newer pneumatic control structure of the compact. This fact is illus-
devices can be used in modern pneumatic trated by the data in Figure 1.25. If the mea-
circuits.77'78 surement made on the permeability was di-
It can be seen that the basic pneumatic rectly related to the surface area, then when
circuit of the Fisher Subsieve Sizer is that of one mixed two powders of comparable fine-
measuring an unknown resistance with a po- ness the relationship between the measured
tentiometer and a standard resistance. The fineness of the mixture and the constitution of
two taps, A and B, of the diagram represent the mixture would be a linear relationship of
different calibrated orifices for use in the com- the type shown for the mixture of aluminum
parative circuitry. powder and molybdedum oxide powder shown
In Figure 1.24b the basic pneumatic cir- in Figure 1.25a. However, when one attempts
cuitry of the Blaine fineness tester is shown. to use the same interpretation for a mixture of
This equipment is widely used in the cement an aluminum powder and a vanadium pentox-
industry to assess the fineness of cement. Be- ide powder there is a more complex curve
cause of its widespread use, the fineness of which indicates that initially the vanadium
cement is often referred to as its Blaine num- pentoxide filled the interstitial spaces of the
ber, which is an arbitrary number derived from powdered aluminum, increasing its resistance
the performance of the equipment. The ce- to air flow which was interpreted externally as
ment to be calibrated is placed as a powder an increase in fineness as shown in Figure
plug at the top of a U-Tube Manometer. A 1.25b. The opposite effect occurred when the
driving pressure is established by closing tap A aluminum powder was mixed with copper ox-
and opening tap B. The time required for the ide powders as shown in Figure 1.25c. These
air to flow through the plug of cement as the curves indicate, however, that although in some
manometer decays from height Hj to H F is cases one could not follow the constitution of
measured. This instrument is calibrated with a mixture from the measured permeability, the
cements of known fineness. It is necessary to permeability richness curves indicate whether
have a strict protocol for assembling the pow- interpacking or interference with the structure
28 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a)
Tap Tap
A B
H|
XXr-
\t
Calibrated
I7 •O-Z-
\
Orifices
Applied
Pressure
Needle Compressed
Valve Air
to Pressure
Vacuum Drop \
Pump across Control
Powder Valve
Plug Powder
Plug
Volume
Change
Powder
Plug
Flexible
Water Membrane
Air Flow
Figure 1.24. In permeability methods for characterizing fineness of a powder, the resistance of a powder plug to
air flow is related to the fineness of the powder.76 (a) Schematic of the Fisher Sub-Sieve Sizer. (b) Schematic of
the Blaine Fineness Tester, (c) Schematic of the improved Kaye flexible wall permeameter.
of the powder plug is occurring. See discussion summarized in Figure 1.26. The surface area
of these curves in Ref.76 of a powder can be measured directly by means
of gas adsorption studies. In these techniques
the amount of gas or other molecular items,
1.12 SURFACE AREA BY GAS such as dye molecules, adsorbed onto the pow-
ADSORPTION STUDIES der to form a monolayer is studied.82 (See
study of gas adsorption in Ref. 2.) In earlier
The way in which Blaine fineness can be re- discussions of gas adsorption (before 1977) it
lated to data from other size characterization was stated that one of the problems with gas
techniques is illustrated by the information adsorption studies was the uncertainty in the
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 29
4.0- b) 4.0-
3.0- 3.0-
1.0-
— Theoretical Data — Theoretical Data
o Experimental Data o Experimental Data
0.0- 0.0-
o20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Volume Percentage of Aluminum Volume Percentage of Aluminum
c) 4.0-
3.0-
2.0-
1.0-
— Theoretical Data
o Experimental Data
0.0-
0 20 40 60 80 100
Volume Percentage of Aluminum
Figure 1.25. The permeability of a powder compact is related to not only the fineness of the powder, but also to
the pore structure of the compact, as demonstrated by experimental data for several powders.76 (a) Permeameter
surface area data for a mixture of molybdenum oxide and aluminum, (b) Permeameter surface area data for a
mixture of vanadium pentoxide and aluminum, (c) Permeameter surface area data for a mixture of copper oxide
and aluminum.
knowledge of the cross-section area of the straight line through the data to obtain a
adsorbed molecule, which made estimates of fractal dimension descriptive of the rough sur-
the surface vary from gas to gas used in the face as shown in Figure 1.26b.81 Neimark re-
adsorption studies. In recent years gas adsorp- cently described a method for calculating the
tion studies of surface areas are being reinter- surface area and surface roughness of a pow-
preted from the viewpoint of fractal geometry. der by studying capillary condensation of a
It has been shown that the surface area mea- liquid on a powder.83
sured using a given gas depends on the acces-
sibility of the rough surface to the particular
molecule being used, as illustrated by the 1.13 PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF A
sketch in Figure 1.26a. Avnir and co-workers PACKED POWDER BED
have shown that if you plot a graph of the
surface area against the molecular size of the Sometimes when a powder has been made into
adsorbent gas or the molecule, one can draw a a compressed structure, or other packed pow-
30 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
b) 10.0-,
5.0- OH
CH3 - C - CH 3
mMoles
CH 3
Adsorbed
CH 2 CH 3
2.0- CH3CH2 - C - OH
CH 2 CH 3
1.0-
10 20 50
Surface Area (A 2 )
Figure 1.26. Innovations in the interpretation of gas adsorption data allow the surface fractal dimension of a
substance to be deduced, (a) In gas adsorption the surface area is estimated from the number of a particular
molecule required to cover the surface. This estimate is dependent on the size of the molecule used, smaller
molecules can fit into smaller crevices, (b) The surface fractal dimension can be determined by using the gas
adsorption technique with a series of different gases.
der bed, the pore size distribution of the inter- of mercury with the material of the powder so
stitial spaces is of interest. These aspects of that the applied pressure can be interpreted in
flneparticle systems can be studied by tech- terms of the capillary tube through which the
niques known as mercury intrusion. Thus in mercury will move at that pressure. There has
Figure 1.27 data from the study of a powder always been controversy as to the physical
using the mercury intrusion technique to study significance of mercury intrusion data because
the structure of a bed of powder the grains of it obviously only measures access for diameter.
which were porous, as reported by Orr, is The size of the pore behind the neck may be
shown.84 The amount of mercury entering a very different from that of the entrance capil-
bed at different pressures is used to generate lary as shown in Figure 1.27b. (Note that inter-
the data. One needs to know the contact angle preting mercury intrusion data in terms of
PARTICLE SIZE CHARACTERIZATION 31
a) 1.0
0.8-
Mercury entering
voids between grains
Penetration 0.6-
Volume
(cc/gm)
0.4-
Mercury
I entering
0.2- pores
I within
I grains
0.0
200 20 2 1 0.2 0.02 0.002
Pore Diameter
b) Intruding Mercury
c) 10
1-
Penetration -
Volume
(cc/gm)
0.1 -
0.01
0.002 0.02 0.2 2 200
Pore Diameter (|im)
Figure 1.27. Mercury intrusion porosimetry data can be reinterpreted to obtain a pore fractal dimension of a
system, (a) Mercury intrusion porosimetry data as it is traditionally presented. 84 (b) An illustration of how a
"bottleneck" might cause pore volume to be underestimated, (c) A possible reinterpretation of the data of (a)
leading to fractal dimensional information on the pore structure. 85
pore diameters is often referred to as an ink can reinterpret mercury intrusion data to gen-
bottle interpretive model.) For the data in erate what is known as a fractal subdimension
Figure 1.27a mercury is entering the void be- in data space. Thus in Figure 1.27c the data of
tween the grains of the powders at low pres- Figure 1.27a have been reinterpreted in a
sure. When the pressure reaches approxi- manner that enables one to calculate the frac-
mately 2000 lb/in. 2 the mercury starts to in- tal dimensions description of the between-
trude into pores within the powder grains hav- grain space and the within-grain space.85
ing accessed diameters of the order of 0.1 In Figure 1.28 a new technique for studying
microns. It has recently been shown that one the pore structure of items such as porous
32 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Accuracy of the Size Characterization of Res- 42. Leeds & Northrup, A Division of MicroTrac, 351
pirable Dust." Part. Syst. Charact. 9:83-93 (1992). Sumneytown Pike, North Wales, PA 19454.
B. H. Kaye, "Operational Protocols for Efficient 43. CILAS U.S.A., agents Denver Autometrics Inc.,
Characterization of Arrays of Deposited Fineparti- 6235 Lookout Road, Bolder, CO 80301 Company
cles by Robotic Image Analysis Systems." Chapter headquarters in France Osi 47, Rue de Javel, 75015
23 in Particle Size Distribution II: Assessment and Paris, France.
Characterization, edited by T. Provder, ACS Sympo- 44. Malvern Instruments, Inc., 10 Southville Road,
sium Series 472. Published by the American Chem- Southborough, MA 01772.
ical Society, Boston (1991).
45. Coulter Corporation, Division of Scientific Instru-
M. A. K. Yousufzai, "A Study of the Physical Pa- ments, P.O. Box 169015, Miami, FL 33116-9015.
rameters Affecting the Efficiency of Sieve Fraction-
46. Sympatec, Inc., Systems for Particle Technology
ation of Powders." M.Sc. Thesis, Laurentian Uni-
Division, 3490 U.S., Route 1, Princeton, NJ 08540.
versity, Sudbury, Ontario (1984).
B. H. Kaye, M. A. K. Yousufzai, "How to Calli- 47. Shimadzu Scientific Instr., Inc., 7102 Riverwood
brate a Wire-Woven Sieve." Powder Bulk Eng. Drive, Columbia, MD 21046.
<5(2):29-34 (1992). 48. Insitec, Inc., 2110 Omega Rd., San Ramon, CA
T. Allen, "Sieve Calibration Using Tacky Dots." 94583.
Powder Technol. 79:61-68 (1994). 49. Nathier-Dufor et al., "Comparison of Sieving and
British Standards Institute Publication Nos. 410 Laser Diffraction for the Particle Size Measure-
(1943) and 1796 (1952). ments of Raw Materials Used in Food Stuffs."
Electroformed sieves are available from Buckbee- Powder Technol. 76:191-200 (1993).
Mears Company, 245 East Sixth Street, St. Paul, 50. J. W. Novak, Jr. and J. R. Thompson, "Extending
MN 55101. the Use of Particle Size Instrumentation to Calcu-
Photoetched sieves are available from Vecto-Stork late Particle Shape Factors." Powder Technol.
International, 4925 Silabert Avenue, Charlotte, NC 45:159-167 (1986).
28205. 51. G. Baudet, M. Bizi, and J. P. Rona, "Estimation of
W. S. Tyler Company, 8570 Tylor Blvd., Mentor the Average Aspect Ratio of Lamellae-Shaped Par-
OH 44060. ticles by Laser Diffractometry." Part. Sci. Technol.
Cenco Instrument Corporation, 1700 Irving Park 77:73-96 (1993).
Road, Chicago, IL 60613. 52. The data for the diffraction patterns given in this
Alpine American Corporation, 3 Michigan Drive, diagram are taken from a review of diffraction
Natick, MA 01760. properties of fineparticles given in the book
Sonic Sifter available from ATM Corporation, A Randomwalk Through Fractal Dimensions by
645 S. 94th Place, Milwaukee, WI 53214. B. H. Kaye, 2nd ed. VCH, Weinheim, Germany,
See B. H. Kaye, Powder Mixing, to be published by pp. 84-89 (1994).
Chapman and Hall, 1996. 53. The data for Figure 1.13 are taken from the trade
Information on the ISO Standards for particle size literature of Leeds and Northrup; see Ref. 42.
analysis is available from the International Organi- 54. Brian H. Kaye, Chaos & Complexity: Discovering
zation for Standardization Secretariat, Building Di- the Surprising Patterns of Science and Technology.
vision of DIN, Burggrafenstrasse 4-10.D-1000, VCH Publishers, Weinheim, Germany (1993).
Berlin 30. In Canada information is available
55. Galai Instruments Inc., 577 Main Street, Islip, NY
from the Standards Council of Canada, 1200-45 11751.
O'Connor Street, Ottawa, Ontario, KIP 6N7. At
56. Lasentec, 15224 NE 95th Street, Redmond, WA
the time of writing the ISO Council had issued
98052.
draft standards for particle size by gas adsorption,
photon correlation, diffraction methods, and for 57. Amherst Process Instruments, Mountain Farms
sedimentation procedures. (Other standards are in Technology Park, Hadley, MA 01035.
preparation.) 58. TSI Incorporated, 500 Cardigan Road, P.O. Box
Micromeritics, 1 Micromeritics Drive, Norcross, GA 64394, St. Paul, MN 55164-9877.
30093. 59. Dantec Measurement Technology A-S, Toms-
Horiba Instruments Incorporated, 17671 Arm- bakken, 16-18, Dk-740, Skovlunde, Denmark. In
strong Avenue, Irving, CA 92714. the United States and Canada, Dantec Measure-
See technical literature of Brookhaven Instruments ment Technology Incorporated, Mahwah, NJ 07430.
Corporation, Brookhaven Corporate Park, 750 60. For a special issue of the journal "Particle and
Bluepoint Road, Holtsville, NY 11742. Particle Systems Characterization" devoted to the
See H. G. Barth, Modern Methods of Particle Size use of Doppler shifts to measure aerosol fineparti-
Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1984). cles, see Volume 11, No. 1, February 1994. Particle
34 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
and Particle Systems is published by VCH, 71. Particle Measuring Systems Incorporated, 1855
Weinheim, Germany. South 57th Court, Boulder, CO 80301.
61. M. Gautam, K. Car, H. Yang, K. Clifton, and J. G. 72. Information on the Electrozone Counter is avail-
Jurewicz, "LDV Measurements in Gas Solid Flows, able from Particle Data Inc., P.O. Box 265,
A review." Part. Sci. Technol 11:57-11 (1993). Elmhurst, IL 60126.
62. For a concise introduction to the theory of photon 73. See trade literature of Coulter Counter Electron-
correlation spectroscopy see Modern Methods of ics, 5990 West, 20th St. Hialeah, FL 33010.
Particle Size Analysis edited by Howard G. Bart, 74. Particle Sizing Systems, 75 Aero Camino, Santa
John Wiley & Sons, Chapter 3 (1984). Barbara, CA 93117.
63. Commercially available photon correlation equip- 75. See discussion of impactors in Ref. 1.
ment is available from Brookhaven Laboratories, 76. B. H. Kaye, "Permeability Techniques for Charac-
Particle Sizing Systems, 75 Aero Camino, Santa terizing Fine Powders." Powder Technol. 2:11-21
Barbara, CA 93117. (1967).
64. R. Finsy, "Particle Sizing in the Sub Micron Range 77. B. H. Kaye and P. E. Legault, "Real-Time Perme-
by Dynamic Light Scattering," KONA, No. 11, pp.
ametry for the Monitoring of Fineparticle Systems."
17-32 (1993). KONA is published by the Hosokawa
Powder Technol. 23:119-186 (1979).
Micron Corporation.
78. A. D. Hoffman, "A Soft-Wall Permeameter for
65. M. K. Mazumder, R. E. Ware, T. Yokayama, B.
Online Characterization of Grinding Circuits."
Rubin, and D. Kamp, "Measurement of Particle
M.Sc. Thesis, Laurentian University, Sudbury,
Size and Electrostatic Charge of a Single Particle
Ontario (1989).
Basis in the Measurement of Suspended Particles
79. R. L. Blaine, "A Simplified Air Permeability Fine-
by Quasi Elastic Light Scattering." John Wiley &
Sons, New York, pp. 328-341 (1982). ness Apparatus." ASTM No. 123, 51 (1943).
66. M. K. Mazumder, R. E. Ware, J. D. Wilson, R. G. 80. S. Ober and K. S. Frederick, "A Study of the
Renninger, F. C. Hiller, P. C. McLeod, R. W. Blaine Fineness Tester and a Determinator of Sur-
Raible, and M. K. Testamen, "E-SPART Analy- face Area from Air Permeability Data." Symposium
sers: Its Application to Aerodynamic Size Distribu- on Particle Size Measurement ASTM, Spec. Tech.
tion." /. Aerosol Sci. 20:561-569 (1979). Pub., No. 234, p. 279 (1958).
67. M. K. Mazumder, "E-SPART Analyser: Its Perfor- 81. Dr. D. Avnir of the Hebrew University pioneered
mance and Applications to Powder and Particle the fractal reinterpretation of gas adsorption stud-
Technology Processes." KONA, 11, pp. 105-118 ies. The research scientist will find an excellent
(1993). review of this work in The Fractal Approach to
68. The E-SPART analyzer is available commercially Heterogeneous Chemistry, edited by D. Avnir, John
from the Hosokawa Micron Corporation, 10 Wiley & Sons, Chicester (1989).
Chatham Road, Summit, NJ 07901. 82. Gas adsorption equipment for measuring surface
69. An optical stream counter is available from the areas is available from Micromeritics Instrument
Climet Corporation, 1320 Colton Avenue, Corporation, 800 Goshen Springs Road, Norcross,
Redlands, CA 92373. GA 30071.
70. Royco Instruments for studying aerosols and 83. A. V. Neimark, "Calculating Surface Fractal Di-
fineparticles in liquids are available from Royco mensions of Adsorbers." Adsorpt. Sci. Technol.
Instruments Inc., 141 Jefferson Drive, Menlo Park, 7(4):210-219 (1990).
CA 94025. Also, a widely used stream counter for 84. C. Orr. "Application of Mercury Penetration in
fineparticles in fluid is the HIAC counter, HIAC Material Analysis." Powder Technol. 3:111-123
Instruments, Division P.O. Box 3007, 4719 West (1969-1970).
Brooke St. Monte Claire, CA 91763. 85. See Chapters 7 and 8 in Ref. 21.
2
Particle Shape Characterization
Brian H. Kaye
CONTENTS
2.1 INTRODUCTION 35
2.2 DIMENSIONLESS INDICES OF FINEPARTICLE SHAPE 35
2.3 GEOMETRIC SIGNATURE WAVEFORMS FOR CHARACTERIZING THE SHAPE
OF IRREGULAR PROFILES 39
2.4 FRACTAL DIMENSIONS OF FINEPARTICLE BOUNDARIES FOR DESCRIBING
STRUCTURE AND THE TEXTURE OF FINEPARTICLES 44
2.5 DYNAMIC SHAPE FACTORS FROM A STUDY OF THE CATASTROPHIC
TUMBLING BEHAVIOR OF FINEPARTICLES 48
REFERENCES 52
and thickness of the fineparticles as defined by data the chunkiness factor has the advantage
the sketches in Figure 2.1c. The maximum that its total range of values is 0 to 1. This
length of a profile is intuitively obvious. Once results in a compact display of the relevant
this has been fixed the width is defined as the data.5 In Figure 2.2 the range of aspect ratio
maximum dimension at right angles to the sizes in a population of nickel slag fragments
measurement of length and the thickness is similar to those of Figure 2.1 are shown.6 It
the dimension perpendicular to the plane de- can be seen that the range of shape factors in
fined by the width and the length. On the basis the population of nickel slag is bimodal with
of these dimensions Heywood suggested using two functions with Gaussian distribution. (The
the elongation ratio defined as the length di- graph axes of Figure 2.2a are linear versus
vided by the width. He also defined the flaki- Gaussian probability.) From the graph of the
ness as the width divided by the thickness. chunkiness versus size domain of Figure 2.2b,
Another name widely used for the elongation there appears to be some correlation of
ratio is the aspect ratio. Note that in occupa- chunkiness with size in that the larger frag-
tional hygiene fineparticles having an aspect ments on the whole are more compact than
ratio greater than 3 are defined as being fibers. the smaller fragments.
The reciprocal of the aspect ratio is known as When it is possible to measure three dimen-
the chunkiness factor. For graphical display of sions of a fragment one can display the shape
a) b)
* • *
25 mm
c) Width Length
Thickness
Figure 2.1. Images and silhouettes of 20 fragments of crushed nickel ore slag, such fragments may be character-
ized by their physical dimensions, length, width, and thickness, (a) Shadows cast by the slag fragments illuminated
by directed light, (b) Silhouettes of slag fragments, (c) The geometric dimensions used to characterize the shape of
a fragment.
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 37
information on triangular mesh graph paper as are summarized whereas on the right-hand
shown in Figure 2.3. The physical basis of the side the measurements made on the image of
way in which the information on the length, the profiles using the shadow cast by the illu-
width, and thickness is normalized and then mination to retrieve the thickness of the pro-
plotted on the triangular mesh graph paper is files are shown. It can be seen that the two
illustrated in Figure 2.3a. In Figure 2.3b the sets of data are basically the same, indicating
triaxial display of information on the geomet- that one can carry out triaxial measurements
ric shape of the fragments of Figure 2.1 is on very small fmeparticles provided one is
shown.5"7 On the left-hand side the data ob- prepared to use shadow casting techniques.
tained by physical measurement using calipers Thus one can obtain triaxial displays of shape
a)
Aspect
Ratio -j 4__
1.0- I I I I
5 10 20 80 90 95
Percent with the Same or Larger Aspect Ratio
U) 1 .V—
• • •
0.8- •«j . . . »
0.6- •. > • • • •
Chunkiness • ••
0.4-
0.2-
nn
i i i i i i i i i i
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Normalized Size
Figure 2.2. The shape variation of the silhouettes of Figure 2.1b can be displayed either as a distribution function
or as a domain display.6 (a) Distribution of the aspect ratio of the profiles of Figure 2.1b plotted on probability
graph paper, (b) Domain plot of chunkiness (the reciprocal of aspect ratio) versus normalized size for the profiles
of Figure 2.1b.
38 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
data for profiles that are imaged in a scanning that its area is at a minimum when considering
electron microscope and are well below 1 jtim. other rectangles that could be drawn around
Hausner has suggested that one way of gen- the profile.4'5 If A is the projected area of a
erating dimensionless indices of shape is to profile and C is the actual perimeter of the
construct a rectangle around the profile so profile and a and b are the lengths of the
3.33
3.33
3.33 2.00
3.00
1.00 7.50
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
1.50
Measured Values: 0.C
Length 3.33 5 7.5 .0
Width 3.33 3 1.5
Thickness 3.33 2 1
Total 10 10 10
Normalized Values:
Ln 0.33 0.50
Wn 0.33 0.30
Tn 0.22
0.30
0.35 0.45 0.55
Tn
Direct Measurement Shadow Cast Measurement
Figure 2.3. A useful way to summarize the geometric shape information for a population of flneparticles. is to use
triaxial graph paper. 6 ' 7 (a) Illustration of how geometric dimensions are normalized and plotted on triaxial graph
paper, (b) Shape information summaries for the slag fragments of Figure 2.1 plotted on triaxial graph paper. Note
that the range of the axis is a small portion of the axis in (a).
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 39
sides of the minimum area embracing rectan- within a computer memory rather than at the
gle, then Hausner suggested the following beginning of the geometric exploration of the
shape descriptions: profile. The information generated by carrying
out the geometric signature waveform can be
Elongation factor = — stored as a list in a computer or alternatively
b the waveform can be subjected to Fourier
analysis to generate the power spectrum of the
Bulkiness = waveform. Thus, in Figure 2.5 the geometric
a Xb
signature waveform of a profile generated by
C2 Flook is shown and the power spectrum of the
Surface factor =
12.6A wave is as illustrated.11'12 Basically it has been
established that the first five harmonics of the
These measures are known as Hausner shape
power spectrum specify the structure of the
indices. Medalia has also defined other mea-
profile whereas the higher harmonics are
sures of shape.8
linked to the texture of the profile. Some
workers have specified shape descriptors based
on the first five harmonics and then the har-
2.3 GEOMETRIC SIGNATURE
monics above five.
WAVEFORMS FOR CHARACTERIZING
The geometric signature waveform is quite
THE SHAPE OF IRREGULAR PROFILES
useful for profiles of the type shown in Figure
To be able to store information on the shape 2.4 but if there are any convolutions and fis-
of a fineparticle profile in a computer, and to sures in the profile the physical significance of
use such data for deducing characteristic shape the vector crossing the fissure or the convolu-
description parameters, the basic problem is to tion becomes very difficult to interpret and the
reduce the dimensionality of the information geometric signature waveforms are not nor-
available on the shape of the profile. One way mally used for such complex profiles. Again
to take a two-dimensional profile and reduce some workers have started to investigate the
its information content to a nondimensional direct use of two-dimensional Fourier trans-
list is to generate what has become known as a forms for such profiles but the technique has
geometric signature waveform. Various au- not been widely used.6 The technique has
thors have suggested different reference points found applications in describing the change of
for carrying out the transformation of a the profile to be found among the grains
boundary profile into a signature waveform of gravels, beach sands, and other systems of
but we shall restrict our discussion here to the interest to the geologist.10 However, using the
use of the centroid of the profile, the profile is geometric signature waveform on profiles such
to be a laminar shape with mass.9"12 The as those of Figure 2.1b would cause problems
procedure for generating the geometric signa- at the sharp edges, because if one attempts to
ture waveform using this reference point is do a Fourier transform of the waveform of a
illustrated in Figure 2.4. One plots the magni- profile with a sharp edge one obtains a very
tude of the vector R against the angle 6 with large number of components in the power
respect to some reference direction. It is con- spectrum of the profile.6
venient to normalize the values of this vector When one attempts to characterize the
with respect to the largest value of R gener- shape of sharply angled fractured material such
ated during the exploration of the perimeter as that in Figure 2.1 one can use another
of the profile. For many purposes it is useful technique to measure the edges on the profile
to start the plotted waveform with 0 = 0 for and generate a three-dimensional graph using
the maximum value of R. This adjustment of parameters such as size, chunkiness, and the
the starting point can often be carried out number of edges on the profile. The basic
40 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
I I I r ii
9-| 02 63 64 65 06 ©7 ^8 ® 1
c) 1.0—1
0.8-
0.6-
Rn -
0.4-
0.2-
0.0 I IIIIIIIIII I
0 120 240 360
0
Figure 2.4. Generating the signature waveform of a fineparticle profile reduces the dimensionality of the
information describing the profile to a list of information that can be processed in a computer. 12 ' 13
(a) Method for generating signature waveform data from a fineparticle profile, (b) A low resolution waveform
generated from the data shown in (a), (c) A high-resolution waveform generated from the profile of (a). 6n, Angle
at which the nth radius vector is generated; Rn, normalized magnitude of the nth radius vector at angle 6n.
steps used to generate information from which when they lie along a straight portion of the
an edge count can be retrieved from com- profile and a minimum in the series of chord
puter-aided image analysis are illustrated in lengths indicates that the slip chords have
Figure 2.6. First the profile to be characterized spanned a corner on the profile. Continuing
is digitized as shown by the digitization of the the process around the profile of Figure 2.6a,
rectangular profile in Figure 2.6a. One then what is known as the facet signature of the
starts to draw chords at a given number of profile is generated. This signature is shown
steps around the profile as illustrated in the for the rectangular profile in Figure 2.6b. The
diagram for chords based on 10 digitized steps. dips in the facet signature indicate the pres-
A whole set of chords is generated by a pro- ence of a corner. The distance between the
cess known as slip chording. Thus chord 1 is dips generates information of the length of the
from 1 to 11, chord 2 is from 2 to 12, chord 3 edges of a profile as shown in the diagram. In
is from 3 to 13, as illustrated in Figure 2.6a. Figure 2.6c the facet signatures for three pro-
The lengths of these chords are at a maximum files are shown. It can be seen that informa-
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 41
360
Original Profile e 2 4 6 8 10
Hn
First 5 Harmonics
360
First 10 Harmonics
e
0 360
First 25 Harmonics
360
e
Figure 2.5. Data generated by Flook illustrates how Fourier analysis for a geometric signature waveform can be
used to characterize the structure of the profile.14 6, angle at which the radius vector is generated; Rn, normalized
magnitude of the nth radius vector at angle 6n; Hn, harmonic number from Fourier analysis; P, relative strength of
the stated harmonic.
tion in these waveforms can be used to re- a set of profiles can be summarized in a
trieve information on the number of edges and three-dimensional data space graph of the type
the sharpness of the edge (the sharper the shown in Figure 2.7. The graph is generated by
corner the bigger the dip in the facet signa- using normalized estimates of size and chunki-
ture). The information on the shape, size, and ness with a third axis that indicates the sharp-
the number of edges of different sharpness for ness of any corners as a profile. To use this
42 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
b) «« •
0.8 - =r wl/v
o.6.:
*0.4-
0.2 -
0.0
175
Figure 2.6. The number of sharp edges on a profile can be evaluated by generating what is known as the facet
signature waveform by "slip chording" exploration of a digitized version of the profile, (a) An illustration of how
the chord length varies for a given number of steps between ends as the chord "slips" around a sharp corner, (b)
A demonstration of the facet signature waveform applied to two standard shapes, (c) The facet signature
waveforms for three profiles of Figure 2.1. P, Position on the profile at which a particular chord was generated;
Cn, normalized chord length generated at position P.
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 43
a)
Plotting data on 3-D graph:
-180
-160
Dullness
(degrees) -140
-120
100 Dullness
-80 (degrees)
-60
-40
-20
Chunkiness
0.2
0.4
Normalized Size
Figure 2.7. The information on the shape, size, and "edginess" of a set of profiles can be summarized in a
three-dimensional data space.6 (a) The method for plotting the "edginess" data for a profile on a three-
dimensional graph, (b) Shape, size, and edge information for the profiles of Figure 2.1.
type of display, first a point on the "size- size and shape of the profiles is as shown in
chunkiness" plane is located. Then at this point Figure 2.7b.6 Another approach to characteriz-
an ordinate is erected. Along this ordinate ing the number of edges on a profile is to
points representing the sharpness of the edges generate a two-dimensional Fourier transform
to be found on the profile are plotted. Thus of the profile. The sharp edges in the profile
for the profiles of Figure 2.1 the three- will generate high-frequency signals in the fre-
dimensional data space summary of the quency domain of the two-dimensional Fourier
information on the number of edges and the transform.6
44 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
v Topological Fractal
' Dimension Dimension
1.00 • 1.00
1.00 1.02
1.00 1.25
0.005
Figure 2.8. The boundary fractal dimension of a two-dimensional fineparticle profile can be deduced from data
generated by a structured walk around the profile, (a) The fractal dimension of a line describes its ruggedness. (b)
The structured walk exploration technique generates perimeter estimates of a boundary by constructing polygons
of side length A by walking a pair of dividers around a profile to be characterized, (c) The fractional addendum to
the topological dimension of a profile is deduced from the slope of the best fit line on a Richardson plot of
perimeter estimates against inspection resolution. A, inspection resolution used to stride around the profile; P,
perimeter estimate found with dividers set a resolution A; FD, Feret diameter used to normalize the values P and
A before plotting; 8S, structural boundary fractal dimension; 8T, textural boundary fractal dimension.
46 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
showed the presence of more than one data agglomerate of carbonblack spheres created
line instead of a single line. It is now appreci- by combustion in the absence of a sufficient
ated that these two data lines represent dif- supply of oxygen to create total combustion,
ferent interaction of the multiplicity of causes the first data line of Figure 2.8c at coarse
creating a structure. Thus for a system such as resolution inspection is known as the struc-
that of Figure 2.8, which is a greatly magnified tural fractal dimension of the boundary. The
Population A Population B
b) 1-50-1
1.40-1
Population A
Structural
Fractal 1.30—
Dimension
Population B
1.20-
1.10-
I I I I I I I
5 10 20 50 80 90 95 98
Percent with Fractal Dimension
Greater Than or Equal to stated
Figure 2.9. The fractal dimension contains information on the information dynamics of aerosol agglomeration.20
(a) Tracing of profiles from electronmicrographs of two populations of carbonblack agglomerates produced by
different methods, (b) The distribution function of structural fractal dimension of the profiles of (a) illustrated
that Population A agglomerates were produced by agglomeration of primary agglomerates.
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 47
data line at high-resolution inspection (small different products. It can be seen by the plot
quantities of A) represents the packing texture of the structural fractal dimensions of the two
of the profile and is known as the textural populations that one group of fineparticles is
fractal dimension of the boundary. Agglomer- more rugged than the others.20 This indicates
ates of fume produced fineparticles such as that the agglomeration process in the case of
that of Figure 2.8 can exhibit more than two product A has been allowed to proceed to the
linear regions on a Richardson plot and in point where agglomerates were forming from
such cases the magnitude of the fractal dimen- agglomerates whereas in product B the ag-
sions can often be linked to the formation glomerates appeared to be a simple first stage
dynamics of the fume agglomerates.19 Thus in of turbulent agglomeration. In general the
Figure 2.9 two different populations of car- structured walk technique is not used in more
bonblack fineparticles are shown from two recent strategies for computer-aided image
b) 5
• \ ^ ^ 8-r=1.13
•^8s = 1.35
Figure 2.10. The equipaced technique for exploring the structure of a rugged boundary is convenient for use with
computer-aided image analysis procedures. 23 (a) In the equipaced method for exploring the ruggedness of a
profile, polygons are constructed on the digitized version of the profile by stepping out a certain number of paces
along the boundary, (b) Richardson plot for data generated by the equipaced exploration of the profile of (a). A,
Inspection resolution used to stride around the profile; P, perimeter estimate found at resolution A; FD, Feret
diameter used to normalize P and A before plotting; 8S, structural boundary fractal dimension, 8T, textural
boundary fractal dimension.
48 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
analysis. The method known by the name of theorem. Thus the Richardson plot of a series
equipaced exploration is the preferred method of polygons created in the computer memory
of computer-aided image analysis measure- can be automated to the point that once the
ment of fractal dimensions of rugged lines. digitized profile has been stored in the com-
This method was originally developed by puter the entire process of calculating the data
Schwarz and Exner.21 In this technique the lines representing fractal dimensions can be
boundary to be evaluated is digitized as shown carried out off line in the computer processing
in Figure 2.10a. The polygon that becomes the unit.
perimeter estimate is now constructed by When carrying out an experimental study of
marking off a number of steps along the digi- the fractal dimensions of a line there are two
tized profile as indicated in Figure 2.10a. Once major problems to be aware of. First, many
the x, y coordinates of the digitized points real fineparticles have different ruggedness at
have been stored in a computer memory the different parts of their boundary. For such
process of marking off a certain number of profiles one should split the profiles into dif-
steps along the profile can be automated and ferent regions and evaluate the different
the size of the polygon side spanning the paced ruggedness.22 Second, in some situations the
out steps is calculated using the Pythagorean projection of a three-dimensional structure
into a two-dimensional profile can result in the
smoothing of the ruggedness of the profile by
a) occlusion of the lower boundary by a projec-
tion in an upper part of the structure or vice
versa. Thus when looking at agglomerates such
as the carbonblack profile one can sometimes
clearly see regions where there has been
smoothing by occlusion, which should be taken
into account as the measurements proceed.23
Rotation
2.5 DYNAMIC SHAPE FACTORS FROM
A STUDY OF THE CATASTROPHIC
TUMBLING BEHAVIOR OF
FINEPARTICLES
behavior when a system is subjected to ply as chaos. This can be confusing to some
smoothly evolving forces, not a colossal disas- because in Greek philosophy chaos means
ter). The subject of deterministic chaos deals completely unorganized whereas in the mathe-
with complex behavior that philosophically is matical subject now known as chaos the sys-
governed by the laws of determinism so that tems exhibit patterns of complex behavior that
its future state should be predictable from the can be determined by empirical study. In the
theory of mechanics. However, the system is subject of deterministic chaos the tumbling
so dependent on the initial starting conditions behavior of a rock in a cylinder system such as
and the complexity of the interactions that the that of Figure 2.11 is summarized graphically
outcome might as well be chaotic.24 Unfortu- using a data display known as a discrete time
nately, in everyday speech the subject known map. The discrete time map is constructed
as deterministic chaos has become known sim- from the time series of catastrophic events
b)
a)
T
n+1
c)
T
n n+1 Tn
1 1.0 2.8
2 1.6 1.0
3 3.4 1.6
4 2.8 3.4
5 1.6 2.8
6 1.0 1.6 T
7 2.9 1.0 n+1
8 3.4 2.8
9 1.2 3.4
10 1.2 1.2
T
n+1
Figure 2.12. When studying the discrete time map of a tumbling rock, the data points delineate what is known as a
strange attractor by clustering about a centroid that constitutes an equivalent oscillator. The centroid and the
moments of the data points, when they are treated as unit masses, can be used to create a shape descriptor
characterizing the behavior of the rock, (a) Time sequence for 10 tumbles of the rock, (b) First two data points
plotted on the discrete time map. (c) All 10 data points define a rudimentary strange attractor. (d) Centroid, C,
and first two moments, Rx and R2 for the data. (Note that this is an example only.)
50 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
(i.e., the tumbling of the rock at the height tion. In the discrete time domain the data
that it reaches in the rotating cylinder). In points cluster around the point that is the
Figure 2.12 the way in which data from the frequency of an equivalent oscillator which
time series of catastrophic tumbling are plot- would be moving up and down the cylinder in
ted as a discrete time map is shown. The two a regular manner. The data points of the dis-
axes of this map are Tn and Tn+l. Points are crete time map appear to be attracted to this
plotted in the discrete time domain by using point. Therefore mathematicians call the pat-
the pairs from the time series as illustrated. tern of points around the centroid of the data
This plotting strategy generates a scattered set points a strange attractor. One can calculate
of points that for convenience are often shown the centroid of the data points, treated as if
joined in the same way that we show lines they were unit masses, in a data plane and
joining successive positions in Brownian mo- then one can calculate the first and second
6- 6-
o
Tn 4- 4-
2- 2-
0
I I i i i r r i I I I I
2 4 8
2 4 6 8 T
T
n+1
n+1
o 8
o
6-
Tn 4- Tn 4-
2- 2-
i r i I i I i I 1 I I I I I I I
2 4 6 8 2 4 6 8
T T
n+1 n+1
Figure 2.13. The strange attractors of the record of a tumbling rock shrink as the rock is eroded toward
spherical shape.
PARTICLE SHAPE CHARACTERIZATION 51
moments of these points around the centroid sharp rocks placed in the mill with the brick
to characterize the shape of the irregular pro- fragment. When the piece of brick was freshly
file. The utility of this technique for describing produced from a fragmentation process it pro-
shape is shown in Figure 2.13. The data of duced the strange attractor shown in Figure
Figure 2.13 are taken from a study of the way 2.13a. As the rock eroded its strange attractor
in which a piece of synthetic sandstone (a became more compact and the centroid repre-
fragment of a sand-lime brick) eroded in a senting the equivalent oscillator diminished.
rotating mill, simulating the tumbling of the Similar data for three very different assembled
rock in a river bed, by means of a group of clusters are shown in Figure 2.14 and it can be
8-j
6-
Tn 4 I
.#.
o a
2- a
0
8s=1.09 T I I I I I I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 11
2 4 6 8 2 4 6 8
T T
n+1 n+1
6-
Tn 4 I
2-
- 0
r i i i i m I I I I I I I I
8s = 1-21
2 4 6 8 2 4 6 8
T
T n+1
n+1
I I I I I I I I Mil I IT I
8 S = 1.32 2 4 6 8 2 4 6 8
T T
n+1 n+1
Figure 2.14. The structure of the strange attractor of the discrete time map is obviously related to the fractal
dimension of the agglomerate.
52 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
shown that the properties of the strange at- ity; Discovering the Surprising Patterns of Science and
tractor can be related to the fractal dimension Technology, VCH, Weinheim, Germany (1993).
13. B. B. Mandelbrot, Fractals, Form, Chance, and
of the rock. Dimension, Freeman, San Francisco (1977).
14. B. H. Kaye, A Randomwalk Through Fractal Dimen-
sions, VCH, Weinheim, Germany (1989).
15. I. Stewart, Concepts of Modern Mathematics,
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1. H. H. Heywood, "Size and Shape Distribution of Ontario, Canada (1975).
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of Second Lunar Science Conference, Vol. 13, ture of Materials." Mater. Res. Soc. Bull
pp. 1989-2001 (1971). 13{2):22-21 (1988).
2. H. Heywood, "Numerical Definitions of Particle 17. D. W. Schaeffer, "Polymers, Fractal and Ceramic
Size and Shape." Chem. Ind. 25:149-154 (1937). Materials." Science 243:1023-1027 (February 24,
3. H. Heywood, "Particle Shape Coefficients." J. Imp. 1989).
Coll Eng. Soc. 5:25-33 (1954). 18. See discussion of Richardson pioneering work in
4. H. H. Hausner, "Characterization of the Powder Ref. 13.
Particle Shape," in Proceedings of the Symposium 19. B. H. Kaye, "Characterizing the Structure of Fumed
on Particle Size Analysis, Loughborough, England; Pigments Using the Concepts of Fractal Geometry."
published by the Society for Analytical Chemistry, Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 9:63-71 (1991).
London, England, pp. 20-77 (1967). 20. B. H. Kaye and G. G. Clark, "Formation Dynamics
5. B. H. Kaye, Direct Characterization of Fineparticles. Information; Can It be Derived from the Fractal
John Wiley & Son, New York (1981). Structure of Fumed Fineparticles?" Chapter 24 in
6. B. H. Kaye, G. G. Clark, Y. Liu, "Characterizing Particle Size Distribution II; Assessment and Charac-
the Structure of Abrasive Fineparticles." Part. Part. terization, edited by T. Provder. American Chemical
Syst. Charact. 9:1-8 (1992). Society, Washington (1991).
7. R. Davies, "A Simple Feature Based Representa- 21. H. Schwarz and H. E. Exner, "The Implementation
tion of Particle Shape." Powder Technol. of the Concepts of Fractal Dimensions on a Semi-
22:111-124 (1975). Automatic Image Analyzer." Powder Technol
8. A. I. Medalia, "Dynamic Shape Factors of Parti- 27:207-213 (1980).
cles." Powder Technol 4:117-138 (1970-71). 22. B. H. Kaye and G. G. Clark, "Experimental Char-
9. H. P. Schwartz and K. C. Shane, "Measurement of acterization of Fineparticle Profiles Exhibiting Re-
Particle Shape by Fourier Analysis." Sedimentology gions of Various Ruggedness." Part. Part. Syst.
25:213-231 (1969). Charact. 6:1-12 (1989).
10. R. Ehrlich and B. Weinberg, "An Exact Method 23. B. H. Kaye, G. G. Clark, and Y. Kydar, "Strategies
for Characterization of Grain Shape." /. Sediment. for Evaluating Boundary Fractal Dimensions by
Petrol 40(0:205-212 (March 1970). Computer Aided Image Analysis." Part. Part. Syst.
11. A. G. Flook, "A Comparison of Quantitative Meth- Charact. 22:411-417 (1994).
ods of Shape Characterization." Acta Stereol. 24. See Chapter 13 of B. H. Kaye, Chaos and Complex-
3:159-164 (1984). ity: Discovering the Surprising Patterns of Science and
12. See Chapter 15 of B. H. Kaye, Chaos and Complex- Technology, VCH, Weinheim, Germany (1993).
3
Structural Properties of Packings
of Particles
Francis A. L Duilien
Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Waterloo, Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada N21 3GI
CONTENTS
3.1 INTRODUCTION 53
3.2 MACROSCOPIC STRUCTURE PARAMETERS 54
3.3 PACKING STRUCTURES OF EQUAL SPHERES 61
3.4 PACKING STRUCTURES OF GENERAL SYSTEMS 67
REFERENCES 90
shapes. More recently, so-called random packs tained in the void space unless, to be sure,
of monosized spheres have also been studied the geometry itself is changed as a result of
extensively, using statistical methods. the action of the fluid (or fluids) present in the
Although packs of particles of practical im- voids.
portance usually do not consist of arrange-
ments of equal spheres, the amount and the 3.2.1 Mean Voidage or Porosity
significance of the work done on such systems
The most obvious and most readily measur-
make it a logical choice to place them in a
able macroscopic structure parameter is the
separate category and to delegate all the rest
void fraction e, usually called "mean voidage"
of the packings to the other, second category
in reference to packed beds and "porosity" in
of "general systems."
general. Its definition is:
Of all the packs, probably soils and other
unindurated sediments are of greatest signifi- volume of voids in packing
cance in nature, and they also occur in the e=-TTi ; . ,. (3-D
largest quantities. Other packed systems of bulk volume of packing
great importance in technology include the
so-called powders, usually products of crush- The various experimental methods used to
ing and grinding operations, the so-called bulk determine e have been adequately reviewed in
goods, such as various grains, coal, gravel, the technical literature. 2 ' 3
ores, etc., and the artificial packs of Raschig The mean voidage is such a convenient ba-
rings, Berl saddles, etc., used in contacting sic parameter that it is common practice to
equipment of the chemical industry. In this use it as an independent parameter, separated
chapter no attempt is made to discuss system- from type of packing, particle shape, and size
atically and separately the various different distribution,1 even though it depends on these
systems of irregularly packed particles. more fundamental, but also more baffling
factors.
In this chapter the structures of packings, as
well as certain properties that are determined
by the packing structure and the void geome- 3.2.2 Specific Surface
try, are reviewed. The so-called macroscopic Another simple geometrical parameter is the
structure parameters include the porosity, the specific surface So based on solids volume, that
permeability, the specific surface, the reduced is,
breakthrough capillary pressure, and the resis-
tivity factor. internal surface of packing
(3.2)
volume of solids in packing
3.2.3 Permeability and Inertia Parameter where V = (8Q/8A)n, the filter velocity or
specific discharge, and g the gravitational ac-
The permeability k, often called specific per-
celeration vector, n is an outward unit normal
meability, is defined by Darcy's law
vector.
Q= (3.4) When the only fluid of interest is water the
hydraulic conductivity kn defined as
Q is the volumetric flow rate, or "discharge,"
in sufficiently slow, unidirectional, flow of a (3.8)
Newtonian liquid of viscosity /m, through a is used. Darcy's law can then be written as:
sample of normal cross-sectional area A and
length L, in the macroscopic flow direction, V=-kHVct> (3.9)
under the influence of the pressure drop In the case of gas flow, in most practical
where: cases the elevation head may be neglected and
pgz (3.5) A<^ « A P. Owing to the compressibility of
gases, however, both the volume flow and the
where P is hydrostatic pressure, p the liquid filter velocity vary with pressure from one face
density, g the acceleration due to gravity, and of the sample to the other. In this case the
z is the distance measured vertically upward correct integral form of Darcy's law is ob-
from an arbitrarily chosen datum level. tained by integrating the differential form, us-
&> is measured, in principle, by a pipe called ing the condition that at constant temperature
the piezometer (see Fig. 3.1) and is indicated and steady state the (pressure X velocity)
as the "piezometric head" </> (dimension of product is constant throughout the sample.
length): Thus, for gases:
z (3.6) V2 = - P?)/(2P2L)
which is the sum of the elevation head z and = (k/n)(Pm/P2)(AP/L) (3.10)
the pressure head P/pg.
Darcy's law is used mostly in differential where Pm is the arithmetic mean pressure.
form: It has been found that gas permeabilities
sometimes vary with Pm owing to a so-called
V = -(k/ii)V0> = - - g) (3.7) slip effect. The equation taking the effect
(3.21) = 6
P - P > 0 (3.28)
nw v
Here P" and P' are the pressures on the
concave and the convex sides of the interface,
respectively, and nw and w refer to the non-
wetting and the wetting fluid, respectively.
Wetting fluid is defined as the one through
which the "effective contact angle" 6 + 4> is
less than 90° (see Fig. 3.3). 6 is the contact
angle and $ is half of the cone angle of the
tapered capillary. Pc is related to the capillary 0 20 40 60 80 100
radius R, the interfacial tension a, and the
angle 6 + <£, by the following form of Laplace's Figure 3.4. Capillary pressure curve with hysteresis
equation: loop.
2o-cos(0+
(3.29)
R phase, such as air, whereas at the other face a
capillary barrier is used that permits the pas-
A great deal of experimental research has
sage of water but prevents the penetration of
been done on the so-called capillary pressure
air by virtue of its very fine pores. Starting at
curves of packings.20"32 Details of capillary
Pc = 0, as the value of Pc is increased in small
pressure curve determination may be found in
steps, first there is penetration only into the
these references (see also Ref. 7). Here only
surface irregularities of the sample. Later a
its most essential features will be outlined with
value of Pc is reached (so-called entry pres-
reference to Figure 3.4. Refer to curve Ro, the
sure) that is high enough to force the air
so-called primary drainage curve. The experi-
through the largest "windows" or "necks" at
ment is started usually with the packing satu-
the surface of the sample and into the voids
rated 100% with a wetting phase, such as
lying behind them. In regular packings of equal
water. In an appropriate apparatus (there are
spheres (see section below) the same "window"
many different types; see references) one face
size is repeated throughout the entire sample
of the pack is contacted with a nonwetting
and, hence, once the entry pressure has been
reached the air penetrates all across the sam-
ple and it "breaks through" at the other face.
Hence, in this case, the entry pressure is also
the breakthrough pressure. In random packs
of equal spheres, and in general systems (see
section below), however, somewhere along the
path of the invading air, there always are
ml
windows that are smaller than the entry win-
cos (8 + (j>)
dows and, as a result, the penetration at the
Figure 3.3. Meniscus in conical capillary. entry pressure is limited to a thin layer of the
60 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The mathematical models used to represent define the "random" distribution of particles
certain ranges of regular packs by Frevel and in terms of the random distribution of points.
Kressley,45 and by Mayer and Stowe46'47 are The definition of a random packing used by
useful. The first of these authors used triangu- Debbas and Rumpf48 is as follows: "All parti-
lar (close-packed) layers, which they stacked, cles of the same size and shape have the same
one on top of the other. The relative position probability to occupy each unit volume of the
of the two layers was varied continuously be- mixture." The following generally accepted
tween the two limits, corresponding to cubic- theorems49 follow from this definition.
tetrahedral and rhombohedral (complete
close-packed) structures. These arrangements 1. The mean fractional free area eA is equal
include the tetragonal sphenoidal packing, but to the mean voidage e of the packing.
not the simple cubic packing. Mayer and Stowe, 2. The probability density function of diame-
however, used a single packing angle a, as ters of circles appearing in any sufficiently
shown in Figure 3.9, which they varied from large section plane through a random bed
90° to 60° to obtain a continuous spectrum of of spheres is identical to the theoretical
regular packings, ranging from the simple distribution obtained by parallel sectioning
cubic to the rhombohedral one, but bypassing a single sphere at infinitesimal, constant
the orthorhombic and the tetragonal sphe- intervals, perpendicular to an arbitrarily se-
noidal structures. lected radial direction.
regular pack the positions of all the other Considering the fact that there is an infinite
sphere centers can be given exactly. In a random number of different regular packings, it is not
pack, however, the position of none of the surprising to find also different kinds of ran-
other sphere centers can be given exactly. In this dom packs. These may be divided into the
case one can talk only about the probability of following four categories:41
finding sphere centers at a given distance from
the center of the base sphere. For the case of 3.3.2.1 Close Random Packing
so-called uniformly random distribution one
These are obtained when the bed is vibrated
must, by definition, have the same probability
or vigorously shaken down, and results in mean
density, independently of the distance. This is
voidages of 0.359 to 0.375,50'51'63"71 which is
indeed the case in random packings of equal
considerably in excess of the mean voidage
spheres at great distances from the center of
of 0.26, corresponding to hexagonal close
the base sphere. Closer to the base sphere,
50 51 packing.
however, it has been found experimentally '
that the probability density varies with dis-
3.3.2.2 Poured Random Packing
tance, as shown in Figure 3.10. In view of the
fact that in the case of regular packs the radial Pouring spheres into a container, correspond-
distribution consists of a discrete set of Dirac ing to a common industrial practice of dis-
delta functions (i.e., vertical lines) separated charging powders and bulk goods, results in
by gaps (i.e., regions of zero probability den- mean voidages of 0.375 to 0.391. 11 ' 42 ' 73 - 75
sity). It is logical to interpret the peaks in the
diagram at R = 1, etc. (R = r/Dp, where r is 3.3.2.3 Loose Random Packing
the radial distance measured from the center
of the base sphere) as an indication of a Dropping a loose mass of spheres into a con-
relative order over a short range around the tainer, or packing spheres individually and
randomly by hand, or permitting them to roll
base sphere. As expected, if the random pack-
individually into place over similarly packed
ing is looser (greater mean voidage), the short
spheres, results in mean voidage values of 0.40
range order becomes less pronounced.52"54
to 0 41 52 ' 57 ' 60 ' 64 - 70 > 76 - 78
For random packings, average values of the
layer spacing p have been defined and ex-
3.3.2.4 Very Loose Random Packing
pressed in dependence on the mean voidage,
55 56
as follows: ' The fluidized bed at the minimum fluidization
1/3
has a mean voidage e of 0.46 to 0.47.79
V
{ir/[3i/2 (1 - e)]} (3.37) By slowly reducing the fluid velocity to zero
in a fluidized bed,80 or by sedimentation of
The mean coordination number n has been spheres, 81 or by inversion of a bed
determined experimentally in random packs of container82'83 a mean voidage of 0.44 is
equal spheres by several researchers.57"61 obtained.
Ridgway and Tarbuck62 found the following In the case of random packs a so-called wall
correlation between n and e in random pack- effect exists, because the proximity of a solid
ings of equal spheres: surface will introduce some local order into a
2 random packing. Thus, the particles next to
e = 1.072 - 0.1193AZ + 0.00431rc (3.38)
the solid surface tend to form a layer of the
This correlation was based on data covering same shape as the surface. This so-called base
an extremely wide range of values of the pa- layer is a mixture of clusters of square and
rameters, that is, 3 < n < 12 and 0.27 < e < triangular units. Randomness increases with
0.78, whereas in all common random packs of increasing distance from the base layer, with
equal spheres 0.36 < e < 0.44, approximately. resultant disappearance of distinct layers.
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 67
Another important aspect of the wall effect say anything specific about the structure of the
is the existence of a region of relatively high general systems, and one must be content to
voidage next to the wall due to the discrepancy state a few principles regarding this subject.
between the radii of curvature of the wall and There are two major factors to consider: (1)
the particles.44'84 A cyclic variation of the local particle shape and (2) particle size distribution.
voidage e' with distance from a cylindrical Reviews (e.g., Ref. 41) offer very little useful
wall has been measured,62'85"90 extending information on the subject of the effect of
some three to four particle diameters into the particle shape on packing structure. One may
packing (see Figure 3.11). The local voidage e' note only that very special packing structures
is the fractional free volume in a small or thin arise in the case of highly anisometric parti-
element of the bed dv', whereas the local
cles, such as platelets and needles, which can
mean voidage e is the mean value of e' taken
be packed in a great variety of very different
over a region of the bed, that is,
ways, resulting in systems either of very high
void fractions, when the orientations of the
1 rv'
e= — I e' dv' (3.39) particles are random, or of very low void frac-
v' Jo
tions, when the particles are stacked with their
The wall effect has been studied as a func- axes aligned. Systems of this latter type are
tion of the particle diameter ratio Dp/DT. also highly anisotropic, that is, their physical
Various empirical formulas exist to correct for properties are very different in the direction of
this effect.41 the particle axes than in the perpendicular
direction.
Particulate systems generally involve a range
3.4 PACKING STRUCTURES OF of particle size between 2- and 105-fold. When
GENERAL SYSTEMS smaller particles are mixed into a bed of larger
particles then the former, on one hand, tend
Almost all real packings of particles fall in this to increase the voidage, by forcing the larger
category. Unfortunately, it is not possible to particles apart but, on the other hand, also
Figure 3.11. Variation of local volume fraction with distance from a cylindrical surface.
68 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
tend to decrease the voidage by filling the 3.4.1 Pore Size Distribution
voids between the larger particles. The latter
Pore structure is interpreted as a characteris-
effect predominates for a size ratio greater
tic "pore size," which is sometimes also called
than about 3:1. The net effect will depend not
"porosity." Most generally, however, "pore
only on the particle size ratio (and particle
structure" is identified with a so-called "pore
shape), but also on the relative amounts of
size distribution," characteristic of the sample
each size fraction present. Furnas,91 and Sohn
of the porous material. "Pore size distribution"
and Moreland,92 showed that in binary mix-
is a poorly defined quantity, partly because it
tures of particles the bulk voidage always de-
depends, sometimes very markedly, on the
creases below the values existing at both pure
particular method used in its determination.
component ends of the composition range,
The general procedure used for the determi-
and for any given ratio of particle diameters it
nation of a pore size distribution consists of
has a minimum value at some composition.
measuring some physical quantity in depen-
Horsfield93 showed that the filling of voids
dence on another physical parameter under
of a rhombohedral packing by five successive
the control of the operator and varied in the
specified sizes would give a minimum voidage
experiment. For example, in mercury poros-
of 1481, which can be further reduced by the
imetry, the volume of mercury penetrating the
addition of even finer particles. Similar studies
sample is measured as a function of the pres-
have been made also in other kinds of
sure imposed on the mercury; in vapor sorp-
packings.41
tion, the volume of gas absorbed is measured
A very important phenomenon that is di- as a function of the gas pressure; the volume
rectly related to particle size is the fact that of liquid displaced miscibly is measured as a
packings of smaller particles tend to result in function of the volume of displacing liquid
relatively high uoidages, because small particles injected into the sample in a miscible displace-
have a tendency to pack less closely than do ment experiment, etc.
larger particles. In beds of small particles there
is frequent "arching" or "bridging" which 3.4.1.1 One-dimensional Pore Structure
yields larger voids.65'94"96 This phenomenon is Models
related to the smaller volume-to-surface ratio
of small particles, resulting in weights that are The experimental data have invariably been
insufficient to overcome a variety of surface interpreted in terms of an arbitrary model of
resistances opposing attainment by the parti- pore structure, the most popular one consist-
cles of positions of a minimum local potential ing of a bundle of parallel capillary tubes of
energy by rolling into nearby wells or holes. equal length and distributed diameters. The
The packing structures of general systems fact that this model may give rise to vastly
vary widely and are seldom known in any different "pore size distributions" when used
detail. The only practicable technique known in conjunction with the results obtained
to this author that is available to explore the in different types of experiments on the
packing structures of "general systems" con- same sample has been demonstrated by
sists of filling the voids with some colored or Klinkenberg97 for the case of mercury poros-
fluorescent plastic, or a low melting alloy, imetry and miscible displacement, as
which make it possible to distinguish between illustrated in Figure 3.12.
the voids and the solid matrix, and study pol-
ished sections of the systems.7 Evidently both 3.4.1.2 Dead-End Pores and Periodically
the packing structure and the void structure Constricted Tubes
may be analyzed simultaneously by this tech- More sophisticated one-dimensional models
nique, but only analysis of the latter has been have included dead-end pores, called also
attempted and that only in a few instances. "ink-bottle" pores, "pockets," or "Turner
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 69
Table 3.2. List of Comparative Values to Show Equivalence of the Reciprocal Hydraulic Radius (1 / r H )
and Twice the Reciprocal Mean Radius of Curvature 2 / r m = [(1 /r,) + (1 /r 2 )] in a Capillary.8
CROSS-SECTION (1 /n)
Circle 2/r 2/r
Parallel plates \/b 1/b
a:b = 2:1 1.50//? 1.54/6
Ellipse a:b = 5:1 1.20/6 1.34/6
a:b = 10:1 1.30/6
Rectangle I/a + 1/b I/a + 1/6
Equilateral triangle 2/r, 2/r,
Square 2/r,
After Carman."
a
rl is the radius of the inscribed circle.
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 71
The applicability of Eq. (3.44), however, is in the three spatial directions, even if tubes
limited to the special case of capillaries of a are made to intersect, cannot account for these
rotational (axial) symmetry that have normal phenomena.7 Even though there are impor-
cross-section. For the general case of irregular tant differences between the properties of two-
capillaries the minimum value of the ratio and three-dimensional networks, nevertheless
given by the right-hand side of Eq. (3.44) must the first move in the direction of introducing
be found by varying the orientation of the accurate pore structure models was the pio-
sectioning plane about the same fixed point neering work by Fatt,100"102 who proposed
inside the capillary. The minimum value of random two-dimensional network models of
this ratio is, by definition, the hydraulic radius pore structure for the first time. Whereas Fatt
r H of the irregular capillary at the fixed point. was primarily interested in immiscible dis-
The value of r H of a section is assigned to the placement, Simon and Kelsey103'104 used two-
center of gravity of the section. Both defini- dimensional network models for the simula-
tions (i.e., rm and r H ) are best suited to the tion of miscible displacement. These studies,
case of pore throats that control both capillary important as they were owing to their pioneer-
penetration by a nonwetting fluid into the ing character, were only of qualitative nature
porous medium and the flow rate of fluids because
through the porous medium. The size of a
pore body is not readily related in a unique • the networks were two-dimensional,
manner to any measurable physical quantity • the size of the network was too small,
and the problem of characterizing the size of a • the networks were regular,
pore body is best dealt with by using photomi- • the networks consisted only of tubes, in
crographs of sections made through the porous analogy with a network of resistors,
medium where the pore body is made visible.
• the geometry of the tubes and the distribu-
The problem of defining the size of a pore
tion of the geometry over the network ("size
body is similar to the problem of defining the
distribution") did not correspond to that of
size of an irregularly shaped particle.
any real porous medium because this was
not available.
3.4.2 Network Models of Pore Structure
3.4.2.1 Two-dimensional Network Models 3.4.2.2 Percolation Theory: Three-
dimensional Network Models
The most fundamental flaw of all the simple
models of pore structure is that they do not During the same time the powerful mathemat-
account for the fact that in permeable porous ical theory of percolation was developed (e.g.,
media all the conducting pores are intercon- Refs. 105-107) and was also suitable for the
nected and form a continuum of a network of rigorous treatment of immiscible displacement
pores. In a network where pores of different and two-phase flow phenomena in pore net-
sizes are interconnected either in a random or works of infinite size.
in a correlated manner there is a large num- The first published reference in which pore
ber of different pathways characterized by structure was modeled by both two- and
different resistances to transport. In any given three-dimensional networks appears to be the
porous medium the distribution of paths of work of Chatzis and Dullien,108 which was
different resistances depends on the nature of followed by a vastly improved treatment by
the particular transport phenomenon and, as a the same authors a year later.109 The unique
result, a variety of phenomena may occur in features of this treatment, the final form of
two- and three-dimensional networks that are which was published in the English language
impossible in one-dimensional models. Re- literature only in 1985,110 included three-
peating an intrinsically one-dimensional model dimensional network models of pore structure
72 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
consisting of pore bodies situated at the nodes owing to the assumption that both sides at the
of the network (sites) connected by pore two ends of a bond must be "open" for a bond
throats, modeled by the bonds of the network. to be also "open." As a result, relationships
The two three-dimensional networks used, that have been obtained for the fractional numbers
is, simple cubic and tetrahedral networks of of penetrated sites and bonds as functions of
coordination numbers 6 and 4, respectively, the fraction of open bonds, ph. These relation-
gave similar results. Different numbers were ships were used for predicting the mercury
assigned randomly to the sites, indicating their porosimetry curves of sandstone samples,
relative sizes only. It was assumed that a bond among other things. Before one can attempt
can never be larger than either of the two sites to do this, first pore sizes and volumes must be
connected by it. Hence the same number char- assigned to the sites and the bonds. The pore
acterizing the smaller one of the two sites was diameters, Dh for the bonds and Ds for the
automatically also assigned to the bond be- sites, are related to ph and ps, respectively, by
tween the two sites. This resulted in bond the following relationships:
sizes correlated with the site sizes ("bond-
correlated site percolation"). The penetration p b = fDbmaxfb(Db)dDb (3.46)
of the network by a nonwetting fluid (drainage)
was simulated by playing the following game. and
Initially all the sites and bonds were assumed
(3.47)
"closed." The game was started by first declar-
ing the largest sites "open," then the second
where fb(Db) and fs(Ds) are the bond (pore
largest sites, and so forth. A bond became
throat) and site (pore body) diameter distribu-
open if and only if both sites at its two ends
tion densities. The ranges of pore sizes used
were "open." "Open" sites and bonds commu-
were consistent with photomicrographs pre-
nicating with the face of the network exposed
pared of polished sections of sandstone sam-
to the fluid were automatically penetrated.
ples that had been previously saturated with
The rest of the faces of the network were
Wood's metal, but the functions, shown in
assumed impervious. The fractional numbers
Figure 3.14, were adjusted so as to obtain the
of sites and bonds that were penetrated were
best agreement between prediction and exper-
recorded as functions of the fractional number
iment for the case of a particular Berea sand-
of "open" sites. The fractional number of
stone sample.
"open" sites Ps, at which the penetration first
reaches the opposite face of the network is For each value of Dh the capillary pressure
called the "breakthrough" value. In the case of mercury penetration, pc, was calculated by
of a network of infinite size this value is the the relation:
"critical percolation probability" or "percola- ACT COS 0
Pc = (3.48)
tion threshold" which is known from percola-
tion theory. Close agreement with the
published percolation theory value has been Based on petrographic studies111 the pores
obtained by repeating the game in an 18 X in sandstones are slit-shaped. Hence, geomet-
18 X 12 mesh size cubic network and taking rically similar, slit-shaped pore bodies and pore
the average breakthrough value. The game is throats have been assumed, where the pore
continued until all sites and bonds are pene- "diameter" (Ds or Dh) is the width of the slit
trated. The fractional number or probability of and the other two dimensions of the slit are
"open" bonds, pb, is related to the fractional Lx = Ct(D)1/2 and L 2 = C2(£>)1/2, resulting
number or probability of "open" sites, ps, as in the following expressions for the volume
follows: of a pore body Vs and a pore throat Vb,
respectively:
Pb=Ps (3.45) Vs = DsLlsL2s = A 2 C l s C 2 s = Z)s2 • /, (3.49)
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 73
(3.50)
10
1 ^ Sandstone sample
where /s and lb are dimensional constants.
• SOISE 4.0
Thus the predicted volume of pores pene- • BEREA 7.7
etrate the core of the pore. Three calculations ^ pore cross section {
1
were carried out: one for circular pore cross- 100 80 60 40 20
section, one for the case of 0.46, and another
for the case of 0.65 unfilled volume fraction Figure 3.15. Dimensionless mercury intrusion poros-
when the pore was first penetrated by mer- imetry curve of sandstone samples. (After
cury. As the capillary pressure on the mercury Chatzis and Dullien.110)
74 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
pores in the cementing materials (clays) of the imbibition first the smallest sites were allowed
sandstones which were not penetrated by mer- to be "open," then the second smallest sites,
cury under the capillary pressures used in the and so forth. Any "open" site in communica-
experiments and which were not included into tion with the wetting fluid was automatically
the network model. penetrated. The bond was also automatically
The same network model was used subse- penetrated along with the smallest one of the
quently to model both the drainage and the two sites connected by it. As the imbibition
imbibition oil-water capillary pressure curves capillary pressure was calculated on the basis
in sandstones,112 where also the trapping of of capillary equilibrium in a pore body (site),
each phase by the other was simulated. The the value obtained for breakthrough of the
experimental primary drainage curve has been wetting phase turned out to be very small and
predicted satisfactorily. In this case, too, lower after breakthrough the imbibition process was
residual wetting phase (water) saturation was completed over a very narrow range of capil-
predicted than the measured value (see Figure lary pressures. Visual observations of imbibi-
3.16). The reason for this discrepancy is proba- tion in transparent capillary micromodels and
bly the water present in the micropores of the other experiments have shown that imbibition
cementing materials (clays), the existence of is not controlled by the pore bodies because
which was not taken into account in the net- the imbibing fluid does not always advance in
work model. The experimental secondary im- a pistonlike manner.113"117 Instead, it often
bibition curve, however, indicates a far more propagates in pore edges, wedges, corners, and
gradual displacement of the nonwetting phase surface grooves and it can pass through pore
(oil) than the predicted trend. The reason for bodies while filling them only fractionally. As a
this is that in the simulation of imbibition the result, the wetting fluid does not have to fill
sites of the network, representing pore bodies relatively large pore bodies in its path before
were assumed to control the displacement pro- it can fill pore throats and relatively small pore
cess. Technically speaking, in the simulation of bodies over the entire network. Indeed much
closer agreement with experiment was ob-
tained by the author, using the same accessi-
bility [7] data, but assuming that every bond
1.0
and every site was penetrated by the wetting
wir
phase at a value of p* = 28 fim/D where 28
jLim is the "breakthrough" bond diameter in
S 0-8 primary drainage and D is the diameter of the
3
bond, or site, in question expressed in /xm
C/)
LJ 0.6
units. Bonds and sites occupied by trapped
nonwetting phase were excluded. It is appar-
< r
* LEGEND ent that there has been a great improvement
Q. PREDICTED:
0.4 A PRIMARY DRAINAGE
as a result of changing the assumption of
O SECONDARY IMBIBITION
(PISTON)
piston-type imbibition displacement to an
LJ
+ SECONDARY IMBIBITION assumption of independent domains.
(INDEPENDANT DOMAIN)
0 . 2 -. snwr | • SECONDARY DRAINAGE Diaz et al.112 demonstrated the considerable
| effect the form of the assumed distributions of
1 EXPERIMENTAL PRIMARY
DRAINAGE a IMBIBITION
pore throat and pore body sizes has on the
r
0.0 1 • 1 i 1 i 1
predicted reduced primary drainage curve,
while keeping all the other parameters un-
P * . REDUCED CAPILLARY PRESSURE changed. It is evident from this study that
Figure 3.16. Simulated and experimental Berea sand- accurate prediction of capillary pressure curves
stone capillary pressure curves. (After Diaz et al.112) requires an a priori knowledge of the pore
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 75
FEATURE 65'POINTS T O ' FEATURE 132 where b is the number of branches, n is the
number of nodes, and TV is the number of
I separate networks in the sample. Simple ex-
65 65 65 65)
FEATURE 65 65 65 65 65 651 | amples for the calculation of genus are shown
ARRAY k
TO . © 65 65 65 65@)65 6565 in Figure 3.20. A small portion of a serially
BE N 6 5 6565 65 (£ 65 6 5 « 65
CONNECTED 16565/ sectioned sample is shown in Figure 3.21a. In
Figure 3.21b the corresponding branch-node
chart is shown. The surface nodes introduce
complications because it is not known how
they are connected on the outside of the sam-
ple. The surface nodes in the plane of polish
SCANNING •I
AREA are visible, but the lateral surface nodes are
ARRAY k+l
PROJECTED 132
not and they must be obtained by means of
FROM 132 132
FEATURE I32f32 132 132 132 132 the overlapping criterion. Much of the study144
ABOVE 132 132132 132 132 132 132
deals with the problem of edge effects in the
construction of the branch-node chart which
Figure 3.19. Connection of features on adjacent serial are very important owing to the small size of
sections by the overlap criterion. (After Macdonald the sample. Larger samples, however, would
et al.144) result in much increased computer time and
decreased resolution of the features. The max-
nectivity is a measure of the number of inde- imum possible value of the genus Gmax is
pendent paths between two points in the pore obtained by connecting all the surface nodes
space and, hence, of the degree of intercon- to one external node. The least possible value
nectedness of the pores. The genus G is of the genus, Gmin, is calculated by not con-
given by necting any of the surface nodes to an external
node. In the Berea sample Gmax = 593 and
G=b-n+N (3.51) Gmin = 420. Dividing these values by the sam-
b=l b =3
n =l n =4
6 = 1 6 =3
pie volume of 10.4 X 108 ^m 3 the genus per is the size of an average grain in the Berea
unit volume can be calculated. This yields a sandstone sample. The pertinent data on the
genus of about 5 X 10" 7 per /xm3, or a genus Berea sandstone sample (Berea 2c) and one
of 2 per 4 X 108 fim3 which corresponds to a another smaller, preliminary sample (Berea
sphere of a diameter of about 200 /Am3, which lxx) are listed in Table 3.3. The genus was
So Sn
Sn Sn
Sn N
M|N
= (12 + 1 ) - ( 6 + 1 + 6 + 1) + 2 =13-14+2
(1241)-(6
13-7
• PORE SPACE FEATURE
• INTERNAL NODE OF TYPE nj or EN AS INDICATED
m SURFACE NODE OF TYPE Sn or Sn e
Figure 3.21. (a) A small example pore cast. The horizontal planes are serial sections. The shaded ellipses
represent the white pore space features that would be seen in the photomicrographs. The dotted material is pore
space between planes and not viewable. (After Macdonald et al. 144 ); (b) The branch-node chart for the pore space
in Figure 3.21a, showing the types of nodes and boundary features used (after Macdonald et al.144)
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 79
determined versus the volume of the sample The work of Macdonald et al.144 is an im-
section by section with the interesting result provement over that of Pathak et al.,140 who
that past a certain minimum volume the genus performed a manual trace and count of
is a linear function of the volume (see Fig. branches and nodes.
3.22). The slope of the line gives the best
estimate of the genus per unit volume. It is 3.4.3.2 Pore Structure Determination Based
logical that linearity could not exist if the pore on Computer Reconstruction
topology of the sample had varied in the direc- In a series of articles Lin and co-work-
tion of grinding and polishing, that is, normal ers 141 ' 142 ' 149 presented a deterministic ap-
to the planes of sectioning. It is likely that proach to modeling the three-dimensional pore
topology varies less than pore geometry, for and grain geometry and pore network topol-
example, pore size distributions. ogy, based on computer reconstruction of se-
600-
60 8.0 10.0
3 8
VOLUME ( / i m ) x I0"
Figure 3.22. Genus versus volume of Berea sandstone samples.
80 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
rial sections. Lin and Perry142 used a pore (or bution function f(a, b, c) da dbdc, with 2a, 2b,
grain) surface triangulation technique as a and 2 c being the wall-to-wall lengths mea-
shape descriptor, which gives the following sured in the three orthogonal directions, as
parameters: surface area, Gaussian curvature, illustrated in Figure 3.23. In addition to the
genus, and aspect ratio of the pore. The aspect Berea sandstone sample, 80 serial sections
ratio was obtained by using a spheroidal model. were also prepared of a 4.3 X 3.5 X 1.4 mm
In their article, however, they pointed out that random glass bead pack at 15- to 20-/xm incre-
their method is not suitable for modeling the ments and then photographed and digitized.
pore network. The method used by Lin and The glass beads were in the 177- to 350-/xm
Cohen141 is similar to the one described by size range. Finally, three regular packings of
DeHoff et al.138 and Pathak et al.140 In an- uniform size spheres—(1) simple cubic, (2)
other study, Lin149 carried out three-dimen- orthorhombic, and (3) rhombohedral—were
sional measurements in the pore space in the also tested. In this case there were no physical
direction of the three orthogonal axes and samples because the media could be described
then used these as parameters for pore mod- as continuous functions mathematically. They
els, consisting of ellipsoids, or elliptical cylin- were chosen to test the method, owing to their
ders or double elliptical cones. known pore structures.
Using the number of random points gener-
The same set of 78 photomicrographs,
ated, the sample porosities <f> were calculated
representing serial sections through a Berea
as follows:
sandstone sample, that were processed by
Macdonald et al.144 were used for locating,
at random, points in the digitized three- (3.52)
dimensional pore space and measuring, in
three orthogonal directions, the length of
straight lines passing through each point.146 where n is the total number of points and
The set of the three orthogonal lengths mea- f(x,y, z) = (0,1), where 1 represents pore
sured was stored in the form of a joint distri- space and 0 represents solid space. The results
P(x,y.z.)
Figure 3.23. Determination of pore size in three orthogonal directions at a randomly chosen point P(x, y, z).
(After Yanuka et al.146)
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 81
of the porosity determinations are given in that is, [l/2(l/a + l/b)]~\ [l/2(l/a +
Table 3.4. l/c)]~\ and [1/2(1/b + 1/c)]" 1 . Choosing
The cumulative pore size distributions found the minimum and the maximum values of these
in the samples in the x, y, and z coordinate gave frequency distribution densities f(Rmin)
directions, f(2a\ f(2b), and /(2c), are plotted and f(Rmax), respectively. These were trans-
in Figure 3.24. The z-direction is perpendicu- formed to volume-based size distributions
lar to the plane of polish of the samples. It is V(Rmin) and V(Rmax) by assuming pores of
apparent from the figure that the pore sizes ellipsoidal shape. The pore size distributions
range beyond 200 ^m, in contrast with the of the Berea sandstone and the glass bead
maximum pore size of about 70 jam assumed pack V(Rmin) have been reproduced in Figure
in the network simulation studies110'112'118'119 3.25. It is evident from this figure that for the
which yielded good agreement with experi- sandstone the values of Rmin extended beyond
mental drainage capillary pressure and rela- 100 /x,m, consistently with the distributions
tive permeability curves. The large wall-to-wall shown in Figure 3.24.
lengths measured by Yanuka et al.146 are The cumulative joint distribution function
probably due to the presence of relatively large F(a,b,c) was used to generate a model of the
pore throats through which the line could pass, porous medium composed of ellipsoids dis-
resulting in the combined size of several pores. tributed randomly in space. Random points
Anisometric pore geometry may also con- were generated in a cube-shaped space which
tribute to this effect. were used as centers of ellipsoids. Values of
The joint distribution function was used also F(a, b, c) between 0 and 1 were generated by
to obtain the minimum and the maximum a uniformly distributed random number gener-
harmonic mean pore radius Rmin and Rmax by ator and values of a, b, and c were obtained
forming the three possible combinations of by taking the inverse of the function F(a, b, c).
pairs of the lengths (a, b\ (a, c), and (b, c\ The ellipsoids thus generated often inter-
TYPE OF MEDIUM
NUMBER OF SIMPLE CUBIC ORTHORHOMBIC RHOMBOHEDRAL PACK OF BEREA
COUNTS AND PACKING PACKING PACKING GLASS SANDSTONE
REPETITIONS 0 (%) (%) (%) BEADS (%) (%)
0.8-
0.6-
0.4
0.2-
0.8
0.6 0.6^
0.4-
0.2
0.0^
0 100 200 300 400 500
250 500
Pore Size (pm)
Pore Size (urn)
Figure 3.24. Cumulative pore size distributions of the media investigated in the JC, y, and z directions (« = 2a, 2b,
2c). (After Yanuka et al.146)
V(Rm)
1.0-d
0.8-^
0.6»
0.2-^
Figure 3.25. Cumulative normalized (volume-based) pore size distributions of a bead pack and a Berea sandstone
sample. (After Yanuka et al.146)
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 83
sected with each other and every time the which is very close to the value of 2.9 calcu-
volume of intersection was excluded. The ran- lated from the relation147:
dom process of generating ellipsoids continued
until the total volume of ellipsoids generated 1 - 4> = 1.072 - 0.1193Z + 0.004312Z2
(excluding the volume of intersection) yielded (3.53)
the known porosity of the sample. The inter-
Equation (3.53) has also predicted the aver-
section between two ellipsoids was used to
age coordination number of the random glass
calculate the throat size between the two pores
bead pack (4.6 versus 4.3) and the (exact)
by calculating the radius of a sphere of the coordination numbers of the three regular
same volume as the volume of intersection sphere packings (simple cubic: 5.8; orthorhom-
between the two ellipsoids. The sphere radius bic: 4.7 versus 4.6; and rhombohedral: 3.1 ver-
r was assumed to represent the throat radius. sus 3.3). This relation, therefore, appears to be
The throat radius frequency distribution den- quite reliable for both regular and random
sities f(r) of the different media are shown in structures.
Figure 3.26. For the Berea sandstone the peak The validity of the modeling approach used
of the distribution is at about 20 fim radius by Yanuka et al.146 was checked also by com-
and the maximum radius is about 60 /jum. paring radii of the circles inscribed in the
These values are again much greater than the narrow passages of the three different regular
throat diameters, ranging from about 5 fjum to sphere packings as calculated by Kruyer148
about 42 fjim, used in Refs. 110, 112, 118, and with the average throat radii found in Yanuki
119, which resulted in realistic predictions of et al. expressed in units of sphere diameter
the drainage capillary pressure and the rela- (simple cubic: 0.207 versus 0.156, orthorhom-
tive permeability curves. bic: 0.142 versus 0.130, and rhombohedral:
The average coordination number Z of the 0.077 versus 0.077). Evidently, this agreement
Berea sandstone sample was found to be 2.8, is quite good and it seems to indicate that the
* " , .
0.02- 0.02- 0.02-
0.01
IV
0.01:
0.02- 0.03-
o.<xH 0.00-I
30 60 90 120 0 20 40 60 80
R Size (Mm) R Size dun)
Figure 3.26. Pore throat radius distributions calculated from volumes of intersection between randomly chosen
ellipsoids. (After Yanuka et al.146)
84 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
method used in Yanuka et al.146 may have ratio: area of cross-section passing through a
some validity as long as the straight lines fixed point in the pore space-to-the perimeter
("yardsticks") in the pore space cannot pass of this section [see Eq. (3.44)]. The ratio has,
through pore throats as was indeed the case in general, different values for different orien-
for the three regular sphere packs, where the tations of the sectioning plane passing through
throats were situated on the faces of the unit the same fixed point and its minimum value is
cell of the packing. defined here as the "hydraulic radius" rH of
One important lesson learned from the study the pore at that point. Hence, pore throats, by
reported in Bernal et al.50 is that the correct definition, correspond to minima of the hy-
pore body sizes cannot be found in the com- draulic radius r H (minima of minima!). In
puter reconstruction of pore structure unless principle, then, a pore throat could be located
first the throats are located and then parti- by passing series of parallel sectioning planes
tions are erected at the throats that separate of all possible different orientations through
adjacent pore bodies. This procedure is analo- the pore space, calculating the cross-section-
gous to closing the doors in a building that to-perimeter ratio and keeping track of the
were originally wide open: as a result every location of each section through the pore
room will be a separate, isolated entity whereas space. Proceeding along each pore channel,
with the doors open one could walk freely for every fixed orientation of the sectioning
from room to room. Similarly, with partitions plane there will be local minima of the cross-
erected at all the pore throats the "yardstick" section-to-perimeter ratio, indicating the pres-
used to measure pore body sizes cannot inad- ence of a pore throat. The true throat size,
vertantly measure the combined size of more that is, the hydraulic diameter equals four
than one pore body any more. times the hydraulic radius, at a given location
is found by varying the orientation of the
sectioning plane over all possible angles
3.4.3.3 Method of Locating Pore Throats in until the least value of the cross-section-to-
Computer Reconstruction perimeter ratio is found near that location.
The digitized serial sections (photomicro- The least value is, by definition, the hydraulic
graphs) were used as follows.150'151 Each pixel radius of that perpendicular throat. All the
was assumed to be the top surface of a volume throats and their hydraulic diameters can be
element (voxel) with a cross-section equal to found, rigorously speaking, only by using par-
the pixel area and a depth equal to the spacing allel series of sectioning planes of all possible
between the two consecutive serial sections. orientations with a sufficiently small inter-
When both the pixel and the one immediately planar distance.
below it are pore space pixels then the two The ideal way of locating pore throats,
two-dimensional pore space features contain- described previously, was replaced with the
ing these pixels were assumed to be con- practical way of scanning the computer recon-
nected. This is the same "overlap" criterion struction of pore structure with a few sets of
that was used by Macdonald et al.144 parallel planes of distinct, different orien-
The approach followed by Kwiecien et tations. The first and obvious plane is the
a l 150,151 w a s t 0 flrst i o c a t e t ft e p O r e throats plane of polish, or serial sectioning, of the
and then, by symbolically closing them, define sample. This plane is perpendicular to the
the pore bodies. A pore throat is defined as a z-axis. Next, the scanning planes perpendicular
local minimum in the "size" of pore space to the x-axis and the y-axis were used. In
which thus separates two pore bodies from addition to these relatively simple cases, four
one another. As discussed earlier in this chap- more scans were made: two parallel to the
ter, the most practical definition of pore radius j-axis and another two parallel to the x-axis,
is that it is twice the minimum value of the as illustrated in Figure 3.27. Had both the
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 85
I
r
z
I Scanning direction
! -All scans two opposite edges of the cube. As the scan-
ning was carried out in terms of pixels (or
voxels) the diagonal scans are best understood
(a) by the example shown in Figure 3.28, where
XMIN denotes one of the two diagonal scans
1 (0,0,0)
parallel to the y-axis. Nx, Ny, Nz, and Nx, Ny,
and N'z denote the number of pixels in the
/ three coordinate directions in the original ar-
rangement and in the diagonal arrangement,
(b) (c) respectively. Figure 3.28c shows the new over-
lap criterion for the diagonal scanning. (It
should be noted that the pixel shape was not
quadratic and was nonuniform because of the
unequal spacings between consecutive serial
(0,0,0) sections. The pixel size in the x direction was
5.20 jam and in the z direction it varied from
(e)
6.5 jLtm to 17.8 /mm.) For each scan there is a
set of potential pore throats. These sets are
Figure 3.27. Orientations of the data matrix for various
"diagonal" scans, (a) Original orientation, (b) scan
compared to identify the true throats, using
with planes parallel to the y-axis (XMIN scan), (c) scan the principles outlined earlier. At the time of
with planes parallel to the y-axis (XMAX scan), (d) writing, the work of improving this technique
scan with planes parallel to the x-axis (YMIN scan), (e) is still in progress, because a number of throats
scan with planes parallel to the x-axis (YMAX scan). appear to have been missed by the scanning
(After Kwiecien et al.151)
and some other throats exhibit anomalous be-
havior.
ACF I L
BEHKN
DGJ MP
NxxNYxNz
= 5xNYx3
Nx = min{N x ,N z }
s
Nz Nx + N z - I
N x xN Y xN z
= 3 xN Y x7
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 3.28. Example of data matrix transformation for "diagonal" scans, (a) Original data matrix, (b) new data
matrix for XMIN scan: columns filled with zeroes are added (not shown) to fill out rectangular array, (c) overlap
relationship of pixels for the data matrix in (b). (After Kwiecien et al.151)
86 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
5 9 13 17 2 1 2 5 29 33 37 4 1 4 5 4 9 53 57 6 1 6 5 69
NECK DIAMETER (microns)
Figure 3.14, except for the apparent presence wards. The "empty pore space" permits con-
of a relatively small number of very large ventional permeability measurements to be
pores. These may be due to that fact that not carried out instead of the usual steady-state
all the pore throats were located, and, there- relative permeability measurements. Resistiv-
fore, counting several distinct pore bodies as ity index measurements can also be performed
one and the same pore. The relatively small if the "empty pore space" is filled with an
number of very large coordination numbers in electrolyte solution. After these measurements
Figure 3.29 is probably due to the same error. are carried out the "empty pore space" is filled
with another liquid of the type that can after-
3.4.4 Microscopic Distribution of the wards be solidified in situ. The rock matrix was
Wetting and the Nonwetting Phases in also replaced with epoxy resin after etching
Immiscible Displacement with hydrofluoric acid and finally has either
The distribution of the phases in the pore been polished or thin sections have been pre-
space in immiscible displacement is of great pared. The following fluid pairs, representing
interest. It depends, in addition to the satura- the wetting and the nonwetting phases, respec-
tion, on the wettability conditions, the history tively, have been used: System I—ethylene
(including the effect of parameters such as the glycol/Wood's metal (alloy 158); System
capillary number, the viscosity ratio, and the II—epoxy resin ERL 4206™/N 2 gas; System
individual viscosities), and last, but not least, III—brine/styrene (containing benzoyl perox-
the pore structure. Pioneering work in this ide as the catalyst).
area has been reported in Ref. 152 in Berea In Figure 3.32 a thin section shows the
sandstone for the special case of strong prefer- microscopic phase distribution in primary
ential wettability and quasistatic displacement drainage obtained with the help of System II.
(vanishingly small capillary number). The tech- The nonwetting phase channels were impreg-
nique used consists of "phase immobilization." nated with Resin 301™, containing solvent
A suitable pair of immiscible fluids have blue dye. In Figure 3.32a a UV light source,
been used as the wetting and the nonwetting and in Figure 3.32b normal light source was
phases, one of which can be conveniently so- used. Figure 3.32c is a superimposition of Fig-
lidified in situ and the other which can be ures 3.32a and 3.32b, achieved through the
readily removed from the pore space after- controlled use of both light sources.
Figure 3.32. Microscopic distribution of fluids in a typical thin section of Berea sandstone at a wetting phase
saturation of 53%, showing (a) the wetting phase only (white portion); (b) the nonwetting phase only (dark
portion); (c) the wetting phase, nonwetting phase, and rock (white, black and gray portions, respectively). (After
Yadav et al.152)
88 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
In Figure 3.33 12 consecutive serial sections, ple of the porous medium as closely as possi-
prepared by the grinding and polishing proce- ble and necessary. Those details of the pore
dure, are shown. System I was used in primary structure that have no or only very little bear-
drainage. The wetting phase saturation is 58% ing on the transport properties of the medium
pore volume. The ethylene glycol was replaced are to be omitted, as they would unnecessarily
with ERL 4206. increase the complexity of the model without
Finally, in Figure 3.34 "relative permeability any concomitant improvement in its predictive
curves" obtained by conventional permeability ability. The irrelevance of certain details may
measurements in the presence of another, im- even lead to predictions that are at variance
mobilized phase are compared with the con- with experience in some cases whereas there
ventional steady-state relative permeability may be other cases when a certain peculiar
curves measured in a similar Berea sand- behavior of the medium can be explained only
stone.120 The agreement is very good. with the help of certain pore structure fea-
tures that for most other purposes are irrele-
3.4.5 Discussion and Conclusions vant. As has always been the case in mathe-
Throughout the present chapter the position matical modeling of physical phenomena,
has been taken by the author that any model judgment must be used in deciding what fea-
of pore structure should have as its first and tures to retain in the model and what other
foremost aim to approximate the significant features to omit. While admittedly there exists
features of the real pore structure of the sam- a "gray zone" of uncertainty when deciding
Figure 3.33. Twelve consecutive serial sections of etched Berea sandstone at about 10 /im apart, seen under
normal light. The white portions are Wood's metal, representing the nonwetting phase. The dark gray portions are
resin ERL 4206, replacing ethylene glycol, the wetting phase. The lighter gray areas are Buehler resin, replacing
the rock that was etched away. (After Yadav et al.152)
STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 89
- V\
.H-2
rations, saturation versus height of capillary
0.2 rise, rate of capillary rise, relative permeabili-
ties versus saturation (the last five are also
0.1 - WETTING--. i-i contact angle and history dependent), forma-
PHASE \yA^ tion factor, resistivity index, and drying.
ao At the present there is no proven model
20 40 60 80 K)0
that would be able to simulate all the above
WETTING PHASE SATURATION,Sw
(% PV)
properties and, therefore, there is no guaran-
tee that the following requirements regarding
Figure 3.34. Relative permeability versus saturation
curves for Berea sandstone sample obtained using the a good pore structure model would be suffi-
phase immobilization technique compared with the cient. In any event, they are most likely to be
curves obtained by the usual steady-state technique. 120 necessary to do the job:
(After Yadav et al.152)
1. A three-dimensional network of pore bod-
ies connected by pore throats, representing
where to draw the fine line between what is the main skeleton of pore structure of the
kept and what is discarded as superfluous, that medium
does not in the least put in jeopardy the re- 2. A representative coordination number dis-
quirement that any model of pore structure tribution and the connectivity of the net-
should account for the main features of the work
real pore structure that determine the collec- 3. Representative pore body and pore throat
tion of the most important transport proper- shapes (aspect ratios)
ties of the medium. A rough comparison may 4. Representative pore body size and pore
be made with the blueprint of a building where throat size distributions
all the essential constructional features are 5. A representative correlation (if present) be-
shown, however, without specifying the loca- tween the pore throat sizes and the sizes of
tion of every hole to be drilled in the walls, the the two pore bodies connected by a throat
quality of wall surface, etc. 6. Similar properties of secondary networks of
It is generally realized that it is possible to smaller (micro-) pores if such are present
model transport properties of porous media (e.g., cementing clays in sandstones or mi-
without any reference to pore geometry, and cropores present in the individual particles
merely use a large number of adjustable pa- of aggregates).
rameters in the model that do not have any
physical meaning. In this author's opinion, An additional requirement for the purpose
models of this kind are less useful in facilitat- of predicting surface transport properties is
ing our understanding of the observed physical the quality of the pore surface (rugosity).
phenomena than those that incorporate the The only way it appears possible to obtain
basic features of pore morphology. This point all this body of information is by visualization
90 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
of the pores and, at present, for meso- and mining three-dimensional pore structures of
micropores this is possible only by preparing porous media over a wide range of pore sizes,
micrographs of sections of the sample. [For down to at least 0.1 ^m.
macropores on the order of about 1 mm and
above X-ray tomography (CAT-scanners) can
do an excellent job.]
This is the reason why the author has cho- REFERENCES
sen the route of three-dimensional computer
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the 57th Annual Fall Technical Conference of Workshop on Computer Visualization, N H (1982)
SPE-AIME, New Orleans, Sept 26-29 (1982)
143 P M Kaufmann, F A L Dullien, I F
126 R G Larson, L E Scnven, and H T Davis,
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stone Pore Structure " Acta Stereol 2 (Suppl I) 145
127 J Kophk, C Lin, and M Vermette, "Conductivity
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144 I F Macdonald, P Kaufmann, and F A L
Phys 56 3127 (1984)
Dullien, "Quantitative Image Analysis of Finite
128 E Guyon, J P Hulin, and R Lenormand, "Appli-
Porous Media I Development of Genus and Pore
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Poreux " Ann Mines, mai-juin, p 17 (1984) Map Software " / Microsc 144 277, II Specific
129 D Wilkinson and M Barsony, "Monte Carlo Study Genus of Cubic Lattice Models and Berea Sand-
of Invasion Percolation Clusters in Two and Three stone " Ibid 144 297 (1986)
Dimensions / Phys A Math Gen i7L129(1984) 145 L K Barrett and C S Yust, "Some Fundamental
130 D Wilkinson, "Percolation Model of Immiscible Ideas in Topology and Their Application to Prob-
Displacement in the Presence of Buoyancy lems in Metallography " Metallography 3 1 (1970)
Forces " Phys Rev A 30 520 (1984) 146 M Yanuka, F A L Dullien, and D E Elnck,
131 D Wilkinson, "Percolation Effects in Immiscible "Percolation Processes and Porous Media I Geo-
Displacement" Phys Rev A 34 1380 (1986) metrical and Topological Model of Porous Media
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STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF PACKINGS OF PARTICLES 95
148 S Kruyer, "The Penetration of Mercury and Cap- Porosimetry" SPE Formation Evaluation 4 11
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Distributions of Berea Sandstone Through tion with Special Emphasis on Capillary Liquid
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152 G D Yadav, F A L Dullien, I Chatzis, and I F 157 J A Quibher, "A New Three-Dimensional Mod-
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153 H H Yuan and B F Swanson, "Resolving an Aid in Determining Some Reservoir Charac-
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4
Fundamental and Rheological
Properties of Powders
Kunio Shinohara
CONTENTS
Powders exhibit several kinds of bulk prop- constitute one of the current topics in the field
erties such as mechanical, thermal, electrical, of particle science.
magnetic, optical, acoustic, and surface
4.1 PACKING CHARACTERISTICS OF
physico-chemical properties. Among these, the
PARTICLES
rheological property of particles is widely in-
vestigated in the applied fields. It is closely Each packing particle has unique physical
related not only to the material properties of a properties such as size, density, shape, restitu-
single particle but also to the unit operations tion, etc., as mentioned in earlier chapters.
in powder technology. Included here are the Though a powder consists of a number of
most fundamental characteristics of deforma- individual particles, the bulk property of a
tion and flow of particulate solids, that is, powder is not usually the simple summation of
packing, permeability and strength, mainly in the physical properties of single particles.
the dry system. Thus, the bulk properties are General characterization of the particle has
essential for describing various rheological be- not yet been established, and it is difficult to
haviors in powder handling processes, and define the location of each particle under the
96
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 97
influence of external and/or self-exerting Specific surface is the surface area of parti-
forces in open, as well as closed, systems. cles per unit mass S w , per net volume of solids
Information is, however, available on the pack- 5 V , or per apparent volume of powder mass
ing structure of particle assemblage as a basis 5 av . The relationship among them is:
of the rheological properties of particles.1
<t>s
4.1.1 Representative Parameters of (4.6)
Packing2 p, av
There are some fundamental and useful repre- where </>s is the shape factor, and dpav is the
sentations of the overall state of packing. average particle diameter based on the specific
Void fraction or fractional voidage e is de- surface.
fined as the interstitial void volume in the unit Tortuosity is defined as the ratio of the
bulk volume of particle assemblage. length of the hypothetical curved capillary
Packing density or fractional solids content consisting of voids to the thickness of a
<j> is then defined in terms of the void fraction powder layer.
as: Other ways of representing the distribution
*p = 1 - c (4.D of voids are available, as mentioned later in
the section on the random packing of equal
Bulk density p p is the apparent density of a spheres.
powder mass, given by the mass per bulk
volume of powder. Thus, the following rela-
4.1.2 Regular Packing of Spheres
tionship holds among the void fraction, the
particle density p p , and the bulk density: Though only limited cases are known of regu-
lar packing of spheres, the geometrical
P b = P p ( l - e) (4.2)
arrangements will be the basis of understand-
Apparent specific volume Vs is the bulk ing the general state of packing of particles.
volume of powder of unit mass, which is the
inverse of bulk density as: 4.1.2.1 Packing of Equal-Sized Spheres
1 There are two types of primary layers of equal
(4.3)
P p (i - 6) spheres, that is, square and simple rhombic
layers. Four central points of spheres form a
Bulkiness </>b indicates the bulk volume of square on the same plane, and three centers
solids in comparison with the unit volume of of spheres in contact make a triangle, respec-
particles alone, that is, the inverse of packing tively. Thus, six variations are considered as
density as: stable geometrical arrangements in placing
such a primary layer as the bottom one, as
4 4 shown in Figure 4.1. 3 It is possible to intro-
' 4>b = - r = T— <->
q>p I — e duce the concept of a unit cell for these ar-
Void ratio c/>v is written as the ratio of the rangements, as shown in Figure 4.2.3 The cor-
void volume to the net volume of particles: responding packing characteristics are listed in
Table 4.1. In fact, except for direction of the
TV -I
(4.5) arrangement of voids, the second and the third
1 — € types of arrangements in the square layer are
The coordinate number Nc, which is defined the same as the fourth and the sixth types in
as the number of contact points per particle, is the rhombic layer, respectively.
often considered to relate to the rheological It could be inferred in general that the void
behaviors of particle assemblage. fraction decreases and the coordination num-
98 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
O O
front
o o o o
view
o o- o o-
a O O ,(tN
. a
square
layer
o o
top o o
view Oo0o • O © •
o o
Oo0o •
arrangement 1 arr. 2 arr. 3
top Oo©o
view
Qo0o •
arr. 4 arr. 5 arr. 6
Figure 4.1. Regular arrangements of primary layers of equal spheres.3
square
layer
9,=90* e,6o;
arrangement 1 92=90° nrr 9 62=90*
03=90* arr2
9A=90*
e3=90'
04=60*
cubic orthorhombic rhombohedral
slmple-
rhombic
layer
9i=90* 0,=6O* 9i=60°
nrr L. w = 9 0 arr 5 92=104*29' nrr
arr
fi
6
02=90°
arn5 * 03=60° (
03=60* ,
e!=90* 04=63 26 ft;=70°32
orthorhombic tetragonal-sphenoidal rhombohedral
3
Figure 4.2. Unit cells of regular packing of equal spheres.
ing. Table 4.3 presents the packing character- intermittent number of spheres in the triangu-
istics indicating the minimum voidage of 0.039. lar hole. A void fraction of 0.1130 is the mini-
This is the so-called Horsfield packing.6'7 mum at the size ratio of 0.1716 on the basis of
When more than one equal sphere is filled the triangular hole. This arrangement is called
into the interspaces of the closest rhombic Hudson packing.8
arrangement, the void fraction varies with the
size ratio of the smaller sphere to the primary
4.1.3 Random Packing of Equal Spheres
one, as tabulated in Table 4.4. It appears that
the void fraction decreases with each increase Even in spheres of equal size the geometrical
in the number of smaller spheres in the square structure of random packing deviates far from
hole, but this is not always true because of the that of regular packing. In other words, the
1 1 0.4764 0.4764 6
2 v5"/2 0.3424 0.3954 8
3 i/v/5" 0.1834 0.2594 12
4 v5"/2 0.3424 0.3954 8
5 3/4 0.2264 0.3019 10
6 1/V§" 0.1834 0.2595 12
100 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 4.2. Packing Properties of Mixture with One Largest Sphere in Each Void5
characteristics of random packing are closer to with the balls to confirm e = 0.37 for dense
the actual ones. Thus, computer simulation of random packing with small peripheral error.11
random packing is becoming popular, as men- On tapping vertically the same steel balls in
tioned below. the glass cylinder, the void fraction becomes
0.387 after 400 taps, which is close to that of
4,1.3.1 Overall Packing Characteristics the orthorhombic packing, whereas three-
dimensional vigorous and prolonged shaking
In reality randomness is always associated with
yielded the hexagonal close packing, whose
the effects of particle properties, ways of fill-
void fraction if 0.26.12 The structure was exam-
ing, and the dimension of the container and its
ined by removal of layers and arrays of balls
wall surface properties.
and individual balls frozen in water as the
On the basis of the usual packing experi-
thawing progressed.
ments under gravity alone, the overall void
According to experiments with spherical
fraction is approximately 0.39 and the coordi-
lead shots of 7.56 mm diameter poured into a
nate number is around 8 for relatively large
beaker,13 the relationship between the average
spheres such as steel balls, round sand,9 and
coordination and the voidage could be derived
glass beads.5
by assuming that the state of packing is repre-
When spherical particles of about 3 mm
sented by the mixture of cubic and rhombo-
diameter are poured without free fall, the
hedral packing in between the two.14 The void
datum value of voidage for the loose packing
fraction is written by using the fraction of the
ranged from 0.393 to 0.409 for different parti-
rhombohedral packing, Rr as
cle densities and surface friction.10
Without wall effects the void fractions in
6 = 0.2595i?r + 0.4764(1 - RT) (4.7)
the loose and close packings were 0.399 and
0.363, respectively, which were extrapolated by The average coordination number Nc is then
filling dimpled copper cylinders of various given by:
heights and diameters. For dense packing, steel
balls of 3.18 mm were gently shaken down for 12}f2RT + 6(1 -RT)
about 2 min. Nonrigid balloons were also filled Nc = (4.8)
1.0
08 1 Experimental
Calculated
d P =9mm
D=15-56cm
0-6
A
v • O
04
02
10 20 30 40 50 60
Distance from wall, mm
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Distance from wall, sphere diameters
Figure 4.3. Voidage variation for randomly packed spheres in a cylinder.2
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 103
of spheres within the spherical shell of differ- Angular distribution of contacting spheres
ential thickness is theoretically calculated27 around a sphere could represent the packing
and compared with the packing data of an structure of a randomly packed bed, as shown
average number of neighboring particles, as in Figure 4.6, which compares the experimen-
shown in Figure 4.5. 28 ' 29 ' 30 The average num- tal curve A31 with the theoretical curve B?2
ber of spheres in contact is 6.0, irrespective of Any given contact point is taken as a pole.
the packing density.28'29 Analogously to the liquid structure,33 the rela-
tionship between the coordination number and
the packing density is approximated by
— Experimental <t>p = 0.1947A/, - 0.1301A/,2 + 0.05872AT3
— Calculated
- 0.0128Nc4 + 1.438 X lO" 3 /
+ 8.058 X 10~5Nc6 + 1.785 X
(4.14)
with sufficient accuracy for <f>p > 0.15. The
local mean packing density distribution func-
tion / p is derived on the basis of allocation of
spheres to space cells according to a binomial
03
probability mechanism:34
1.1 12 1-3
Distance from reference particle
in sphere diameters
Figure 4.5. Average number of neighboring particles • exp
within a spherical shell.27 (A,28 B29 and C 3 0 are experi-
mental.) (4.15)
104 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
1
60 ' '
i \\
— Experimental 0.8 i \
\
50 — Calculated i \
0p =0
i
i i
i \
\
0-6 i i
i i
i
30 0-64J
/'A >
i ^ »
\ i
\ i
0-4
20 0.62//
0-6
02
7 A|
10
/1
0-2 04 0-6 0-8 10
n
4 6
Jj 8 10
en=1/2(1-cos0 n )
COORDINATION No., —
0 30 60 90 120 180
Figure 4.7. Distribution of coordination number.33
6n, deg
s
/T\ ^
£ = 0.4
theoretical :
ineffective void :
1 : equal-sized spheres
2 :<7=1.2
3 : a = 1.5
experimental
O : equal-sized spheres
• :<J=1.2
A :<7=1.5
3
0.2
Void diameter % [-]
Figure 4.9. Size distribution of circular voids over cross-section of packed bed with spheres of log-normal size
distribution.36
0-50 200
1
—~— ——-— SIZE RATO =0-5
^ —
0-46 if-— 185
I
§ 0-42 X
- ^ ,
- \
-—
0-4
W/ 172
0-3 V 161
g? 0-38
3A
0-2
// / I
« °' \ 0.1
/
152 §
CD
§0.30
0-26
sO-0
/ 1.43
0-22
V 135
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 128
PERCENT OF LARGE COMPONENT. -
Figure 4.12. Relation between voids and size composition in two-component system of broken solids when the
voids of single components are 0.5.43
108 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
( 01=17.3=0.1 )(C*=24,3=0.1)
Rr 1 2
1.0 _
- Rc 6 5
£e 3 A
I
o
-
s
0.5
VOID
%
0.6
FRACTION,
.
>
0.7
RHOMBOHEDRAL PACKING PORTION, Rr Figure 4.14. Variation of Rc, RT, and ee with void
fraction.45
EFFECTIVE VOID, £e
1.0 I I I I 1 I I I I I i
1 Smith (1933)
1 2 Rumpf (1958)
-
v4\ \ 3 Pietsch and Rumpf (1967) ~
A Ridgway and 1rarbuck (1967) _
o 3
5 Equation (27)
1 6 Shinohara and Tanaka (1975)'
0.5 - — .
_ ^-d=23,(3=0.1 _
o
>
_ • Smith et al. (1929)
o Manegold and von Engelhardt (1931)
~ €> Void (1959)
Bernal and Mason (1960)
© Wade (1965)
I i i I I I I [ i 1 1 I
1 > 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12
COORDINATION NUMBER, -
Figure 4.15. Relationship between coordination number and void fraction.45
(4.37)
where the sums of the particle volumes of the original largest single size of the system,
primary and the secondary particles are taken n' = n - 1, the result is
as unity for computational convenience. Sub- /i dVis dfy
stituting Eq. (4.38) and summing up the Jl
li = _ Jy
. (A 43)
volumes of all the components in Eq. (4.39) W t s - / i ) dnr fy-dn' '
yields the following: Since the diameter ratio between particles of
successive sizes for the maximum density is
1
+ 1 - + 1 - independent of the voidage and must be con-
1+ e 1+ e 1 + e stant for the entire system,
1
+1 - ^ . ^ . V l l ^ i / - ' (4.44)
1+ e «p,l «p,2 d
p,n'
1
+ 1 + where Ks is defined as the size ratio of the
lTe smallest dn, + 1 to the largest particles, dpV
- en Utilizing the experimental correlation between
(4.40) the total volume decrease fy and the size
ratios of binary systems,
Hence, the volume fraction of each compo- fy = 1.0 - 2. n
' (4.45)
nent is obtained by dividing Vl9 V2, V3,..., Vn
by Vti. Equation (4.40) is for the hypothetical Hence, differentiating Eqs. (4.40) and (4.45)
case where each size acts as if it were infinitely with respect to n' and putting them into
small. Eq. (4.43) gives the relationship among e, Ks
In the actual case of several different com- and n', as
ponents uniformly mixed, the total volume of e n ' - l n e ( l - e)
the mixed system Vtm is somewhat reduced as
compared to the sum of the volume of sepa- (1 - en' +1
)(l + en>)
rate layers of the components, Vts (2.62Kl/n> - 3.
(1.0 - 2.62Kl/n>
Vtm = {Vts - /y(Kts - Pp/Ph) (4.41)
(4.46)
where p b is the bulk density of each separate
According to the above equations, the mini-
layer, and -fy(Vts - ft) - (pp/pb) indicates the
mum voidage is calculated from Eq. (4.42). For
bulk volume decrease upon mixing and fy is
example, the results for packings of two- to
the factor ranging in value between 0 and 1.0
four-component systems are shown in Figure
corresponding to separate layers of equal-sized
4.16 and listed in Table 4.5.
particles and an ideal mixing with infinitely
For varying voidages and particles densities,
small particles. Thus, the bulk density of the
it is also possible to use a similar treatment.
mixed system is
Pb
Pb,m = (4.42)
1 -
h
For the closest packing or the maximum (4.47)
bulk density, the quantity fy(Vts - f^)/Vl% in
the denominator should be a maximum so that
/„ =
when it is differentiated with respect to the
number of component sizes added to the (4.48)
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 111
0-60
/
0-50
/ /
' /
y
2 COMP. 6 =O-6O
^0-30 Tr
-• — r - r T T
3 COMR.. 7
/
'0-20
—
"" ACOMR' ...ACO M R ' ' ' "" ^^— 2 COMP. <:=o-4O
o —* -"' 3 CON P.
0-10
as™
Figure 4.16. Minimum voidage for two to four component sizes for initial voidage of 0.40 and 0.60.49
There are quite a few models for random From an operational viewpoint there are
packings of multisized particles. Usually only several kinds of compaction. Piston press and
the void is considered, but some refer to the hydrostatic pressing are static ways of com-
relationship between the void and the coordi- paction, whereas tapping, vibration, hammer-
nation number.50"53 ing, and explosion belong to impact com-
paction. Other types of compaction are also
4.1.5 Compaction of Powders available, such as roller pressing, vacuum
As the essential characteristic that connects pressing, multiaxis compression, and so forth.
the packing structure with stress propagation Compaction will proceed along the free-
within the powder mass, the compaction of flowing region where aggregates of particles
powders has been extensively investigated for move mutually to reduce the bulk volume, the
many years.54 compaction region where the aggregates are
broken to yield a dense phase, the region Table 4.6. Various Equations on Compaction
where particles undergo plastic deformation, of Powders.57
and the pure deformation region associated Balshin lnP= - c j(V/VP) + c2
with the strain of crystal lattice.55'56 1 1 - c P1/3
Smith 3
But no systematic analysis has been carried V V
out to derive the detailed packing structure of
particles assemblages that relate to the com-
Murray ln ) dL4[v-Vp)
^ f cP
++C5P
(v-vP J
paction pressure. V p
Ballhausen 1 /
= c6P + In c7
\v-vP
4.1.5.1 Variation of Powder Density
Konopicky { ^ \ P I ^° \
with Consolidating Pressure \Vo~VtP / ~ 7 \Vo-Vpj
Many empirical equations have been proposed Jones lnP--C! J — J + c10
to connect compaction pressure and powder
V-VP V P Vp
volume for the piston press in one direction, Athy ° - e-cnr
V Vo
as listed in Table 4.6.57 These equations are
rewritten and roughly classified into three types In c
pressure . 5 8 v0 Vo P + c15
V-VP
de Terzaghi
y
= cn - ex (4.49)
dP -c19(P + cl9)- c20P + c2l
V — V
where x = 1 for Athy's and x = 2 for Cooper
Vo-VP
Kawakita's equations. + c24-e-c*/p
Gurnham p = C .eC2l/V
de (1 - e)y 1A29
(4.50)
~dP Nishihara In I — I = -
was theoretically obtained for participate mat- p b 0 is the initial bulk density before tapping,
ter,60 and is comparable to Nutting's equation. ntp is the number of tappings, and kx is a
By thermodynamic consideration,61 constant.62 p b fn is not the material property
but depends on the height of fall or the falling
1 P-cn velocity of the tapped vessel. The straight line
Qd - 7T * log (4.55)
C
n of the semilog plots sometimes indicates dif-
ferent slopes after a certain number of tap-
where Qd and Sp are the displacement and pings in the series, especially with cohesive
the cross-sectional area of the piston, respec- fine powders, as shown in Figure 4.17.62'63
tively: Po is the initial pressure, and cn is the
constant throughout the compaction equations ~ " tp
above. It is similar to Terzaghi's equation. ^ (4.57)
k2k3 k2
jQ
c 0-05
0-01
particle bed in a cylinder during and before velocity of the particles as it leaves the vibrat-
vibration, respectively. AL> is the impact veloc- ing plate. According to the intensity of vibra-
ity or the relative velocity of a single particle tion, G = am(27rf)2/g, based on gravity
and the vibrating plate, and v0 is the initial acceleration, g,
1 + Gcos27rn1
< G < 3.3; Av/vQ =
(4.59)
where am and / are the amplitude and the frequency of vibration, n0, nv n2 are dimensionless
times, f-t-n0 corresponds to the point where a particle jumps from the plate, and nx and n2
are the times when the particle falls on to the plate, given by
n0 - ^sin" 1 —
- 2Gsin27rn 1 + \/G 2 -
n = n
2 l + 1 f° r (^1 < « 0 +
1)
1
= Wj + — 1 - sin27rn 2 ) + G 2 cos 2 27rn 1 + G cos 277^} for (n1 > n0 + 1)
(4.60)
Figure 4.18 shows the data fitted by Eq. (4.58), and Shaxby's70 derivations as
which indicate the maximum packing density
at G = 2.5. aD
p _ I I pl-b _
4&i ^ w
4.1.5.3 Distribution of Bulk Density
c(l-b)-l 1/1-6
-b)
0-50
f/ * 20 30 50
Calcite a O
Sand • - •
Calculated
0-45 i
G. -
lh\\l/l~b
Figure 4.18. Variation of packing density with intensity +fl(l -b)Y\oge\-\\ (4.63)
of vibration.67
where Y is the distance above the apex, 9 is a
half of the cone angles of the conical hopper,
sumed to be nearly constant throughout the and the coefficient c is defined as
vessel. Finally, a and b are coefficients defined
c = 2fiw cot 9{kx cos2 9 + sin2 9) (4.64)
by Eq. (4.61). Hence, by putting Psl from Eq.
(4.62) into P in Eq. (4.61), the distribution of In the case of a bin consisting of a cylindri-
bulk density in the cylinder is obtained. cal silo above a conical hopper, Po in Eq.
0-9
fb=0.425P°-|43
o
A 0-8
o1
ft=0-406 PO-1*7
•
£ 0-7
Flyash Moisture
0-6 O M wt%
CD • 21 wt%
0-5
(4.63) is replaced by the bottom pressure in Here, the superficial fluid velocity, ub0, is
the cylinder Psl given by Eq. (4.62). obtained from the sum of flow rates through
For a cohesive powder the solids pressure tubes of different diameter of the basis of the
distribution within a container is also derived void-size distribution model as:
under gravity alone,71 tapping,72 and aeration73 N 77
in connection with the blockage criterion and
a discharge rate of particles. U
b,0 =
IT
4.2 PERMEABILITY OF THE — £ ntD?(ueJ) (4.68)
POWDER BED
where nt is the number of tubes of Dt and is
As a result of the compaction of powder, flow given by the probability function, AP(Z),), as
of a fluid through the powder bed is governed 4 AP(Dt)A
by the uneven packing structure. Based on a H: = (4.69)
IT Df
microscopic packing consideration of the
void-size distribution and the solids pressure Hence, a combination of Eqs. (4.66), (4.67),
distribution mentioned in the former section, (4.68), and (4.69) after Eq. (4.65) leads to
the pressure drop of fluid flow can be derived
as follows.
The pressure drop, Apa, for tubes of the
same diameter is given by Ergun's equation74
Pul,o
as the sum of the laminar and turbulent flow
regimes:
(4.70)
u
b,o
44 44 44 4 4
(a) Actual particle bed (b) Equal tube model (c) Unequal tube model
Figure 4.20. Permeation models through packed bed.75
800 r
dp = 545 [pm]
- Erguneq. :
theoretical:
600
1 2
Superficial air velocity Ub?0 [m/s]
Figure 4.21. Effect of overall void fraction on pressure drop.76,77
118 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
400
e o= 0.40 [-]
mmm
> ft IM. i 1 1 ITY1 1
I Ejguneq. : —
- theoretical: — —"~-~X//
D b /L b =1.0 ///*1 /
5ex
. 1: uniform
. 3:b =0.20
2 : bx= 0.10
4 Ay
/// /
/
< 200 4 : bx= 0.30 // / -
OH
s
x
jflr /
At/
s
0 1 2
Superficial air velocity ut,,0 [m/s]
Figure 4.22. Effect of axial distribution of local voidage on pressure drop. 7
vw (4.73)
6/ 2 (4.77)
120 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
rn3sin3(0 8) B
2 jy - cos0c-l|B-cos.
cos(0 - 8) (4.81)
where
2rlT 2 tan 0C \ \
B = —2- + IJ 1 - nin + 2)tan 2 0C + — - r—- + n - in + 1) sin 0C
- sm 0C cos 0C / I
(4.82)
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 121
LU 2
LU
w / ,
=as
(m=1
V
O 3 6 9 12
RADIUS RATIO, d P /2r lp . —
Figure 4.24. Cohesive force due to water bridge be-
tween equal spheres and between a sphere and a
plane. 87
Figure 4.23. Model of cohesion due to liquid bridge
between separate spheres of different size.87
where
spring
particle
V7777k plate
77
F' = - , (4.86)
0 3 6 9 12
RADIUS RATIO, dp/2ri p , -
Figure 4.26. Cohesion force due to water bridge be- The latter result98 indicates that the cohesive
tween separate cone and sphere. 87 force at a contact point is distributed and that
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 123
(a)
(a)
adhered
wall
particle
samples
(b) (b)
Figure 4.28. Pendulum method. 93 Figure 4.29. Centrifugal method. 97 ' 98
\fjx versus Fc follows a log-normal function as: 4.3.2 Tensile Strength of a Powder Mass
right angles to the direction of compaction. The main difference between the present
Two types of testing apparatus have been apparatuses lies in the way the particle
devised, for example, as shown in Figure specimen is clamped.
4 3 0 100,101 Modifications of these are avail- (a) One way is the adhesive method,102 in
able, especially in the manner of applica- which a cylindrical pellet of particles pre-
tion of tensile load and the detector.101"103 pared under high pressure (tons per cm2) is
glued to a pair of adaptors with a strong
adhesive and set in the standard material-
testing machine for vertical loading, as
shown in Figure 4.30a.100 The device gives
the tensile stress-strain relationship at the
same time. The pellet must be strong at
electrical force both end planes without damage in order
measuring device
(compliance 0-inm/N) not to be separated from the adaptors in
tension. Thus, the apparatus is not ade-
quate for a loosely packed powder mass in
the usual condition of handling.
(b) The second way of clamping the parti-
3 inductive cle specimen is the wall clamping method,
displacement gauges
in which compacted powder is clamped due
to friction and cohesion between particles
pellet (30 mm *) and the walls of pistons and cylindrical cells.
This method is much improved in the range
of compaction pressure or voidage by em-
1.5um/sec ploying such adaptors as shown in Figure
4 31101,104 part a of the figure shows the
of the powder slice at the joint section. for the movable half cell resting on ball
Figure 4.32 presents typical results of bearings but also because of unavoidable
measuring tensile strength by means of two inhomogeneity of stress and voidage along
kinds of wall clamping methods. the powder depth. Thus, extrapolation of
2. Horizontal tensile test. Powder is compacted measured strength to zero bed height, if
in the shallow cylinder under vertical loads possible, could suggest the most appropri-
and is diametrically split into two semicir- ate value of tensile strength.106 Figure 4.34
cular blocks by the horizontal tensile load. shows some examples of the data obtained
The vertical fracture plane is yielded at the by the horizontal tensile test.103'106'107
joint of the two half cells, one of which is 3. Diametral compression test. A discoidal or
fixed and the other mounted on the trac- cylindrical agglomerate of particles is com-
tion table, as shown in Figure 4.33.105 A pressed across the diameter between two
similar split-plate apparatus is used, in platens, as shown in Figure 4.35. In the
which two movable cells are attached on case of ideal line loading a uniform distri-
both sides of the central fixed plate.106 This bution of tensile stress develops along the
method is intended to measure precisely vertical diameter. The direction of the stress
the low tensile strength of loosely packed is at right angles to the vertical load.
powder. It is, however, difficult to use in Assuming that the particle agglomerate is
practice not only because of unstable guides homogeneous and behaves like an elastic
load
12 sphere
10
guide 11
7 pin
1/
IH
ring-shaped
agglomerate
6 insert
Scale
cm 10
(a)
Figure 4.31. Split cells for wall clamping, (a) Annular cell104 and (b) cylindrical cell.11
126 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
10
Lim estone o dp = 70 9 Mm
• dp = 13 0 Mm
£=0 45 . 1 ^
20 40 60 80 100
PERCENTAGE LIQUID SATURATION. %
(a)
(b)
Figure 4 31 Continued
tion. The general approach is given later in On the other hand, several analytical equa-
the analysis of tensile strength. Figure 4.36 tions have been proposed for the ultimate
shows one of the examples of the data.108 tensile strength of particle agglomerates in
4. Break-off test.109 A powder sample consoli- three kinds of liquid state.
dated in a tube with a plunger is extruded
in the horizontal direction until it is broken 1. The first is the pendular state, where only
off because of its own weight, as shown in liquid bridges exist between the individual
Figure 4.37.46 The weight of the separated particles. Basically, the tensile strength is
powder column is divided by the cross- given as a product of the total contact points
sectional area of the cylinder to give the over the unit area of yield plane and the
cohesive strength. Then a powder slice of cohesive force at a contact point between
discrete thickness is scraped off at the fail- two particles. The number of contact points
ure portion to determine the void fraction. is obtained from the number of reference
Though indirect, the method is a simple particles multiplied by the coordination
way of measuring cohesiveness of powders. number of a single particle, which relates to
Figure 4.38 shows the results. the particle size and the packing structure
5. The penetration method is sometimes pro- of the particle assemblage. Thus, the tensile
posed to measure tensile strength in the strength of a cohesive powder, C t , is written
liquid phase.110 It is often unsatisfactory in general as
and attempts have been made to improve it
by the hollow cylinder method.111
- €
C — -N'F (4.89)
4.3.2.2 Analysis of Ultimate Tensile Strength
To investigate tensile strength, knowledge of
the stress-strain behavior of particulate mate- where kx is a proportionality constant, (/>sp
rials is necessary, as is the case with continu- is the shape factor to represent an effective
ous solid bodies. But only some qualitative projected area of particle, and F is the
data are available as yet 100 ' 101 ' 112 cohesive force at the contact point.
128 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
T 1 1 1 1 1 r
e
e plastic CD1
<D plastic G2
• plastic G1
O plastic G1
002 with fines
removed
001
-0-30 -0-26 -022 -018 -0-1A -0-10 -006 -002 0 002
Log BULK DENSITY, g/cm 3
(a)
700
0-04
600
111
: a 02 Limestone
v =1-55)jm
(b) (c)
107
Figure .4.34. Tensile strength by horizontal test, with (a) diametral split cell, (b) two split cells, 1 0 6 and (c)
diametral split cell. 1 0 3
(a) Uniform distributions of voidage and simple relationship of Eq. (4.12) is often
interparticle forces give rise to an ideal adopted to give the tensile strength as
tensile strength that is usually the maxi-
mum and does not change much with the 1 - e F
Ct = , 2 . _ _ . _ (4.90)
void fraction. The coordinate number Nc is
represented as a function of the void frac-
tion e, for instance, by Eqs. (4.12), (4.13), where originally k2 = f109 but it is now
(4.29), (4.30), and (4.31). Among them, the revised to be unity.113
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 129
60
o Crystalline Lactose i
dp
*E • Spray-dried Lactose I
u — with Padding
2 — without Padding
Loading £10
Platen
I
UJ
W 20
ENSIl
Particle
Agglomerate
1 - e / PCI
Ct -£ (4.93)
Hi
(c) A nonuniform packing structure of
the particle assemblage, mentioned above,
results in a pronounced increase in the
(4.91) ultimate tensile strength with a slight de-
crease in the void fraction.45 Provided that
only particles in the closest packing portion
where F w is the van der Waals force, Hp is govern predominantly the ultimate strength,
the Hertz hardness of the particle, and sel
CUr = np,r-4-F (4.94)
and spl are contact areas attributing to
the elastic and the plastic deformations, where 4 is the number of contact points of
respectively. a single particle concerned with the break-
130 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
200
i \ 1.4
0 0-7
04
e
Flyash
dpss =7-15 pm
\
\
S! \° ^\
e e 0*\
o 0
° e 9
04 05 0-6 07 08
VC»D FRACTION. —
Figure 4 38 Cohesive strength by break-off test 1 0 9
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 131
D
Limestone
© 10 |jm
H
• 7 pm -—
§
O 4 pm --— • — - — .
1
— \
...
\
t \
• \?
8 GLASS
(dp
BEADS
= 2 3 8pm ) ^ \ -
70vol°/. moisture
07 \
calculated
\
1
VOID FRACTION. -
- e) Figure 4.40. Comparison of C tmax and C tc with C t r . 45
rrdl/6
ea(e-0.260)_ j + 3 .99(a/i3) the surface separation distance / of the
particle pair, which is given by
^(e-0.260)_1 + 1 > 4 l ( a
(4.98) P>av
(4.101)
where
where /vn is the effective range of the at-
i? c (l - 0.476)^p tractive interparticle force, and evn is the
(4.99) corresponding voidage at which the tensile
ird3p/6
strength vanishes. For a binary mixture of
particles, Eq. (4.100) is modified into
All the lines in Figures 4.32b and 4.41 are
calculated from Eq. (4.96). AU1 - e)
There are other types of representation
of tensile strength:
(d) For the powder compact of a single
component of distributed size,118 (4.102)
where a', b', and c' are constants and xt is failure condition in terms of the bulk proper-
the x coordinate of the point of load, Lt. ties of the powder as:123
Thus, 2Pf Ct(ef,F)
D (4.114)
*,= —•/„ (4.110) k / f 77 Jf(Mf,b',n)
=
AW
1
~M =
v 1-
r (4.111
of two curves, o"mj max and C f , as illustrated in
Figure 4.42.
In other words, since the bulk properties of
the powder give the value of Qf/D, the
ultimate tensile strength is predicted by
Pb
D2Tk Eq. (4.107).
I
4.3.3 Shear Strength of Particles
Q\2
77 — 2 cos" +7 i/i - In contrast to the tensile strength in the nor-
7) • D D
mal direction to the failure plane, shear
(4.112) strength is yielded along the plane parallel to
where Q is the distance between two platens the breaking force. It arises from friction and
and W is the weight of the agglomerate sam- interlocking in addition to cohesion between
ple. Incorporating the compaction characteris- particles, as analyzed below.
tics of powders mentioned above, for example, The shear stress r is written as a function of
Eq. (4.61), the normal stress a by the following equa-
tions. For a Coulomb powder the shear stress
Pb = aPb (4.113) varies as a linear relationship of the normal
and equating Cx by Eqs. (4.89), (4.103), and stress;
(4.104), and 0"mJ5max by Eq. (4.107) leads to the r=Mi<r+Cs (4.115)
12
PP=2-17g/cm3
£o= 0-75
a = 0-425
a'= 0 0 §
dr
T= O-+ C s (or) (4.116)
da
where /^ = dr/da 124
cr0
(4.117) 0 -> x
Adjusting the x- and y-axis to the minimum where it is in the elastic state up to the plastic
and maximum plane, respectively, if/ = 0 gives equilibrium indicated by the equal sign.
<JX = crv ay = cr3, and Txy = 0, which leads to After the failure, isotropic flow of continu-
Eq. (4.133) from Eqs. (4.125) and (4.126). ous slipping is represented by the straight line
through the origin with an effective angle of
Ti + do. 0"i — (Trt friction 5e, the line is tangential to Mohr's
2
+ — - c o s 2 0 (4.133) failure circles passing through the terminal
points of the yield loci, as shown in Figure
J
3 ~ al
sin 20 (4.134) 4.45.
Thus, Eq. (4.136) holds simultaneously with
Eq. (4.135), and equating them gives Eq.
As a result, the principal stress and the shear (4.137).
stress on the plane of 6 against the maximum o-mj 1 + sin
principal plane is represented by the minimum (4.136)
and maximum principal stresses as Eqs. (4.133) 1 - sin 8e
and (4.134), where the y-axis is taken on o-mj(sin 8e - sin </>{)
the maximum principal stress plane in the (4.137)
(1 + sin 5e)cos <j>{
powder bed.
In the critical stress state, these equations To get such fundamental flow factors as <f>b
describe the yield loci that are tangential to Cs and 8e, shear and compression tests are
Mohr's circle, as illustrated in Figure 4.45. conducted to draw the yield loci.
Usually the particle bed is not isotropic before
flowing, because, in the case of a Coulomb 4.3.3.2 Methods of Shear and
powder, the following relation holds between Compression Tests
the major o-mj. and the minor amr principal
stresses: 1. Direct shear test. A powder mass consoli-
dated in a circular or square cell under
vertical loads is subjected to horizontal
shear in three ways, as shown in Figure
1 + sin 4.46.
$nj.2 «w
Figure 4.45. Relationship between yield loci and Mohr's circles.
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 137
y////////////// ////////zv////////
(b)
(a)
1 Powder
owder Sample
° Annular Trough
A l
Annular Shoe
Shear Torque rque Arm
Ar
Load d Transducer
llibrqtion
b t i o n To
ibrqtion Torq
Torque Arm
ifral Spindle
Sidl
irin
Attachment Collar
(c)
Figure 4.46. Direct shear tests, (a) One-plane shear, (b) two-plane shear, and (c) ring shear.1
One of the cells is horizontally moved 2. Compression test. A cylindrical powder ag-
against the fixed cells to measure the shear- glomerate of height of about two to three
ing force in the initial but steady state of times the diameter is compressed in two
slipping. Repeated measurements with ways to measure the yield strength, as
samples of constant voidage under various schematically shown in Figure 4.47, from
loads give a linear a- r relation. As con- which the a- r relation is obtained.
trasted with one- or two-plane shear by the The uniaxial compression test without
first two methods in Figure 4.46, the last lateral pressure gives the major principal
method of ring shear employs annular stress at fracture in the axial direction crmj f ,
cells.126'127 Its advantage lies in the con- and thus the Mohr's circle passes through
stant area of shear plane during test and the origin. Measuring the inclination angle
the possible measurement of the coefficient of the slip plane from the vertical direction
of dynamic friction of powder. of the major principal stress 0UC, the angle
Some improvements and modifications
of internal friction <f>{ is calculated from
were made to the one-plane shear,128'129
the simple shear tester,130 the parallel-plate
shear tester,131 and the annular ring shear = ---?• (4.138)
tester.132"134
138 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
load 40
fluid
pressure
fracture
plane ^
transparent
rubber sheet
X\ X
CH
number of particles supporting the total
load cr, as 0-5
LcosGsp
70 J H Shaxby and J C Evans, Proc R Instrum 101 K Shinohara and T Takaka, Preprint of Third
19 742 (1910) Congress CHISA, Mananske Lazne, 1969, / Chem
71 K Shinohara and T Tanaka, Chem Eng Sci Eng Jpn 8 46 (1975)
29 1977 (1974) 102 H Rumpf, in Agglomeration, edited by W A
72 K Shinohara and T Tanaka, Ind Eng Chem Knepper, Interscience, New York, p 379 (1962)
Proc Des Dev 14 1 (1975) 103 G A Turner, M Balasubramanian, and L Otten,
73 K Shinohara and T Tanaka, Chem Eng Sci Powder Technol 15 97 (1976)
30 369 (1975) 104 W Pietsch, E Hoffman, and H Rumpf, Ind Eng
74 S Ergun, Chem Eng Progr 48 89 (1952) Chem Prod Res Dev 8 58 (1969)
75 K Shinohara and T Murai, Kagaku Kogaku 105 M D Ashton, R Farley, and H H Valentin,
Ronbunshu 20 198 (1994) / Sci Instrum 41 763 (1964)
76 K Shinohara and M Kudo, / Soc Mater Eng 106 H Schubert and I W Wibowo, Chem Ing Techn
Res Jpn 5 22 (1992)
42 541 (1970)
77 K Shinohara, / Soc Mater Eng Res Jpn 3 19
107 R Farley and F H H Valentin, Trans Instn
(1990)
Chem Eng 43 T193 (1965)
78 N Soda, Friction and Lubrication, Iwanami Shoten,
108 J T Fell and J M Newton, / Pharm Sci 59 688
Tokyo, p 40 (1953)
(1970)
79 J Th Overbeek, Colloid Science, Vol 1, Elsevier,
Amsterdam, p 245 (1952) 109 K Shinohara, H Kobayashi, K Gotoh, and T
80 H Rumpf, / Res Assoc Powder Techn Jpn 9 3 Tanaka, / Res Assoc Powder Tech Jpn 2 352
(Special autumn issue, 1972) (1965)
81 R S Bradley, Trans Faraday Soc 32 1088 (1936) 110 R M Griffith, Chem Eng Sci 20 1015 (1965)
82 J Overbeek and M J Sparney, Disc Faraday Soc 111 H Schubert, Powder Technol 11 107 (1975)
18 12 (1954) 112 R Aoki and H Tsunakawa, Zairyo 18 497 (1969)
83 J Czarnecki and T Dabros, / Colloid Interface 113 H Rumpf, Chem Ing Techn 42 538 (1970)
Sci 78 25 (1980) 114 G Jimbo, S Asakawa, and N Soga, Zairyo 17 540
84 B Derjaguin, Kolloid Z 69 155 (1934) (1968)
85 R Hogg, T W Healy, and D W Fuersteau, 115 H Schubert, K Sommer, and H Rumpf, Chem
Trans Faraday Soc 62 1638 (1966) Ing Techn 48 716 (1976)
86 N Kudoh, M Kuramae, and T Tanaka, Kagaku 116 T Nagao, Bull JSME 10 775 (1967), Kikai Gakkai
Kogaku Ronbunshu 2 625 (1976) Ronbunshu (2) 33 229 (1967)
87 K Iinoya and H Muramoto, Zairyo 16 70 (1967) 117 J Tsubaki and G Jimbo, Powder Technol 37 219
88 H Tsunakawa and R Aoki, Kagaku Kogaku 36 281 (1984)
(1972) 118 D C H Cheng, Chem Eng Sci 23 1405 (1968)
89 M Corn, / Air Poll Contr Assoc 11 528 (1961), 119 S Kocova and P Pilpel, Powder Technol 7 51
11 566 (1961) (1973)
90 K Hotta, K Takeda, and K Iinoya, Powder 120 M D Ashton, D C H Cheng, R Farley, and
Technol 10 231 (1974) F H H Valentin, Rheol Acta 4 206 (1965)
91 M Arakawa and S Yasuda, Preprint of 37th Sym-
121 W Pietsch, Nature 217 736 (1968)
posium by Tokai Branch or Society of Chemical
122 K Shinohara and C E Capes, Powder Technol
Engineers of Japan, p 7 (1977)
24 179 (1979)
92 M Chikazawa, W Nakajima, and T Kanazawa,
/ Res Assoc Powder Tech Jpn 14 18 (1977) 123 K Shinohara, C E Capes, and A Fouda, Powder
93 H Schubert, Chem Ing Techn 40 745 (1968) Technol 32 163 (1982)
94 M S Kordecki and C Orr, Arch Environ Health 124 R Aoki and K Yamahuji, / Res Assoc Powder
1 1 (1960) Tech Jpn Special Issue, p 33 (Feb 1966)
95 G Boehme, H Krupp, H Rabenhort, and G 125 K Umeya, N Kitamon, M Araki, and H Miwa,
Sandstede, Trans Instn Chem Eng 40 252 (1962) Zairyo 15 166 (1966)
96 B V Deryagin and A D Zimon, Kolloid Z 23 544 126 J F Carr and D M Walker, Powder Technol
(1961) 1 369 (1967/68)
97 H Emi, S Endoh, C Kanaoka, and S Kawai, 127 S Kocova and N Pilpel, Powder Technol 5 329
Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu 3 580 (1977) (1971/71)
98 S Asakawa and G Jimbo, Zairyo 16 358 (1967) 128 H Tsunakawa and R Aoki, Powder Technol
99 Y Kousaka, S Endoh, T Honuchi, and T Araida, 33 249 (1982)
Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu 18 223 (1992) 129 K Matsumoto, M Yoshida, A Suganuma, R
100 H Schubert, W Herrman, and H Rumpf, Powder Aoki, and H Murata, / Jpn Soc Powder Powder
Technol 11 121 (1975) Metal 19 653 (1982)
FUNDAMENTAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POWDERS 145
130 G G Enstad, Proc Eur Symp Part Tethnol B 134 M Yamada, K Kuramitsu, and K Makino,
997 (1980) Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu 12 408 (1986)
131 M Hirota, T Oshima, and M Naito, / Soc 135 R Aoki, Methods of Measuring Powder Properties,
Powder Technol Jpn 19 337 (1982) edited by S Hayakawa, Asakura Shoten, Tokyo,
132 M Suzuki, K Makino, K Iinoya, and K p 85 (1973)
Watanabe, J Soc Powder Technol Jpn 17 559 136 J R F Arthur and G G Enstad, Int J Bulk
(1980) Solids Storage Silos 1 1 (1985)
133 A Gotoh, M Kawamura, H Matsushima, and H
137 T Ohtsubo, / Res Assoc Powder Tech Jpn 1 97
Tsunakawa, / Soc Powder Technol Jpn 21 131 (1964)
(1984)
5
Vibration of Fine Powders and Its
Application
A. W. Roberts
CONTENTS
used to advantage to achieve certain desired granular materials and the associated applica-
objectives in powder handling and processing. tion of vibrated beds in convective drying of
However, situations may occur in practice granular materials. On other occasions, the
where the presence of vibrations will have a damping characteristics of such materials as
detrimental effect on the handling and pro- sand have been used to reduce transmitted
cessing of bulk materials. It is important in vibration and noise.
such cases, that the full significance be under- The nature and characteristics of wave
stood so that adequate steps may be taken for propagation through powdered or granular
preventative action at the design stage or for media are important to industries involved, in
corrective action during the process or plant some way, with the general field of geophysics.
operation. This is true, for example, for oil exploration; it
The industrial applications involving vibra- is equally true for civil engineering, where
tions of powders and bulk solids (The term great reliance is placed on the correct design
"bulk solid" is used to describe the general of foundations and footings for buildings,
case of cohesive powder or bulk materials) are dams, and other large structures. With respect
extremely wide and varied. For instance, many to the latter, earthquakes or tremors, blasts,
industries rely, to a considerable extent, on the traffic, and machines are all sources of vibra-
need to handle materials in bulk form and it is tion that may propagate through soils. It is not
important, therefore, that handling systems be surprising, therefore, that the general field of
designed to operate as efficiently and effec- soil mechanics has given much attention to
tively as possible. One bulk handling function
this subject.
of particular significance concerns the design
The objective of this chapter is to identify
and operation of storage bins and their associ-
and discuss some important basic concepts of
ated discharge equipment. Where it is usual to
rely on gravity flow to discharge the contents the vibration of powders and bulk solids. Fol-
of a bin, often there is a need to promote and lowing a general overview of some relevant
control the flow, particularly if the storage bin research in this field, the body of the material
has not been designed to operate under mass presented is devoted to the study of the influ-
flow conditions. Where flow promotion is nec- ence of mechanical vibrations on shear
essary, devices that impart mechanical vibra- strength of consolidated bulk solids and the
tions to the bulk solid are used extensively. determination of stiffness, damping, and reso-
nance characteristics. A vibrating shear cell
The underlying principle embodied here is
that the vibrations decrease the strength of apparatus, which permits these properties and
the bulk material, thereby increasing its ability characteristics to be determined, is described.
to flow. A failure criterion is presented that relates the
Perhaps the more obvious and widely used shear strength during vibration under given
application of vibration of powders is con- normal pressure with the voidage and vibra-
cerned with increasing compaction and den- tion velocity on the plane of failure. The effect
sity. This field of usage is important in many of vibrations in reducing friction of powders
industries, such as those concerned with pow- and bulk solids in contact with boundary sur-
der metallurgy, casting and foundry practice, faces such as the metal walls of a hopper is
ceramics, cements and silicates, and plastics. discussed. In view of its importance to bulk
The pharmaceutical industry, with its heavy materials handling operations, the application
reliance on packaging and pelletizing of pow- of vibrations to promote the gravity flow of
ders, has a dominant interest in this field of bulk solids from storage bins is briefly re-
application; so too does the food industry. viewed. Other topics discussed include the ap-
The diversity in range of application is fur- plications of random vibrations of bulk solids
ther shown in the use of vibration to fluidize and some basic principles concerning the role
148 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
of vibrations in compacting or consolidating The early work associated with bulk solids
powders. was carried out in the latter part of the nine-
teenth century and the beginning of the pre-
sent century. Of particular note are the contri-
butions of Janssen,5 Airy,6 Jamieson,7 and
5.2 LITERATURE REVIEW Ketchum,8 who were concerned with, essen-
tially, the behavior of granular material under
The overall field of mechanical vibrations is static conditions.
quite extensive and has been the subject of a However, it was not until the 1950s that any
great deal of research in the area of vibrations significant progress in this field took place.
of rigid and elastic bodies, machines, and The modern developments are almost entirely
structures. The general theory is now well due to the pioneering work of Jenike. Al-
established and thoroughly documented. The though Jenike and his colleague Johanson have
particular area of vibration of powders and published many papers in this field, the three
bulk solids has, by comparison, received less University of Utah bulletins9"11 laid the foun-
attention, and this may be due largely to the dations for the modern theory of bulk solids
extreme difficulty of accurately modeling and storage and flow. The work of Jenike has
theoretically analyzing such materials under precipitated a great deal of research in the
dynamic conditions. The complexities inherent field of bulk solids handling.
in such parameters as particle shape and size
distribution, moisture content, temperature,
consolidation, and loading conditions have 5.2.2 The Contribution of Soil
meant that much of the research to date has Mechanics
relied heavily on experimental investigation Prior to the work of Jenike, the study of
and, consequently, the published results are particulate solids was mainly associated with
somewhat empirical. soil mechanics. Since soil mechanics is mainly
So that some appreciation may be gained of concerned with retaining walls and foundation
the research associated with the vibration of design, the internal stresses are much higher
powders, the following overview of the pub- than those encountered in bulk solids han-
lished literature is presented. This overview is dling. Furthermore, the main concern of soil
by no means exhaustive, but it is based on a mechanics is with the conditions existing within
selection of published works deemed relevant soils before failure, whereas the main interest
to the present topic. in bulk solids handling is with the conditions
under which failure and flow can occur.
Nevertheless, the general similarities between
5.2.1 Developments in Bulk Solids
the two fields of study permit some qualitative
Research
comparisons to be made.
It is important to recognize the foundation Although the general area of soil mechan-
work in the study of particulate solids. The ics, like the overall field of mechanical vibra-
origins of this area of study can be traced back tions, is quite vast, only the work of certain
to such people as Coulomb1 and Rankine,2 people is particularly relevant to the present
who studied the frictional behavior of sand, discussion and needs to be highlighted. The
and Reynolds,3'4 who observed the dilatancy distinctive work of Hvorslev,12 who established
effect of sand while undergoing deformation. the fundamental principle of failure, is of par-
In Reynolds' work, two areas of development ticular importance to understanding the mech-
are significant: that associated with the stor- anism of failure in bulk solids as induced by
age, flow, and handling of bulk solids and that mechanical vibrations. Hvorslev, who studied
associated with soil mechanics. the stress condition in cohesive soils, showed
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 149
that the peak shear stress at failure is a func- in the subsoil. Mitchell et al.21'22 followed the
tion of the effective normal stress on and the early work of Mitchell in using the fundamen-
voids ratio (or density) in the plane of failure; tal theory of rate processes to study the time-
this condition is independent of the stress dependent deformation of soils. Funston,23 in
history of the sample. The work of Hvorslev carrying out research into footing vibrations
was further extended by Roscoe et al.,13 who with nonlinear subgrade support, used a sim-
established the concept of a failure surface in ple, single degree-of-freedom model to repre-
the three-dimensional space of shear stress T, sent the dynamic motion of a foundation.
normal stress cr, and voids ratio e. They also While recognizing the limitations of the model,
showed the existence of a critical void ratio they showed that it had considerable merit in
boundary at which unlimited deformation facilitating investigation of soil properties and
could take place without change in the three foundation parameters as well as permitting
variables r, a, and e. estimates to be made of foundation motions.
The fundamental concepts developed by D'Appolonia24 presented criteria for the
Hvorslev and later by Roscoe et al. stimulated placement and improvement of soil required
further research in the same general vein. For to sustain dynamic loadings. Timmerman and
instance, Ashton et al.14 proposed a similar Wu25 studied the behavior of sands under
three-dimensional surface that extended into cyclic loading. Their results led to some quali-
the tensile region. Their results showed a tative conclusions concerning the stress-strain
functional relationship between bulk density
relationships under dynamic loading. For the
and strength for a given powder at constant
range of stress and acceleration studied, the
humidity. Williams and Birks15 proposed that
soil deformation was primarily due to shear.
the Jenike consolidation procedure was aimed
In the earlier research of Greenfield and
at the attainment of the critical density for a
Misiaszek26 concerning the vibration com-
given normal pressure since, for a correctly
paction of Ottawa sand, the existence of a
consolidated sample in the direct shear cell
resonant frequency at approximately 30 Hz
test, there is virtually no density change during
was shown to occur. This frequency affected
shear.
the maximum change in void ratio and mini-
Other researchers such as Palma,16 Wroth
mum final void ratio.
and Bassett,17 and Rowe et al.18 have made
valuable contributions by deriving stress-strain
relationships for sand and clay, utilizing en- 5.2.3 Instrumentation and Experimental
ergy concepts. In essence, the external defor- Techniques
mation energy was equated to the internal
energy changes caused by frictional loss and The area of soil mechanics has also given rise
stored elastic or potential energy. to the development of instrumentation and
In the area of soil mechanics considerable experimental techniques for the determination
attention has been given to the study of dy- of the dynamic properties of soils. For exam-
namic loadings on soils and foundations. For ple, Suk Chae Yong27 employed four different
instance, Mitchell19 used the theory of rate methods to determine certain dynamic mate-
processes to relate the shearing resistance of rial constants of soil. The four methods were
soils in triaxial compression to frictional and the resonance column method, amplitude
cohesive properties, effective stress, soil struc- ratio method, elastic half-space method, and
ture, rate of strain, and temperature. Lysmer wave propagation method. The dynamic shear
and Richart20 studied the dynamic response of modulus and wave velocity can be determined
footings to vertical loading. They showed that with respect to changes in frequency, ampli-
all vertically loaded footing-soil systems are tude, confining pressure, and water content.
strongly damped because of wave propagation Similar testing techniques were also used by
150 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Drnevich et al.28 and de Graft-Johnson29 to der is compacted by vibration, the final density
measure the damping capacity, shear modulus, is a function of the energy transferred to the
and elastic modulus of soil. bed from the vibrator. The authors found that
In the research of Youd30 a direct shear at frequencies less than 150 Hz, the powder
apparatus was developed to investigate the acts as a coherent mass and is projected from
effects of vibration on the shear strength and the container base, subsequently colliding with
void ratio of dry granular materials. The re- it. The motion is then nonsinusoidal. Both
sults showed that both the critical void ratio models predicted a decrease in the energy
and coefficient of internal friction are reduced transferred to the powder as the acceleration
considerably by the application of vibration. is increased at constant frequency, but the
models fail when the powder ceases to behave
as a coherent mass. This occurs at frequencies
5.2.4 Fundamental Studies in Powder
above 150 Hz, accelerations greater than 10 g,
Mechanics or when the bed is fluidized by vibration.
A number of other researchers working in the Within the limits of the models the visco-
general area of powder mechanics have con- elastic model was shown to be superior.
tributed significantly to the study of vibrations The application of vertical vibrations to flu-
of powders. For example, Scarlett and idize beds of granular materials has been the
Eastman31 studied the propagation of shock object of some research, such as that reported
waves through a bed of granular materials. by Nicklin and Hopkins33 and by Chlenov and
Their apparatus consisted of a vertical cylinder Mikhailov.34 Vibration frequencies between 2
filled with granular materials, the cylinder hav- and 100 Hz have been used to achieve flu-
ing a centrally located loading transducer in idization in this way, with corresponding vibra-
the base. By applying single-impulse shock tion amplitudes being such that the accelera-
loading via this transducer the velocity and tions were in the range 0 to 10 g. The effect of
attenuation of the shock wave reaching the the compressibility of the air in the gap be-
surface were measured. tween the container and the bed of granular
It was found that the intensity of the distur- material or the percolation of air through the
bance reaching the surface was strongest verti- material is shown to be of particular interest
cally above the energy source and decreased and importance.
along inclined lines until no disturbance was This problem has been analyzed in some
detected outside a 45° cone emanating from detail by Gutman,35 who improved the earlier
the energy source. The velocity through the model of Kroll36 with the inclusion of the air
bed was independent of the height of the bed compressibility effect. Gutman performed a
and the size fraction of the sand used, but was very comprehensive analytical and experimen-
a maximum in the vertical direction, while tal study, and in addition to providing a more
decreasing along lines of increasing angle to fundamental insight into the behavior of vi-
the vertical. The total impulse at a plane in brated beds with air percolation, he also
the bed decays exponentially with the height demonstrated the basic mechanism of heat
of the bed. The velocity of propagation (around transfer in, and energy dissipation of a vi-
140 m / s for dry sand) is substantially slower brated bed. He showed that when a vertical
than that in a solid and decreases as it devi- plate heater is immersed in a vibrated bed, the
ates from the original input direction. heat transfer from the plate is enhanced by
Gray and Rhodes32 examined the mecha- the scouring action of the gas sublayer as a
nism of energy transfer during the vibratory result of the motion of the particles in the
compaction of powders. They modeled the bed vertically vibrated container.
as plastic bodies on the one hand and as Harwood,37 in studying the vibration segre-
viscoelastic bodies on the other. When a pow- gation of lactose, used radioactive pills to trace
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 151
the movements in a vertically vibrated tube. the acceleration wave behavior was dominated
The results showed that at a critical vibration by the elasticity of the granules and the dis-
condition (100 Hz and 100 g) the powder was persion caused by the initial nonuniformity of
induced to take on a semifluidized state. the material.
A fundamental understanding of the nature
and mechanism of vibration of powders and
5.2.5 Vibrations of Bulk Solids
bulk solids must ultimately be greatly assisted
by a more thorough appreciation of the behav- An important application of mechanical vibra-
ior of powders as conglomerations of discrete tions is in the promotion of flow of bulk solids
particles. The linking together of theories de- from storage bins. The articles by Wahl,50
veloped by such analyses with the already Myers51 and Carroll and Colijn52 emphasized
widely established and utilized continuum the- the practical applications of vibrations to the
ory would be very beneficial. Some pioneering solution of flow problems. The types of vibra-
work in the mechanics of packings of discrete tions and live bottom bins were discussed with
spherical particles was performed by some rule-of-thumb indications of appropriate
Deresiewicz.38 More recently Molerus39 used frequencies and amplitudes to be used.
the continuum and particulate approaches to Shinohara, Suzuki, Tanaka, and Taka-
formulate a theory on the yielding of cohesive hashi53"55 studied the gravity flow of noncohe-
powders. A simple model was proposed for the sive and cohesive bulk solids from vibrating
transmission of external stresses through a hoppers. In these processes, vibrations are ap-
lattice of solid particles whereby contacting plied to the whole hopper in the vertical direc-
points on the surface of the particles were tion and the behavior analyzed by a block flow
assumed to transmit force. This concept re- model. Discharge occurs when impact forces
sulted in an expression relating the macro- caused by the vibrations, together with the
scopic externally applied stress to the micro- weight of the materials within the block, ex-
scopic interparticle force. The cohesive forces ceed the shear force within the material and
were shown to be a result of plastic deforma- that at the hopper wall. A critical value of
tion of particle contacts under external load. vibration intensity can then be determined.
The concept underlying this behavior is impor- The experimental studies show that for the
tant in determining the resonance frequencies cohesive materials low frequency or high in-
of bulk granular materials. tensity of vibration gave the best flow ratio
A number of other articles of fundamental with good theoretical agreement. These results
importance to the understanding of the defor- are in contrast with the results for the nonco-
mation and flow of powders and bulk solids hesive materials, which show that higher fre-
have been published. By way of example quency give the best discharge rates.
mention is made of the work of Becker Some preliminary work reported by Arnold
and Lippman,40 Nova and Wood,41 Blinow- et al.,56 Croft,57 and Roberts et al.58 referred
ski.42 Cowin,43 Goodman and Cowin,44 Pass- to experiments performed on a model plane-
man,45'46 Passman and Thomas,47 Nemat- flow hopper with a horizontally vibrating in-
Nassar,48 and Nunziato et al.49 In the latter sert. Both discrete frequency sinusoidal vibra-
article, the authors studied the behavior of tions and broad-band random vibrations were
one-dimensional acceleration waves in an in- examined. The results indicated the significant
homogeneous granular solid. They found that influence of moisture content on the ability of
the average wave speed varied significantly for the bulk material, in this case sand, to flow.
short propagation distances, but approached The experiments also indicated the sensitivity
an equilibrium value for large distances. In to flow of the input frequency. Consistent per-
general the amplitude of the waves attenuated formance of the bin was obtained by using
with propagation distance. They concluded that broad-band random vibrations. Narrow-band
152 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
One area where a knowledge of dynamic Arnold et al.56'72 in which a Jenike direct
shear properties is of considerable importance shear tester, fitted with vibration excitor, was
is in the design and operation of flow promo- used to determine the effects of vibration on
tion devices for bulk solids handling. Mechani- the consolidation strength of bulk solids as
cal vibration, as an aid to flow promotion in well as wall friction. In this case the effects of
storage bins, may be applied in several ways. vibration in reducing shear strength were not
In some cases the bin may be vibrated in the examined.
vertical direction, and in this respect the distri- A vibrating direct shear test was used by
bution of acceleration within the mass is im- Youd30 in his research into the effects of
portant. In other cases the vibrations may be vibration on the shear strength and void ratio
applied in the horizontal direction or more of dry granular materials. In this case the
generally in. an oblique plane. Much depends shear cell was mounted on a shaker table, the
on the design of the flow promotion device. cell being fitted with a pneumatic loading de-
For instance, some flow promotion devices vice that permitted normal pressures to be
apply vibrations directly to the hopper walls; applied to the test samples in a way that could
another type consists of a vibrating or gyrating not be influenced by inertia effects due to the
insert as part of a live bottom bin. An impor- vertical vibrations. As will be explained in the
tant factor is the manner in which the vibra- next subsection the vertical mode of vibration
tion energy is transmitted through the bulk employed by Youd differed from the horizon-
mass in a way to ensure a reduction in shear tal mode used by Roberts et al.
strength in the critical regions of the flow A comment concerning the suitability of the
obstruction. Jenike direct shear tester for bulk solids analy-
The theory of bin design as developed by sis needs to be made. As is widely known,
Jenike9'10 is now well established and widely several other methods exist for determining
used. So that the application of mechanical the strength of bulk solids. These include ring
vibrations as an aid to flow may become more shear tests, torsion shear tests, and triaxial
effective in the design sense, there is a need tests. A complete review of all such methods
for research on bulk solids vibrations, to be and associated test equipment is given by
directed in a way that is compatible with the Schwedes.73 On balance, the Jenike direct
concepts of flowability and bin design as devel- shear tester is the most widely used and offers
oped by Jenike. The research of Roberts, Li, several advantages, in particular the ability to
and Scott58'61'62 had this objective. Primarily perform time consolidation tests. It is the most
the research was aimed at providing an insight readily adaptable to the determination of vi-
into the mechanisms of shear failure and flow bration shear tests. Care needs to be taken in
of bulk solids excited by vibration. using the direct shear tester, since errors may
A significant aspect of the research con- occur in the measurements, as has been dis-
cerned the development of a dynamic shear cussed by Rademacher and Haaker.74
testing apparatus and associated measurement
technique that was entirely consistent with the
5.3.2 Dynamic Shear Apparatus
bulk solids testing procedures established by
Jenike.10'71 The apparatus, which is described The dynamic shear cell apparatus used by
in the following subsection, was designed to Roberts et al. is essentially a modified version
determine the effect of vibration frequency, of the Jenike direct shear cell apparatus with
amplitude, and energy transfer on the shear provision for the application of mechanical
strength of bulk solids, as well as the wall vibrations in the horizontal plane parallel to
frictional characteristics. the plane of shear. The horizontal plane was
The dynamic shear cell apparatus developed chosen to isolate from the measurements any
by Roberts et al. followed the earlier work of influence of vertical acceleration in the gravi-
154 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
X-Y
Recorder
A
1
1
Shear Shear
Drive » Force
Shear Cell ,Top Ring
Motor Transducer
Locating Rate
Base Ring
Vibration Power
Function Amplifier
Generator
(Discrete Frequency
Sinusoidal or s Input Displacement Transducer- x ^ t )
Random) ^s Top Snear Ring Displacement
Vibration
Transducer - X2(t)
Figure 5.1. Vibrating shear cell apparatus—whole cell Figure 5.3. Block diagram showing test instrumenta-
vibrated. tion.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 155
for discrete frequency excitation such that the switched on before the discharge gate is open.
natural frequency of the cell and its mounting The information is also of relevance in deter-
is well below the resonance frequencies of the mining the effects a vibratory feeder may have
bulk solid contained in the cell. On the other on the performance of a bin.
hand, for broad-band random vibration excita-
tion, the spring stiffness should be sufficiently
high to provide the necessary band width. That 5.4 DYNAMIC SHEAR
is, since the vibrating platform behaves as a CHARACTERISTICS— SINUSOIDAL
mechanical low-pass filter, its cut-off fre- VIBRATION EXCITATION
quency must be higher than the highest fre-
quency of interest in the random vibration 5.4.1 Bulk Solid Strength and
analysis. Flow Parameters
Included in the instrumentation are trans- The purpose of the test program using the
ducers to measure the input displacement as apparatus described in the previous section is
well as the displacement of the top ring of the to determine the relevant strength and flow
shear cell in both the lateral and vertical di- properties under applied vibrations for bin
rections. As indicated in Figure 5.3, signal design and evaluation. For a given bulk solid,
processing equipment such as a correlator and the dynamic shear strength iy under applied
spectrum analyzer are desirable for analyzing sinusoidal vibrations is dependent on a num-
the measured signals in the time domain and ber of parameters. In functional form:
frequency domain, respectively. This equip-
ment has the added advantage of permitting (5.1)
separate identification analysis to be per-
where
formed in association with the determination
of the dynamic characteristics of the particular al = major consolidating stress
bulk solid under test. a = normal stress corresponding to shear
Since the overall objective is to determine failure
the effect of applied vibrations on the shear / = vibration frequency
strength and flow functions of bulk solids, the x = amplitude of vibration
standard procedure as recommended by p = bulk density of the material
Jenike71 for the preparation and consolidation H = moisture content
of the samples is adopted. The samples are d = average particle size
first preconsolidated by a twisting procedure T = temperature of material.
under the applied normal load, followed by
consolidation under shear to obtain the The major consolidation pressure is defined
steady-state condition. Normally no vibrations for the yield locus by the applied normal con-
are applied during the consolidation phase. solidating process cr and corresponding shear
Once the samples are consolidated, the vibra- stress T for which consolidation in the shear
tions are then applied during the shear test cell is performed. That is, for a given set of
under the predetermined normal load. The material parameters:
apparatus does, however, permit the effects of
0I=/2(O-,T) (5.2)
vibration on the consolidation strength of the
sample to be determined. This may be achieved In bin design the Flow Function, as defined by
by vibrating the cell under the consolidation Jenike,71 is an important parameter. For a
load prior to performing the shear test. Such given set of material properties the functional
information is of particular value in assessing, form of the Flow Function is given by
for example, the effects on the bin perfor-
mance of the vibrator being accidentally FF=/ 3 ((7 1 ,(7 cf ) (5.3)
156 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
where crc{ = unconfined compressive stress un- S = 25 N compared with a value of S = 29.3
der vibration, and is obtained from the yield N in the case of curve A2 for the unvibrated
function given by Eq. (5.1). sample.
A series of tests have been performed to The reduction in shear strength as a result
examine the interrelation of vibration fre- of the impressed vibration is immediately ap-
quency and amplitude on the shear strength parent. The behavior of the second sample
for a range of material parameters. Some typi- beyond the point b of the shear force versus
cal results are presented here by way of exam- shear deformation is interesting to note. At
ple. The results apply to pyrophyllite, a mate- point b the vibration was switched off and, as
rial used in the manufacture of refractories. indicated, the sample immediately reconsoli-
dated and sheared at a value similar to that of
the unvibrated sample depicted in
5.4.2 Shear Force versus Shear
curve A2.
Deformation
Curves A2 and B2, which are typical of the
It is interesting to observe the shear force shear force versus deformation curves ob-
versus shear deformation records obtained tained for all test conditions, permit some
during an actual test. A typical set of results general conclusions to be drawn concerning
for the material pyrophyllite is given in Figure the dynamic characteristics of a bulk solid.
5.4. Curve Ax shows the consolidation graph During loading under the action of an applied
during shear deformation under the applied deformation rate xt there is an instantaneous
normal stress r = 8.33 kPa, while curve A2 is "step" change or increase in the shear force S.
the shear versus shear deformation record for This increase, denoted by Ff, is due to internal
the unvibrated condition under the applied Coulomb frictional characteristics of the bulk
normal stress a = 2.84 kPa. solids. Following this initial step change the
Curve Bx is a repeat of the consolidation shear force then increases linearly, indicating
condition as in A x for a fresh sample, while elastic deformation. As loading further pro-
curve B2 is the corresponding shear record for ceeds the shear force versus deformation char-
the applied normal stress a = 2.84 kPa, this acteristics become nonlinear as plastic flow
time the shear force being applied simultane- occurs. Ultimately, the point of failure occurs,
ously with an impressed sinusoidal vibration of and this is accompanied by a reduction in
frequency / = 200 Hz and amplitude XT = shear force as the top half of the shear cell
0.01 mm measured at the shear plane. As can slides relative to the bottom half.
be seen, the sample sheared at a value of The behavior during unloading is interest-
ing to observe. If at any time such as at points
a and c of Figure 5.4 the load deformation
Ai Consolidation A? Shear Without Vibration input is stopped and the sample is held under
Bt Consolidation fr Shear Purina Vibration
constant load, there is shown to be practically
vibration vibrator no relaxation of the shear force S; apart from
f=200Hzllswitched
off observed reductions over expanded periods of
time of around 2% to 4%, the shear force
remains substantially constant. When the shear
force actuator of the testing machine de-
scribed in Figure 5.1 is retracted, the shear
force versus deformation characteristics are
the mirror images of those obtained during
1.0mm loading. That is, there is an immediate "step"
Figure 5.4. Shear force versus shear deformation for
reduction in force due to the Coulomb fric-
- 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture content (d.b.). tional resistance followed by a "ramplike"
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 157
elastic deformation as the elastic energy is shown to increase with increase in major con-
recovered. As indicated in Figure 5.4, the solidating stress crl (and hence <r); for each
slopes of the elastic deformation graphs dur- major consolidating stress the resonance fre-
ing loading and unloading are slightly differ- quency also increases with increase in applied
ent, with the stiffness of the material being normal stress a. These results support the
lower during unloading. This is no doubt due results obtained in the study of Xx/Xi in the
to the change in internal characteristics of the inertia model investigation. (See Section 5.4.4.)
material resulting from the shear failure.
The characteristic behavior of the bulk ma-
terial during shear is shown by Figure 5.4 to 5.4.3.2 Effect of Particle Size
be similar for the case of shear both during Figure 5.5b shows the shear stress ratio T^/T^
and in the absence of applied vibrations. The for four particle size ranges of pyrophyllite at
effect of the applied vibrations is to cause a 5% moisture content (d.b.). As indicated there
slight reduction in the internal stiffness; other- is a well-defined resonance frequency in all
wise the general characteristics are of the cases, with the greatest reduction in shear
same form. stress occurring in the case of the largest
particle size.
5.4.3 Dynamic Shear —Whole Cell
Vibrated
5.4.3.3 Effect of Moisture Content
A set of typical results depicting the influence
of consolidation stress, applied normal stress, Figure 5.5c shows the effect of moisture con-
frequency, particle size, and moisture content tent on the Tf/Tfo versus frequency character-
(m.c.) are presented in Figure 5.5. To show the istics for - 1 mm pyrophyllite. Although there
magnitude of the reduction in shear stress is little difference between the 5% and 10%
with frequency, the shear stress ratio rf/rfo is moisture content pyrophyllites, the stress re-
plotted against frequency in all cases, 7yo duction at lower moisture levels is quite sig-
being the shear stress under zero frequency. nificant. It is clear that moisture within a bulk
solid affects its dynamic characteristics, partic-
5.4.3.1 Effect of Consolidation Stress — ularly with respect to stiffness and damping.
Applied Normal Stress
Figure 5.5a shows rf/rfo versus frequency / 5.4.4 Amplitude Ratio Whole Cell
for the major consolidating stress al = 17.4 Vibrated
kPa (corresponding to a = 7.9 kPa and T = 7.6
kPa) for - 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture Measurements have been made of the abso-
content (d.b.). The whole cell was vibrated lute amplitude X2 of the top half of the shear
with constant impressed amplitude Xt = cell while the whole cell was being vibrated
±0.008 mm. The shear stress rf was deter- with input amplitude Xx and frequency CD =
mined for the three normal stresses a = 5.47 2 77-/. These measurements were made both
kPa, a = 4.23 kPa, and a = 2.98 kPa. before the samples were sheared and during
The significant reduction in shear stress with shear. Figure 5.6 shows the amplitude ratios
increase in frequency is clearly shown. As indi- X2/Xx for pyrophyllite for the consolidation
cated for each applied normal stress a, the condition cr = 7.81 kPa and for the three
shear stress reaches a minimum value at a applied normal stresses a = 4.69 kPa, a =
particular frequency, this characteristic being 3.44 kPa, and a = 2.19 kPa.
indicative of a resonance effect. Similar results The effect of a resonance condition for
were obtained for other major consolidating maximum X2/X1 is clearly pronounced, the
pressures. The resonance frequency con is fundamental resonance frequency occurring at
158 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
\ »
10 H-O O O7.M.C.(db)
j -x x- 57, " ••
X,A
0-8
0-7
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Applied Frequncy —Hz.
(c) Effect of Moisture Content— d=-1mm ; a =4-26 kPa.
Figure 5.5. Effect of consolidation stress, applied normal stress, particle size, and moisture content on
during sinusoidal vibration of whole shear cell. Pyrophyllite; o- = 7.9 kPa, xt = 0.008 mm.
values similar to that for the corresponding and not directly attributable to the bulk
minimum Tf/Tfo. Also, as indicated, there ap- material.
pears to be a second resonance point occur- The amplitude X2/X1 measured before and
ring at a frequency of approximately 200 Hz, during shear shows an appreciable difference
which can be observed from the trend of the particularly in the region of resonance. A ma-
curves in Figure 5.5. It is believed that this jor influence is the effect of the loading stem
frequency is due to the measuring equipment (see Fig. 5.1) on the movement of the top ring.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 159
\\ 1
i
•f
/ \
/ \-
y \\
//
*
y
(
a-4-69kPa
0
0 20 40 60 h 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260
cu(r=2- FREQUENCY Hz.
Figure 5.6. Effect of vibration on amplitude ratio X2/X1 for - 1 mm pyrophyllite, at 5% moisture content (d.b.)
o- = 7.81 kPa. X1 = 0.006 mm.
furthermore, during actual shear, the shear 5.4.5 Dynamic Shear — Top Half
deformation causes the bonds between adja- of Cell Vibrated
cent particles in contact to fail and reform in a
W h e n t h e to
cyclic manner. This action may also affect the P h a l f o f t h e cel1 is v i b r a t e d ' t h e
dynamic properties of the material, particu- impressed amplitude X, and amplitude XT on
the shear
larly with respect to increasing the internal P l a n e a r e t h e s a m e - Consequently
damping there is no resonance effect, and the shear
160 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
stress reduction with increase in frequency has strength. Analysis shows that for a given fre-
a smooth decaying characteristic shape ap- quency there is a limiting amplitude beyond
proaching, asymptotically, a limiting value, as which the shear stress at failure does not
illustrated in Figure 5.7. decrease any further.
Xf 0-8
\
0-9
08
^"--^
p-—i-j
a=7-8*< Pa , 3 s4-69 kPa 1
_ o-xr= 0-006 rr m
HHJ
0-7
0-6
V
x-X r = 0-009 mm
A - X r = 0*018 mm
Q-X r =:0021 mm
0-7
40 80 120 160 200 240 05
Frequency Hz 400 800 1200 1600 2000
(b) Constant Applied Normal Stress-Vary ing Amplitude Average Particle Size —yum
Figure 5.7. Effect of consolidation stress, applied nor- Figure 5.8. Effect of particle size on shear strength,
mal stress, and amplitude on Tf/r^ during sinusoidal top half of shear cell vibrated. / = 200 Hz, xt
vibration of top half of shear cell for - 1 mm pyrophyl- = ±0.01 mm, pyrophyllite at 5% moisture content
lite at moisture content (d.b.). (d.b.).
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 161
<jj=16-0 kPa.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 120
Normal Force CN)
Figure 5.10. Yield loci showing influence of vibration for - 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture content (d.b.),
X, = 0.01 mm.
162 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
I12
I8
00
^ ^ 1
0)
V , ^
00
U^
cu
^^
I2
O
161 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Major Consolidating Stress 0^-kPa
u)
Figure 5.11. Flow functions showing influence of vibration for - 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture content (d.b.),
x1 = 0.01 mm.
to analyze the deformation and flow character- continuum approach is invaluable in providing
istics of these materials. Broadly speaking, two data, theories, and procedure for ready appli-
approaches to modeling such materials may be cation to design and development.
attempted, namely the continuum approach In the particulate approach, a conglomera-
and the particulate or discrete particle ap- tion or array of finite size particles is consid-
proach. Much of the work to date has been ered. Often it is necessary to make some sim-
based on the continuum approach, and al- plifying assumptions, for instance, that the
ready a great deal of progress and develop- particles behave as rigid spheres. A physical
ment have taken place. model may be formulated by investigating the
The continuum model assumes that the behavior of the particles resulting from their
properties of the bulk materials may be repre- interactionary effects. On this basis attempts
sented by continuous functions of positions in can then be made to deduce the behavior of
both time and space. This procedure is equiva- the entire aggregate. This approach may pro-
lent to assuming that the material may be vide a qualitative insight into the behavior of
subdivided indefinitely into smaller compo- the material but may not be adapted to pro-
nents or constituents without any change in its vide quantitative results. Over recent years it
properties. A lumped model can therefore be has become evident that the fundamental be-
used to determine quantitatively the behavior havior of granular materials in the constitutive
of the whole aggregate or mass. So far, this sense is receiving considerable attention. A
approach is most commonly used principally selection of references39"47'75 is included in
because it lends itself to easier experimental the list at the end of this chapter. For the
work and subsequent analysis. It suffers from purpose of the present discussion only simpli-
the disadvantage, in many cases, of leading to fied lumped parameter models are considered.
results that are often empirical in nature.
However, provided the bounds on the solu- 5.5.2 Stiffness of Bulk Material
tions, particularly with respect to the limits of In the shear force versus shear deformation
experimental and theoretical analysis, are graphs of Figure 5.4, as indicated the charac-
clearly enunciated and understood, then the teristic "step" plus "ramp" response records
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 163
n = aQ(N + C) (5.5)
where
a0 = constant
N = interparticle normal force due to the ex-
ternal applied load
Deformation X r C = cohesive force generated by the external
Figure 5.12. Simple Coulomb-elastic model. load.57
164 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Ne = a3V (5.9)
60
From Eqs. (5.5), (5.7), (5.8), and (5.9) the ex- 1 2 3 4 5
Applied Normal Stress CP-kPa
pression for a>n, as derived by Li, becomes
Figure 5.14. Resonance frequency for — 1 mm pyro-
a)n = ao(ay + a2a3V + C o ) (5.10) phyllite at moisture content (d.b.).
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 165
The force S transmitted by the shear force While the above assumptions are satisfac-
actuator acts perpendicular to the direction of tory for the present analysis it is recognized
vibration. that they are not strictly correct. For instance,
The formulation of the model is based on Molerus39 has shown that anisotropy is inher-
the following assumptions: ent in the Jenike direct shear test in view of
the fact that the orientation of the principal
1. The material is isotropic across the shear axes during consolidation may not necessarily
plane. coincide with the principal axes during incipi-
2. The material behaves as a cohesive mass ent yield. Further, the material in the shear
with one dominant natural frequency. cell may not be completely homogeneous as a
166 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
result of uneven loading and variations in par- force may be represented by the Fourier
ticle size distribution. series:
The development of the dynamic model may 4Ff 1
proceed as follows: During an applied sinu- fit) = s i n cot + - sin3a>f 4- •••
77 \ 3 /
soidal vibration the lower half of the cell has
(5.13)
an impressed vibration:
This is an odd function with half-wave symme-
= Xx cos cot (5.12) try. Hence only the sine terms and odd
x
harmonics appear.
where As in describing function analysis, a tech-
nique used in control systems analysis, a single
Xx = impressed amplitude (mm) nonlinearity such as that in the present exam-
co = 2irf = frequency (rad/s) ple is approximated by the first term or funda-
/ = frequency (Hz). mental frequency component of the Fourier
series. Neglecting the higher harmonic terms
The Coulomb frictional resistive force has a does not introduce serious error owing to the
magnitude F{ — /xN and always acts in a direc- diminishing amplitude effect associated with
tion opposing the motion. Thus the Coulomb these terms. Thus, in this case, the nonlinear
resistive force is linked directly to the velocity frictional resistive force may be approximated
but always acts in the opposite sense to the by an equivalent linear viscous drag force FE:
velocity. Since the top half of the shear cell FE = BExr (5.14)
vibrates relative to the bottom half with fre- where
quency co, the Coulomb resistive force, as a
function of time, will be a rectangular wave of (5.15)
amplitude +F f and frequency co. This is illus-
trated in Figure 5.16. The Coulomb frictional or
(5.16)
where
x r = X r sin OJt
i r = relative sliding velocity
Xr = amplitude of sliding velocity
XT = amplitude of relative displacement.
3
d\ n „ dxt
^ + 2 ^ - + = Xtco2 cos cot
(5.17)
where
Figure 5.16. Coulomb frictional drag force during sinu- con = yjk/m = natural frequency (rad/s)
soidal excitation. C = damping ratio
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 167
Substituting for £ in Eq. (5.20), the ampli- It can be shown that the amplitude ratio
tude ratio for the relative motion becomes obtained from a solution of Eq. (5.29) is given
by
77
(5.31)
1
i/>r = t a n (5.27) r\ 1 + cos| —
TTX1 r
FX1 - r2)
It may be observed that Eq. (5.30) is similar in
form to the approximate solution given by Eq.
where
(5.26). In the exact solution given by Eq. (5.30)
Fs = kXx = equivalent static restoring force. the Coulomb damping function Q, given by
Eq. (5.31), varies with the frequency ratio as
Referring to Eq. (5.26), it can be seen that indicated. The phase angle from the rigorous
XT has a real value only when solution is:
Ff irr2 FtQ
(5.28) = tan" (5.32)
«/4—J
IEft-—
lit
-0.5
-u/4
(5.34)
rr r 4Ft
iffr = tan"1 2
1 -r £
Fs(l-r2)
Q5 1.0 15 2.0
Frequency ratio r-a)/u)0
(535)
(a)
Solutions for the real values of Xr/Xt can be
90 obtained from (5.34) for given values of £v and
degrees]
^-0.7
bulk solids may be a combination of a number
-45 ^-0.8
^-0.9 of factors such as interparticle friction, plastic
^-1.0 deformation at contact points, and interfacial
i
fluid damping. The characteristics are cer-
-QO
0 0.5 1.0 15 2O 2J5 3.0 tainly highly nonlinear and extremely difficult
Frequency rotio r»o)/u)0 ^ to analyze in a rigorous way. However, it is
reasonable to assume that the combination of
(b)
viscous and Coulomb damping, as previously
Figure 5.17. (a) Amplitude ratio, (b) Phase angle.
described, provides a satisfactory approxima-
tion for modeling purposes. As to which of the
damping then the combined damping factor as Coulomb or viscous components of the damp-
given by Eq. (5.19) may be written in the form: ing is dominant will depend, to some extent,
on the amplitude of vibration. Certainly if the
(5.33) amplitude is large in relation to average parti-
cle size, then Coulomb friction will have a
major influence. On the other hand, for very
where
small amplitudes Li 61 argues that Coulomb
fv = B/2mo)n = damping ratio for the vis- friction is minimal and that the particles sim-
cous component of the damping. ply undergo small oscillatory motions about
their pinning points or points of contact.
Following a similar procedure to the approxi- For the experimental work using the vibra-
mate Coulomb damping case it can be shown tion shear cell apparatus, Li concludes that
170 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
because of the small amplitudes involved, the Whether the reasoning given by Li in favor
damping is dominantly viscous. Following ex- of viscous damping being dominant in this
tensive tests he established that for pyrophyl- case is correct, is difficult to say. Certainly the
lite and iron ore the damping was not influ- very small amplitudes used in the experimen-
enced significantly by the consolidation stresses tal work lend weight to his argument. On the
and applied normal stresses during vibration. other hand, the general form of the shear load
The following viscous damping factors were versus deformation characteristic of Figure 5.4
shown to fit the data quite well: favors Coulomb damping as being dominant,
particularly when the amplitude is of a reason-
able order. For the present results, reference
• For - 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture to Figure 5.17 indicates that a viscous damping
content (d.b.), £ = 0.1. ratio of £ = 0.1 is equivalent to a low value of
• For iron ore at 5% moisture content (d.b.), Ff/Fs in the case of Coulomb damping, that is
C = 0.125 (see Tables 5.2 and 5.3 for more Ff/Fs < 0.1. While this is feasible, it is difficult
detailed information). to quantify; it implies a low value of Ff and a
high value of the initial stiffness k. It should
As an indication of the degree of fit given be noted that the stiffness values plotted in
by the assumption of viscous damping with Figure 5.13 are average values for large defor-
C = 0.1, the ratio of the absolute to impressed mations obtained under very low (almost static)
amplitude X2/X1 computed using Eq. (5.23) is deformation rate conditions. Nonetheless, the
compared with the corresponding experimen- shear force versus shear deformation graphs
tally obtained results for pyrophyllite. The two of Figure 5.4 indicate initial values of k
curves are shown in Figure 5.18, and the substantially higher than the average values
agreement is considered satisfactory. It is to plotted in Figure 5.13.
be noted that the absolute amplitude rather The overriding results of this study is that
than the relative amplitude is used, since the the shear cell model adequately depicts the
former was easier to obtain experimentally. behavior of the sample during vibration. It is
Further, as previously stated, the model was clear that the damping is of very low order and
developed to predict the fundamental natural for Coulomb damping it is equivalent to
frequency; no attempt has been made to ana- Ff/Fs - 0.05 for the pyrophyllite. The assump-
lyze the presence of the second and higher tion of viscous damping with £ = 0.1 fits the
natural frequency shown in the experimental data sufficiently well for practical purposes
results, since this frequency is of lower signif- and provides a simple model for analysis.
icance in affecting the behavior of the material
during shear.
5.5.9 Concept of Resonance
The concept of resonance in the case of a bulk
solid is somewhat complex, particularly in view
•measured during shear of the difficulty of defining, with any degree of
ft
II
, ^calculated
0^7-81 kPa
certainty, the mass and stiffness contributions
in the actual vibrating system. Even in the
h c
fr=4.7 kPa "i shear cell apparatus there are problems in
-< A
/
establishing the actual vibrating mass, but the
Pt—-•
•"•—-. problems are compounded when the same ex-
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 ercise is attempted for a bulk solid in an
actual hopper. However, as discussed later, the
Figure 5.18. Comparison of measured and calculated
amplitude ratios for - 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5%
significant parameters affecting the dynamic
moisture content (d.b.). shear failure are vibration frequency and rela-
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 171
In order that the shear cell test data be ap- Vibration Velocity XKO(mnyfc)
plied to the design or bin activators and flow 0 4 8 12 16 20
promotion devices, consideration of the appro- (a) Vibration of Whole Cell a=7-9kPa
priate parameters for dynamic similarity is re-
quired. Such parameters need to take into
account the relevant information on vibration 5
frequency, amplitude, and energy transfer. As
an initial step in this investigation, studies 4
have been undertaken to ascertain the degree
of compliance of the shear stress during vibra-
tion with the relevant parameters, notably the 3 • i
and C" onto the O—T plane specifies two to follow a negative exponential curve ex-
points on the ultimate vibrated yield locus pressed by
which define the lowest possible values of the
shear stress. A further increase in the intensity T= f3 exp(-Bef) (5.36)
of vibration will not cause any greater reduc-
tion in shear stress. As will be readily apparent where JJL, /3, and B are material constants and
these arguments apply only to the case of ef is the void ratio in the plane of failure.
horizontally applied vibration; in the case of Referring to Figure 5.19 it is apparent that
vertical vibrations, failure of the material may the shear strength rf during vibration follows
take place under conditions of high vibration a similar negative exponential curve that sug-
gests that the vibration velocity on the shear
acceleration.
plane is directly correlated with the void ratio
During the application of mechanical vibra-
e. Consequently Li proposed a decaying expo-
tions, yielding may occur anywhere on the
nential function of the form
Hvorslev surface between the boundaries de-
fined by the static condition and the ultimate
or critical voidage condition. The condition for rf + exp (5.37)
failure defined by points on the failure surface I
directly depends on the impressed velocity, where / = O)/2TT (HZ) and r^, ft, and y are
frequency, and applied normal stress. For this constants, which for a given material depend
reason the actual vibrated yield loci may not on the consolidation and normal stress during
be straight or parallel lines. They may even shear. The form of equation is indicated in
cross each other as indicated in Figure 5.21. Figure 5.22. r^ represents the limiting shear
For a given normal stress a the reduction in stress, which is an indication of the effective-
shear stress has been shown by Roscoe et al.13 ness of the vibrations on the shear reduction.
To"*
174kPa
•* 6
N
\
to \
3
tr
/ / CELL DIAMETER * 95 mm
\
UJ 2 1 / VIBRATION AMPLITUDE = i 8 * 10*mm \
s I / \
1 1
1
\2 3 4 5 7 6 9 10 IT
STRESS (kPa)
Figure 5.21. Yield loci for pyrophyllite illustrating the effect of sinusoidal vibration.
174 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The static value of the shear stress r/o, which Table 5.2. Typical Dynamic Properties
(Material: Pyrophyllite with 5% moisture
occurs when the input frequency / = 0, is: content (d.b.) input amplitude X, = 0.006 mm.)
T
/o = (5.38) cr /n T
/o Toe P
(kPa) (kPa) (Hz) C (kPa) (kPa) (kPa) y
As an alternative, Eq. (5.37) may be formu- 7.81 4.69 100 0.11 4.86 3.92 0.94 7
lated in terms of a relationship for the shear 7.81 3.47 90 0.10 4.21 3.28 0.94 7
stress ratio Ty/iy. It may readily be shown 7.81 2.20 80 0.095 3.36 2.42 0.94 7
that 5.94 4.06 90 0.105 4.07 3.28 0.80 7
5.94 2.81 80 0.10 3.42 2.62 0.80 7
5.94 1.57 70 0.10 2.59 1.79 0.80 7
_ (5.39)
eX p
T
/o T
/o 4.06 2.81 75 0.10 2.94 2.24 0.70 7
4.06 2.19 70 0.10 2.59 1.89 0.70 7
The constant y in Eqs. (5.37) and (5.39) is 4.06 1.57 65 0.10 2.22 1.52 0.70 7
called the vibration velocity constant and indi-
cates the rate of decay of the shear stress. By
way of example the decay in the shear stress
for multiple values of y is indicated in Table each a, p does not change with the applied
5.1. Thus for U = 3y, for example, the shear normal stress a. The vibration velocity param-
stress decreases by 95% of its total possible eter y is shown to be a constant for the
reduction. The velocity U = 5y causes the particular material and independent of the
shear strength to decrease some 99.3% of its consolidation stress and applied normal stress.
total possible reduction. Thus, by vibrating the top ring only, an
estimate of the shear strength during vibration
5.6.3 Prediction of Vibrated Shear may be obtained as follows:
Strength
For the purpose of this discussion attention is 1. For each consolidation condition, deter-
drawn to the various experimentally obtained mine 7yo for the chosen applied normal
parameters for pyrophyllite and iron ore listed stress.
in Tables 5.2 and 5.3, respectively. With re- 2. For each consolidation condition and a
spect to Eq. (5.37) it can be seen that the
nominal applied normal stress cr1? estimate
parameter /3, which represents the maximum
the maximum possible strength reduction
possible reduction in shear stress, depends only
p. This value may be checked for other
on the consolidation condition given by a; for
applied normal stress values. For this test it
will be necessary to use a high vibration
Table 5.1. Shear Stress For Multiple
Valves of 7
VIBRATION
Table 5.3. Typical Dynamic Properties
VELOCITY
(Material: Iron ore with 5% moisture
U = lirXJ SHEAR STRESS r
content (d.b) input amplitude X,- = 0.0075 mm)
0
a a /n T
/o P
y TO.+ 0.368/3
27 ^ + 0.135)8 (kPa) (kPa) (Hz) C (kPa) (kPa) (kPa) 7
37 To. + 0.05)3 5.35 4.44 10
8.54 4.41 110 0.15 0.91
47 ^ + 0.015/3 8.54 3.04 100 0.125 4.44 3.53 0.91 10
57 TX + 0.007/3
107 Too + 0.00005)3 6.44 3.72 100 0.125 4.35 3.54 0.81 10
00 Too 6.44 2.35 95 0.125 3.47 2.66 0.81 10
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 175
A
4 °~ ^^
<n
3 —
- - ^
C
2 - Calculated values
o
O
A. Normal Stress a-4.68 kPa
B. « • * = 3.43 kPa
to 1 -
C. » 9 -2.18 kPa
»
i i i i
0
40 80 120 160 200 240
f [Hz]
Figure 5.24. Comparison between experimental and calculated shear stress for vibration of whole shear cell for
- 1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% moisture content (d.b.).
in such cases may be somewhat different from deformation of asperities between adjacent
that of a bulk material in contact with a solid contact surfaces and particles.
surface, as far as the frictional drag is con- In studying the effect of vibration on the
cerned, there are many similarities. From a reduction of friction between metal surfaces,
macroscopic point of view, the force to over- Lenkiewicz79 employed vibration amplitudes
come friction in solid contacts is equivalent to which ranged from 0.005 to 0.2 mm. He showed
the force to shear a Coulomb powder. Micro- that the sliding velocity due to the imposed
scopically both processes involve the shear vibration was a critical factor in the process
although the correlations did not generally
30 apply at large amplitudes.
I i 1 1 jf
13% Moisture Content - X j ^ Similar experiments were performed by
1 BLACK PL
2 RUSTY PL
(wet basis) y/Zy^ Tolstoi,81 who attributed the reduction in fric-
^ 20 _ 3
4
DULL STAINLESS PL
EPQXY PAINTED PL
tion between metal surfaces to the increase in
Q S WORN ALLOY PL
6 POLISHED STAINLESS PL sliding velocity. The reasons for this behavior
1 are summarized below:
$10
LJ
^£
X
if)
i i
The higher the velocity, the shorter is the
0^ ^ I 1
10 20 30 40 50 time during which adjacent asperities com-
NORMAL LOAD (N) press each other, and hence the separation
Figure 5.25. Wall yield loci for a typical coal. (From between contact surfaces can be main-
Arnold et al.78) tained at a maximum.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 177
NX, co2 10
y 1
Vibrated WYL
Predicted Measured
AS = (5 41)
-4—I*-H 1^
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
where Normal Force (N ]
Figure 5 29 Vibrated versus normal wall yield locus
N = normal force on shear plane
Mt Newman fines 9 3% moisture content ( w b ) on
Xt = amplitude of vibration black steel (Kaaden 59 Arnold et al 56 )
(o = frequency
AS = maximum reduction m shear force
shear In this way the results obtained are
consistent with those presented m Section 5 4
Reference to Figure 5 28 will permit the
reasoning behind this analysis to be seen By way of illustration, a set of wall yield loci
Figure 5 29 shows the results obtained from curves for - 1 mm pyrophylhte (5% moisture
tests on Mt Newman iron ore fines at 9 3% content) on mild steel is presented in Figure
moisture content (w b ) For this test a con- 5 30 A constant amplitude of Xt = 0 006 mm
stant frequency of 25 Hz and amplitude Xt = was used The reduction in wall friction with
0 23 mm was used and, as is readily observ- increase in frequency is quite evident The
able, shear force values of from 5% to 10% of reduction in friction is considerably less than
the static values have been obtained Also, as would be obtained when vibrations are applied
indicated by Figure 5 29, the correlation be- in the direction of shear
tween the measured and predicted vibrated
wall yield loci is very reasonable
5.8 RANDOM VIBRATION EXCITATION
To isolate the effect of the inertia force in
lending assistance to the reduction m shear 5.8.1 Application of Random Vibrations
force as in the previous case, Roberts et al 5 8 62
The application of broad-band random vibra-
and Li61 used the vibrating shear cell appara-
tions to promote the flow of bulk solids has
tus described in Section 5 3 of this chapter
Vibrations were applied in the horizontal plane
in a direction perpendicular to the direction of Frequen cy
^ 0 W\
Ei 120
C 150
C) 200 A ^
1 i
siear Cell Area ^m
^ ^
15 20 25
Normal Force N
Time
Figure 5 30 Vibrated wall yield loci for pyrophylhte on
Figure 5 28 Oscillation of total shear force at limiting mild steel plate XT = ± 0 006 mm moisture content =
condition 5% ( d b )
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 179
been discussed by Arnold et al.56 and Roberts each case the samples were sheared under the
et al.58'60 In view of the frequency dependence normal stress of a = 4.23 kPa during the
of many bulk solids with respect to strength application of random vibrations.
reduction, broad-band random vibrations have Figure 5.31 shows the variation of rf/rfQ for
certain advantages. Since the vibration energy pyrophyllite as a function of RMS amplitude.
is distributed uniformly across all frequencies Curves A and B apply to the 95-mm cell,
within a given bandwidth, then it is certain whereas curve C applies to the smaller 57-mm
that a resonant frequency of the particular cell. For curves A and C the bandwidth is 90
material and flow promotion device would be Hz; for curve B the bandwidth is 150 Hz.
excited, provided the resonant frequency lies The comparison between curves A and B
within the bandwidth of the random vibration clearly shows the advantages, in terms of re-
input. This will not be the case when discrete duction in shear strength, in using the wider
frequency sinusoidal vibration excitation is bandwidth. These findings support the results
used when the input frequency differs signifi- shown in Figure 5.5, which indicate minimum
cantly from the resonant frequency of the shear stresses occurring around 100 Hz under
system. sinusoidal excitation. The comparison between
The influence of random vibrations on the curves A and C of Figure 5.31 shows that the
shear strength of bulk solids has been exam- shear stresses for the same bandwidth are
ined using the shear cell apparatus of Figure lower in the smaller cell for corresponding
5.1, some typical results being shown in Figure amplitudes. This may be explained by the fact
5.31 (see Roberts and Scott60). Here a com- that the vibration energy input per unit mass
parison is made between two cell diameters, is higher in the case of the smaller cell.
namely 57 and 95 mm and two band widths 40 The results of this study clearly indicate
and 150 Hz, the bulk material is pyrophyllite. that, to be most effective, the bandwidth in the
The samples were consolidated under the ap- case of random excitation should span the
plied normal stresses a = 7.9 kPa in the 95- resonant frequencies. This does not happen, in
mm cell and a = 9.5 kPa in the 57-mm cell; in this case, for the 40 Hz bandwidth.
1.0
*p 0.8
1 •i — I R s
L
A
0.6
L
V
A - 9 5 mrn cell dieL, 40 Hzb and width a 1 = 17.^ kPa
B - 95 mrncell die ., 15C Hz ban<jwi dt \\
C - 57 mrn cell die .,40 Hzb and width a =4.23 kPa
0.4
CN
o
CO
o § 8 q q s s s § §
CO
8 q q q q d d d
d d d o d d
Amplitude mm
Figure 5.31. Effect of random vibration excitation on shear stress ratio Ty/iy for pyrophyllite.
180 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The results may be viewed another way. For the system, in this case the shear cell and bulk
most bulk solid storage systems, the major solid, it can be shown that the impulse re-
reduction in strength occurs at, or in the vicin- sponse or weighting function h(X) is given by
ity of, the resonant frequency in view of the
amplitude, and hence velocity amplification, (5.44)
that this provides. Since the resonant fre-
quency will vary from one material to another, where K = constant under the same condi-
then the general application of wide-band ran- tions.
dom excitation in flow promotion has some
merit. The continuous range of frequencies m n = KsXiX2an (5.45)
within a given bandwidth would render this
type of excitation applicable to a wide range of where H(f) is the system transfer function.
bulk materials. In performing the system identification
analyses on the bulk solids, the samples were
first prepared and consolidated in the normal
5.8.2 Dynamic System Identification
way. The random excitation was then applied
The application of system identification by with the selected normal pressure a applied
random excitation and cross-correlation and to the shear cell, and measurements of RXiX2(X)
spectral analysis to bulk materials handling and SY Y(f) were obtained.
•*l-*2
systems has been fully described by Roberts et
To illustrate the application of this method,
a j 82-84 j ^ m e thod has also been used by
results are given for pyrophyllite and iron ore.
Roberts and Scott60 to determine the dynamic
Figure 5.32 shows the cross-correlation func-
characteristics of bulk solids in the shear cell
tions for these two materials while Figure 5.33
test.
shows the corresponding cross-spectral densi-
The test procedure consists, essentially, of
ties. The results were obtained using the 95-
applying a pseudo-random binary coded dis-
mm diameter shear cell, the samples being
placement signal xt(t) to excite the whole
consolidated under the normal stress a = 7.9
shear cell and obtaining the cross-correlation
kPa. The shear cell was subjected to pseudo-
function and cross-spectrum density of the two
random excitation under the applied normal
signals x^t) and x2(t) where x2(t) is the dy-
stress a = 4.23 kPa.
namic displacement of the top half of the
It is interesting to compare the two
shear cell. The cross-correlation function
SXiX2 ( / ) ^ H(f) curves of Figure 5.33 with
RXiX£\) and cross-spectral density SXiX2(f) are,
the corresponding T^/T^ curves obtained from
respectively, defined as:
sinusoidal excitation. These latter curves for
pyrophyllite and iron ore are shown in Figure
5.34. Referring first to Figure 5.33 it may be
RXXU)= lim - A)*
12
T-oo T seen that the Sx * ( / ) characteristic increases
(5.42) to a maximum around 90 Hz, which indicates
that the peak vibration energy is concentrated
and at this particular frequency. On the other hand,
the "flatter" SXiX(,f) characteristic for iron ore
SXlX2(f) = f RXi (5.43) indicates that the vibration energy is more
uniformly distributed over the frequency range
0 to 100 Hz. This explains why the rf/rfQ
That is Sx x (/) is the Fourier transform of graph of Fig. 5.34 for iron ore shows a greater
reduction than the corresponding graph for
Under the condition that the input signal pyrophyllite over the 0 to 100 Hz frequency
bandwidth is significantly greater than that of range.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 181
(a) PvrophyUite
50
v -
100 150 200
^_
250
due to vibration is far more significant than
that due to time storage. The results presented
FREQUENCY Hz
(b) Iron Ore in Figure 5.35 are in sharp contrast to the
d=95mm. Xi=*8x10" 3 mm, <r =7-9 kPa. a=4-23kPa results given in Section 5.4; in that case the
Figure 5.33. Cross-spectral densities Sx^xJif) - H(f) shear strength was considerably reduced when
for pyrophyllite and iron ore. vibrations were applied during the actual
shearing equation.
It is well known that a correlation exists
between the shear strength and density of a
condition. To assess the effect of vibration on bulk solid; the more a sample is consolidated,
the shear strength, Kaaden used the same the higher will be its density and the higher its
consolidation procedure as in the standard shear strength. By way of example Figure 5.36
test, but prior to shearing, the samples were shows the correlation between shear stress r
further consolidated by vibration for a prede- and bulk density for Mt. Newman iron ore
termined period of time. fines. For curve A the complete cell was vi-
Figure 5.35 shows a typical set of yield loci brated using a sieve shaker, whereas for curve
results for Mt. Newman iron ore at 9% mois- B the top ring of the shear cell was vibrated in
ture content (w.b.); in this case the samples the horizontal direction using a electromagnet
were consolidated by horizontal vibrations be- shaker.
1.2
1.0
o
O IRON (DRE
O.ft
if"--
PYROPHYLLITE
1
0.6
0.4
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
7
i compressive deformation of samples in the
120s>ec.Viba MO Hz a=2-0kPa
30s ec. Vib a t30Hzcr=5-0kPa shear cell when subjected to laterally applied
30 s ec. Vib. at10HzO"=5-0kPa vibrations. The shear cell apparatus shown in
t$ ^ : 30sec. Vib.a H0Hzcr=2-0kPa
T.YL 48hr J
Figure 5.1 was used for this test.
-YL Samples were prepared and consolidated
*3 under shear in the usual way, the consolidat-
ing stress being T = 7.9 kPa. They were then
1 subjected to lateral vibrations under reduced
n
L, 5 6 7 8
normal stress, during which records of the
°C) 1 2 3 5 1() r 12
Normal Stress 6"-kPa compressive deformation were made. For this
Figure 5.35. Effect of vibration consolidation on yield series of tests — 2 mm pyrophyllite was used
loci, Mt. Newman iron ore, 9% moisture content (w.b.). instead of the - 1 mm pyrophyllite, as used in
the work presented in Section 5.4.
Figure 5.37 shows a set of compressive de-
The sieve shaker produced samples that
formation versus time records obtained during
were more uniformly packed and hence of
sinusoidal vibration under the applied
greater strength than the samples produced by
normal stress r = 5.3 kPa. The amplitude of
the electromagnetic shaker. These results indi-
vibration was 0.012 mm. As indicated, the
cate a 20% density increase being accompa-
major transient deformations occur within
nied by an 80% to 90% increase in shear
the first minute; after this the response
strength.
curves approach asymptotically steady-state
deformations.
5.9.2 Vertical Compressive Deformation
The steady-state deformations as a function
During Lateral Vibration
of frequency are shown in Figure 5.38. For the
To gain a better insight into the effects of range of frequencies examined, the minimum
vibration on the compressibility of bulk solids, deformation occurs around / = 140 Hz, with a
Roberts and Scott60 examined the vertical maximum value being approached at / = 100
f 4
ff 3
CO +
Cells Vibrated with Sieve Shaker
| 2
° Cells Vibrated in Horizontal Direction"
in
• Cells Not Vibrated
cr= 5-0 kPa
400 410 ^20 430 440 450 460 470 480 490 500
Mass of Material in Full, Constant Volume,
Shear Cell~gm
Figure 5.36. Effect of density on shear strength, Mt. Newman iron ore, 9% moisture content (w.b.).
184 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Amplitude = ±12x10 mm
a =5-3 kPa
2 3
ELAPSED TIME - MINUTES
Figure 5.37. Vertical compressive deformation of pyrophyllite during lateral vibration, 95 mm
shear cell.
Hz. Although the evidence is somewhat incon- mum dilation on the shear plane is accompa-
clusive, the maximum consolidation occurring nied by a maximum compressive deformation
around the value / = 100 Hz lends weight to of the material elsewhere in the shear cell.
the notion of this frequency being a resonance
frequency similar to that depicted in the re- 5.9.3 Some General Remarks
sults presented in Section 5.4. A plausible
argument that relates the results given here The application of vibrations to the com-
with the reduction in shear strength shown in paction of powders has received wide atten-
Figure 5.5 might proceed as follows: It is ap- tion. A comprehensive review of the underly-
parent that the maximum reduction in shear ing principles and associated research in this
strength occurs when the dilation, and hence topic is given by Shatalova et al.,67 McGeary,68
voidage, on the shear plane is a maximum. and Evans and Millman.70
This occurs at resonance. Hence, when the It is clear that the application of vertical
sample is vibrated while being sheared, the vibrations to powders and bulk materials held
resonance condition implies that the maxi- within containers provides an efficient mode
of compaction, and consequently this field of
application has been studied in some detail.
0 For instance Gray and Rhodes32 point out
20 that the final density of vibrated powder is a
/ \
E 40 function of the energy transferred to the bed
60
/ \
/ \ from the vibrator. They modeled the bed as (1)
!B § 80
/ plastic bodies and (2) viscoelastic bodies; both
g I 120 / models predict a decrease in energy trans-
/ ferred to the powder as the acceleration is
° ° 160 increased at constant frequency. For frequen-
100 120 U0 160 180 200 cies below 150 Hz and accelerations less than
FREQUENCY Hz lOg, the powder behaves as a coherent mass,
Figure 5.38. Steady-state vertical compressive deforma- compaction taking place as a result of the
tion during lateral vibration, 95 mm shear cell. block type motion of the mass being projected
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 185
from the base of the container and subse- vibrations on the flow of bulk solids may be
quently collecting with it. Above the frequency better understood, the salient aspects of the
and acceleration limits indicated, the bed bin flow characteristics and design philosophy
becomes fluidized. are briefly reviewed.
Other work of relevance to vibratory com-
paction is that of Shinohara et al.53 and Suzuki 5.10.1.1 Flow Patterns
and Tanaka.55 Particular attention is drawn to
the work of Gutman,35 who studied the effect As indicated in Figure 5.39, there are two
of air compressed between a vertically vibrat- basic modes of flow, namely mass flow and
ing bed and the bottom of the container. funnel flow.
For more details on the effect of vibrations In mass flow the bulk material is in motion
on the compaction of powders, the reader is at substantially every point in the bin when-
referred to the literature cited. ever material is drawn from the outlet. The
material flows along the walls with the bin and
hopper (that is, the tapered section of the bin)
forming the flow channel. Mass flow is the
5.10 APPLICATION OF VIBRATIONS IN
ideal flow pattern and occurs when the hopper
FLOW PROMOTION
walls are sufficiently steep and smooth and
there are no abrupt transitions or inflowing
Reference has been made several times
valleys.
throughout this chapter to the application of
Funnel flow, on the other hand, occurs when
vibrations in promoting the flow of bulk solids
the material sloughs off the surface and dis-
from storage bins. When used correctly, vibra-
charges through a vertical channel that forms
tions can significantly reduce both the strength
within the material in the bin. This mode of
of bulk solids and the wall friction, and as
flow occurs when the hopper walls are rough
a result, greatly increase the ability of the
and the slope angle a is too large. The flow is
material to flow.
erratic, with a strong tendency to form stable
There are a variety of ways in which me-
pipes that obstruct the bin discharge. When
chanical vibrations are used in practice in as-
flow does occur, segregation takes place, there
sociation with flow promotion in storage bins,
being no remixing during flow. It is an undesir-
and these have been reviewed in the articles
able flow pattern.
by Carroll and Colijn,52 Myers,51 and Wahl.50
Although a great deal of practical knowledge
has been gained, the information available in
the past for design purposes has been largely
empirical. There has been a general lack of
information concerning the relevant fre-
quency, amplitude, and inputs that should be Total
capacity
used for each particular bulk solid. live
The manner in which the information pre-
sented in earlier sections of this chapter may Central flow
channel
be integrated with the general philosophy of Tendency to
bin design is discussed in this present section. pipe
Dead capacity
5.10.1 Bin Design Philosophy likely
wall yield locus. In Figure 5.11 the flow func- vibration is quite significant and has a major
tions from —1 mm pyrophyllite at 5% mois- influence on bin design.
ture content were presented for the three fre- Figures 5.42a and 5.52b show, respectively,
quencies 0 Hz (instantaneous, static condition), the bulk density p and effective angle of
150 Hz, and 200 Hz. However, on the basis of internal friction. Both these parameters are
the failure criterion presented in Section 5.6, required for bin design.
it is really only necessary to determine, for the The vibrated wall yield loci for the pyrophyl-
vibration case, the limiting flow function cor- lite are presented in Figure 5.30. For the pre-
responding to the maximum vibration velocity sent discussion reference will be made to the
for maximum shear strength reduction. The instantaneous and 200 Hz curves. The reduc-
flow function determined in this way for the tion in wall friction due to vibration at 200 Hz
pyrophyllite is shown in Figure 5.42. This graph will permit a significant increase in hopper
is based on shear tests in which the top half of half-angle a for the case of a conical hopper,
the shear cell was vibrated at a frequency of as may be observed from an inspection of
200 Hz and amplitude ±0.01 mm; the corre- Figure 5.40.
sponding velocity on the shear plane is 12.6 The influence of the vibrations in improving
rnm/s, which is the value approaching that for the flow characteristics may be seen by refer-
maximum shear strength reduction as indi- ence to the mass-flow hopper proportions given
cated in Figure 5.19. The unvibrated flow in Table 5.4. Here a comparison is made be-
function is shown, for comparison purposes, in tween the hopper half-angle and opening sizes
Figure 5.42c. The reduction in strength due to for conical hoppers determined on the basis of
the instantaneous and the vibrated properties
of pyrophyllite.
lbuu The increase in hopper half-angle a and
^—-—
-— the reduction in opening size B show the
r
1400 significance of using mechanical vibrations as
P an aid to flow. The increase in a can be even
3
kg/m
1200 greater if the vibrations at the wall are applied
1 in the direction of flow. The results of this
1000 study show that a funnel-flow bin can operate
(a) Bulk Density
under mass flow giving uniform discharge, pro-
50
vided the vibrations are applied correctly. It is
-t^.
6°
— • —
•—>-^
important that the bin and hopper be in a
45
potential flow mode with the flow control gate
(b) Effective Angle of Friction open when the vibrations are applied; other-
wise the vibrations will have the adverse effect
of increasing the consolidation and strength of
e Force
Un vibrated Flow
Function ^-^^
the bulk solid and reducing its ability to flow.
This condition is indicated in Section 5.9. A
op Ring
•rated at flow mode will exist when an arched stress
I 30 Hz • 0-01 3mm
field occurs in the hopper.78
1 i = 1/140rn 2 -
In order that the shear cell data and corre-
| 10 sponding design information of the type given
20 40 60 80 100 120 in Table 5.4 be applied to the design of bin
Major Consolidating Force V,—(N)
(c) Flow Functions activators, consideration needs to be given to
Figure 5.42. Flow properties of vibrated and unvi-
the appropriate dynamic scaling parameters.
brated samples for - 1 mm prophyllite at 5% moisture Such parameters would need to translate the
content (d.b.). information on frequency and amplitude relat-
188 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 5.4. Comparison of Mass Flow Conical Hoppers for Unvibrated and Vibrated Conditions
[Material: - 1 mm pyrophyllite, 5% moisture content (d.b.)]
ing to the shear cell tests to equivalent data at least in the area vertically above the activa-
for a full-scale bin. The theory of failure pre- tor. An effect not mentioned is the reduction
sented in Section 5.6 shows that the vibration of friction on the surface of the baffle that
velocity on the plane of failure is the signifi- enhances material flow off the edge of the
cant parameter causing local dilation and a baffle. In addition, the transmission of vibra-
corresponding reduction in shear strength. tions to the hopper walls also reduces friction
Vibration velocity Xr co is directly related to and further enhances the flow.
the vibration energy Ey per unit volume in the Other types of vibratory-induced flow sys-
following way: tems involve the vertical vibration of the whole
(5.49) bin or hopper. The comprehensive research of
Ey = PXTW/2
Shinohara, Suzuki, Takahashi, and Tanaka53"55
It follows that the energy transfer character- has presented data indicating the conditions
istics of a bulk solid have a direct influence on under which flow of both noncohesive and
the vibration velocity, and hence shear strength cohesive bulk solids can be best obtained by
reduction, at the critical region of a flow ob- such systems. A difficulty of employing verti-
struction. Based on this reasoning it seems, cally vibrating hoppers in practice, particularly
therefore, that the required vibration energy in large installations, is the design complexity
per unit mass at a flow obstruction needs to be and energy requirements to vibrate the whole
the same as that determined for the shear cell. hopper-bin system.
In practice, the vibration flow promotion
device may, if necessary, be located some dis-
tance from the actual flow obstruction. For 5.10.3 Performance of Bin with
this reason the vibration propagation charac- Vibrating Insert
teristics of the bulk solid, as discussed by
Scarlett and Eastman,31 need to be taken into Reference was made above to the vibrating
account. Fortunately, as already indicated, a baffle plate flow promotion device described
reduction in wall friction can significantly im- by Wahl.50 Studies performed by Croft57 and
prove the flow characteristics and, for this Roberts et al.58 have focused attention on
reason, a vibrator suitably placed on the hop- some performance characteristics of this type
per wall may be very effective. Such a device of flow promotion. Salient aspects of their
has been described by Carroll and Colijn.52 research are briefly reviewed.
Another effective flow promotion device is The test rig used for this work is drawn
the bin activator described by Wahl.50 In this schematically in Figure 5.43. The model bin is
case the bin activator consists of a domed of rectangular cross-section and operates un-
baffle plate located just above the outlet which, der plane flow, this shape and flow mode being
together with the rounded hopper bottom, is chosen for ease of manufacture and testing.
vibrated in the horizontal plane. The bin is clear plastic, and the vibrating in-
The domed baffle plate is said to eliminate sert located inside the bin discharge section
overhead bridging by transmitting vibrations can be fitted with flat or convex baffle plates
vertically up the hopper to cause flow to occur of various geometrical proportions.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 189
FEED ELEVATOR
DISCRETE OR
RANDOM
SIGNAL
GENERATOR
1FORCE TRANSDUCER
x(t)
I DISPLACEMENT TRANSDUCER
DISCHARGE
L
FLOW RATE METER /;
LOW PASS
FILTER
Rxx(T) R y y ( r )
DISCHARGE CONVEYOR
FREQUENCY
SPECTRUM
ANAL1ZER
JGxx(iu)Gyy(8u)
Transverse vibrations are applied to the in- By way of example, one series of tests was
sert by the force transducer driven by either a conducted with moist sand using a flat plate
discrete-frequency or random-signal generator baffle. The application of sinusoidal forced
through a power amplifier. The vibrator pro- excitation of varying frequencies and pseudo-
vides the driving force and may be set at a random binary forced excitation of varying
constant force amplitude, while the input dis- bandwidths were examined. In all cases the
placement of the insert and output material effective force amplitudes were kept approxi-
flow rate are recorded continuously. Signal mately the same.
processing instrumentation permit information The results for the wet sand indicate that
on correlation functions and power spectral the low frequencies (in the order of 10 Hz) do
densities to be obtained. not readily initiate flow. Quite often consider-
190 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
able time may elapse before flow commences, cause the arch to fail and flow to occur. In this
if at all. On the other hand with higher fre- case, the vibration energy does not need to be
quencies in the order of 100 to 300 Hz, flow transmitted any great distance. On the other
commences almost immediately and continues hand, where funnel flow prevails and a stable
at a steady rate. rathole has formed, the vibration energy needs
The results also indicate that the excitation to be transmitted through the bulk mass.
frequency is dependent on material properties, The dynamic shear test described in Section
which confirms the results of the shear cell 5.2, together with the theory of failure, pro-
tests. For this reason, broad-band random ex- vides information on the frequency and ampli-
citation, in which there is an infinite number tude, and hence energy level to be applied, at
of frequencies represented in the bandwidth, the zone of the flow blockage. It then becomes
will have distinct advantages over discrete- necessary to determine the level of vibration
frequency sinusoidal type excitation. Table 5.5 energy to be applied by the flow promotion
gives a typical set of results for the wet sand, device at its location point. The problem of
using pseudorandom binary force excitation. vibration transmission has been discussed by
Although the results relate specifically to the Roberts.86
model bin, nevertheless they provide an indi- The subject of wave motion in bulk granular
cation of comparative performance. solids is of interest to several areas of engi-
neering. In particular, the study of seismic
effects on soils and ground subsurface struc-
tures is covered in the fields of soil mechanics
5.11 TRANSMISSION OF VIBRATION and geomechanics. Furthermore, the analysis
ENERGY THROUGH BULK MASS of stress waves in elastic media is dealt with in
the general subject area of theoretical and
5.11.1 General Remarks applied mechanics. Yet, despite this, wave mo-
Effective flow promotion depends on the abil- tion in bulk solids storage bin systems has so
ity of the store bulk mass to transmit vibration far received little attention. Some salient as-
energy from the source of point of vibration pects of vibration wave theory of relevance to
excitation through the mass to the region of bulk solid flow promotion are briefly discussed
the flow blockage. In the case of a storage bin, in the sections that follow.
it is usual to install the vibrator on the hopper
wall; this provides an immediate benefit 5.11.2 Simplified Analysis Based on the
through the reduction in wall friction that may One-Dimensional Case
result. Furthermore, if the flow blockage is in The analysis of stress waves in bulk solids is
the form of an arch, then vibration applied to exceedingly complex, particularly when consid-
the hopper wall at or near the outlet may eration is given to the factors involved in the
Table 5.5. Typical Performance Results for Wet Sand using Pseudorandom Binary Force Excitation
"real" situation. Bearing in mind the difficul- Figure 5.44a shows a section of a bin with
ties that may arise in practice, factors con- vibration excitation being applied at the sur-
tributing to the complexity include: face; stress waves transmitted through the
stored bulk solid gives rise to planes of peak
1. The problem is one of three dimensions deformation as illustrated. Consider a a rod"
involving uncertain boundary conditions. of bulk solid material "extracted" from the bin
2. The stored bulk solid may not be homoge- as indicated in Figure 5.44b. Although this
neous owing to such factors as a wide varia- one-dimensional model may be somewhat
tion in particle size, variation in moisture unrealistic in terms of the actual bulk solid/
content, and variation in consolidation con- storage bin system, it does serve to highlight
ditions throughout the stored bulk mass. As certain characteristics that aid the understand-
a result, the bulk solid is unlikely to be ing of the objectives of flow promotion. It is
isotropic. assumed that the rod in Figure 5.44b is sub-
3. The damping effects within the stored bulk jected to a single impulsive force at the free
mass are uncertain. end, which causes a compression wave to travel
along the rod and be reflected back as a
The underlying principles of vibration energy tension wave.
transfer in relation to flow promotion may be Assuming that both Coulomb and viscous
gleaned by considering the simplified model damping is present and that this combined
depicted in Figure 5.44. internal damping is represented as equivalent
Bin
Wall ..^
$$£$$*
1 P^«St
wmmmm
rv ^
v
i $£gf- Bulk Solid
Vibration r 1
y
1 \ Plane of Maximum
Deformation Amplitude
Excitation
(a) Vibration Transmission
Uo(t)
1
(b) One Dimensional Vibration Model
Figure 5.44. One-dimensional longitudinal vibration problem.
192 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
dzu dlu du 72 77 A nX
+ a) • (5.50) fn== (5.54)
dxl
dt2
dt ~2A~ 77
= (*)„ (5.55)
A = -!/ - (m/s) (5.51)
L = Ci/n (5.56)
= velocity of wave propagation in rod /i = 1,3,5,...
The solution h(x, t) from Eqs. (5.52) to (5.56)
where yields damped wave responses with time. The
wave form is of triangular or of truncated
E = elastic modulus of bulk solids (N/m 2 ) triangular shape.
u = deformation of rod at location x (m) The response to any input U(t) applied to
p= bulk density (kg/m 3 ) the end of the rod may be obtained by the
j8 = damping factor (s~ 2 ). convolution integral. Of particular interest is
the response to a sinusoidal forcing function.
Assuming the rod is subjected to a unit im- When equation (5.52) is transformed to the
pulse type displacement at the end x = I, the frequency domain the transfer function is ob-
impulse response is obtained by solving tained. The steady-state amplitude ratio ob-
Eq. (5.50). tained by this process is illustrated in Figure
5.45 for the position x = /, for a range of
damping ratios. As is evident, the higher reso-
h(x,t) = nant frequencies have a reducing influence on
n=l,3,5 the amplitude of the forced vibration.
(5.52)
Figure 5.46 shows the model shapes as func-
• 1 • 1
-0.1000
o /0.2000
/0.3000
CC 3 //o.4OOO
cu //V0.5000
2 ///0.7500
I ///1.0000
O LJL
1 2
1
3
Frequency Ratio
1
Figure 5.45. Amplitude ratio versus frequency ratio for steady-state longitudinal sinusoidal vibration of rod for
x = I.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 193
IZWVOWOWOWOA
( a ) S t a t i c Case
Bin
Wall
Tension Comp. Tension Comp.Tension
(b) Distortion, Shear, or S-Wave relevance to flow promotion of bulk solids may
This type of wave is expressed by be considered. For the stored bulk solid as
shown in Figure 5.48, assume that an impulse
- \2 A2<5T is applied at a point A as shown. It is appar-
dt2 ent that the P and S waves will travel out with
hemispherical wave fronts as shown in Figure
(5.62)
IF"** 3 5 ' 5.48a, while the Rayleigh waves will propagate
out radially along a cylindrical wave front. At
some distance from the point of the dis-
^2 - s - turbance, the vertical displacement of the bulk
solid will have the form indicated in Figure
where 7ox, 7oy, and &>z are components of
5.48b. The P-waves move with the highest ve-
rotation about x-, y-, and z-axes
locity and arrive first followed by the S-waves
and then the Rayleigh waves. The latter have
(5.63) the highest amplitude. The amplitude of the
disturbance gradually decreases with distance.
The amplitude of the compression and shear
5.12.2 Rayleigh Waves waves decrease according to \/r while the
Rayleigh waves decrease according to 1/ Jr.
This type of wave exists near free surfaces or
Hence the attenuation of amplitude of the
at the interfaces between substances of dif-
Rayleigh waves is the slowest.
ferent characteristics. They are boundary type
waves and, in theoretical terms, apply to The loss in amplitude of the waves as they
elastic half spaces. They are described, for move outwards is referred to as geometrical
example in Ref. 92. damping. In addition, there is also loss due to
absorption. Taking both damping losses into
5.12.3 Application of Theory to Flow account, the vertical amplitude of the Rayleigh
Promotion wave decays according to the relationship
Rayleigh Wave
Rayleigh Wave
P - Wave S - Wave /
K&^Body Wave
.VV/VvV,'-'
where yn and y1 are vertical amplitudes at small amplitudes the influence of viscous
distances rn and rx respectively and K is the damping is believed to be more pro-
absorption coefficient. For water saturated fine nounced. Since the damping is of low or-
ground sand K = 0.1 (m" 1 )- der, it has been shown that for simplicity
an equivalent viscous damping factor may
be assumed. Tests on pyrophyllite and iron
ore, both at 5% moisture content (d.b.),
5.13 CONCLUDING REMARKS show values of £ = 0.1 and f = 0.125, re-
spectively, that fit the experimental data
The application of mechanical vibrations with quite well.
respect to powders and bulk solids is wide and 3. In the direct shear test when the top half
varied, and a basic understanding of the effect of the cell is vibrated, no resonance effect
of vibrations on strength and flow prop- is observed. The shear stress reduces ex-
erties is of fundamental importance to all ar- ponentially with frequency, approaching
eas of application. On the basis of the re- asymptotically a limiting value that de-
search reviewed in this chapter, some general pends on the consolidation and applied
conclusions may be drawn: normal stress.
4. The shear failure of a vibrated powder or
1. The shear strength of a powder on bulk bulk solid may be directly related to the
solid undergoing shear deformation may influence of the relative vibration velocity
be reduced significantly by the application on the shear plane. The vibration velocity
of mechanical vibrations. For a given vi- may be correlated with the voidage on the
bration energy input, the reduction in shear plane as indicated by the Hvorslev
strength is a function of the degree of failure criterion. For a given consolidation
consolidation, the applied normal stress and applied normal stress, the shear
during shear, and the frequency. Experi- strength is a decaying exponential function
mental evidence suggests that the strength of the maximum vibration velocity, ap-
reduction increases with increase in parti- proaching asymptotically a limiting value.
cle size and reduction in moisture content. 5. The frictional drag forces between pow-
2. In the direct shear test using the vibrating ders or bulk solids and adjacent boundary
shear cell apparatus, vibration of the whole surfaces such as the wall of a hopper may
cell during shear deformation shows the be considerably reduced by the application
presence of critical or natural frequencies of mechanical vibrations. The extent of
at which the shear strength is a minimum. this reduction is a function of the intensity
The presence of these natural frequencies or energy level of the vibration applied.
has also been observed in measurements The direction of the vibration in relation
of the amplitudes of vibration on the shear to the direction of shear deformation is
plane. The natural frequency for a particu- shown to be of importance; when these
lar bulk solid is shown to increase with two directions coincide the greatest bene-
increases in both consolidation stress and fit in the lowering of the drag forces may
applied normal stress. While the exact na- be achieved because of the assistance
ture of the damping characteristics of rendered by the inertial forces.
powders and bulk solids is difficult to de- 6. Reductions in shear strength of powders
termine, there is evidence to suggest the or bulk solids may also be accomplished by
damping due to Coulomb friction has a the use of broad-band random vibrations.
major influence, particularly when the am- To be effective, the frequency band width
plitude of vibration relative to the average should span the critical frequency or fre-
particle size is not insignificant. For very quencies of the material.
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 197
V V
Input displacement amplitude 2 W Rankme, ' On the Stability of Loose Earth "
A 1? A,
(mm) Phil Trans (1857)
3 O Reynolds, "On the Dilatancy of Media Com-
xT Relative displacement (mm)
posed of Rigid Particles m Contact' Phil Mag
xr Relative displacement amplitude 20 469-481 (1885)
(mm) 4 O Reynolds, "Experiments Showing Dilatancy, a
x2 Absolute displacement of top half Property of Granular Material, Possibly Connected
of shear cell (mm) with Gravitation " Proc Roy Inst Gr Brit
Absolute displacement amplitude 11 354-363 (1887)
x2 5 H A Janssen, "Tests on Gram Pressure Silos"
(mm)
Z Ver Dtsch Ing Beih 35 1045-1049 (1895)
a Hopper half angle 6 W Airy, "The Pressure of Grain " Proc Inst Civ
8 Effective angle of internal fric- Eng Paper 3049 (1897)
tion 7 J A Jamieson, "Grain Pressures in Deep Bins "
Kinematic angle friction at hop- Trans Can Soc Civ Eng 77 554-654(1903)
<t> 8 M S Ketchum, The Design of Walls, Bins and Grain
per wall
Elevators, 3rd e d , McGraw-Hill, New York (1919)
P Reduction in shear stress (kPa)
9 A W Jemke, "Gravity Flow of Bulk Solids " Utah
y Vibration velocity constant Agric Exp St Bull 108 (1961)
p Bulk density 10 A W Jemke, "Storage and Flow of Solids " Utah
Major consolidating stress Agric Exp St Bull 123 (1964)
(kPa) 11 J R Johanson, "Stress and Velocity Fields in
a Normal stress during consolida- Gravity Flow of Bulk Solids " Utah Agric Exp St
tion (kPa) Bull 116 (1962)
12 M J Hvorslev, "On the Physical Properties of
a Applied normal stress (kPa) Distributed Cohesive Soils" Ingemorvidensk Skr
ac Unconflned compressive strength 45 (1937)
(kPa) 13 K H Roscoe, A N Schofield, and C P Wroth,
Unconflned compressive stress "On the Yielding of Soils " Geotechmque 8 22-53
during vibration (kPa) (1958)
iff Phase angle 14 M D Ashton, D C H Cheng, R Farley, and
F H H Valentin, "Some Investigations into the
Toe Steady state shear stress (kPa) Strength and Flow Properties of Powders " Rheol
T Shear stress during consolidation Ada 4(3) 206-218 (1965)
(kPa) 15 J C Williams and A H Birks "The Preparation
T
f Shear stress plotted against fre- of Powder Specimens for Shear Cell Testing,"
quency Rheol Act 4(3) 170-180 (1965)
16 A C Palma, "Stress-Strain Relation for Clay, an
f Measured shear stress
Energy Theory " Geotechmque 17 348-358 (1967)
0) Frequency (rad/sec) 17 C P Wroth and R H Bassett, "A Stress-strain
Natural frequency (rad/sec) Relationship for the Shearing Behaviour of Sand "
Damping ratio Geotechmque 15 32-56 (1965)
Damping ratio, viscous compo- 18 P W Rowe, L Barden, and I K Lee, "Energy
nent Components during the Tnaxial Cell and Direct
A Shear Tests " Geotechmque 14 247-261 (1964)
Wave velocity (m/s)
19 J K Mitchell, "Shearing Resistance of Soils as a
Friction coefficient Rate Process" Proc Am Soc Cw Eng, J Soil
Mech and Foundations Dw, pp 29-61 (1964)
20 J Lysmer and F E Richart, "Dynamic Response
of Footings to Vertical Loading" Inl of Soil
REFERENCES Mechanics and Foundations Division, Proc Am
Soc Cw Eng, Soil Mech and Foundations Dw,
1 C A Coulomb, "Essai Sur une Application des pp 65-91 (1966)
Regies des Maximis et Minimis a Quelques 21 J K Mitchell, "Soil Creep as a Rate Process"
Problemes de Statique Relatifs de l'Architecture " Proc Am Soc Cw Eng, J Soil Mech and Founda-
Mem Math Phys, pp 343-381 (1773) tions Dw, pp 231-254 (1968)
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 199
Cohesive Solids from Vibrating Hoppers " Powder Vibratory Compaction Plenum Press, New York
Technol 6 301-308 (1972) (1967)
56 P C Arnold, A S Kaaden, and A W Roberts, 70 P E Evans and R S Millman, "The Vibratory
"Effects of Vibration on the Flow of Bulk Solids " Packing of Powders " Perspectives in Powder Metal-
Paper presented at Symp Am Inst Chem Eng lurgy, vol 2, Vibratory Compacting Plenum Press,
(1976) New York (1967)
57 A J Croft, "Investigation of the Trends of Be- 71 A W Jenike, "Determination of Flow Properties
haviour of the Flow Parameters of Cohesive Bulk of Powders by Shear Cell Measurements " Panicu-
Materials when Subjected to Vibration " M Eng late Matter, 4(2) 11-14 (1973)
Sc thesis, University of Newcastle (1977), 72 P C Arnold and A S Kaaden, "Reducing Hopper
Australia Wall Friction by Mechanical Vibration " Powder
58 A W Roberts, O J Scott, and Kin Wah Li, Technol 16 63-66 (1977)
"Effects of Mechanical Vibration on the Flow of 73 J Schwedes, "Vergleichende Betrachtungen zum
Bulk Solids " Paper presented to Conf on Agnc Einsatz von Schergeraten zur Messung von
Eng, Inst Aust Eng, Toowoomba, Australia, Schuttguteigenschaften" [Shear Testers for
August (1978) Measuring the Flow Properties of Bulk Solid],
59 A S Kaaden, "Gravity Flow of Some Steelmaking Institute fur Mechanische Verfahrenstechnik,
Raw Materials with Particular Reference to the Technische Universitat, Braunschweig (1979)
Effects of Vibration," M Eng Sci thesis, 74 F J C Rademacher and G Haaker, "Analysis of
University of Wollongong (1975), Australia the Possible Errors Caused by the Loading Mecha-
60 A W Roberts and O J Scott, "An Investigation nism of Both the Original Jenike Shear Cell and
into the Effect of Sinusoidal and Random Vibra- Modified Version " Proc Int Conf on Powders and
tions on the Strength and Flow Properties of Bulk Bulk Solids, Philadelphia (May, 1979)
Solids " Powder Technol 21 45-53 (1978) 75 S C Cowin and M A Goodman, "A Vanational
61 Km Wah Li, "Effect of Vibration on the Shear Principle for Granural Materials " Zeitschrift Fur
Strength and Flow Properties of Bulk Solids" angewandte Mathematic und Mechanik 56 281-286
Unpub M E thesis, Dept of Mech Eng, The (1976)
University of Newcastle, Australia (1978) 76 S Timoshenko, D H Young, and W Weaver,
62 A W Roberts, O J Scott, and Kin Wah Li, "The Vibration Problems in Engineering 8th ed , Wiley,
Influence of Mechanical Vibrations on the Strength New York (1974)
and Flow Properties of Bulk Solids" Proc Int 77 J P den Hartog, "Forced Vibrations with Com-
Conf on Powder and Bulk Solids, Philadelphia, Pa bined Coulomb and Viscous Friction" Trans
(May, 1979) AS ME 53 107-115 (1931)
63 F J C Rademacher, "Accurate Measurement of 78 P C Arnold, A G McLean, and A W Roberts,
the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction Between a Sur- "Bulk Solids Storage Flow and Handling " TUNRA,
face and a Granular Mass" Powder Technol The University of Newcastle, (1979), 2nd Edition
19 65-77 (1978) (1981)
64 V K Sharma, L O Drew, and G L Nelson, 79 W Lenkiewicz, "The Sliding Friction Process—
"High Frequency Vibrational Effect on Soil Metal Effect of External Vibration" Wear 13 99-108
Friction " Trans ASAE 20(1) 46-51 (1977) (1969)
65 O Molerus and P R Schoneborn, "Bunker Design 80 D Godfrey, "Vibration Reduces Metal-to-Metal
Based on Experiments in a Bunker-Centrifuge " Contact and causes an Apparent Reduction in Fric-
Powder Technol 16 265-72 (1977) tion " Trans ASLE 10 183-192 (1967)
66 J R Johanson, "Modelling Flow of Bulk Solids " 81 D M Tolstoi, "Significance of the Normal Degree
Powder Technol 5 93-99 (1971) of Freedom and Natural Normal Vibration in Con-
67 I G Shatalova, N S Gorbunov, and V I tact Friction " Wear 10 199-203 (1967)
Likhtman, "Physichemical Principles of Vibratory 82 A W Roberts and W H Charlton, "Application
Compacting " Perspectives in Powder Metallurgy, vol of Pseudo-Random Test Signals and Cross Correla-
2, Vibratory Compacting, Plenum Press, New York tion to the Identification of Bulk Handling Plant
(1967) Dynamic Characteristics," Trans ASME, J Eng Ind
68 R K McGeary, "Mechanical Packing of Spherical 95 31-36 (1973)
Particles " Perspectives in Powder Metallurgy, vol 2, 83 A W Roberts and G S Montagner, "Identifica-
Vibratory Compacting, Plenum Press, New York tion of Transient Flow Characteristics of Granular
(1967) Solids in a Hopper Discharge Chute System"
69 J J Hauth, "Vibrational Compaction of Nuclear Paper presented at the Symp on Solids and
Fuels " Perspectives in Powder Metallurgy, vol 2, Slurry Flow and Handling in the Chemical Process
VIBRATION OF FINE POWDERS AND ITS APPLICATION 201
CONTENTS
Separation Combination
Figure 6.1. The unit operations of mechanical process technology and associated techniques.
particulate solids or, respectively, by the nega- For single particles the characteristics de-
tive capillary pressure of a liquid filling the scribing quality usually improve as particle size
pore volume (Fig. 6.2). decreases. In particular, the chemical, physi-
cal, and mineralogical homogeneity increases.
Those characteristics that critically depend on
6.1.2 Properties of Fine Particles
uniformity of structure improve also. For ex-
Table 6.1 shows some important characteris- ample, all real solids have an imperfect struc-
tics of materials and disperse systems that ture; during loading stress concentrations oc-
depend on particle size.2 cur at the structural defects that may cause
(e)
Sinter bridges Chemical reaction Liquid bridges Molecular forces Form-closed bonds
Partial melting Hardening binders Hardening binders Electrostatic forces (interlocking)
Crystallization of Highly viscous binders Crystallization of Magnetic forces
soluble substances Adsorption layers dissolved substances Valence forces
(soluble particles) (<3 nm thickness) (dissolved in liquid) (recombination bonds)
Deposition of suspended
particles
Capillary forces
(conglomerates saturated
with liquid)
Matrix binder
breakage. With decreasing particle size the Controlled or desired agglomeration may
probability of imperfections diminishes, result- improve the characteristics of fine particle
ing in a reduced risk of breakage and there- systems.
fore higher strength. At the same time, the
possibility for irreversible deformation in-
6.1.3 Desired and Undesired
creases with decreasing particle size. For ex-
Agglomeration34
ample, limestone or quartz, with particle size
of less than 10 /xm and 3 ^m, respectively, During production and processing of solid
deforms plastically before breakage begins. matter in disperse systems, adhesion phenom-
On the other hand, problems associated with ena become more and more important with
mechanical processing and handling of parti- decreasing particle size, causing aggregation,
cle systems increase with decreasing particle agglomeration, coating, caking, and build-up.
size mostly due to natural, undesired agglom- The critical particle size is approx. 100 /xm,
eration including such phenomena as caking, but it is also possible that much coarser partic-
bridging, build-up, etc. ulate matter may be affected if a sufficiently
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 205
Table 6.2. Review of the Occurrence of Desired and Undesired Agglomeration Phenomena in
Mechanical Process Engineering.
AGGLOMERATION
UNIT OPERATION PROCESS UNDESIRABLE DESIRABLE
Comminution Dry grinding +
Wet grinding +
Separation Screening, sieving +
Classifying
Sorting + (+)
Flotation + (+)
Dust precipitation (-) +
Clarification, thickening (-) +
Particle size analysis ++
Mixing Dry mixing +
Wet mixing + +
Stirring + (+)
Suspending
Dispersing + (+)
Fluidized bed + +
Particle size enlargement Agglomerating
Briquetting
Tabletting
Granulating (+) ++
Pelletizing
Pelleting
Sintering
Conveying Vibratory conveying +
Pneumatic conveying +
Storage Silos, hoppers +
Stockpile +
Batching, Metering +
Drying
6.2.1.3 Adhesion and Cohesion Forces in Not Therefore, Rumpf1 proposed to determine
Freely Movable Binders the tensile strength of agglomerates. It is de-
fined as the tensile force at failure divided by
Highly viscous bonding media such as tar and
the cross-section of the agglomerate. Because
other highly molecular organic liquids can form
with high probability failure occurs as the re-
bonds very similar to those of solid bridges.
sult of the highest tensile stress in all stressing
Thin adsorption layers are immobile and can
situations, this proposal is justified. Moreover,
contribute to the bonding of fine particles
the tensile strength can be approximated by
under certain circumstances.
theoretical calculations.
All binding mechanisms listed above can be
6.2.1.4. Attraction Forces Between Solid
described by one of three models:
Particles
The typical short-range forces of the van der 1. The entire pore volume of the agglomerate
Waals, electrostatic, or magnetic type can is filled with a (matrix) substance that can
cause solid particles to stick together if they transmit forces and thereby causes strength.
approach each other closely enough. Decreas- 2. The pore volume of the agglomerate is en-
ing particle size clearly favors this mechanism. tirely filled with liquid.
On freshly created surfaces after breakage free 3. Binding forces are transmitted at the con-
valence forces are momentarily present which, tact and coordination points of the primary
at certain conditions, may recombine, forming particles forming the agglomerate.
strong bonds.
6.2.2.1 Maximal Tensile Strength if the Pore
6.2.1.5. Form-Closed Bonds Volume of the Agglomerate Is Filled with a
Fibers, little platelets, or bulky particles can Stress-Transmitting Substance
interlock or fold about each other, resulting in If the pore volume of the agglomerate is com-
"form-closed" bonds. pletely filled with a stress-transmitting sub-
Another classification into only two groups2 stance, for example, a hardening binder, three
distinguishes between the presence of material strength components must be distinguished:
bridges between the primary particles in the
agglomerate and attraction forces (Fig. 6.3). 1. crte (pore volume strength) = strength of
binder substance
6.2.2. Theory of Agglomerate Bonding
2. ata (grain boundary strength) = strength
and Strength caused by adhesion between binder and
The most important characteristic of all forms solids
of the agglomerates is their strength. For the 3. 0"f(i_6) = strength of the solids forming the
determination of agglomerate strength, real agglomerate.
stresses are often simulated experimentally. In
addition to the usually applied crushing, drop, The relatively lowest strength component
and abrasion tests, methods for the determina- determines the agglomerate strength. If the
tion of impact, bending, cutting, or shear pore volume strength or, respectively, the
strength are employed. All values obtained by strength of the solids forming the agglomerate
these methods are strictly empirical and can- are the determining factors and if they are
not be predicted by theory, since it is not everywhere the same, then the cross-section of
known which stress component causes the ag- the respective material defines the agglomer-
glomerate to fail. For the same reason, the ate strength. A theoretical approximation is
experimental results from different methods possible using the same assumptions as de-
cannot be compared with each other. scribed below for solid bridges between parti-
208 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
2. - Electrostatic
Binders Forces
Adsorption Layers
Liquid Bridges
5 N S N Magnetic
Binder Bridges
(extreme case: all Forces
pores are filled with
a binder matrix)
Valence Forces
Form Closed Bonds (Free chemical bonds,
(interlocking) recombination bonds)
(a) (b)
Figure 6.3. Alternative classification of the binding mechanisms.2
6.2.2.2 Maximal Tensile Strength if the Pore Therefore, the maximal tensile strength of
Volume of the Agglomerate Is Filled with a agglomerates filled with a liquid is propor-
Liquid tional to a porosity function (1 - e)/e and
the surface tension of the liquid a; it is in-
If the entire pore volume of the agglomerate versely proportional to the grain size x of the
is filled with a liquid such that concave minisci particles forming the agglomerate. The factor
are formed at the agglomerate surface a nega- a' has a value between 6 and 8.
tive capillary pressure pc develops in the inte- To correctly describe the capillary pressure,
rior. Because the membrane forces at the sur- and thereby the tensile strength, a function of
face are negligibly small in relation to the the wetting angle f(8) would have to be in-
capillary pressure, the tensile strength crtc of cluded in the above formula. This function
the agglomerates filled with a liquid can be equals 1 if the liquid completely wets the solid.
approximated by the capillary pressure: Normally the particles forming agglomer-
ates are not monosized and are irregularly
shaped. Comparisons between experimental
'Pc (6.1) results and the theory showed that a mean
grain size x0, the surface equivalent diameter
Assuming that the pore diameter is charac- calculated from the specific surface area of the
terized by the mean half-hydraulic radius of actual particle, describes the relations well.3
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 209
6.2.2.3 Maximal Tensile Strength if Binding and spherical the tensile strength crt can be
Forces Are Transmitted at the Contact and approximated by:
Coordination Points 1-6 A
(6.4)
The model used for agglomerates, the strength "*•?
of which is caused by solid bridges, assumes where e is the specific void volume (porosity)
that the entire solid binder material is uni- of the agglomerate, IT — 3.14, k the average
formly distributed at all contact and coordina- coordination number and x the size of the
tion points and, there forms bridges with particles forming the agglomerate.
constant strength crB. Then, the relative cross- After a small correction5 Eq. (6.4) can also
section of that material defines the agglomer- be applied for nonspherical particles. Then
ate strength. In a random packing the the estimated elementary tensile strength crte
cross-sectional area of one component (area becomes:
porosity ea) is approximately equal to the crte = ( l - e)-k-A/Op (6.5)
relative volume of that same component (i.e., with Op the particle size. Equation (6.5) is
volume porosity ev = ea = e). Thus, the valid for agglomerates formed by approxi-
tensile strength crtB of agglomerates with solid mately isodisperse, convex, and monosized
bridges can be approximated by:4 particles. With the third moment M30 of the
number density distribution n(x) and a shape
MB Pp factor f0, a formula can be derived that is
—- • ( ! - e ) - c r B =
p PB valid for distributions of similar, approximately
(6.3) isometric, and convex particles:
1 — £ .
(2) An adhesion force component Ab caused strength <jtb of agglomerates with liquid
by the boundary force at the contact line bridges becomes:
solid-liquid-gaseous, which is determined by 1-6 a
the surface tension of the liquid, a: 8th = FA (6.8)
e x
Ah = a -x - IT - sin /3 • sin( (3+8)
Adhesion due to van der Waals Forces. De-
By adding the two parallel adhesion force pending on the geometrical model (Fig. 6.5)
components Ac and Ah and after introducing being used and on the theoretical approach
the dimensionless function FA a formula for taken, different relationships exist for the ap-
the effective adhesion force A^ of a liquid proximation of adhesion by van der Waals
bridge is obtained: forces. The best-known equations are those
developed by Hamaker 9 based on the micro-
scopic theory of London-Heitler. For the
,8,^)j (6.7) model sphere/plane (Fig. 6.5a), a distance
a < 100 nm, and a particle diameter x, the
where a is the surface tension of the liquid, x adhesion force Av is:
the diameter of the spherical, monosized par-
ticles, /3 the angle according to Figure 6.4, and H
'X (6.9)
a the distance of the particle surfaces at the 12-a2
coordination point. For the model sphere/sphere (Fig. 6.5b), and
Therefore, the adhesion force of a liquid the same limitations as mentioned above,
bridge is proportional to the surface tension Hamaker calculates an adhesion force A^ :
a, the particle diameter x, and a function of
H
the angle /3, the angle of contact 8, and the • -X (6.10)
dimensionless quotient a/x. /3 defines the size 2 4 -a2
of the liquid bridge and can be substituted by H, the "Hamaker Constant," which depends
4>, the liquid volume divided by the volume of on the material characteristics, has values in
the solid particles: the order of 10" 20 to 10 ~19 J.
More recently, Krupp10 developed a for-
mula for the model sphere/plane (Fig. 6.5a)
which is based on the macroscopic calculations
of Lifshitz-Landau:
with Vh the volume of the liquid bridge.
By inserting the adhesion force AL [Eq. hco
A' = (6.11)
(6.7)] into the basic formula, Eq. (6.4), and
assuming that k • e ~ TT,8 the maximal tensile
a)
fto) is the "Lifshitz-van der Waals Constant," By inserting Eq. (6.14) into the basic for-
which, depending on the material characteris- mula, Eq. (6.4), and assuming that k • e ~ TT,8
tics, has values between 0.2 and 9 eV (1 eV = the maximal tensile strength crtc of agglomer-
1.6 • 10 ~19 J). All equations for the approxima- ated due to excess charges is:
tion of van der Waals forces differ only in the
constants. The adhesion force Ay is always 1 - e
(6.15)
proportional to the particle diameter x and (1 + a/xf
inversely proportional to the squared distance
Because of the field character of this bind-
a: ing mechanism, the tensile strength is inde-
X
(6.12) pendent of the particle size. Also, the strength
due to excess charges is very small, and the
charges tend to equalize with time. Therefore,
By inserting Eq. (6.12) into the basic formula, this mechanism is most often important only
Eq. (6.4), and assuming that k • e « TT,8 the for the initial formation of agglomerates.
maximal tensile strength cr^ of agglomerates Much more important, however, are adhe-
bound by van der Waals forces becomes: sion forces due to electrical double layers.
1- e c 1 This phenomenon can develop if the particles
~2 ' 7 (6.13) touch each other and is permanent. According
a to Krupp10 the "attraction pressure" due to
electrical double layers between two semi-
Adhesion due to Electrostatic Forces. In the
infinite bodies is in the order of Pel 104 to 107
case of electrostatic forces, one must distin-
N / m 2 (105 to 108 dyn/cm 2 ). In comparison,
guish between an excess charge and the elec-
the van der Waals attraction pressure between
trical double layer (equilibrium).
two semi-infinite bodies is Pvdw 2 X 107 to
The strength due to excess charges can be
3 X 108 N / m 2 (2 X 108 to 3 X 109 dyn/cm 2 ).
estimated if it is assumed that positively and
It may seem as if the two mechanisms ex-
negatively charged particles are arranged in a
clude each other. However, since i?vdW de-
uniform pattern.4 The basis for the derivation
creases with I/a3 and Pel stays almost con-
is Coulomb's formula for the attraction force
stant even over macroscopic distance, the
between two spherical, nonconducting parti-
electrical double layer will contribute to the
cles of equal size, the distance between which
adhesion of particles, particularly if the con-
is much smaller than their diameter. If the
tact surfaces are rough.
charges Q = y • TT • x2 are uniformly dis-
tributed on the surfaces the adhesion force Ac A theoretical approximation for specific sys-
can be approximated by: tems is still not yet possible, since little is
known about the distribution of charges in
10y2 different materials. The effect of magnetic
(6.14) particles in agglomerates corresponds to that
(1 + a/xf of excess charges and is subject to the same
limitations.
For quartz the maximal charge density per
unit area, y, was estimated to be y^ « 0.25
6.2.3 Experimental Determination of
N/m 2 . 1 If it is assumed that the charged parti-
Agglomerate Bonding and Strength
cles forming an agglomerate are arranged like
an ion lattice, then the attraction force be- The most important techniques for the experi-
tween two adjacent, oppositely charged parti- mental determination of agglomerate strength
cles is approximately a factor 0.3 smaller be- known today measure crushing, shear, and
cause of the repulsion of neighboring particles tensile strengths. Sketches A-F in Figure 6.6
with the same charge. show schematically the methods for measuring
212 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
/ / / • ' • '
+£
zi / ; / , • ,• /
case of agglomerates with flat ends the trans-
verse expansion is blocked by friction between
pellet and plate; thereby uncontrolled stress
concentrations build up that can be the true
C)
cause for failure.
AL In Figure 6.6B, an apparatus is sketched for
the investigation of shear strength. Originally
this method was used in soil mechanics for the
determination of shear curves of cohesive bulk
solids. The "strength" of the conglomerate
caused by internal friction can be determined
graphically from the shear curves. The ag-
glomerate must have two parallel surfaces,
which may have to be produced by machining.
The test specimen is fastened in the apparatus
and stressed by the force P. The shear strength
is defined by the shear force at failure divided
by the shear plane.
Figure 6.6. Methods for measuring the strength of ag- Figure 6.6C shows in principle the "ad-
glomerates and particle conglomerates. (A) Determi-
nation of crushing strength: (a) loaded plate, (b) ag- hesive" method for the determination of ten-
glomerate, (c) support plate. (B) Determination of sile strength. Cylindrical agglomerates with two
shear strength: (a) upper receptable, (b) compact or parallel and flat ends are centrically cemented
briquette, (c) lower receptacle. (C) and (D) Determi- between two so-called adaptors. To eliminate
nation of tensile strength of strong agglomerates: (a) bending stresses it is necessary to machine
adhesive, (b) agglomerate (eventually machined). (E)
and (F) Determination of tensile strength of weak spherical or nonsymmetrical agglomerates into
agglomerates and of particle conglomerates. cylindrical specimens using a special method
(Fig. 6.7).12 This sample is fastened to two thin
wires (Fig. 6.8) and subjected to tensile forces
in a conventional testing machine (Fig. 6.9a
the strength of agglomerates and particle con- and b). The tensile strength of the agglomer-
glomerates. ate is defined as the tensile force P at failure
Figure 6.6A shows the determination of the divided by the cross section of the cylindrical
crushing strength.11 This method is a very specimen.
simple one. Individual agglomerates are placed Figure 6.6D sketches the determination of
between two parallel plates and loaded with a the tensile strength of model agglomerates by
uniformly increasing force P until failure oc- means of the wall friction method.7 For this
curs. Usually the "agglomerate strength" is test a cylindrical pellet—potentially with a
defined as the mean statistical force at failure central pin—is produced in a press. After re-
of a larger number of agglomerates tested by moving the specimen from the press, it is
this method. Sometimes a crushing strength is stressed directly in the die shell. The tensile
calculated by dividing the force at failure by force is transmitted by adhesion between the
the projection area of the agglomerate; how- end surfaces and the "pistons" as well as on
ever, from a physical point of view this is not the circumference and the die walls. Again,
acceptable. the tensile strength is defined by the quotient
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 213
Cover
plate
D Container
Inductive
displacement
gauges
(a)
10 2
N/mm 2
\ \ I
v
\ \
v
=2 m-i
_ \ , - —X
-
>
K—— —
\ ^4 > II
10-2 \
\
s
Figure 6.9. Testing machines adopted for the determi- 10" k \ \102
103
10- 10-
nation of the tensile strength of agglomerates, (a) Particle size X
Schematic overall view, (b) close-up during an actual
tensile test. Figure 6.11. Approximation of the maximal theoretical
tensile strength of agglomerates. Porosity: e = 0.35.
Region I: for example, hardening binders. Region II:
Crystallizing soluble substances, for example, salts.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 215
particle contact. Agglomerates with highly vis- with sinter and adhesion bridges can be ex-
cous and hardening binders are also included pected above this line.
in this region. The lower region II describes In each case, the predictions of Figure 6.11
the much weaker bonds caused by recrystal- are valid only for certain assumptions. In the
lization of dissolved substances. following a few examples shall demonstrate
The diagonal lines define maximal tensile the variability of the correlations if individual
strengths, which depend on the size of the parameters are changed.
particles to be agglomerated. The van der Figure 6.12a and b show salt bridges that
Waals lines were calculated using the model were obtained at different drying tempera-
sphere/sphere and particle distances of a = 3 tures14 during a model experiment. The visual
and 1 nm. Assuming a distance of a = 0.4 nm examination indicates that the drying tempera-
(equilibrium distance) and using the model ture must play an important role in the devel-
sphere/plane, the line would be pushed opment of agglomerate strength even if all
higher, close to the one representing capillary other parameters are kept constant.
forces. If, in addition, plastic deformation of Capillary pressure and tensile strength of
particles is considered, still higher agglomer- moist agglomerates are associated with each
ate strengths can be obtained. other. To a great degree they are influenced
A narrow region characterizes the effect of by the amount of liquid that is present in the
liquid bridges. Somewhat higher is the line for pore volume of the agglomerate. Assuming
the strength of agglomerates that are com- that the liquid wets the solid particles (8 = 0),
pletely filled with a liquid. For this diagram it a classification as shown in Figure 6.13 can be
was calculated assuming water and the con- defined. It is valid for three-phase systems
stant ar = 6. The strength of agglomerates consisting of a disperse solid material and two
••••
Figure 6.12. Common salt (NaCl) crystallizing between glass spheres (model experiment), (a) Drying at room
temperature, (b) drying at 110°C.
216 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
(a)
Figure 6.13. Different models of liquid distribution in moist agglomerates, (a) Pendular state, (b) funicular state,
(c) capillary state, (d) liquid droplets with particles inside or at its surface.
immiscible fluid phases. The dark colored area spheres, a the surface tension of the liquid,
represents the wetting fluid phase. the wetting angle 5 = 0, and a the distance at
A small quantity of liquid causes liquid the coordination point. As the value of Vb/Vs
bridges between the particles forming the ag- increases, the attraction forces increase for
glomerate (Fig. 6.13a). This region is called planes and cones and decrease for spheres.
the pendular state. By increasing the amount Under normal atmospheric conditions and
of liquid, the funicular state is obtained (Fig. with wetting solids it must be expected that
6.13b) where both liquid bridges and pores liquid bridges are developing by a capillary
filled with liquid are present. The capillary condensation at contact points (a = 0). De-
state (Fig. 6.13c) is reached when all pores are pending on the contact geometry involved, the
completely filled with the liquid, and concave attractive fores resulting from this mechanism
menisci develop at the surface of the agglom-
erate. The last state (Fig. 6.13d), a liquid
droplet with particles inside or at its surface, is
an important mechanism for wet scrubbing
and has relevance for agglomerate strength in
spray dryer/agglomerators. Corresponding to
the two patterns, Figures 6.13a and c, different
models exist for the theoretical determination
of agglomerate strength with a transition range
in between (Fig. 6.13b).
Formerly, mathematical approximations
were used for estimating the adhesion forces
that can be transmitted through a liquid bridge.
More recently, Schubert15'16 developed exact
equations for all rotationally symmetric liquid
bridges. In Figure 6.14 the nondimensional
force FA = AL/a-x [Eq. (6.7)] is plotted ver- 10
sus Vh/Vs for various geometric situations,
where Vb is the bridge volume, Vs the volume Figure 6.14. Computed adhesion forces resulting from
of the solid (sphere), x the diameter of the liquid bridges for various geometric situations.15
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 217
1C )-
2
5-10-2
(a) Bondings superimposed
@ Bondings separated
7\
•1 — • « - ^
•
T = • =
V ^ Appro<imation
0.1 0.2
10"1
0.3
0.4
-
0.5
the bonding mechanisms can be superimposed tive parameter, the accurate value of which
curve a results from the sum cr/b plus <xt'c. needs still to be determined.
In all those cases where adhesion is caused Figure 6.20b shows for the model sphere/
by van der Waals or electrostatic attraction or plate the correlation between the maximum
by liquid bridges, surface roughness reduces adhesion force Amax on contact and the diam-
the maximally transferable adhesion force. For eter x = 2R of smooth particles for different
the model sphere/plane and van der Waals adhesion mechanisms. The highest attraction
attraction, Figure 6.19 shows the controlling forces are caused by liquid bridges assuming
radii for the calculation of the adhesion force complete wetting (8 = 0) and water as the
according to Eq. (6.11). The shape of particles liquid. Van der Waals forces are smaller by
with surface roughness can be approximated almost an order of magnitude, although a rela-
by superimposing two spheres. The large ra- tively high Lifshitz-van der Waals constant
dius R is considered the equivalent radius of a (hTo = 5 eV = 8 • 10~19 J) was chosen. If two
sphere of same volume as the particle, whereas different materials contact, an electrostatic at-
the small radius r represents the surface traction force develops that is caused by the
roughness.17 contact potential. The latter depends on the
Considering the model of Figure 6.19 and characteristics of the two contacting materials
Eq. (6.11), the highest attraction forces Amax and their surface conditions. Again, the poten-
must be obtained if the adhesion partners are tial chosen (U = 0.5 V) represents a relatively
in contact and have smooth surfaces. Contrary high value. For conductors the electrostatic
to the indication of Eq. (6.11), the attraction attraction force is higher than for nonconduc-
force on contact is in reality finite. Therefore, tors with the same contact potential because
an adjustment parameter Z o must be intro- the charge is concentrated at the surface.
duced: Electrostatic attraction forces can also result
from excess charges originating from friction,
flO) crushing, or electron and, respectively, ion ad-
A". = R (6.22)
sorption. The highest possible excess charges
zor are around 102 elementary charges e/jmrn2.
Krupp10 has defined Z o = 4 • 10" 8 cm (0.4 Figure 6.20b indicates that for smooth
nm) as a measure for the atomic distance. For spheres with sizes below 100 jam the electro-
Figure 6.20b, Amax was calculated for different static adhesion is negligible compared with
adhesion mechanisms using this value of Z o , van der Waals forces and even more so in
although it does not represent a true atomic relation to forces caused by liquid bridges.
distance. Rather, it is an approximate or adap- Figure 6.20a describes the influence of sur-
face roughness, represented by r (abscissa), on
Controlling radius the attraction force A for different adhesion
mechanisms. The curves were calculated for
Radius -o spheres with constant diameter x = 2R = 10
Rough
'J Smooth
determined in Figure 6.20b. Only for van der
Waals forces two further curves for R = 0.5
/jum and R = 50 jiim were plotted since—
because of their short-range character—the
influence of roughness on van der Waals forces
Contact (Z o « 4*10~ 4 jum) is very pronounced.
No contact Contact Investigating the curve for R = 5 /xm and
Figure 6.19. van der Waals model sphere/plate with van der Waals attraction, the following obser-
and without surface roughness.17 vations can be made. At r = 0 (not shown in
220 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
N (= Newton)
10' 5
Liquid bridge, »= 20°
n
R = 5
1<r6
N
y
A 10-7 10'
M-A <v /
/
10-9
0.1 1
/ 10 /im 100
x = 2R
Model:
a=7.2-10" 4 N/cm
6=0
(a)
Figure 6.20. Attraction forces caused by different adhesion mechanisms for the model sphere/plate. Contact:
a = 0, Z o = 0.4 nm.17 (a) Influence of the roughness radius r on the attraction force A. (b) Influence of the
diameter R of the smooth spheres on the attraction force Amax.
Fig. 6.20a) the maximum adhesion force A = immersed in the liquid and merely increases
A
max = !0~ 6 N is obtained (Fig. 6.20b). With the distance a. The smaller /3, the more pro-
increasing r, the distance of the larger sphere nounced is this influence. At (3 = 2.5° the
from the plane grows, and the adhesion force liquid bridge breaks off from the large sphere
decreases proportional to r~2. Later the in- at ~r = 1 0 - 1 ^m and remains on the small
fluence of the large sphere diminishes, and a sphere. Then, the attraction force increases
minimum is reached at which both attraction proportional to r. p = 2.5° can already corre-
forces act simultaneously. Amin is only approx- spond to capillary condensation. If /3 is still
imately 1/250 Amax. If r grows further, the smaller, the transition to the line proportional
influence of the large sphere disappears. Then, to r occurs at smaller values of r, for example,
only the attraction force of the small sphere for j8 = 1° at r « 5 • 10" 2 /xm. In any case,
remains, which increases proportional to r. the attraction force due to capillary condensa-
With growing R, rmin and the corresponding tion at the roughness peaks is always larger
Amin increase but not at the same rate as than the van der Waals force.
Amax. At R = 50 M m, Amin/Amax equals The electrostatic attraction forces of electri-
1/1000. cal conductors and of insulators with excess
Liquid bridges are much less sensitive to charges are smaller than the van der Waals
surface roughness. If the angle /3 is not too forces. However, the influence of roughness is
small, for example, /3 = 20°, the roughness is less pronounced and disappears completely for
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 221
nonconducting particles facing a plane with an to Sections 6.2.2 and 6.2.4 (see Theoretical
opposite charge of the same density. Approximation of Agglomerate Strength) can
For a long time the opinion existed that be well approximated.
compared with van der Waals forces electro-
static attraction is always negligible. Based on
the knowledge of the independence of rough- Crystallization of Dissolved Substances Dur-
ness on electrostatic adhesion, this must now ing Drying14. If drying of agglomerates that
be corrected. Since the electrostatic attraction are filled with a salt solution starts at high
force increases with R2, the 50 /mm sphere liquid saturation S, evaporation begins at the
with a charge density of 102 e/fim2 would surface of the agglomerate. The liquid flows to
generate a higher value that could be obtained the surface by means of capillary suction.
with the van der Waals model in much of the There, the dissolved substance crystallizes,
range of roughness shown in figure 6.20a. forms a crust, and decisively controls further
Therefore, in dry agglomerates formed by rel- drying of the porous body. The crystal struc-
atively large particles the electrostatic attrac- ture can therefore by influenced by either the
tion forces due to excess charges—which do drying temperature or the presence of a crust.
not depend on surface roughness—may have In the latter case, the tensile strength of the
an important share in agglomerate strength. agglomerate changes due to the varying drying
The following results are generally valid: conditions even if the strength is measured on
the core after removing the crust.
A typical example is shown in Figure 6.21.
1. For adhesion, forces caused by liquid
The tensile strength, av is plotted versus the
bridges are most important and, normal-
drying temperature, td. The parameter is the
ly, represent the highest share. Even in
liquid saturation S. This diagram was obtained
dry systems—due to capillary condensa-
using a nearly saturated salt (sodium chloride)
tion—liquid bridges may be the control-
solution and a narrow limestone powder frac-
ling mechanism.
tion. At very small liquid saturations (S <
2. Van der Waals forces are extremely sensi-
20%, curves a and b) no crust is built up, and
tive to surface roughness but should always
the tensile strength increases with the drying
be larger than forces caused by the contact
temperature. This rise is caused first by the
potential.
increasing crystallization velocity and second
3. Excess charges can also be a controlling
by the amount of salt forming bridges that
factor for adhesion, particularly if relatively
changes almost proportionally to the liquid
large particles form a dry conglomerate.
saturation. At a liquid saturation of 20% the
4. At distances in excess of 1 fim or, respec-
formation of a thin crust starts to influence
tively, a/x > 0.2, only electrostatic forces
the tensile strength slightly. At the highest
are effective. They cause particle attraction
liquid saturations examined (S > 45%, curves
before adhesion takes over and forms
e and / ) , the dense crust is at all temperatures
agglomerates.
the deciding factor for drying and for the
crystallization velocity. Their core tensile
6.2.4.2 Results of Experimental strength is low and remains almost constant.
Determinations of Agglomerate Such agglomerates burst at high drying tem-
Strength peratures much like a pressure vessel (Fig.
In the following, some results of experimental 6.22). The high tensile strength of agglomer-
investigations will show that if suitable model ates with S = 30% dried at a temperature of
materials, agglomeration techniques, and ex- 350°C (curve d) is caused by small hair frac-
perimental stressing methods are used, the tures in the crust that did not cause the ag-
respective theoretical expectations according glomerate to disintegrate but raised the drying
222 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
0.5
Percentage
liquid saturation
0.4 — i—
/ 1TA
a: © S=6%
b: © S= 10% —o.
c: O S = 20%
d: © S = 30%
e: 9 S = 45%
0.3 — f: • S = 60%
/
.5
0.2 // r
0.1
JVC -<
C
a
0.6
t d = 180°C
E
v = 2.25 m/s
with crust
£ 0.4 (Chard)
t> 58 W C
b: © 110°C
c: O 150°C
d: © 210°C
0.2
e: <• 350°C
Free convection
crust removed
(Pietsch)
20 40 60
Percentage liquid saturation S[%]
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
with Eq. (6.2) using «' = 6 and a' = 8. The
Percentage liquid saturation S [%]
diagram shows that at ~ 1/x is fulfilled. Val-
Figure 6.23. Tensile strength crt of the core of agglom- ues lower than theoretically predicted are
erates (crust removed) with salt bridges as a function of
mostly due to the fact that the agglomerates
the liquid saturation S before drying at different drying
temperatures td.14 were not fully saturated when the tensile
strength was determined.
The relationship <xt ~ a was confirmed by
For practical applications the following con- Conway-Jones11 with compression tests on
clusion can be drawn: To obtain high strength, spherical agglomerates (Fig. 6.26) and at
drying should be carried out at the highest x/a ~ (1 — e ) / e was checked by Schubert,15
possible (without cracking) temperature using who confirmed this correlation, too (Fig. 6.27).
a saturated solution. Chare20 found further It can be assumed that up to saturations of
that the air velocity does not substantially — 20% to 40% the liquid in moist agglomer-
change the drying rate, and, therefore, the ates is present in the form of discrete liquid
agglomerate strength. bridges at the contact and coordination points
between the particles forming the agglomer-
Strength of Moist Agglomerates. Agglomer- ate. The tensile strength of such an agglomer-
ates that are being built up by balling, that is ate is predicted by Eq. (6.8). Experimentally it
the snowball-like forming of pellets in drums was investigated with the wall friction method
or discs, are nearly saturated with liquid. Fig- (Figure 6.6D) using pellets made of narrowly
ure 6.25 shows results of the determination distributed limestone powder and distilled wa-
of tensile strength plotted versus particle size. ter. In Figure 6.28 the experimental results are
xQ is the surface equivalent diameter and xx shown in comparison to the theory. The curves
is the maximum of the diameter distribu- were approximated by varying the distance a
tion. The diagonals represent the maximally (respectively, a/x). They seem to fit the exper-
transferable tensile strength calculated imental results well, although the parameters
224 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
10 1 0
08
06
\ \ 08
04
.E
02
\ \
.6 8)
I|
06
04
y
*—' 01
\
fcT 0 08
o> 0 06
T
LI 1 L s\ \
j' =
-- c
•6 0 2
^r
(I
Tensille strei
ifa
0 04
• • 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Surface tension a-10 5 [N/cm]
0 02
0 01
11
ss Figure 6 26 Relationship between crushing strength a-
...
0 008 of moist agglomerates and surface tension a of the
0 006 liquid n
0 004
4 6 810 20 40 60 100
Particle size X [Mm sure pc. It is generally located near S = 0.9.
Figure 6 25 Tensile strength of moist agglomerates Approximately at this point the maximum ten-
with high liquid saturation as a function of particle size sile strength of moist agglomerates exists. At
e = 0 35 Quartz powder v x0, T XX Limestone lower and higher saturations the strength de-
powder • xQi • xx creases. The results show that between 0.3 <
S < 0.9 both mechanisms contribute to the
a/x are purely empirical. However, consider- strength of agglomerates.
ing the surface roughness of the particles the The capillary pressure and, therefore, the
a/x values may be in the correct order of tensile strength are much larger if the liquid is
magnitude. drained than after imbibition. This knowledge
can be very important for agglomeration and
ALCOHOL/WATER MIXTURES certain other technologies, for example, filtra-
tion (strength of filter cakes).
VOL %
ALCOHOL WATER (N/cm) (N/mm2)
Strength due to van der Waals Forces. Be-
5 1
0 100 72.2 X 10" 8.31 X 10" cause of the short range of van der Waals
10 90 50.2 X 10" 5 6.02 X 10" 1 forces, particles forming an agglomerate must
30 70 35.0 X 10" 5 4.53 X 10" l
100 0 22.2 X 10" 5 2.42 X 10" l 30
"0
f 20 40
J
60 80
dry material (L) and, therefore, contain ad-
sorbed water exhibit higher strength than those
pressed at high vacuum from desorbed barite
Percentage liquid saturation S [%] (HV). This is in general agreement with the
Figure 6.28. Relative tensile strength crt/pc of agglom- expected influence of water adsorption on ad-
erates with liquid bridges as a function of the liquid hesion discussed above.
saturation S. Limestone powder; A : X0 = 71 /xm; O: Herrmann23 investigated in more detail the
x0 = 35 /xm; • : x0 = 13 /im. influence of water adsorption on the tensile
a
e = 0.45; a/x = 0.02 (a = 1.4 /xm)
b
and shear strength of barium sulfate briquets.
e = 0.45; 0 / * = 0.04 (0 = 1.4 /xm)
c
e = 0.50; 0 / * = 0.1 (0 = 1.3 /xm)
Figure 6.31 shows some results. The tensile
and shear strengths were determined on bri-
quets produced and stressed in a high vacuum
be brought closely together to cause signifi- and at varying levels of relative humidity of
cant attraction. To investigate the influence of the surrounding atmosphere. The normal rela-
pressure and van der Waals attraction on ag- tive humidity lies between 60% and 80%.
glomerate strength, cylindrical pellets were Therefore, in the common sense, the powder
produced in a hydraulic press using barium must be considered dry. The strength is plot-
sulfate as the model substance. This material ted in both parts of Figure 6.31 versus the
excludes other binding mechanisms. relative water vapor pressure p/p0 (with p0 =
The influence of adsorption layers on ag- water vapor pressure at saturation). The fol-
glomerate strength was demonstrated using, lowing conclusions can be drawn:
respectively, air-dry material and powder,
which was dehydrated at a temperature of
1. The tensile strength crt increases with
growing relative water vapor pressure p/p0.
1.2 Responsible for this rise is the capillary
condensation. Van der Waals forces partici-
n Pe
Pc «
S-P^
pate only to a small extent.
0.06
il
f0.6
I 0.4 I 0.04 T
S 0.2
i r 0.05
I 0 i>
?I >0.02
HV
'55
20 40 60 80 100 100 200 300 400 500
s
Percentage liquid saturation S [%] Compaction pressure [N/mm 2 ]
Figure 6.29. Tensile strength ax and capillary pressure Figure 6.30. Tensile strength <xt of barium sulfate pel-
pc as a function of liquid saturation S. Limestone: lets with (L) and without (HV) adsorption layers as a
*o = 71 /xm, e = 0.415. # : /?c; D: o*t drainage; O: crt function of compaction pressure. Particle size of start-
imbibition. ing material: 50 to 100 /urn.22
226 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
References
A basic equation for the tensile strength of Equations (6.25) and (6.26) suggest that the
agglomerates bonded by forces transmitted at strength of agglomerates is strongly influenced
the coordination points between particles was by the porosity and, respectively, the relative
first developed by Rumpf.1 It is [see also Eq. amount of solids and that it increases with the
(6.4)]: specific surface area ( = decreasing surface
equivalent diameter x0) of the particulate
1-6 matter forming the agglomerate. The latter
(6.23) also indicates that the presence or lack of very
fine particles will favor or hinder the forma-
tion of strong agglomerates. In the case of wet
where
agglomerates (capillary model) the surface
crt = tensile strength tension participates directly in strength; it must
e = porosity (= relative pore space) be understood, however, that capillary forces
(1 — e) = relative amount of solids provide only temporary bonding; post treat-
k = number of coordination points ment will activate other binding mechanisms
A} = adhesion force by mechanism i. (Fig. 6.3) for permanent strength.
228 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 6.4. Some Characteristics of Spherical naturally agglomerate increases (for example,
particles (Density of Solid: 1g/cm 3 ).
in a fluidized bed environment) but, indepen-
SURFACE dent of concentration, decreases with particle
MASS VOLUME DIAMETER NUMBER AREA size despite their greater adhesion potential.
(g) (cm3) (mm) (—) (m 2 /g)
The latter is due to the fact that ultrafine
1 12.4 1 4.8 10~ 4 particles tend to follow flow lines so that colli-
1.67 10~ 3 1.9 • 1012 9.3 sions do not occur as frequently.
The natural agglomeration of "submicron"
particles is a reason for the relatively high
efficiency of many pollution control devices
overlap and can be influenced by special con- that separate such solids from process efflu-
ditions or processes. ents. The effect can be increased by forcing
In a particle size range below approx. 10 the particles into increased motion, for exam-
fim the natural attraction forces, such as ple, in the case of smokes by the application of
molecular (van der Waals), magnetic, and sound.
electrostatic forces, which may be enhanced by
adsorption layers, liquid films, or "binder"
6.3.2.1 Undesired Agglomeration
chemicals (e.g., flocculation agents) become
significantly larger than the separating forces Knowing the possible binding mechanisms of
due to particle mass and external influences agglomeration and that, with few exceptions,
(e.g., drag and centrifugal forces) so that adhe- bonding and strength of agglomerates is
sion occurs (Fig. 6.34). Because the probability strongly influenced by particle size or surface,
of particle-to-particle collisions, which are pre- the reasons for and potential methods for the
conditions for adhesion, rises with concentra- prevention of unwanted agglomeration phe-
tion, the tendency of particulate matter to nomena during processing, storage, and han-
-9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
H 1 1 |1/jm 1 1 |1mm |1cm jhdm | m
Growth / Tumble;
agglomeration ;
Figure 6.34. Chain-like natural agglomerates of "brown smoke" from steel converters formed by the combined
effects of magnetic, electrostatic, and molecular attraction. 2
dling of particulate solids are comprehensible. the freely moving charge itself. Again, such
In most cases undesired agglomeration phe- agglomerates form only in the presence of a
nomena begin with the finer portion of the sufficiently large amount of fine particles and
particle mass. In the following some examples2 are frequently lamellar.
will be presented. Agglomeration and adhesion in mills can be
attributed to various bonding mechanisms.
Comminution. During fine grinding in tube Since the mill housing often becomes highly
or roller mills deposits begin to form at a charged by friction between its contents and
certain fineness, in the case of all materials, the walls, electrostatic forces are often the
whereby two types of phenomena can be dis- cause of build-ups. This effect can be elimi-
tinguished. nated quite easily by grounding the mill. In
In the first case, the finest particles start to other cases, wall deposits will begin with parti-
adhere to walls of grinding media in the mill, cles of a size that generally corresponds to
forming thin layers. On this basis coarser par- that of the wall roughness. The strength of the
ticles find excellent conditions for adhesion deposited layer depends on the intensity of
and massive deposits form rapidly. Experi- contact pressure which is magnified by the mill
ments by Ocepek,3 who investigated the parti- charge consisting of grinding media and mate-
cle size distribution across thick layers of
build-up, showed that the finest particles are
indeed found in the lowest layers. Figure 6.35 iiiii
shows grinding balls which, after a short pe-
riod of operation, are already covered with a
light primary deposit, upon which additional
layers will build up during extended grinding.
Figure 6.36 is the photograph of the manhole
cover of a ball mill, illustrating the extent of
such deposits. These adhering layers produce
a cushioning effect which lowers the intensity
of stressing and, therefore, increases the dura-
tion of grinding.
The second phenomenon during dry fine Figure 6.35. Grinding balls before (right) and after
grinding is the occurrence of agglomerates in brief grinding (left).2
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 231
Figure 6.36. Manhole cover of a ball mill before (top) and after grinding (below).2
rial to be crushed. Adhesion is largely affected Since every form of agglomeration de-
by molecular forces; however, partial melting creases the efficiency of grinding and the de-
and sintering are also possible. gree of fineness obtained at the "grinding
Agglomerates are formed in the freely mov- equilibrium" is not sufficient for many tasks, it
ing charge of a tube mill by the compaction of is desirable to prevent or at least reduce these
fine particles between the grinding media. Ad- effects. In milling, one possibility to achieve
hesion is affected by van der Waals forces less unwanted agglomeration is to add
between the particles that have been com- surface-active substances. It has long been
pressed very tightly. Beke,4 who determined known that small amounts of such additives
structural changes in the agglomerated parti- may reduce the grinding time required for
cles, went so far as to regard this mechanism reaching a particular fineness by 20% to
as similar to cold welding. Since these agglom- 30%.10~14 Atoms or molecules of these sub-
erates are very strong, a so-called "grinding stances that are present in a gas or vapor
equilibrium" is obtained which has been ob- phase rapidly saturate free valences at the
served and described by many authors.5"9 It newly created surfaces which would otherwise
means that, after a certain grinding time, a give rise to recombination bonding. The effect
state of equilibrium occurs, from that point on of some of these grinding aids on the fineness
agglomerates are crushed during further of cement15 after a specific grinding time is
grinding and reformed so that the apparent shown in Figure 6.37. It can be seen that, with
particle size does not change. the exception of soot, the desired effect is
232 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
3500,
cm2/g o Without additions
• +0.1%Na-stearate
cm2/g
8000
No accretions
, formed
7000
Specific surface
a:of the accretion
J6000 b:of the free charge
a: ©Soot
b: 9 Acetone Weight %
1500 c: « Sodium stearate 50.
d: ©Water
e: •Naphthenic acids
1000
0.5 %1
Addition of auxiliary
grinding agent
Figure 6.37. Effect of various grinding aids on the 4 8 12 16 20
fineness of cement after a constant grinding time (2000 Grinding duration 103
rev) in a rod mill (rod diameter: 25 mm, 85% critical (mill revolutions)
speed). (According to Ghigi and Rabottino. 15 )
Figure 6.38. Specific surface of the build-up and of the
free charge as well as amount of build-up with and
without the use of a grinding aid (cement clinker, rod
mill). (According to Ghigi and Rabotino. 15 )
produced only if the amount of the grinding
aid is very small. At higher concentrations the
agglomeration tendency increases due to the
formation of sorption layers and liquid bridges.
In the case of soot a greater quantity is re- %
100
quired because it is a solid whose molecules Cement clinker J
are not very mobile. Good results can also be ^ without addition
obtained by merely enriching the atmosphere §80 » +0 1 % tripthannlaminp
\
in the grinding chamber with certain gases or p
vapors that have been selected to possibly 5 60 \ _
interact with the charge.16"23
As a rule, grinding aids also reduce caking.
Figure 6.38 depicts the effect of 0.1% sodium
stearate during the grinding of cement clinker.
o
D)
140 \
\
I
Other surface-active substances can delay LL20
\
build-up for longer periods or even prevent
o
them entirely up to a certain fineness (for
u
cement clinker, e.g., 0.1% triethanolamine,4 2 4 6 8 10 h
Grinding duration
Fig. 6.39). From Figure 6.38 it can also be seen
that the specific surface, that is, the fineness of Figure 6.39. Changes in the amount of the freely
moving charge during the grinding of cement in a
cement, increases when 0.1% sodium stearate laboratory ball mill with and without the addition of
is added and that the build-up consists of finer triethanolamine as a grinding aid.4
particles.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 233
The formation of lamellas or plate-like ag- friction between the rollers.24 More recently it
glomerates in tube mills has been attributed to was found25 that the combination of a large
compaction occurring between the grinding degree of reduction in high-pressure roller
media. The same mechanism happens in all mills and the desagglomeration of the con-
comminution processes in which the material glomerates produced by this method result in
to be crushed is subjected to stresses by two a significantly lower overall energy consump-
surfaces. Since the second condition for the tion during fine grinding of brittle materials
formation of agglomerates is a sufficient fine- (such as cement clinker and many ores); there-
ness of the particles, the occurrence of lamel- fore, in many cases the unavoidable agglomer-
las is observed mostly in fine grinding, for ation of the fine particles is not only tolerable
example, in roller mills. but the technology also results in a more eco-
One measure for the fineness as well as the nomical fine grinding method.
intensity of stressing—and consequently, also Agglomerates can also be formed during
for the agglomerative tendency—is the so- impact grinding. Figure 6.41a shows schemati-
called degree of reduction, that is, the ratio of cally the fracture lines observed during impact
maximum feed particle size to the gap be- stressing of a glass sphere.26 A cone of fine
tween the rollers. Figure 6.40 shows typical material is created at the impact point and is
agglomerates produced in a roller mill with a compacted by the pressure resulting from the
high degree of reduction. Since the fine mate- kinetic energy of the system into an agglomer-
rial is immediately compacted, almost all free ated mass (Fig. 6.41b and c). Here too, the
valences at the newly created surfaces partici- effect of free valence forces at newly created
pate in recombination bonding. surfaces is utilized to its almost full extent,
Consequently, the formation of agglomer- yielding a quite strong agglomerate. During
ates can be avoided or reduced only if a smaller impact crushing thermoplastic materials or in-
degree of reduction is chosen, or by applying organic substances with low melting points,
Degree of reduction
Figure 6.40. Agglomerates produced during the grinding of limestone and cement clinker in a roller mill with a
high degree of reduction.24
234 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a: remaining cone
b: laterai splinters
c: cone of fine material
Figure 6.41. (a) Schematic representation of the fracture lines caused by impact stressing of a glass sphere. 26 (b)
Agglomerated cone of fines created during the impact stressing of a glass sphere (impact velocity approx. 150 m/s;
sphere diameter 8 mm). 26 (c) Agglomerated cone of fines created during the impact stressing of a sugar crystal
(left).27
adhesion and agglomerate strength may fur- line. The so-called separation curve is a mea-
ther increase owing to melt bridges. It is very sure of the quality of separation. In this curve
difficult to prevent such agglomeration; this the degree of separation (i.e., the percentage
can be affected only by reducing the impact share of particles in the coarse and fine frac-
velocity which, in turn, results in a lower de- tion, respectively, after separation) is plotted
gree of comminution. For glass spheres, for versus the particle size interval xmin < x < xmax
example, the formation of agglomerates was which is to be separated. The cut size is that
observed only at impact velocities exceeding particle size of which half end up in the coarse
80 m/s. 26 fraction and half in the fine (</> = 50%). Fig-
In wet grinding, as a rule, agglomeration is ure 6.42 is a qualitative representation of sep-
totally avoided by suspending the particles in aration curves.2 Line (a) in Figure 6.42 repre-
liquid. Sometimes, the product of dry fine sents the ideal or perfect separation at cut size
grinding is subjected to a brief final wet grind- xtl which is possible only in theory. In indus-
ing to destroy the previously formed agglomer- trial separation equipment curves of the type
ates.50 Nevertheless, some materials also tend (b) are obtained. The sharpness of separation
to flocculate in wet grinding. Since in these increases with a steeper slope of the curve. If
cases the adhesion forces are mostly electrical, the abscissa uses a logarithmic gradation, sep-
the addition of a small amount of electrolyte aration curves representing similar separation
nearly almost suffices to prevent flocculation. efficiencies at difference cut sizes are parallel
to each other.
Separation. During separation unwanted ag- Agglomeration must be judged differently if
glomeration can occur and needs to be avoided the separation task is to remove all particles
if a particle collective must be separated into from a suspending fluid; then the cut size is
two classes with a sharp (vertical) separation x min . Curve (c) in Figure 6.42 describes the
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 235
f
.100
/ a: Ideal separation at xh
1 b: technical separation at xu
| 75 I c: ideal separation
co
CO
Q_
to / d: technical separation;
• —
/e 1
1 separation limit xt2
e: technical separation
!I /
CD with agglomeration
§> separation limit xt2,.
Q
25
x
%J
X\2,
min
X{2 Xf^
Particle size x
Xmax
front of the classifier.38 When classifying ce- bubbles.40 By use of modified chemicals, pro-
ment it was determined that grinding aids cessing of very dilute suspensions, or multiple
used during comminution also improve sepa- separation steps efficiently can be improved.
ration by avoiding agglomeration in the During particle size analysis, in addition to
classifier. screening, sifting, and counting, sedimentation
In the classifier itself agglomerates are methods are often used that produce unequiv-
formed by molecular forces that may be rein- ocal results only if the individual particles
forced by adsorption layers if separation is elutriate without influencing each other. For
carried out in a moist atmosphere, by liquid that reason very dilute suspensions are used.
bridges if moist materials are processed, and Nevertheless, it is possible that agglomerates
by electrostatic forces in a dry environment. form or already present conglomerates do not
Figure 6.43 depicts various separation curves disperse completely. Therefore, dispersion aids
of air classifiers.39 With decreasing particle are often added that reduce particle affinity; a
size the amount found in the coarse fraction large number of such additives is available.41 ~44
increases, which is due to agglomeration The molecules of dispersion aids attach to the
whereby fine particles adhere to larger ones particles, eliminating polarities and/or reduc-
and conglomerates of fines behave like coarser ing interfacial tensions.
particles. Both effects reduce the separation In connection with particle size analysis, the
efficiency and can be avoided only if the causes importance of correct sample preparation
of adhesion are removed, that is, mostly by should be stressed. Because agglomerates al-
eliminating moisture and humidity. ways incorporate a relatively large number of
Sorting processes that separate materials the finest particles, the result of particle size
according to particle characteristics other than analysis may be incorrect if preexisting ag-
size are mostly carried out in liquids. During a glomerates are not destroyed or conditions
special technology, flotation, the relative ca- prevail during measurement that promote
pacity of material to float is enhanced by the agglomeration.
addition of chemicals. Agglomeration can also
reduce the separation efficiency of these pro- Mixing. Many of the previously mentioned
cesses because fine particles stick to larger considerations apply to the formation and pre-
ones, form conglomerates, or adhere to foam vention of agglomerates during mixing. Little
1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 ji
Particle size x
Figure 6.43. Separation of curves of various air classifiers. (According to Kayser39.)
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 237
large extent on whether the particles and/or build up in the feed end portion of the system
walls are electrically conductive or insulators. while the other parts still remained clean.
System design must take this into considera- Figure 6.46 depicts the total pressure drop
tion. between both ends of the tube. The lower
Some results, published by Moller,50 shall diagram represents results of the same test as
be reported to illustrate typical features of shown in Figure 6.45. After about 2.5 min the
pneumatic conveying systems. The investiga- total pressure drop in the system remained
tions were carried out during the transporta- almost constant. This indicates that, at least
tion of particulate matter in a horizontal tube, macroscopically, no further deposition takes
58.51 m long and 0.7 m in diameter. The place after this time.
pressures within the system could be deter- The upper diagram in Figure 6.46 repre-
mined at seven locations distributed along the sents a completely different behavior. The
measured length of the tube. Ap = px - p7 is total pressure drop increases more slowly. This
the total pressure drop in the conveying is mostly due to the lower solid/fluid ratio,
system. rap/raf (1.58 kg/kg as compared with 40
In Figure 6.45 the pressures at three dif- kg/kg) and the higher velocity (18.65 m/s
ferent locations—1, 2, and 5—are plotted ver- versus 2.11 m/s). At rather regular time inter-
sus time. Since a fan located behind the dust vals, however, a high-pressure peak had been
collector at the end of the conveyor generates measured that was first observed at the feed
a slight negative pressure in the filter housing, end and propagated in a few seconds to the
a small negative pressure can be measured as
long as the tube is clean. After a few seconds,
however, the pressure px rises and the other Measured tube length: AL = 58.51 m
Tube diameter :D =0.7m
locations follow after short delays. Part of the
rhp = 516 kg/hr mp/mf = 1.58
pressure increase is caused by loading the air
with particles, but a major portion is due to mf = 325 kg/hr £7= 18.65m/s
depositions building up in the tube. When the 250
tube was inspected following runs of 20 and 50
s, respectively, no deposition was found in the E 200
first case, but after the longer run deposits had
5
Q.150
^lOO
50
Tube diameter: D= 0.7 m
rhp = 1440 kg/h r mp lmf - 40
I
u
A7?f=36kg/hr 0"= 2.11 m/s CD 20 40 60
i
CD
Time /[min]
Diameter:
Pi D) rhp = 1440 kg/hr
C
mp/mf 40
13.33 m CO mf=36 kg/hr u = 2.11 m/s
P2 19.73 m
100
50
-50 0,
100 150 0 5 10 15
Time t [sec] Time t [min]
Figure 6.45. Pressure changes at three locations of an Figure 6.46. Pressure drop along the measured tube
experimental pneumatic conveying system during the length of an experimental pneumatic conveying system
first 150 s of a test run. 49 as a function of time. 49
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 239
discharge end. This, together with some other composed of finer particles because these par-
observations, indicated that deposits fell off ticles exhibit higher adhesion tendency and
and were carried along, thus increasing mo- because of a "sieving" or classification effect
mentarily the pressure drop. When the system taking place in the charge by which finer com-
was opened immediately after such a pressure ponents move to the bottom layer of the mov-
wave went through, the inner walls were al- ing mass. The right part of Figure 6.47 is a
most completely clean. The pressure drop photograph taken during a model experiment.
curve shows further that the adhesion ten- With the exception of the formation of a crust,
dency is about constant for a given material all other stages, including a "dune" of freely
and a conveying system operated at uniform mobile particles moving over the deposits, can
conditions. be distinguished clearly. Figure 6.48 is a view
At high conveying velocities or in vertical into a tube after pneumatically conveying a
tubes deposits build up uniformly. Such depo- slightly moist quartz powder (particle size 50
sitions shall be called "crusts" in the following. /Am) showing the heavy build-up in "crust"
Whereas in the upper part of a horizontal and "massy" deposit as well as the remainder
tube, for instance, bonds between particles of a "dune." Massy deposits can also be caused
and walls are stressed by the weight of the by the action of other forces such as centrifu-
deposit, they are strengthened in the lower gal and inertial forces at an elbow.
part of the tube by gravitational forces. There-
Another important agglomeration phenom-
fore, especially in conveying at low velocities
enon, which can be explained by the fact that
and high solid/fluid ratios in horizontal tubes,
the separation or dray forces define adhesion,
a second type of deposit is observed that shall
is the controlled deposition yielding a more
be called "massy" deposit. Figure 6.47 de-
effective shape of the flow channel. Particles
scribes schematically the formation of such
build up preferably in zones without flow or
deposits;50 they are affected by gravity, grow
where the direction of flow lines is changed,
in the direction of the mass flow, and are
such as by eddies, for example. A typical ex-
ample of such deposits is shown in Figure 6.49.
On the left, a partial cross-section of a "Moller
pump" is presented; these pumps are used for
feeding powders into a pneumatic conveying
system. Powder and air enter a mixing cham-
ber through a screw conveyor and a nozzle,
respectively, and are then forced into the pip-
ing of a pneumatic conveying system. The pho-
tograph in the right part of Figure 6.49 shows
a view (in direction A-A) of such a mixing
chamber which was opened after conveying
Crust zinc oxide. Opposite the nozzle a deposit was
Flow built up forming a Venturi-like shape, which
defines the most effective flow channel at this
point. Similar depositions often can be found
in pneumatic conveying systems that were not
optimally designed and/or arranged.
Growing "massy "Massy" deposit
deposits Crust
Figure 6.47. Sketch and photograph 50 of a model ex- Storage. Adhesion phenomena cause bridg-
periment showing different types of deposits in a hori- ing of particulate solids in hoppers. In the case
zontal pneumatic conveyor tube. 49 of relatively coarse materials, bridge formation
240 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Crust
Dune
Deposition
Figure 6.48. View into a tube of a horizontal pneumatic conveyor after conveying a slightly moist, finely divided
quartz powder at low velocity.
is caused by building dome structures sup- ture. These phenomena are very common in
ported on the inclined walls in the lower, the fertilizer industry and are called caking if
conical part of the bins.51'52 With decreasing they occur in bulk masses or bag-set if the
particle size, the participation of true adhesion contents of the bags solidify.
forces in bridging and agglomeration in- Caking of fertilizers49 and other soluble ma-
creases. Bonding mechanisms are molecular terials has long been and still is a great prob-
forces and adsorption layers or liquid bridges. lem to producers and consumers of such mate-
The latter often play an important role rials. To get an idea about the importance and
whereby liquid collects at the coordination scale of this problem, three examples shall be
points by capillary condensation.54'55 Bridging presented at the beginning. Figure 6.50 shows
can totally block the discharge from silos, thus the unloading of a shipload of sylvite that was
causing severe operating problems. Because expected to arrive as a free-flowing particulate
adhesion of finely dispersed solids cannot be mass but caked badly during transportation.
avoided agglomerates and bridges must be de- Owing to the limited room in the shiphold the
stroyed by special devices. For this purpose, very costly and time-consuming method of
inflatable cushions are mounted in the hop- manual unloading had to be chosen. Figure
pers or the material is momentarily fluidized 6.51 shows the recovery of nongranular triple
by the injection of (pulsed) air jets. In the case superphosphate from a curing pile which had
of coarser solids, which tend to form domes, it to be blasted to break the so-called pile-set.
is often sufficient to select a cone with steeper This photograph, taken in 1947 by TVA, has
walls ( = "mass-flow" design). Small, remaining historical value for this company because
flow problems due to adhesion can then be modern granular products, obtained by wanted,
overcome by installing vibrators or "hammers" controlled agglomeration, no longer cake to
on the outside silo walls. such an extent that they require blasting. But,
Undesirable agglomeration is often ob- since especially high-nitrogen fertilizers are
served if the particulate material is soluble or extremely hygroscopic, they must still be stored
if chemical reactions can occur between the in bulk storage facilities with controlled, low
particles, particularly in the presence of mois- humidity to prevent caking.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 241
Mdller pump
(schematically)
Mixture solids/air-
Figure 6.51. Recovery of nongranular triple superphosphate from a curing pile after blasting to break "pile-set."
temperature and temperature variations de- If salts or mixtures of different salts, such as
pends on the solubility. Figure 6.54 shows four fertilizers, for example, contain only a small
typical temperature-solubility curves. Whereas amount of moisture, they can cake during
the solubility of sodium chloride changes little storage or transport even in airtight bags if
with temperature, this is not true for potas- they are exposed to changing temperatures. In
sium chloride and potassium nitrate, for exam- many cases (see Fig. 6.54) more salt will be
ple. The latter especially shows a very steep dissolved if the temperature increases; this
curve. Some salts, such as sodium sulfate, ex- recrystallizes and forms solid bridges between
hibit various temperature-dependent solubility the particles when the temperature drops
ranges.
J Temperature: 30°C Particle size:" 177(jml_
Figure 6.55. Granules of 12-12-12 fertilizer showing typical crystalline hulls of an urea-ammonium chloriat
complex after storage for 3 months in bags, (left) Uncured; (right) cured for 7 days prior to bagging.
prior to bagging. Such products cake in a few retention of heat and moisture in the pile. Ir
days to their final strength but the resulting products that respond well to curing, hull for-
lumps are broken up before the cured materi- mation is apparently almost completed afte~
als are finally bagged and put in storage. curing and there is not sufficient additions
Curing can even accelerate hull formation development of crystals during subsequen
as defined by Silverberg et al.58 owing to the storage to cause strong caking.
Figure 6.56. Difference in the hull thickness of undried (top) and predried (bottom) 12-12-12 granular fertilize-
made with ammonia-urea solution.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 245
Many products, however, do not improve found, however, that not all surfactants im-
during this type of curing. Figure 6.55 shows a prove the physical conditions of mixed fertiliz-
comparison of uncured (left) and cured (right; ers. Kumagi and Hardesty62 reported that
7 days prior to bagging) 12-12-12 fertilizer caking tendencies of mixed fertilizers were
made from ammonia-urea solution, ammo- decreased by as much as 45% if nonionics
nium sulfate, superphosphate, potassium chlo- were used but increased by as much as 37%
ride, and sulfuric acid.58 Although ammonium with the use of anionics. Where in the process
sulfate is present, the caking behavior of the the surface-active agents were added was also
other components dominates and both cured found to be of decisive importance.
and uncured materials show continued growth Typical cationic anticaking agents are fatty
of the hulls and caking during storage. An- amines, for example, "Armoflos."63"68 These
other curing method will be described under amines, the general formula of which is
(e). R-NH 2 with R representing C16 and C 18
(d): The oldest method of "conditioning" chains, are believed to attach directly to the
fertilizers is the coating with a parting fertilizer particles with their surface-active
agent.59'60 Storage properties are improved af- amine group. Then, the fatty, hydrophobic part
ter addition of up to 3% of an extremely finely of the molecule extends outward from the
divided particulate solid, such as diatomaceous surface, thus preventing hygroscopic products
earth, kaoline, vermiculite, pulverized lime- from attracting moisture. This is, of course,
stone, magnesium oxide, and a variety of other true only if a monomolecular layer covers the
inexpensive powders. Siverberg and associates' fertilizer particle and all amine molecules ex-
microscopical studies58 revealed again the tend their hydrophobic portion outward.
fundamental properties of the "conditioner," Therefore, too much conditioner will cause
which are threefold:
rather than prevent caking owing to the alter-
nately hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties
1. The powder coating the granule acts as a
of additional layers.
separator between the individual fertilizer
particles and prevents intergrowth of crys- This makes a modified curing process ad-
tals during and after granule formation. vantageous. The molecules of a second
2. The hulls form beneath the coating of con- molecular layer, if attached, would position
ditioner and crystals seldomly project be- themselves with the amine group extending
yond the layer of conditioner. outward. These amine groups are fee to inter-
3. The moisture is distributed uniformly over act with other fertilizer particles, especially
the surface of the granulae due to the high the phosphate portion of incompletely coated
sorptive capacity of the finely porous coat- granules, to form an amine-phosphate salt.
ing. Thus, the localized growth of crystals at Pressure intensifies this effect. The chemical
the coordination points is prevented and "bridge" is not as strong as the crystallized
the surface hulls are much finer grained, salt bridge and the "set" can be broken easily.
more intergrown, and more densely packed Since, on the other hand, the amine-
than those covering unconditional products. phosphate bond is stronger than the R-R
Such anticaking conditioning agents are bond, a more uniformly covered product re-
usually applied by mixing them with the sults from a short bin cure (1 to 2 days) which
fertilizer in a rotary tumbler (typically a is unlikely to set or cake again (see Fig. 6.52,
drum) prior to bagging. left side).
Sometimes a combination of the two types
(e): A modern variation of the above- of conditioner is used. An example for this
mentioned conditioning process is the coating approach is finely divided kaoline treated with
with surface-active organic chemicals. It was a surfactant.61
246 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
(f): A last method, granulating is today al- schematic or modern computer flow charts.
most obligatory, particularly for mixed fertiliz- On only 22 pages (out of 230 pages) the book
ers. Size-enlarged, granular fertilizers offer then offers typical solutions to caking prob-
fewer coordination points per unit volume lems and concludes with a short chapter on
where solid bridges can develop. If the strength induced cake formation, essentially a brief sur-
of the bridges is low anyway, as in the case of vey of what is called Desired Agglomeration in
superphosphate with 1.1% moisture or the context of this publication.
monoammonium phosphate with 0.06% mois-
ture (see Fig. 6.53), granulating alone is suffi-
6.3.2.2 Desired Agglomeration
cient to prevent severe caking.
Most of the above examples data back quite If size enlargement by agglomeration is car-
some time to a period when the fundamentals ried out as a desired process the products
of unwanted agglomeration in different indus- resulting from this technology typically exhibit
tries were investigated and means to avoid the advantages summarized in Table 6.5.70
these phenomena were developed. While this Another somewhat different listing of bene-
part of size enlargement by agglomeration is fits which, therefore, contained additional use-
often very important, because its effects may ful information, particularly "examples of ap-
result in considerable losses of production and plication" was presented by C. E. Capes in
profit, mostof the literature deals with the Part 1 of Chapter 7 of the first edition of this
methods and equipment to produce agglomer- book (Table 6.6).
ates with beneficial characteristics. Therefore,
it is a most important achievement that re-
cently a book, entitled Cake Formation in Par- 6.3.3 Methods of Size Enlargement by
ticulate Systems,69 on unwanted adhesion phe- Agglomeration
nomena was published. Griffith, the author, A common classification of methods for the
distinguishes four major classes of particulate size enlargement of particulate matter distin-
caking: guishes between two types of processes:
Nucleation Growth
Coalescence Layering
Figure 6.57. Major mechanisms of growth tumble agglomeration.
248 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
providing a high particle concentration. Such liquid binder. While, occasionally, components
conditions can be obtained in inclined discs, within the green agglomerate naturally pro-
rotating drums, any kind of powder mixers, duce permanent bonding, for example, owing
and fluidized beds (Fig. 6.58). In certain cases, to cementitious reactions, in most cases post
simple tumbling motions such as on the slope treatments consisting of all or some of the
of storage piles or on other inclined surfaces following processes: drying and heating, cool-
are sufficient for the formation of crude ag- ing, screening, adjustment of product charac-
glomerates.71 teristics by crushing and conditioning as well
In most instances, growth/tumble agglom- as recirculating undersized material are neces-
eration processes yield first so-called green sary to obtain permanent and final strength
agglomerates after growing nuclei into larger, (see right-hand side of Fig. 6.58). The some-
nearly spherical aggregates by coalescence times very large percentage of recycle must be
and/or layering (Fig. 6.57). These wet agglom- rewetted for agglomeration and needs to pass
erates are temporarily bonded by the effects again through the entire process, which often
of surface tension and capillary forces of the renders this technology uneconomical.
Product
Figure 6.58. Schematic representation of typical equipment for size enlargement by growth tumble agglomeration.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 249
little pressure followed by a steep pressure rise Both cause cracking and weakening or de-
during which brittle particles break and mal- struction of the products from pressure ag-
leable particles deform plastically (Fig. 6.61). glomeration.
Two important phenomena that limit the speed Compressed gas can be avoided if densifi-
of compaction and, therefore, capacity of the cation occurs slowly enough so that all air
equipment must be considered: compressed from the diminishing pore space is able to
gas (air) in the pores and elastic spring back. escape from the particulate mass and equip-
Plastic
Bulk
Deformation d —.
Figure 6.61. The mechanisms occurring during pressure agglomeration.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 251
31. P. Briininghaus, Aufbereitungs Techn. 1st year of 58. J. Silverberg, J. R. Lehr, and G. Hoffmeister, Jr.,
publ., No. 1, pp. 53-57 (1960). Agric. Food Chem. 6(6):442-448 (1958).
32. J. Steinbusch, Aufbereitungs Techn. 4th year of 59. J. O. Hardesty and R. Kumagi, Agric. Chem.
publ., No. 11, pp. 502-506 (1963). 7(2):38-39, 115, 117, 119 (1952); ibid., (3):55, 125,
33. O. Lauer, Staub, 7S(10):306-309 (1958). 127, 129.
34. L. Schlebusch, Aufbereitungs Techn. 4th year of 60. J. R. Wilson, J. C. Hillyer, V. C. Vives, and R. E.
publ., No. 11, pp. 476-481 (1963). Reusser, Agric. Chem. pp. 42, 44, 45, 116, 117 (Sept.
35. E. Burstlein, Aufbereitungs Techn., 4th year of publ., 1962).
No. 11, pp. 486-488 (1963). 61. C. R. Moebus, Proceedings 14th Annual Meeting
36. T. W. Hannon and R. Sybrandy, Aufbereitungs Fertilizer Industry Round Table (1964).
Techn., 4th year of publ., No. 11, pp. 482-485 62. R. Kumagi and J. O. Hardesty, Agric. Food Chem.
(1963). 3(l):34-38 (1955).
37. W. Batel, Research Report of the Ministry of Eco- 63. R. E. Baarson, M. R. McCorkle, and D. T. Ohlsen,
Anticaking of Commercial Pelletized Fertilizers and
nomics and Transport, North Rhine/Westphalia,
Various Fertilizer Components with Fatty Chemi-
No. 262 (1956).
cals, unpublished manuscript (1956).
38. E. Muschelknautz, Private communication (1966).
64. R. E. Baarson, M. R. McCorkle, and J. R. Parks,
39. W. Kayser, Proceedings of the 1st European Sympo-
Anticaking of Hygroscopic Salts and Multicompo-
sium on "Comminution," pp. 563-586 (1962). Ze-
nent Fertilizers with Fatty Conditioning Agents,
ment Kalk Gips 75(ll):469-478 (1962).
unpublished manuscript.
40. H. Schuber and J. Schmidt, Bergakademie (Freiberg),
65. S. S. Chandler, R. E. Baarson, and J. R. Parks,
15th year of publ., No. 12, pp. 850-855 (1963). Conditioning Granular Fertilizers and Fertilizer
41. A. H. M. Andreasen, Staub No. 43, pp. 5-9 (1956). Salts with Fatty Amine Type Chemicals, unpub-
42. W. Batel, Techniques of Particle-Size Measurement, lished manuscript (1961).
Springer-Verlag, New York (1960). 66. W. G. Sykes, S. Myers, J. R. Parks, and S. S.
43. G. D. Joglekar and B. R. Marathe, /. Sci. Ind. Res. Chandler, Proceedings 48th National Meeting
2Z4(5):197-203 (1958). AIChE, Denver (1962).
44. VDI 2031. Determining the Fineness of Technical 67. S. S. Chandler, J. R. Parks, and M. R. McCorkle,
Dusts. Paper presented at the 145th National Meeting
45. B. A. Haines, Jr. and A. N. Martin, /. Pharmacol. ASE, New York (1963).
Sci. 50:228-232 (1961). 68. J. R. Parks and J. Granok, Farm Chem. pp. 51, 54,
46. J. J. Fischer, Chem. Eng. pp. 107-128 (1960). 55, 57, 58, 60, 62 (Oct. 1967).
47. H. Rumpf, Chemie Ing. Techn. No. 6, pp. 317-327 69. E. U. Griffith, Cake Formation in Paniculate Sys-
(1953). tems. VCH, New York (1991).
48. J. J. Fischer, Chem. Eng. Progr. 58(l):66-69 (1962). 70. W. Pietsch, Size Enlargement by Agglomeration. John
49. W. Pietsch, "Adhesion and Agglomeration of Solids Wiley & Sons/Salle + Sauerlander, Chichester,
During Storage, Flow, and Handling—A Survey," UK/Aarau, Switzerland (1991).
Trans. ASME J. Eng. Indust. Ser. B 9(2):435-449 71. P. D. Chamberlin, "Agglomeration: Cheap Insur-
(1969). ance for Good Recovery When Heap-Leaching
50. H. Moller, Ph.D. Thesis, University (TH) Karlsruhe Gold and Silver," Mining Eng. 22:1105-1109 (1986).
(1964).
51. R. Kvapil, Aufbereitungs Techn., 5th year of publ.
No. 3, pp. 138-144 and No. 4, pp. 183-189 (1964). 6.4 GROWTH/TUMBLE
52. P. Dubach, Aufbereitungs Techn., 3rd year of publ., AGGLOMERATION METHODS —
No. 10, pp. 455-458 (1962). AGITATION METHODS
53. P. Dubach, Aufbereitungs Techn., 6th year of publ.,
No. 2, pp. 50-56 (1965). 6.4.1 Introduction1
54. J. Higuti and H. Utsugi, Sci. Rep. (Tohoku Univ.),
36(l):27-36 (1952). Growth/tumble agglomeration is the "most
55. L. V. Radushkevich, Izv. Akad. Nauk. SSR. Otdel. natural" of all size enlargement processes. As
Khim. Hank., p. 1008 (1952); p. 285 (1958); p. 403 solid particles move in relation to each other
(1958). in the relatively dense bed of a rotating or
56. J. R. Adams and W. H. Ross, (a) I&E.C. otherwise actuated containment of some kind
33(1):121-127 (1941), (b) Am. Fertil. 95(2):5-8,
22-24 (1941).
or in a suspension with low solids density,
57. A. L. Whynes and T. P. Dee, /. Sci. FoodAgric. No. particles will occasionally collide and, if the
10, pp. 577-591 (1957). attraction or adhesion forces are high enough,
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 253
In this section, only those methods will be coalesce and the resulting bond is stronger
discussed in which discrete solid particles, ag- than the combined effects of all field forces.
glomerates, and fragments of agglomerates at- This principal process continues, causing size
tach themselves to each other. Other pro- enlargement by agglomerate growth. However,
cesses, such as spray dryer/granulators, use as it proceeds, somewhat more complicated
almost identical equipment as, for example, mechanisms evolve. Figures 6.632 and 6.643
fluid bed agglomerators; however, since they represent almost identical sketches of the dif-
utilize different growth mechanisms, they will ferent processes. While Figure 6.63 is the more
be covered in Section 6.6. instructive presentation defining nucleation,
In tumble agglomeration distinct steps can random coalescence, abrasion transfer, as well
be defined in which: as crushing and layering (preferential coales-
cence), Figure 6.64 distinguishes between size
1. First, green agglomerates are formed from enlargement and size reduction phenomena,
solid particles and binder. both of which take place simultaneously.
2. Second, green agglomerates are cured.
Nucleation, the production of microagglom-
3. Third, if necessary, the cured agglomerates
erates, or, in general technical terms, of seeds,
are sized (undersized material is recircu-
occurs when primary particles adhere to form
lated and oversized agglomerates are
a conglomerate. As long as more primary par-
crushed and rescreened or recirculated).
ticles are available they tend to either adhere
4. Fourth, if desired, post treatment takes
to each other forming more nuclei (seeds) or
place, such as the application of anticaking
attach themselves to larger agglomerates. As
agents, spheronizing, etc.
the mass of agglomerates increases they may
Steps 3 and 4 may sometimes move in front of
step 2, particularly if the post treatment in-
volves spheronizing.
O • O
In a broad sense, equipment for tumble
agglomeration itself can be divided into:
O*O—0 O —&
Layering P;- * JPf^Pj +j Attrition Pf / •* y 1
H • • • • •
• ••••
• •• • ••
Abrasion transfer
P; * Pj - ^ '+ ^ L
>O
••••• Working unit
Free fines •••••
Figure 6.64. Formal representation of mechanisms of size change in size enlargement by agglomerate growth/
break apart at structurally weaker areas or as depth" of the bed with a certain overburden
a result of the force of impact. Abrasion will pressure and shear forces acting, only the
also take place resulting in newly liberated strongest bonds will survive. Binder may be
primary particles or small conglomerates which sprayed at the entire length of the drum or
then try to attach themselves to entities offer- only during the first one third or two thirds
ing better binding properties. area. While in the first case growth takes place
Depending on the density of the tumbling along the entire length of the drum and over-
mass and the type of equipment causing agita- sized, wet, and relatively loose agglomerates
tion of the bed, the growth phenomena will may discharge, during the second alternative,
differ. growth toward the discharge end is limited
owing to the lack of binder. In this case, an
6.4.3.1 Dense Phase Agglomeration equilibrium between size enlargement and size
reduction with secondary growth (bonding of
Agglomeration (or Balling, Granulating) fragments) occurs. The discharging material
Drum. Fresh material and recycle (contain-
ing "seeds") are fed together into the feed end
of the drum (Fig. 6.65). Owing to natural seg-
Liquid
regation, separation takes place almost in-
stantly whereby fines concentrate near the
bottom of the kidney-shaped cross-section of
the bed and the coarsest conglomerates travel
near the surface. Binder (water) is sprayed
onto the bed, wetting primarily the coarse
particles which then pick up fines (fresh feed
or fragments) as they travel through the mov- Figure 6.65. Sketch depicting the operating principle of
ing bed. Since this growth takes place in "the balling drums.
256 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
This can be overcome only if, for example, a Drums are often lined with cement or ex-
series of fluidized beds, each feeding the other panded metal to encourage build-up of mate-
in a cascade fashion, is used. Also agglomer- rial as an "autogeneous" wear liner. To con-
ates produced by another method are some- trol its thickness, different designs of scrapers
times coated by adding a layer of fresh mate- are employed. Depending on requirements for
rial in fluidized beds; this allows handling of "smoothness" and uniformity of the build-up,
larger agglomerates. the scrapers may be oscillating and, therefore,
are often separately driven.
In iron ore balling, where the pellets must
6.4.4 Balling Drums1 be deposited uniformly on, for example, a
6.4.4.1 General travelling grate and/or to effectively feed the
screen separating under- and oversized mate-
Balling drums represent the most simple type rial, the discharge end of the drum is some-
of equipment for growth agglomeration by times executed as a spiral.
tumbling. They are typically used in industries
processing large amounts of bulk solids where 6.4.4.3 Sizing of Balling Drums
in the relatively crude and rough environment Even though balling drums were the first
unsophisticated machinery performs best. large-scale industrial equipment used for tum-
ble agglomeration, there is comparatively little
6.4.4.2 Equipment information available in the literature on their
sizing. The apparatus was actually developed
Agglomeration and, respectively, balling drums (in spite of earlier patents) from batch type
or drum granulators are most widely used in rotating drum mixers or, in the iron ore indus-
the iron ore and fertilizer industries. The try, from the mixing drum used in sinter plants6
equipment consists normally of a cylindrical and adapted to its new function. Because of its
steel tube with a slight (typically up to 10° simplicity, sizing is usually based on tests, dur-
from the horizontal) declination toward the ing which drum inclination, hold-up, rpm, and
discharge end (Fig. 6.68). Retaining rings are liquid requirement are experimentally deter-
often fitted to the feed and discharge ends of mined. Scale-up is achieved by using know-how
the drum to avoid spill-back and, respectively, from existing installations which is available
increase the depth of material and/or its resi- from the equipment manufacturers for differ-
dence time. ent materials.
Recycle, Fresh
(seeds) / I feed
Discharge
(mixture of all sizes)
Tumbling bed
segregated according to
agglomerate size
Figure 6.68. Schematic representation of a balling drum.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 259
For actual applications the drum speed is the power input N (without losses caused by
normally kept between 25% and 40% of the motor, gear, and bearings) is:
critical speed which can be calculated7 from: (6.31)
N to = M H • lirn
"crit = (30/TT) ]/2g/D or ncrit = const./y/D or, with Eqs. (6.29) and (6.30):
(6.27) N= ir-d-g-m-D-n- cos a (6.32)
and with Eq. (6.28):
From throughput, C, and total mass in the
drum, ra, the average residence time tT can be N = 7T- 6'g'C'tT'D'ri'COS a (6.33)
calculated: The lifting coefficient 6 can be estimated from
tr = m/C (6.28) results obtained for ball charges in tube mills
(Fig. 6.7010). For the typical granulation drum
Sommer and Herrman8 developed mathe- loadings of <p = 0.1 to 0.3, 6 is approximately
matical relationships for estimating sizing pa- constant.
rameters based on a simple assumption: Since Sommer and Herrman8 also developed a
the power N required to operate a drum de- model for the final size of agglomerates by
pends on its dimensions and hold-up (mass in assuming that the length of the bed surface,
the drum) these authors assumed that its cal- where most of the growth takes place, charac-
culation is possible by applying the theory terizes this parameter. The total rolling dis-
available for tube mills.9 For derivation of an tance sT can be estimated by:
equation, the entire mass of material in the s r ~ 60(<p)-tr-n-D (6.34)
drum is imagined to be concentrated in its
center of gravity, S (Fig. 6.69). The torque Md During scale-up, this characteristic must re-
necessary to keep this static "Ersatz"-mass in main constant. Also, if the drum loading
its excentric position is: changes within typical limits (<p = 0.1 to 0.3),
the bed surface changes only very little while
Md = m • g - cos a - a (6.29) the relative amount of agglomerates travelling
on the surface increases inversely proportional
where a is the angle of inclination of the to the drum loading <p; thus:
drum's axis against the horizontal and a is
sT ~ (l/(p)'tr-n-D
the distance of the center of gravity from the
vertical center line of the drum (Fig 6.69). = constant or <p ~ tr-n -D (6.35)
Similarly to a parameter used for tube mills, 9
If, as for tube mills, the Froude number is
the lifting coefficient 0 is defined as kept constant during scale-up, that is, n ~
1/ ][D, and one assumes that the residence
6 = a(2/D) (6.30)
time, tr, is also kept constant, the drum load-
If the drum rotates with circumferential ing would change according to <p ~ y[D [Eq.
speed to or, respectively, rotational speed n, (6.35)].
Figure 6.69. Diagram depicting the assumption for cal- Figure 6.70. Lifting coefficient 6 for the balls in a tube
culating the power requirement of drum granulators. 8 mill as a function of drum loading <p.10
260 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
This means, however, that an unwanted The capacities C depend on whether the
densification of agglomerates occurs in the Froude number or the peripheral speed are
deeper bed. Therefore, the drum loading is kept constant. They are:
normally kept constant which requires a re- C ~ D35 for constant Froude number
duction of the residence time according to: (6.39)
1/VS" (6.36) C ~ D3 for constant peripheral speed
Another possibility to scale up and keep tr (6.40)
constant exists by adjusting the rotational Mathematical relationships can only provide
speed and keeping the peripheral speed con- some guidance to sizing and scale-up. Opera-
stant, that is: tion and capacity depend very much on the
properties of the material to be pelletized and,
n - D = constant or n ~ 1/D (6.37) potentially, the binders to be used. Laboratory
Then, according to Eq. (6.35) the drum load- tests always must be carried out to determine
ing cp is also constant. balling characteristics and basic equipment
The two operating conditions: data from which scale-up can take place.
In contrast to the angle of, for example,
n ~ l/y[D , that is, constant Froude number balling discs, the inclination of drums is rather
small and has almost no influence on power
and requirement (cos a ~ 1) and agglomeration
n ~ 1/D,that is, constant peripheral speed behavior. It only serves to provide the re-
quired axial transport. As a result of the rather
are upper and lower limits. In reality, care undefined movement of the charge a size clas-
must be exercised to guarantee a rolling move- sification does not take place and the discharg-
ment of the bed. Figure 6.71 shows that if the ing agglomerated mass features a rather wide
rotational speed is too low the charge is sliding particle size distribution.
and if the speed is too high tumbling occurs.6 As alternatives to the closed loop balling
Both conditions must be avoided. circuit there have been several proposals to
Since, therefore, cp must be kept constant, achieve classification in the drum by various
Eq. (6.35) also determines that the term internal designs. For example, a multiple-cone
tx-n -D is also constant. From Eq. (6.33) fol- drum pelletizer was described.11 The disadvan-
lows: tage of the "classic" rotary drum granulator in
N ~ C or N/C = constant (6.38) regard to lacking classification also can be
overcome by adopting an upward slope of the
That means that the mass related specific axis toward the discharge end ("Dela" drum12).
energy is constant during scale-up. Figure 6.72 is a sketch of the drum.
Figure 6.71. Sketches depicting different patterns of charge motion in balling drums.6
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 261
Bentonite
storage bin
Screen
Spiral
discharge n<
Screen
Scale
Elevation
Figure 6.73. Diagram of a typical balling drum circuit for iron ore pelletizing.13
262 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Drum rotation is characterized by three pa- the lower side, a shaft mounted in roller bear-
rameters: the speed of rotation, the depth of ings is connected in the center and, on the
material held in the drum, and the time re- other, upper side, a low rim is fastened around
quired for the desired agglomerate growth. the circumference. Disc and drive are sup-
Since part of the feed material is used for ported in a heavy structural steel frame that
nucleation and seed growth the drum would must be able to carry the weight of the equip-
become inordinately long if balling to the final ment and its charge. The pan angle is variable,
agglomerate size would be attempted in one normally between 40° and 60° from the hori-
pass. Also, because of lacking classification, zontal. Diameter, rim height, speed, and incli-
the agglomerate size distribution would be too nation determine the capacity of a disc (Fig.
wide. Therefore, balling drums are operated in 6.74).
closed circuit and ball growth occurs in more Smaller balling discs with diameters of less
than one pass through the drum. Recycle rates than 3 m are usually driven directly with
are between 100% and more than 400% of the variable-speed drives; larger discs feature mo-
fresh feed depending on operating conditions. tor, gear reducer, and pinion/ring-gear ar-
Sufficient nuclei must be produced in the rangements.
drum at all times to replace the pellets that As in the case of balling drums it is also
are removed from the circuit, and the growth necessary to control the build-up on bottom
rate per pass must be such that the required and rim. To obtain an "autogeneous wear
production capacity of green balls is consis- liner," the inside is sometimes covered with
tently maintained. Therefore, the rate of pellet expended metal to encourage build-up. In any
production must be stabilized and the balance case, a series of stationary and/or movable
between material in the drum and recycle rate plows maintains a uniform layer. Depending
must be kept constant. Nevertheless, balling on position of the scraper(s) and speed of the
drum circuits tend to surging. disc, operation may be such that agglomerates
The green balls produced in drums are usu- impact the scraper, thereby selectively destroy-
ally rather weak. They require gentle handling ing weak ones and further densifying/
and curing (in most cases drying and/or sin- strengthening already strong pellets (Fig. 6.75).
tering) to reach final strength. A trommel In this case the rotational speed is n > ncriv
screen may be an integral part of the dis- As mentioned previously, location and
charge end of the drum.14 means of feeding solids into the rotating pan
More information on balling drums and cir- together with number, distribution, and spray
cuits, and their design and operation can be pattern of the liquid additions determine the
found in the literature.6'13 performance of the disc. Therefore, feeders
and spray nozzle arrangements are parts of
6.4.5 Balling Discs1 the equipment. Their location is adjustable.
6.4.5.1 General Since, in most cases, dry fine powders are fed
into the apparatus, dust covers are provided
Normally, the balling disc is a simple, inclined, and are completely or partially closed during
and shallow dish that, owing to the pattern of operation. To avoid selective agglomeration,
material motion, features a distinctive classi- which could be promoted by the pattern of
fication effect whereby only the largest pellets movement of the charge, feeds consisting of
discharge over the rim (Fig. 6.67). To achieve different components, particularly if dry
special effects, modified pan designs are binders are added, should be premixed prior
available. to the pelletizer.
While, with only few exceptions, regular
6.4.5.2 Equipment
balling drums (i.e., sloped downwards in direc-
A typical shallow pan balling disc consists of a tion of material flow) must be operated in a
heavy, disc-like steel bottom to which, on one, closed loop to obtain acceptably narrow prod-
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 263
(a) (b)
Figure 6.74. Photographs of a typical shallow pan balling disc.1
uct particle size distributions, the balling disc as well as special applications spherical
is typically installed in an open circuit by se- agglomerates with dimensions of up to 1 inch
lecting the fixed parameters, that is, diameter (25 mm) are manufactured.
and rim height, and variation of angle of incli-
nation, rpm, as well as feed and spray means 6.4.5.3 Sizing of Balling Discs
and locations, closely sized pellets between 0.5
The more recent development of the balling
and 25 mm may be obtained. Of this range
disc and its unique pattern of movement, as
"micro-pelletization" (i.e., agglomerate sizes 1
well as the possibility to control agglomerate
to 2 mm) is mostly used in the chemical indus-
size has triggered the interest of many re-
try (e.g., agglomeration of detergents), fertil-
searchers and scientists to investigate the
izer granulation yields products with 1 to 3 (or
balling disc theoretically and experimentally.
up to 5) mm, iron ore pelletization typically
As with balling drums, it is most important
features balls with approx. 1/2 inch diameter
to select the correct rotation speed of the
(12 to 15 mm), and for cement raw materials
granulation pan. It is defined as percentage of
critical speed which can be calculated by (see
Scraper Fig. 6.76):
or (6.41)
n =
cht 42.3 • ycosa/D
1 2 3 U 5 6 2 3 U
Diameter D (m) Diameter 0{m)
Figure 6.78. Rotational speed n of pelletizing discs as a Figure 6.80. Relationship between rim height h and
function of pan diameter D. 4 Data points according to pan diameter D.4 Data points according to Klatt.16
Klatt.16
2 3 4
Pan Diamert D (m)
Figure 6.81. Throughput C of granulating discs as a
function of pan diameter D.4 Comparison of data ob- 1 2 3 4 5
tained by Klatt 16 and Corney.18 Pan diameter D(m)
Figure 6.83. The driving power required for balling
discs TV as a function of pan diameter D.4 Data points
Because the specific energy required for according to Klatt 16 and Ball.20
granulation in a balling disc is constant [Eq.
(6.38)] it follows from Eq. (6.48) that power
input to the disc is also proportional to the m/C, in a balling disc remains constant during
pan diameter squared: scale-up:
tr = m/C = constant (6.51)
N ~ D2 (6.50) The above considerations can be used as
16 20 simple guidelines for sizing balling discs. Be-
Using data of Klatt and Ball, Pietsch de-
cause of the rather well-defined motion and
termined4 that the proportionality factor has
growth patterns, more complex mathematical
values between 1.0 and 1.2 (Fig. 6.83). Further-
derivations are possible resulting in relatively
more, from Eqs. (6.44) and (6.48) it can be
deduced that the average residence time, complicated equations.
Some of these depend on each other in such a ular product that may require further shaping,
way that only certain correlations exist. For as in a tumbling dryer.
example, normally, high porosity results in low In the second group of mixer-agglomera-
strength and high solubility whereas high tors powders are moistened to a lesser degree
strength requires low porosity with an atten- than in the wet capillary state. The product is
dant low solubility. in the form of weak clusters and the technique
As in the case of balling drums and, to a is suitable, for example, to produce "instan-
certain degree, in mixers, agglomerate shape, tized" food products.
size, and quality depend on the growth mecha- Specialized equipment has been developed
nism taking place in the granulating disc which, for each of these two major groupings. Some
in turn, is influenced by pan inclination, rim mixers, however, are suitable for both meth-
height, pan speed, as well as locations of feed ods. Some of the most common equipment in
and liquid binder additions. To further modify mixer agglomeration are discussed in the fol-
these conditions, a number of modified disc lowing examples.
configurations have been proposed and some
are being used to achieve special effects.1 6.4.6.2 Pan Mixers
TOP VIEW
DISCHARGE
DOOR
the general characteristics of the range of pug find application in granulating extreme fines
mixers offered by one manufacturer for fertil- that may be highly aerated when dry and plas-
izer granulation. tic or sticky when wet. The intensive mixing
action may achieve agglomeration with short
6.4.6.4 High-Speed Mixers residence times, leading to very compact con-
tinuous flow-through designs.
Shaft mixers operating at high rotational Typical examples of high-speed mixer-
speeds provide a more intensive mixing- agglomerators are the peg granulator25 used
granulating action than that obtained with to treat ceramic clays in the china clay indus-
conventional paddle mixers. These machines try (see Fig. 6.86) and the pin mixer26 used to
are generally single-shaft devices that may be density carbon black into pellets (see Fig. 6.87).
operated either vertically or horizontally. They These machines are similar in design, consist-
Figure 6.85. Double trough pugmill for fertilizer granulation. (Courtesy of Edw. Renneburg & Sons Co.)
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 269
A 25 8 2X8 1/4 3 56 15
50 15 2X8 1/4 3 56 20
75 22 2X8 1/4 3 56 . 25
100 30 2X8 1/4 3 56 30
B 25 30 4X8 3/8 4 56 30
50 60 4X8 3/8 4 56 50
75 90 4X8 3/8 4 56 75
100 120 4X8 3/8 5 56 100
C 25 30 4 X 12 3/8 5 56 50
50 60 4 X 12 3/8 5 56 100
75 90 4 X 12 3/8 6 56 150
100 120 4 X 12 3/8 6 56 200
125 180 4 X 12 3/8 7 56 300
ing of a metal cylinder housing a rotating shaft with the powder by the interaction of me-
carrying a number of pins or pegs arranged in chanical and aerodynamic forces produced
a helix. Wet feed or dy feed, which is immedi- by the agitator.
ately moistened, enters the machine at one 2. Agglomeration begins in the pelletizing
end and emerges as pellets at the opposite zone, which is roughly 35% of the effective
end. length. Moist solid particles introduced into
As illustrated in Figure 6.87, the pelletizing the pelletizing zone are eventually com-
of carbon black in a pin mixer is considered26 bined into a number of nuclei granules and
to occur in three stages: grow into spheriodal pellets fairly uniform
in size and density.
1. The mixing zone is roughly 15% to 20% of 3. The densifying zone comprises the final 50%
the total length. In this stage small droplets of the effective machine length. The gran-
of binder are brought into intimate contact ules formed in the previous zones require
ELEVATION
very little additional mass but are hard- the required size that is dictated by the size of
ened, densified, and polished through the the tablets to be produced.
action of the pins and interaction with each The time-consuming wet-milling step can be
other. Table 6.8 shows pelletization test re- omitted and the agglomerates sent directly to
sults using the pinmixer with a furnace oil drying, provided an appropriate granular tex-
carbon black. ture can be formed in the mixer. This can be
achieved by the use of specialized intensive
6.4.6.5 Powder Blenders and Mixers powder mixers such as the Littleford-Lodige
unit shown in Figure 6.88. Powder is fed
In applications such as the preparation of through the filler-opening at the top of the
tableting feed and the manufacture of deter- mixer while the product is discharged through
gent powders, the aim is to produce small a contour door at the bottom. The working
agglomerates (usually 2 mm diameter and less)
level is normally 50% of the total volume, and
with improved flow, wetting, dispersing, or dis-
cleaning is easily accomplished through the
solution properties. Agglomeration takes place
two wide-access doors at the front. The mate-
by wetting the feed powders in a relatively dry
rial is subjected to a dry mix cycle to eliminate
state in standard or specialized powder mixers.
In the standard wet-granulating method any lumps that might have formed during stor-
used to produce tablet feed in the pharmaceu- age. The granulating solution is introduced to
tical industry, sigma blade or heavy-duty plan- the mixer through liquid injectors mounted
etary mixers are often employed.27 These ma- over high-speed blending choppers. Spray noz-
chines may handle 100- or 200-kg batches and zles are not needed since the high-speed
employ 5- to 7.5-kW drives to knead and mass blending choppers quickly disperse the granu-
the moistened charge. Mixing times from 15 lating liquid. Plows intermingle the powder
min to an hour may be necessary, depending and drive material into the high-speed chop-
on the formation. The mass is then wet pers, which are independently powered. The
screened or milled, dried, and rescreened to choppers also control the upper size of lumps
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 271
Table 6.8. Pinmixer Used for Pelleting Carbon Black. Test Results with a Furnace Oil Carbon Black
Using a 0.67 x 2.54 m Stainless Steel Unit.26
and agglomerates formed. Standard mixers ing an internal cage of bars separated from
with working capacities up to 4.8 m3 are avail- the drum walls by a spiral ribbon (Fig. 6.89).
able in this design. Relatively short batch The cage, together with inertial and centrifu-
granulation cycles of less than 10 min are gal forces, holds the powder bed against the
claimed for this equipment. shell until it falls through the cage to form a
constant density curtain. The spiral serves to
6.4.6.6 Other Cluster-Type Agglomeration
Processes
Two other applications requiring small,
cluster-type agglomerates with improved flow,
wetting, dispersing, and/or dissolution proper-
ties are the manufacture of home dishwashing
detergents and "instantized" powdered food
products.
Powdered detergent ingredients can be
gathered together into a homogeneous granu-
lar product by the application of a liquid
silicate spray as the bonding agent. A
unique design of agglomerator has been devel-
oped,28'29 for this application in which the
liquid spray is applied to a falling curtain of Figure 6.88. Littleford-Lodige mixer-granulator for
powder ingredients of constant thickness. The tablet feed preparation. (Courtesy of Littleford Bros.,
curtain is generated in a rotary drum contain- Inc.)
272 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
•IS
50
recirculate fine material toward the feed end. the particles while the vortex motion enhances
The curtain of powder absorbs the liquid spray particle-particle collisions. The clustered ma-
before it can impinge on internal agglomera- terial then drops through an air-heated cham-
tor surfaces while the free-floating action of ber onto a conditioning conveyor where it is
the internals keeps all surfaces free of build-up, allowed sufficient time to reach a uniform
both of which prevent lump formation and moisture distribution. The material then passes
encourage uniform granulation. An agglomer- to an after-drying, cooler, and sifter followed
ator 1.5 m in diameter by 4.9 m long typically by bagging of the selected product.
produces 4.5 Mg of dishwasher detergent per
hour. 6.4.7 Fluidized Bed/Spray
In the food industry, continuous-flow mixing Agglomerators34
systems are used to bring together powder and
6.4.7.1 General
moistening liquid to form clustered products
with "instant" properties. Several types of In these methods of size enlargement, feed in
moistening-agglomerating devices are possi- a liquid or semiliquid form is sprayed into a
ble,30"32 including rotating cones, powder fun- gas to produce granular solids through heat
nels and vortex tube mixers. An illustrative and/or mass transfer. A variety of process
example of this type of system is the equipment may be used, including spray dry-
Blaw-Knox Instantizer Agglomerator33 de- ers, spouted or fluidized beds and pneumatic
picted in Figure 6.90. Feed powder, at a rate conveying (flash) dryers. Agglomerates are
controlled by a rotary valve, is introduced to formed by the direct conversion of feed
the wetting section via a pneumatic conveying droplets into solid particles, the layering of
line. The powder falls as a narrow stream solids deposited from the feed onto the exist-
between two jet tubes that inject the wetting ing nuclei and/or the sticking together of
liquid in a highly dispersed state. Steam is small particles into aggregates by deposition of
often used but water, other solvents, or a binding solids from the spray.
combination of these may be used. Air at Features common to all these spray and
ambient temperature is introduced through dispersion techniques include the following:
radial wall slots in the moistening chamber to
produce a vortex motion. The resulting lower 1. The feed liquid must be pumpable and dis-
particle temperature condenses fluid onto persible.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 273
Figure 6.90. Flow diagram of the Blaw-Know Instantizer. (Trademark of Blaw-Knox Food & Chemical
Equipment, Inc.)
2. The processes are usually amenable to con- ies is compared with the spray-drying alterna-
tinuous, automated large-scale operation. tive. The latter method eliminates a number of
3. Attraction and fines carryover are often a processing steps between slip preparation and
problem, and the systems are designed to finished pressbody.
recover and/or recycle them. The four fundamental unit processes in-
4. Product size is limited to about 5-mm diam- volved in spray drying are shown in Fig. 6.93.
eter particles and is often much smaller. The liquid feed is dispersed into droplets in
the first stage, mixed with the gas stream, and
then introduced to the drying chamber. The
6.4.7.2 Spray Drying35
moisture is evaporated from the droplets,
In this process, feed material is dispersed in which form solid granules. The dried particles
droplet form into a drying chamber where it are separated from the gas stream in the fourth
contacts a large volume of hot gas. The liquid stage. Control of the properties of spray dried
carrier is evaporated, and the dry product is products requires close attention to the design
recovered. Control of the operating variables of each of these four unit processes.
can lead to rounded product particles varying Atomization of the liquid feed and contact-
from quite fine powders to relatively coarse ing the spray with air are the critical features
granular materials (see Fig. 6.91). of spray dryers. Dispersion of the feed into
Spray drying represents an attractive alter- droplets is accomplished with either rotary
native to traditional granulation and feed devices or with nozzles. In rotary atomization
preparation methods used, for example, in ce- (Fig. 6.94a), feed is introduced centrally to a
ramics and pharmaceutical industries. This wheel (with vanes or bushings) or a disc (vane-
procedure is illustrated in Figure 6.92, where less plates, cups, inverted bowls) and is flung
the unit operations associated with the con- off at the periphery where it disintegrates into
ventional wet preparation of ceramic tilebod- droplets. Nozzles used can be either single-
DROPLET/ PARTICLE SIZE RANGE
(MICRONS)
0.1 1.0 10 100 1000
MIST S FINE SPRAYS COARSE SPRAYS
COFFE E POWDER
PIGMENTS DYESTUFFS
CERAMICS
PESTICIDES
P.V.C.
DETERGENTS
[ATOMIZATION ]
AIR
PRODUCT
RECOVERY AND
5TAG AIR CLEANING
[ SPRAY-AIR
[^CONTACT
Figure 6.93. The four fundamental unit processes associated with spray drying.3:
Because of their ability to deposit multiple less dispersed in fluid beds, smaller equipment
layers of solids on a given particle or cluster of is needed.37
particles, fiuidized bed (and spouted bed) sys- A typical fluid bed spray granulation unit is
tems can produce larger granules than spray shown in Figure 9.96. The fluidizing gas is
dryers. The product is thus less dusty, and the heated externally and introduced to the base
longer residence times possible mean that of the unit through a suitable distributor plate.
larger dryer loads with more dilute feed liquors In addition to product support, the distributor
can be handled. Since the drying particles are ensures a uniform distribution of the fluidizing
Figure 6.94. Feed atomization methods used in spray drying. (Courtesy of Anhydro. Inc.)
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 277
Figure 6.95. Flow sheet for production of coarse food powders with "instant" properties by spray drying:36 (1)
liquid feed system; (2) spray drying chamber; (3) drying air heater; (4) cyclones for fines recovery; (5) vibrofluidizer
as after-dryer; (6) vibrofluidizer as after-cooler; and (7) fines return to drying chamber.
Exhaust air
Cyclone
Spray nozzle
Finished granulation
to receiver
Air distributor plate
Blower Damper
Figure 6.96. A typical fluid bed spray granulation unit. (Reproduced from Scott et al.,38 with permission.)
278 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
medium over the cross-section of the granula- general should be selected so that the bed
tor. Any poorly fluidized region which is sub- surface, where the feed spray is deposited, is
jected to the feed spray might cause the for- maintained in vigorous movement. Under
mation of large lumps. The liquid is sprayed by these conditions, carryover of the smaller par-
an atomization nozzle centered in the expan- ticles can occur and a de-entrainment section
sion section. The solids to be granulated are in the upper part of the bed is necessary.
fed into the unit below the expansion section. Product discharge takes place through an
Air leaving the fluidized bed passes through opening below the bed surface, often relatively
a cyclone collector, which removes the en- close to the distributor. In this way buildup of
trained solids. The solids are returned to the larger granules and lumps at the distributor
fluidization section and the air is passed plate is avoided.
through a scrubber for further cleaning. Gran- The fluidizing chamber can consist of more
ulated product is removed near the bottom of than one compartment (see Fig. 6.97). This
the bed through an outlet pipe located slightly provides different process conditions (e.g.,
above the distributor plate. Pressure drop temperature, moisture level, gas velocity, etc.)
measurements indicate the weight of solids in as material flows through the bed and encour-
the bed and can be used to control the rate of ages conditions closer to plug flow for the
product removal. granular solids, leading to a more uniform
A number of important design factors should product size distribution.39
be emphasized. Often the fluidization cham-
ber is conical in shape, so that the gas velocity Control Parameters 40 ' 41 . As in all size en-
is highest near the distributor. In this way the largement processes, the control of granule
larger granules which tend to segregate to the nucleation is essential to stable operation. In
bottom of the bed are kept in motion, and continuous operations such as those in Figures
overheating is prevented. Fluidizing velocity in 6.96 and 6.97, the rate of production of stable
;-. —
7 N7 /
IL
Figure 6.97. A multicompartment fluid bed granulator: 39 (1) fluid beds; (2) compressed air-operated injectors for
introducing solution into the fluid bed; (3) vibratory feeder for introducing the solid phase; (4) solution tanks; (5)
compressor; (6) blower; (7) cyclone; and (8) heater.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 279
new seeds must equal the rate of production creases the seeding effect and reduces the size
of product size granules. New seeds are gener- of the bed material.
ated by a number of mechanisms, including
drying of liquid feed to solid before contacting Performance Data. Performance data for two
the bed, by attrition and fracture of bed parti- industrial versions of the fluid bed spray gran-
cles, by recycling of crushed oversize product, ulation technique are given in Tables 6.9 and
and by introducing new solid particles as part 6.10. Corresponding equipment diagrams are
of the feed. found in Figure 6.98 and 6.99, respectively. In
Some general guidelines on the effect of Table 6.9, data are listed for a range of batch
various operating parameters can be given, but spray granulators available for the production
these require experimental verification for of tablet granulations in the pharmaceutical
each spray granulation application. industry. In this application, the fluidized bed
Increase in the rate of liquid feed addition granulator combines into one step several of
the individual operations (e.g., size control,
and in its solids or binder content generally
drying, blending) normally used in other gran-
produces larger, stronger, and more dense
granules. In some cases, as the solids content
of the feed increases, the feed may tend to
spray dry in the space above the bed, forming
new seed particles and smaller particle size in
the bed.
Large agglomerates can be obtained by de-
creasing the intensity of feed atomization. This
effect is lessened as the granule/droplet size
ratio increases. Increase in the fTuidizing gas
rate and bed temperature decreases the ability
of the spray to penetrate and wet the bed
material and hence smaller particle size is
obtained. The geometry of the spray plays an
important part in the product size. For
example, a narrower, more concentrated
spray angle wets a smaller fraction of the bed
material and would be expected to yield larger
granules.
It is often found that the rate of agglomera- Figure 6.98. Batch fluid bed spray granulator used to
tion increases as the gas velocity decreases. produce tablet granulations in the pharmaceutical in-
dustry. Air flow necessary for fluidization is generated
This is due to a less rapid exchange of parti-
by a suction fan (2) mounted in the top portion of the
cles within the wetted zone of the fluidized unit, directly driven by an electric motor. The air being
bed. The extent to which the gas velocity can used is heated to the desired temperature by an air
be decreased is limited by the formation of heater (5). Prefilters remove all impurities at the air
lumps and eventually by termination of the inlet (6). The material to be processed has been loaded
into the material container (1). The container bottom
fluidization process.
consists of a perforated plate above which a fine mesh
As noted above, recycled particles are an stainless steel retaining screen is fitted. Exhaust filters
important source of new seeds for larger gran- (7) mounted above the product container retain fines
ules. The extent to which recycled particles and dust. The granulating liquid (3) is sprayed as a fine
mist through a mechanical or pneumatically actuated
are milled has a profound effect on granule
nozzle onto the finely dispersed, fluidized material to
size. For a constant rate of spray addition, form the desired agglomerates. (Courtesy of Aeromatic
increased grinding of recycled material in- AG.)
280 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Condensate
Fluidizing
I Recycle pump
air blower
Figure 6.99. Flowsheet of fluid bed incinerator used to treat paper mill waste liquor.42
ulation techniques. Table 6.10 contains data method used to agitate the growth bed parti-
on the fluid bed incineration process. Al- cles. As shown in Figure 6.100 hot spouting
though the main objective of this process is gas is injected as a single jet into the conical
disposal of waste sludges, the granular ash base of the granulation chamber, causing the
product may often by a salable chemical bed material to circulate much like a water
byproduct. In this secondary aspect, fluid bed fountain. Particles are carried up the central
incineration can be considered as a size en- spout as a dilute phase until they lose their
largement process. momentum and fall back onto the top of the
bed around the outer periphery. They recircu-
Spouted Bed Granulation. This technique late back down the column as a dense moving
differs from the fluidized bed process in the bed and are directed back into the gas stream
Table 6.9. Characteristics of Batch Fluid Bed Spray Granuiators to Produce Tablet Granulations in the
Pharmaceutical Industry. (Flowsheet Given in Figure 6.98)
APPROXIMATE RANGE
Batch load, dry basis, lb 20-400°
Volume of container for static bed, ft3 2-15
Fluidizing air fan, hp 5-25 •
Air (stream) heating capacity, Btu/h 70,000-600,000
Drying air temperature, °C 40-80
Granulating liquid spray6 Two fluid nozzle
Air volume \-2 SCFM
Liquid volume 500-1500 cm3/min
Batch processing time, min 30-50
Average granule size 24-8 mesh
a
Batch capacity exceeds 1500 lb in the largest modern units.
Typical granulating liquids are gelatin or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solutions.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 281
Oil refinery waste sludge 40 ft high; 1330°F 31 x 10 3 lb/h Start-up material was silica
(85-95% water) 20 ft ID at of sludge sand; replaced by nodules
base increasing of various ash components
at 28 ft at top such as CaSO 4 , Na, Ca, Mg
silicates, A1 2 O 3 after
operation of incinerator.
Paper mill waste liquorfl 20 ft ID 1350°F 31 X 103 i b / h Sulfur added to produce
(40% solids) at top 90-95% Na 2 SO 4 and
some Na 2 CO 3
a
Flowsheet, Figure 6.99.
by the conical base of the apparatus. Liquid In their recent book, Mathur and Epstein43
feed, injected as a spray into the base together have noted other advantages of spouted beds
with the hot spouting gas, deposits a thin layer when compared with fluid beds:
of liquid onto the recirculating seeds. Feed
solids deposit by drying from the liquid onto 1. Higher permissible inlet gas temperatures
the particles as they cycle up the spout and since the spray liquid rapidly cools the gas
down the annulus. when injected into the high-velocity region
The gas-solids contacting efficiency of flu- at the base of the spout.
idized systems becomes impaired at particle 2. Layer-by-layer growth mechanism favors
sizes larger than, say, 1 mm diameter when well-rounded and uniform granules.
more and more gas bypasses the solids in the 3. A classification effect at the top of the bed
form of large bubbles. Spouted beds avoid this allows the largest particles to be removed
problem and are thus suited to the formation through the outlet pipe, yielding a narrow
of larger granules than those produced in fluid product size distribution.
beds. 4. There is no gas distribution plate to be-
come scaled and plugged.
6.4.8.1 General
Although fine dry powders present difficulties
such as dusting losses and other handling haz-
ards, finely divided materials in liquids are also
difficult to deal with. The size of the individual
particles is often so small that methods to
capture them (such as filtration) are difficult
unless some form of size enlargement is
applied.
Traditional procedures for agglomerating
Figure 6.100. A typical spouted bed granulator. fine particles in liquids, such as flocculation
Table 6.11. Spouted Bed Granulation Data for Some Agricultural Chemicals.
AIR
TEMPERATURE
FEED SOLUTION PRODUCT (°C) AIR FLOW CAPACITY WEIGHT OF
MOISTURE TEMPERATURE SIZE MOISTURE RATE (mg/h OF BED OF SEED
MATERIAL (%) (°C) (MM) (%) INLET OUTLET (M 3 /S) PRODUCT) GRANULES (mg)
Complex fertilizer 27 Cold 3-3.5 2.4 170 60 13.9 4 —
(nitro phosphorus) (90%)
Potassium chloride 68 Cold 4-5 — 200 60-75 13.9 1 1
(oversize < 5%)
Ammonium nitrate 4 175 2.5-4 0.2 Cold 55 13.9 9.5 1.5
Sulfur 0 135 2-5 0 Cold — 0.01 \a 0.04 0.008
rely on relatively small interparticle bonding a liquid form, which is then dispersed as
forces to form rather weak cluster-type ag- droplets in a second liquid, followed by solidi-
glomerates which occupy a large volume. Of- fication to the final particulate product.
ten the objective is simply to remove the fines
from the liquid medium. In contrast, the pre- Wetting by Immiscible Liquids46. Fine parti-
sent discussion deals with those techniques in cles in liquid suspension can readily be formed
which stronger bonding and specialized equip- into large dense agglomerates of considerable
ment are used to form generally larger and integrity by adding suitable amounts of a sec-
more permanent agglomerates in liquid sus- ond or bridging liquid under appropriate agi-
pensions. In addition to separation of particles tation conditions. This second liquid must be
from suspensions, these latter methods have immiscible with the suspending liquid and must
other broad objectives as shown in Table 6.12, wet preferentially the solid particles that are
including production of granular (often spheri- to be agglomerated. A simple example is the
cal) materials, maximum displacement of sus- addition of oil to an aqueous suspension of
pending liquid from the product, and the fine coal. The oil readily adsorbs preferentially
selective agglomeration of one or more com- on the carbon particles and forms liquid
ponents of a multiparticle mixture. bridges between these particles by coalescence
during collisions under the agitation condi-
tions. Inorganic impurity (ash) particles are
6.4.8.2 Mechanisms of Liquid-Phase
not wetted by the oil and remain in unagglom-
Agglomeration
erated form in the aqueous slurry.
In the growth of agglomeration technology in The agglomeration phenomena that occur
liquid systems, three broad types of processes as progressively larger amounts of bridging
have evolved. Two of these rely on different liquid are added to a solids suspension are
bridging mechanisms to pull suspended parti- depicted in Figure 6.101. The general relation-
cles together into larger agglomerates. The ships shown are not specific to a given system.
third involves conversion of the solid feed into Figure 6.101 relates equally well, for example,
Table 6.12. Some Important Agglomeration Processes Carried Out in Liquid Systems.
Sphere formation and Nuclear fuel and metal powder production by 55,56
production of coarse sol-gel processes 52,54
granular products Manufacturing of small spheres from
refractory and high-melting-point solids
(e.g., tungsten carbide) by immiscible
liquid wetting
Removal and recovery Removal of soot from refinery waters by 63
of fine solids from wetting with oil
liquids Recovery of fine coal from preparation 58,59
plant streams to allow recycling of water
Displacement of Dewatering of various sludges by flocculation 49,61
suspending liquid followed by mechanical drainage on filter
belts, in revolving drum, etc.
Displacement of moisture from fine coal 58,59
by wetting with oil
Selective separation Removal of ash-forming impurities from 59,64
of some components coal and from tar sands by selective
in a mixture of agglomeration
particles
284 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
SEDIMENTATION VOLUME
(ARBITRARY UNITS)
0 20 40 60 80 100
%PORE VOLUME OCCUPIED BY BRIDGING LIQUID (MONO-SIZED PARTICLES)
Figure 6.101. "Phase diagram" for agglomeration by immiscible liquid wetting.46 The effect of increasing amounts
of bridging liquid on the process.
to siliceous particles suspended in oil and col- tion and subsequent removal of fine particles
lected with water, or to coal particles sus- from water. These polymeric flocculants, due
pended in water and agglomerated with oil. to their large molecular size, cause aggrega-
At low levels of bridging liquid, only pendu- tion of particles by a bridging mechanism in
lar bridges can form between the particles, which several particles are united by adsorp-
with the result that an unconsolidated floe tion onto one molecule of flocculant. The ag-
structure exists. As seen in the lower part of glomeration of particles into a floe structure
Figure 6.101, a loose settled mass of volume results in faster settling of the suspension and
larger than that of the unfloccated particles allows the supernatant liquid to be recovered
results. As the funicular region of bridging- more quickly. Flocculated particles, however,
liquid levels is reached, the floes consolidate tend to stick to each other as they settle and
somewhat, and lower settled volumes are form a loose, bulky layer. Although the pores
recorded. Some compacted agglomerates ap- in the settled layer are relatively large and its
pear and increase in number, until about mid- filtration and drainage rate is thus enhanced,
way in the funicular region the whole system the high porosity of the settled layer means
has been formed into "microagglomerates." that a larger proportion of suspending medium
As the amount of bridging liquid is increased, is often retained by the flocculated material
the agglomerates grow in size and reach a than is the case with the unflocculated
peak of strength and sphericity near the capil- particles.
lary region. Beyond this region the agglomer- Techniques have been developed to form
ates exist as pasty lumps; the solids are then more compact sediments (agglomerates) of re-
essentially dispersed in the bridging liquid. duced liquid content in flocculated systems.
Figure 6.102 shows these different stages in These techniques, sometimes known as "pel-
the development of coal agglomerates. lets flocculation,"49 combine relatively large
amounts (a few pounds per ton of solids) of
Bridging with Polymeric Flocculants. A wide polymeric flocculants with gentle agitation,
range of polymeric agents47'48 (e.g., polyacryl- such as a rolling tumbling action, to reduce
amides) is available today to aid the aggrega- the moisture content of the separated solids.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 285
5 cm
The agglomerates thus formed contain more solidified to a final particulate product. When
interparticle bridges than with lower polymer the starting material is a massive solid, the
levels, are able to grow to a larger size permit- process is then one of size reduction.50 When
ting easier separation from the liquid phase, a powder feed is used, size enlargement
and are strong and pliable enough to allow results.
entrapped liquid to be squeezed out under Many variations are possible depending on
mechanical working. the method used to disperse the liquid phase
and on the procedure used to harden the
Dispersion in Liquids. A number of pro- droplets. For example, the feed liquid can be
cesses exist in which solid materials are con- prilled into a quiescent column of the second
verted into a liquid form, dispersed as droplets liquid or dispersed by mechanical agitation.
in a second liquid by some suitable means, and Hardening the droplets can be accomplished
286 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
TO GEAR Particles
REDUCER 4 in. STROKE in suspending V ariable-
AND ELECTRIC RECIPROCATING ACTION hc uld
* — speed drive
MOTOR
for balling
drum
Variable-
speed drive
for spiral
screen
Balling
screen drum
Suspending
liquid
recycle
initial aqueous sol of solloidal particles into sol is converted to a gel, the particles become
calcined microspheres: denser and their settling velocity increases.
Column design and flow rates are controlled
1. Dispersion of sol into droplets so that the densified particles drop out contin-
2. Suspension of droplets in an immiscible liq- uously to the product receiver, while new sol
uid that will extract water to cause gelation droplets are added to the top of the column.
3. Separation of gel microspheres The extracting liquid is separated from the
4. Recovery of immiscible liquid for reuse product and a portion of it is sent continuously
5. Drying, calcining, and sintering of micro- to the distillation recovery system for purifica-
spheres tion to maintain a sufficiently low water con-
centration in the fluidizing liquid. The purified
Equipment used55 to accomplish steps 1 to extracting liquid is then recycled to the
4 in a continuous operation is shown in Figure column.
6.105. The aqueous sol of colloidal particles Typical capacity of a 76 mm ID (minimum)
(e.g., thoria, ThO 2 ) is dispersed into drops at column is 9 kg/h of sintered oxide spheres
the enlarged top of a tapered forming column. using concentrated sols.
The droplets are fluidized by an upflowing Agitation in baffled vessels can also be used
stream of the immiscible water-extracting fluid, to disperse and suspend the sol drops in the
such as 2-ethyl-l-hexanol. Interfacial tension extracting liquid. Compared with the fluidized
holds the drops in a spherical shape, but the system described above, this more vigorous
maximum size is limited since large drops are agitation produces smaller microspheres less
more susceptible to distortion. A surfactant is than 100 jtim in diameter.
dissolved in the immiscible liquid to prevent
coalescence of the sol droplets with each other, Other Liquid-Phase Dispersion Processes.
their adhesion to the walls of the vessel, Many other granulation methods based on liq-
and/or sticking together of partially dyhy- uid-phase dispersion are possible depending
drated drops. As the water is removed and the on the way in which the feed material is con-
-AftGON
Figure 6.105. A flow diagram for microsphere formation by the sol-gel process. (Reprinted with permission from
Ref. 55. Copyright 1966 by the American Chemical Society.)
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 289
verted into liquid form, the method used to used to modify its surface properties and allow
disperse it into droplets, and the procedure the desired separation.
used to harden the droplets. The recovery of fine coals from aqueous
One variant involves agitation of powders in waste suspensions is a problem of great cur-
nonsolvent liquid above their melting temper- rent interest and will be used to illustrate the
atures to form droplets that are then cooled selective agglomeration process. Increasing
below their melting temperatures to produce quantities of fines in water suspension must be
solid enlarged particles. For example, small processed today during coal preparation. These
spheres of naphthalene required in prepara- fines result from natural degradation, increas-
tion of hollow metallic spheres57 can be pro- ingly mechanized mining methods, and the
duced by agitating naphthalene in water at finer griding necessary to liberate impurities
about 80°C to form emulsion droplets, which from lower-quality coals. Coal particles are
are then quenched at lower temperatures to readily agglomerted and recovered from aque-
yield the solid form. ous suspension upon agitation with many dif-
A further example involves dissolution of ferent oils as collecting liquids. Inorganic or
appropriate particulate feeds in sufficient or- ash-forming constituents remain in suspension
ganic solvent to make them fluid, and disper- and are thus rejected.
sion of the liquid into water by agitation or A simplified flow diagram for the recovery
spray followed by steam-distillation of the sol- of fine coal by selective oil agglomeration is
vent to yield solid enlarged particles.50 given in Figure 6.106. Standard equipment well
known in the chemical and mineral industries
Fine Coal Cleaning Using Oil Agglom- can be applied in the process. Agitation serves
eration 58 ' 59 . Selective agglomeration is read- initially to disperse the bridging oil and sec-
ily accomplished with processes based on wet- ondly to contact the oil droplets and coal
ting by immiscible liquids. One or more com- particles so that bonds are formed between
ponents of a complex solids mixture can be oil-coated particles. The coal agglomerates
selectively agglomerated and removed from thus formed are readily recovered on a screen
suspension (for example, by screening) while of suitable mesh size while the impurity parti-
other components not wetted by the bridging cles pass through the screen to waste. The
phase remain in suspension. Where the natu- agglomerates recovered in this way are typi-
ral wetting properties of a particulate compo- cally in the diameter range 0.5 to 1 mm and
nent do not allow its separation from a sus- may be suitable in some cases for direct ship-
pending liquid and/or from other particles of ment with the coarser coal products from a
a mixture, surface conditioning agents may be preparation plant. Alternatively, further pro-
Fine coal-water
slurry
Bridging oil
Agglomerated
Turbine product
agitation
Tailings to
disposal
Figure 6.106. Flow diagram for the selective oil agglomeration of coal fines.
290 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
cessing may be required such as centrifugal is illustrated in Figure 6.107, in which the
dewatering or balling with binder in a disc or surface area is represented by the reciprocal
drum pelletizer. of the agglomerate diameter. The moisture
Oil-coal contact is the most critical step in contents shown relate to the simple gravity
the oil agglomeration process. The required drainage of the agglomerates on a 100-mesh
intensity and duration of mixing are deter- screen.
mined by the oil and coal characteristics and It is evident that all the data in Figure 6.107
by the solids concentation and oil usage. Pre- lie approximately on one line and as the diam-
dispersion of the oil as an emulsion appears to eter of the agglomerates or the coal particles
be helpful. The range of operating conditions increases, the moisture content decreases.
that have been used59 in the oil agglomeration These data indicate that the moisture content
of fine coals includes: may be reduced to less than 10% by agglomer-
ation and drainage on a screen without the
Coal-water feed slurry need for thermal drying, provided that the size
Wt% solids 3-50 of the agglomerates is larger than about 2 mm.
Particle size typically, minus The amount of oil necessary to form these
200 mesh large agglomerates that will drain to low mois-
Ash content, wt% 10-50 ture levels may be prohibitive in cases where
dry basis extreme fines are being treated. When small
agglomerates (less than 1 mm) are produced
Oil usage (light fuel oil), 2-30
with lower oil levels, mechanically assisted de-
% of solids wt
watering in a centrifuge can be employed to
Turbine agitator
Tip speed, m / s -10-30
Mixing time 30 s to several
30-
min
Power consumption, ~10-40
kW/m 3
Product agglomerates
Wt% recovery of solid >90
combustible matter
Ash content, wt% 5-10
dry basis
oil is adsorbed on the surface of the particles Figure 6.107. Moisture content for coal agglomerates
and displaces the moisture to the surface of and for unagglomerated coal as a function of the recip-
rocal of diameter. 60 (Data refer to gravity drainage on
the agglomerates. The amount of moisture
screens. X refers to unagglomerated coal of various
held by the coal then depends primarily on the sizes; A , • , O, • • . # refer to coal fines wetted by
surface area of the agglomerates formed. This oil to form agglomerates of various sizes.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 291
Flow diagram
Separated water
circulation pump
Figure 6.109. Flow diagram for sludge treatment by the pellet flocculation technique. (Courtesy of Ebara-Infllco
Co., Ltd., Tokyo.)
Table 6.13. Performance Data for Treatment of Various Sludges Using "Dehydrum" of Figure 6.109. 61
SLUDGE IN MIXED
BENTONITE WASTE EFFLUENTS
SLURRY FROM AUTOMOBILE
SLUDGE SHOPS (CONTAINING SLUDGE IN SEWAGE
WATER IN SHIELD OILS AND GRAVEL- SLUDGE SLUDGE FROM
WORKS TUNNELING ACTIVATED WASHING (MIXED RAW DREDGING
TYPE OF SLUDGE SLUDGE PROCESS SLUDGE) WASTE WATER SLUDGE) WASTER WATER
Raw sludge Solid concentration 30-40 150-300 50-70 100-200 40-75 200-250
(g/liter)
Ignition loss in 15-30 — 40-45 — 45-50 12-21
solid matter (%)
Oil content in solid — — 7-10 — — —
matter (%)
Chemicals Amount of polymeric
flocculant/amount 0.1-0.2 0.07-0.1 0.25-0.3 0.04-0.05 0.25-0.35 0.05-0.1
of solid (%)
Ca(OH)2 (%) 0 3 0 0 0 2-4
Moisture content in
cake (%) 65-80 46-48 82-86 38-47 79-82 46-64
Turbidity of separated
water (ppm) 50 50 100 100 100 100
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 293
tered floes, and the dosage required in terms glomeration Fundamentals, University of Water-
of cost per unit weight of dry solids. Organic loo, Ont., Canada (1985).
polyelectrolytes provide the best results with 3. K. V. S. Sastry and D. W. Fuerstenau, "Kinetic and
Process Analysis of the Agglomeration of Particu-
many materials, and it can be anticipated that late Materials by Green Pelletization," in Agglom-
a cationic flocculant will be most useful with eration 77 Vols. 1 and 2, edited by K. V. S. Sastry,
organic sludges, whereas an anionic or non- Proc. 2nd International Symp. Agglomeration, At-
ionic flocculant will be best for inorganic and lanta, GA, AIME, New York, pp. 381-402 (1977).
mineral sludges.61 4. W. Pietsch, "Die Beeinflussungsmoglichkeiten des
Granuliertellerbetriebes und ihre Auswirkungen
One effective piece of equipment to accom-
auf die Granulateigenschaften." Aufbereitungs
plish "pellet flocculation" has been developed Technik 7:177-191 (1966).
in Japan and is depicted in the flow diagram of 5. C. R. Harbison, "Pelletizer," US Patent 3 802 822
Figure 6.109. This process makes use of a (1974).
slowly revolving (1 m/min peripheral speed) 6. K. Meyer, Pelletizing of Iron Ores. Springer-Verlag,
horizontal drum (called a "Dehydrum") to de- Berlin, and Verlag Stahleisen GmbH, Diisseldorf,
Germany (1980).
water sludge.49 The drum interior is made up
7. W. Pietsch, "Wet Grinding Experiments in Torque
of three sections for successively pelletizing, Ball Mill," in Zerkleinern, Proc. International Symp.
decanting, and consolidating the solids. Poly- Cannes, France (1971). Dechema Monographien,
meric flocculant is added to the suspension Vol. 69, Verlag Chemie GmbH, Weinheim, Ger-
upstream of the drum, together with auxiliary many, pp. 751-779 (1972).
agglomerating agents such as calcium hydrox- 8. K. Sommer and W. Herrman, "Auslegung von
Granulierteller und Granuliertrommel." Chemie
ide or sodium silicate. Voluminous floes
Ingenieur Technik 50:518-524 (1978).
formed ahead of the drum are rolled into 9. R. Manz, "Beitrag zur Berechnung der Antrieb-
denser sediment in the pelletizing section. sleistung von Rohrmuhlen." Zement Kalk Gips
These are then pushed into the decanting sec- 23:407-412 (1970).
tion by a guide baffle where water is removed 10. H. E. Rose and R. M. E. Sullivan, Ball, Tube, and
through intermittent slits in the drum wall. In Rod Mills. Constable, London (1957).
the final consolidating section, the agglomer- 11. H. T. Sterling, "Advances in Balling and Pelletiz-
ing," in Agglomeration, edited by W. A. Knepper,
ates are gently tumbled and rolled into a
Proc. 1st International Symp. Agglomeration,
denser form and water again escapes through Philadelphia, PA, John Wiley & Sons, New York,
wall slits. Product solids then discharge as a pp. 177-206 (1962).
low-water-content cake. These cylindrical ves- 12. G. Heinze, "Novel Rotary Drum for (the Agglom-
sels are available62 in standard sizes up to 3.4 eration of) Finely Divided Dispersed Material."
m diameter by 9.2 m long with a 5.5 kW drive. Aufbereitungs Technik 25:404-409 (1987).
13. D. F. Ball, J. Dartnell, J. Davison, A. Grieve, and
Typical sludge treating capacities for a 2.4 m
R. Wild, Agglomeration of Iron Ores. American
diameter unit are 6 to 9 Mg/h for gravel Elsevier, New York (1973).
waste sludge, 1.4 to 2.2 Mg/h for a dredged 14. F. P. Morawski, Mining Eng. 75(5):48-52 (1963).
mud sludge, and 0.4 Mg/h for a mixed waste 15. M. Papadakis and J. P. Bombled, "La Granulation
sludge from an automobile factory. Table 6.13 des Matieres Premieres de Cimenterie." Rev. Mater.
provides performance data for the treatment Construct. 549 289-299 (1961).
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(1958).
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32. K. Masters and A. Stoltze, "Agglomeration Ad- Water Works Assoc. 67:397-402 (1975).
vances." Food Eng., pp. 64-67 (February, 1973). 50. R. H. Perry and C. H. Chilton, (eds.), Chemical
33. J. G. Moore, W. E. Hesler, M. W. Vincent, and E. Engineers' Handbook, 5th ed., section 8, McGraw-
C. Dubbels, "Agglomeration of Dried Materials." Hill, New York (1973).
Chem. Eng. Prog, 60(5):63-66 (1964). 51. J. R. Farnand, H. M. Smith, and I. E. Puddington,
34. C. E. Capes and A. E. Fouda, "Prilling and Other "Spherical Agglomeration of Solids in Liquid Sus-
Spray Methods," in Handbook of Powder Science pension." Can. J. Chem. Eng. 39:94-97 (1961).
and Technology, edited by M. E. Fayed and L. 52. A. F. Sirianni and I. E. Puddington, "Forming Balls
Otten, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp. from Powder." U.S. Patent 3,368,004 (Feb. 6, 1968).
294-307 (1983). 53. C. E. Capes and J. P. Sutherland, "Formation of
35. K. Masters, Spray Drying Handbook, 3d ed., George Spheres from Finely Divided Solids in Liquid Sus-
Godwin London; Halsted Press, New York (1979). pension." Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Design Develop.
36. K. Masters and A. Stoltze, "Agglomeration Ad- 6:146-154 (1967).
vances." Food Eng., pp. 64-67 (February, 1973). 54. C. E. Capes, R. D. Coleman, and W. L. Thayer,
37. J. W. Pictor, "Solids from Solutions in One Step." "The Production of Uniformly Sized Spherical Ag-
Process Eng, pp. 66-67 (June, 1974). glomerates in Balling Drums and Discs." Int. Conf.
38. M. W. Scott, H. A. Lieberman, A. D. Rankell, and Compact, and Consolid. of Part. Matter, Proc, 1st,
J. V. Battista, "Continuous Production of Tablet London (1972).
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 295
55. P. A. Haas and S. D. Clinton, "Preparation of ple, some fertilizers and refractory materials,
Thoria and Mixed Oxide Microspheres," Ind. Eng. are briquetted or compacted in large facilities
Chem. Product Res. Dev. 5(3):236-246 (1966).
56. M. E. A. Hermans, "Sol-gel Processes—A Curios-
employing multiple units.
ity or a Technique?" Powder Met. Int. 5(3):137-140 Other advantages of pressure agglomeration
(1973). are that, in most cases, essentially dry solids
57. J. R. Farnand and A. F. Sirianni, Hollow Article are processed which do not tend to set up and
Production. U.S. Patent 3,528,809 (Sept. 15, 1970). that the amount of material in the system is
58. C. E. Capes, A. E. Mcllhinney, R. E. McKeever,
relatively small. Therefore, pressure agglomer-
and L. Messer, "Application of Spherical Agglom-
eration to Coal Preparation." Int. Coal Prep. Conf. ation methods lend themselves particularly
Proc, 7th, Sydney, Australia (1976). well to batch or shift operations and to appli-
59. C. E. Capes and R. L. Germain, "Selective Oil cations in which several products must be
Agglomeration in Fine Coal Beneficiation, in Phys- manufactured from different feed mixtures. At
ical Cleaning of Coal, edited by Y. A. Liu, Markel
the end of a production run, the system can be
Dekker, New York (1982).
60. C. E. Capes, A. E. Mcllhinney, A. F. Sirianni, and easily and completely emptied in a relatively
I. E. Puddington, "Agglomeration in Coal Prepara- short period of time.
tion." Proc. Inst. Briquet. Agglom. 12:53-65 (1971). In general, if several million tons per year
61. Flocpress, Bull. DB845, Infilco Degremont Inc. of always the same feed composition must be
(Sept. 1976). agglomerated, such as in ore or minerals min-
62. Dehydrum Continuous Pelletizing Dehydrator,
Ebara-Infilco Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
ing and concentrating, pressure agglomeration
will normally not be the preferred first choice.
In all other cases, one of the different
methods of pressure agglomeration should
6.5 PRESSURE AGGLOMERATION be considered.
METHODS
6.5.2 Mechanisms of Compaction2
6.5.1 Introduction
The production of a powder tablet, compact or
Pressure or press agglomeration using tablet- briquet can be carried out by a number of
ting machines and other piston presses, roller techniques, the purpose of which is usually to
presses, isostatic pressing equipment, and ex- form the powder into a more or less well-
trusion machinery, as well as some lesser defined shape. Within each method many
known equipment, represents a large share routes are possible, each resulting in the man-
among commercial applications of size en- ufacture of different types of products with
largement by agglomeration. This technology respect to size, shape, and physical properties.
is largely independent of feed particle size and However, all have in common a basic com-
the forces acting upon the particulate feed paction mechanism.
may be very high with certain equipment. When a particulate solid is placed into a die
Therefore, it constitutes the most versatile and pressure is applied, a reduction in volume
group of size enlargement processes by ag- will occur due to the following mechanisms
glomeration. Because of the relative complex- (Fig. 6.110):
ity of the equipment and its comparatively
small capacity per unit, these techniques find 1. At low pressure, rearrangement of the par-
their largest field of use in low to medium ticles takes place, leading to a closer pack-
capacity applications (approx. 1 to 50 t/h). In ing. At this stage, energy is dissipated mainly
addition, specialty products, such as those in in overcoming particle friction, and the
the pharmaceutical industry, may be processed magnitude of the effect depends on the
in very small and sophisticated machinery, coefficient of interparticle friction. In the
handling only a few kilograms per hour, while case of fine powders, cohesive arches may
certain high-tonnage bulk materials, for exam- collapse at this stage.
296 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
LU
DC
Z)
LU
DC
a.
o
"GO o
CO 05
Id)
Q.
E
O
o
elastic springback
TIME
Figure 6.110. Mechanisms of compaction.
2. At higher pressures, elastic and plastic de- ous mechanisms and the order in which they
formation of the particles may occur, caus- occur depend on the properties of the parti-
ing particles to flow into void spaces and cles and on the speed of pressing.
increasing the area of interparticle contact. The aim of compaction is to bring small
Interlocking of particles may also occur. particles into sufficiently close contact so that
For materials of low thermal conductivity the forces acting between them are large
and low melting point, the heat generated enough to produce a product that has suffi-
at points of contact may be sufficient to cient strength to withstand subsequent han-
raise the local temperatures to a point dling. Therefore, it is often necessary to carry
where increased plasticity and even melting the compaction into the bulk compression
facilitate particle deformation. stage, in which the stressing is hydrostatic in
With brittle materials, the stress applied character. Broken or deformed particles are
at interparticle contacts may cause particle no longer able to change position because of
fracture followed by rearrangement of the the few remaining cavities, and a certain
fragment to give a reduced volume. amount of interparticle conformity has been
3. High pressure continues until the compact achieved. With increasing pressure the appar-
density approaches the true density of the ent density will gradually approach that of the
material. Elastic compression of the parti- theoretical density. The rate of this approach
cles and entrapped air will be present at all depends on the yield point of the material.
stages of the compaction process. Brittle materials are more difficult to densify
to a high degree by pressure only because
The mechanisms discussed may occur simul- fragmentation decreases due to the hydro-
taneously. The relative importance of the vari- static pressure conditions and higher strength
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 297
of smaller particles. When porosity becomes with stationary bottom after one-directional
fully disconnected, the isolated pores may set compression (punch moves from the top into
up considerable internal gas pressures which, the die).3 The individual tablets were obtained
together with stored elastic energy, can con- from identical bulk volumes after applying the
tribute to the disintegration of compacts if the indicated compaction forces. In such tablets
pressure is released too quickly. the highest density is at the top edge of the
If a particulate solid were compacted in a compact and the lowest density at the bottom
cylindrical die with frictionless walls, it is ex- edge. A region of high density occurs near the
pected that the pressure exerted by the piston axis a short distance above the bottom of the
would be transmitted throughout the material compact. In some cases the density in this
giving uniform pressure and, therefore, uni- position is higher than that observed near the
form density throughout the compact. In prac- axis at the top of the compact.
tice, the presence of frictional shear forces at The general conclusion from investigations
the wall leads to a nonuniform pressure distri- into the effects of operating conditions of
bution causing variations in the density of the pressure agglomeration equipment are that
compact (Fig. 6.111). These variations are pre- density variation:
sent in products from all pressure agglomera-
tion techniques and lead to weakening of the • increases with the applied pressure and with
compact. If a sintering step follows, distortion the height of the specimen for constant
is possible owing to differences in the amount diameter,
of contraction occurring at the positions of • decreases with increasing diameter even at
different density. constant height-to-diameter ratio,
Figure 6.111 shows density distribution • is slightly reduced by the addition of a lubri-
curves in tablets produced in a cylindrical die cant to the powder, and
Pressing
tool
o
Pressing
tool
Screen
\
Screen
• is considerably reduced by lubricating the through a sieve by the eminence of the hand, a
die walls or tools. spatula, specially designed handtools, or a
brush. Later, this procedure was simulated by
Segregation during feeding and filling also mechanization. Figure 6.112 depicts schemati-
leads to density variations owing to local cally two typical low-pressure (screen) agglom-
changes in size distribution and, in the case of erators. The size of the screen openings de-
mixtures, to differences in the plasticity and pends on the moisture content of the mass to
friability of the component materials. Since be agglomerated.
there is evidence that radial flow of powder In most cases, the material pressed through
during compaction is negligible, it is expected the screen must be scraped off with suitable
that variations in density before compaction tools (knife blades). The green product is col-
have an appreciable effect on the uniformity lected and dried. A typical system with contin-
and quality of the compact. uous drying is shown in Figure 6.113. If neces-
A knowledge of the relationship between sary, all or only larger granules may be crushed
compacting pressure and density is important to the desired size in a mill. The shape of the
because pressure or force, more than any other final, dry agglomerates produced by low-
factor, controls the attainment of high density, pressure agglomeration is slightly elongated
high strength, and low porosity in green com-
pacts and markedly influences the same prop-
erties in the final product. A number of empir-
ical formulas has been proposed to describe
the pressure-porosity relationship; however,
none of these formulas is universally applica-
ble, giving acceptable results over a limited
range of pressures only.
(Optional)
6.5.3 Low- and Medium-Pressure mill
Agglomerators
6.5.3.1 General
Low-pressure agglomeration is most probably Figure 6.113. Low-pressure agglomeration system with
the oldest granulation method for particulate screen, dryer, and (optional) mill. 1: Powder + binder,
matter. Originally, a moist mass was passed 2: granular product and fines.1
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 299
but generally irregular and density is low (high als. For medium-pressure applications the
porosity and solubility). peripheral discharge attachment is replaced
As far as porosity, solubility, and the possi- with axial die plates.
bility to introduce microdoses of active ingre- Medium-pressure agglomerators use extru-
dients with the agglomeration liquid are con- sion for the formation of agglomerates. In this
cerned, for example, in the pharmaceutical respect the mechanism is similar to screen
industry, products from low-pressure agglom- agglomeration in low-pressure agglomeration.
eration are similar to those obtained in tumble To achieve higher densification, forces are cre-
agglomeration. The main differences are that ated in thicker dies by friction of the material
the particle shape is more irregular, particu- sliding through mostly cylindrical extrusion
larly if all or part of the dried material is channels or bores. In agglomeration, this tech-
milled to adjust particle size, and that the nology is called pelleting.
steps of mixing, agglomeration, as well as dry- Schematic representations of the machines
ing are carried out in separate process equip- are shown in Figure 6.59, bl to b6. The most
ment. The latter may be an advantage (better commonly utilized equipment features differ-
control of each step) or a disadvantage (possi- ently arranged press rollers and perforated
bilities of material losses, contamination, etc.) dies (see Fig. 6.59, b2 to b6). If the extrusion
or both. bores are long and without relief counter-
A modern machine that may, alternatively, bores, relatively high densification can be
apply low or medium pressure is a screw ex- achieved. On exiting, the extrudates are
truder 4 which can optionally be used as a scraped off by knives and form cylindrical ag-
peripheral axial, or dome discharge, low- glomerates with defined diameter and variable
pressure screen agglomerator (see Fig. 6.59, a3 length (Fig. 6.115).
to a5) or, for a denser extrudate, employ a To render materials suitable for pelleting or
medium pressure axial die plate (see Fig. 6.59, extrusion, they must have inherent binding
bl). Single or twin screws convey the damp characteristics or contain binders and feature
formulation from the feed hopper to the ex- a certain lubricity. Therefore, most medium-
trusion zone. In case of low-pressure extrusion pressure agglomeration techniques use moist
tapered rotors with longitudinal blades expel mixtures, that are prepared in a mixing step
the material through a screen (Fig. 6.114), prior to pelleting.
which is easily replaced or changed for differ- An important advantage of medium-
ent extrudate diameters. Screen openings as pressure agglomeration is that, in comparison
small as 0.5 mm are possible for many materi- with tumble or low-pressure granulation, only
one half to one third of the agglomeration tional work, such as plasticizing or even
liquid is required. Therefore, drying takes place melting and deaeration or degassing can be
quicker and with less energy. performed by specially designed screws.
For mechanical reasons it is not easily pos- Screw extruders may feature single or twin
sible to equip the dies with bores of less than 1 screws. While most of the modern machines
mm diameter. This is why agglomerates formed are used in the plastics industry to produce
by medium pressure (extrusion) are normally granular master compounds with complex
dried and then "crumbled" by crushing if a equipment design,5"8 relatively simple presses
finer granular product is desired. Fines may be are utilized for agglomeration by extrusion of
screened out and recycled to the mixer for plastic and pasty materials such as clays,
renewed agglomeration. lightweight aggregate mixtures, building mate-
rial mixtures, coal or carbon products with
6.5.3.2 Equipment binders, etc.,9 and of powders mixed with
liquid binders and, sometimes, lubricants or
Continuous Extrusion. The phenomenon of plasticizers.
movement caused by the flights of rotating In general, the extrusion rate dm/dt of a
screws in more or less tightly fitting housings screw extruder is determined by the combined
can be used to continuously produce the nec- influence of screw transport and die resist-
essary pressure to overcome the friction in ance. The operating point, defining pressure
open-ended dies. These so-called screw ex- and capacity, is obtained in a mass flow/
truders offer advantages compared with, for pressure diagram at the point of intersection
example, the noncontinuous ram extruders (see between the lines characterizing the screw and
below) because capacity limitations due to the die performance, respectively (Fig. 6.116). Be-
reciprocating movement of the plunger with cause of the influence of both characteristics,
its acceleration and deceleration phases do the theory of screw extruders is rather com-
not exist. Feed and product move continu- plex. The actual operating condition results
ously, thus avoiding static friction, and addi- from the superposition of two extremes, of
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 301
Nozzle characteristic
Point of operation A A A A
/ V V V V
Screw characteristic
[Compressi
Feed Transport l/extrusion
t Feed hopper
Die plate
Extrusion blade
Screw Screen
Sprocket
Ob)
Figure 6.118. Schematic representation of (a) axial and (b) radial screw extruders.11
particle interstices during densification. The the diameter of the die opening. The lower
complete and reliable removal of this air or unit of this dimension is defined by the de-
gas from the equipment is most important for creasing economics of manufacturing the holes
good product quality. Because forward flow and the increasing backpressure due to a re-
into the denser compression area and through duction of the free area (relatively higher
the die opening is very restricted, air must amount of land area between the holes is
normally flow in opposite direction of the flow required for structural reasons). The upper
of material and escape at the feed opening. limit on hole size is determined by the flow
The product shape is defined by the shape properties of the particular formulation, the
and length of the opening in the die or screen. extrusion rate, and the ability of the extruder
If a denser product is desired, a thicker die screws to transport and compress sufficient
plate or screen is required to increase back- material so that a consistent extrudate is ob-
pressure. If feasible in regard to product size, tained. At the same time, relatively thick die
a similar effect can be obtained by reducing plates are necessary.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 303
Stationary
side wail
V blade
Rotating discharge
plate
Bevel gears
Pelleting Machines.11'12 Another group of The perforated support (die) can be either a
quasi-continuous extrusion machines com- flat disc (Fig. 6.122a) or concave (Fig. 6.122b)
prises so-called pelleting machines (see Fig. and convex (Fig. 6.122c) rings. Either the
6.59b). Although, if part of a process, such pressing tools or the die or both may be driven.
equipment operates continuously, featuring Machines with concave die rings offer ad-
uniform feed and production rates, extrusion vantages. Particularly, if elastic materials with
itself is discontinuous and resembles more the a certain behavior must be pelleted, com-
process taking place in the reciprocating ram paction force in the longer and more slender
extruder. Material is first densifled and then, nip increases more slowly which allows for a
after stationary friction in the due holes is more complete conversion of temporary elas-
overcome, transported or extruded. Because of tic into permanent plastic deformation. Fig-
design considerations, forces exerted on the ures 6.123a and b show the conditions in a
mass to be pelleted (extruded) are relatively pelleting machine with concave die. Figure
low. Therefore, binders play an important role 6.123a depicts the mechanisms of compression
for the technology and the product is not and extrusion in the "work area," the material
normally highly densified. volume wedged in between press roller and
Figure 6.121 depicts the basic principle of die. Figure 6.123 explains the phenomenon.
pelleting. A cylindrical pressing tool (1) rolls Feed deposited in a layer on the die is pulled
over a layer of material depositing on a perfo- into the space between roller and die and
rated (only a few holes are shown) support.2 compressed. Neither the roll force nor the
In the wedge-shaped nip, material is first den- force from the die resisting extrusion (flow) is
sified and then extruded through the holes constant. The roll force increases with pro-
gressing densiflcation while the flow resisting
(between 3 and 4). At the point of closest
force remains constant until a threshold pres-
approach (5) a gap remains between pressing
sure defined by the static friction in the die
tool and die to later obtain improved bonding
holes, is surpassed. After extrusion (movement
between feed layers as well as better predensi-
in the die holes) has started both the resisting
fication and to avoid damage by metallic con-
and the roll forces decrease.
tact. Because materials to be pelleted nor-
Friction between roller, die, and material as
mally feature considerable elasticity the resid-
well as interparticle friction in the mass to be
ual layer expands elastically (between 5 and 6).
pelleted are responsible for the pull of feed
Curve 3-m-6 represents a typical profile of
into the nip region and for densification.
the forces acting on the material in the nip
and expansion zones.
Figure 6.121. Basic principle of pelleting (for explana- Figure 6.122. Schematic representation of the three
tion see text). major die designs of pelleting machines.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 305
(b)
(a)
Figure 6.126. Replacement insert plates with (a) short and (b) long bores (BEPEX/Hutt, Leingarten, Germany).
Conditioning—In-line
feeder-conditioner, for Steam addition Liquid addition Quick-opening clean-out door
steam tempering, features
reduced height, positive Constant speed agitator
steam seal and stainless replaceable adjustable paddles
steel construction control feed level and agitation
(a) (b)
Figure 6.127. (a) Partial cut through a pelleting machine with concave die rings (Andritz Sprout-Bauer, Muncy, PA, USA); (b) photograph of the working parts of a
flat die pellet mill (Amandus Kahl Nachf., Reinbek, Germany).
308 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
(a)
Figure 6.128. (a) Typical concave pelleting die rings (Andritz Sprout-Bauer, Muncy, PA, USA); (b) flat die
roller assemblies (Amandus Kahl Nachf., Reinbek, Germany).
rollers should be conical if a larger area of the A particular advantage of flat die
die plate shall be utilized.15 As with other presses is their applicability for very wet D ^
pressure agglomeration methods, density and or sticky materials. If the drive mechanisn
strength of pellets can be improved if two moved to the top of the machine notnL
machines operate in series. interferes with the unobstructed discharge
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 309
Figure 6.129. Three-roll assembly and feed plows in a concave pelleting machine (Andritz Sprout-Bauer, Muncy,
PA, USA).
paddle and screw type mixers which can be an driven separately, intensive mixing can be
integral part of the extruder (see, e.g., Fig. achieved at any feed rate. Consequently, rela-
6.127a) or, in those cases where longer condi- tively large amounts of liquid and/or solid
tioning times are necessary, are separate pieces additives can be introduced.
of equipment. In many cases it is preferential to use steam
Figure 6.131 shows three typical mixer con- for heating and moistening; this technique
ditioners commonly used with pelleting ma- commonly results in higher extrusion rate
chines.11 The simple screw type machine (Fig. (capacity), increased die life, decreased power
6.131a) offers only limited mixing capabilities consumption, and improved quality of the ex-
but is best suited for long, fibrous, and bulky trudate. These characteristics are most reliably
materials. The unit shown in Figure 6.131b obtained if conditioning takes place in sepa-
combines, in-line, a metering screw and a pad- rate machines in which residence times of 5 to
dle mixer while the design of Figure 6.131c 30 min can be achieved. Figure 6.132 shows
features a separate metering screw feeding the schematically the conditioner of such a system
paddle mixer. Because in the latter arrange- in which material is constantly moved with
ment, metering screw and paddle mixer are slowly rotating scrapers and transported from
deck to deck while steam is injected and
other additives, such as molasses or fat, are
incorporated.
Depending on the amount of moisture
and/or heat added prior to the extruder, the
[a)
(c)
I I
T
1
Figure 6.131. Diagrams of three different paddle- and Figure 6.132. Schematic representation of a vertical
screw-type conditioners.11 conditioner with long dwell time.11
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 311
Discharge chute
Jacket Discharge door
Product
discharge
(a)
aU 9
k, 4
possible by means of multiple batches or cas-
cade flow. Either one of these methods used
two or more spheronizers. Multiple batch op-
p W H eration, for example, using two spheronizers,
2 1 1 is sequenced such that one unit discharges
while the other is in the middle of the
3 1.8 1.2
spheronizing cycle. A reversing belt can be
5 3 2 used to alternatively feed each machine. In
(b) cascade operation two or more units are linked
in series to extend the total residence time.
Feed is continuously charged into the first
spheronizer and continuously overflows into
the next one(s).
1000 MN/m 2 pressure and producing com- "double pressure," that is, the pressure is ap-
pacts with a very high degree of accuracy. plied equally to the upper and lower punches.
The hand-operating press incorporates basic
features common to all ejection presses. The Withdrawal Presses. Withdrawal presses oper-
die is mounted in a fixed plate and the upper ate with two cams. The top cam controls the
and lower punches are attached to moving movement of the upper punch and, in turn,
rams. The lower punch descends to allow the the lower cam controls the movement of the
die to fill. All the compression is carried out die. Whereas the majority of ejection presses
by the upper punch moving toward the station- are mechanically operated, both mechanical
ary lower one. Later, the lower piston ejects and hydraulic drives are common for the with-
the compact upward from the die. drawal type.
Hand operating machines are very limited In a withdrawal press, compaction and ejec-
in performance. They are only capable of ex- tion take place with a continuous downward
erting a pressure of 8 to 16 MN/m 2 and the movement of the upper punch and the die
output, obviously, depends on the operator. It (Fig. 6.136).
is extremely difficult to predict the behavior of At the beginning of the pressing cycle, the
particulate matter at high pressure in a rotary die is positioned on top of the lower punch to
press from data obtained by using a hand- produce the required depth of fill. In fact, the
operated machine. material to be compressed is fed to the die
A range of mechanical or hydraulic presses during the return move to avoid the necessity
has been developed from the hand machine. to replace air with the solid feed. The upper
They vary in the size of compacts that can be punch then descends to compress the material
and the die also moves downward during the
produced and the amount of pressure that can
compression to maintain uniform density in
be exerted to form the tablet. The smaller
the compressed material. At the end of the
machines are used in the pharmaceutical in-
pressure stroke, the die continues to move
dustry for products in which only limited out-
downward until it has been completely re-
put is required and, to a certain extent, for
moved. During ejection, the compact is sup-
development work. Larger machines are
ported by the lower punch.
mainly applied by the powder metal and ce-
Tooling for this type of press is much more
ramic industries, but even there, the use is
expensive and complex than that required for
limited in most cases to compacts that feature
ejection presses. It consists of a complete die
no change in cross-section, such as washers
set that is removable from the machine as a
and short bushings.
complete unit. This has the advantage that the
The disadvantage of the machines in this tooling is interchangeable between presses.
category is that they produce a compact that Further advantages lie mainly in its adaptabil-
varies considerably in density from top to bot- ity to the production of complex components.
tom because the pressure is exerted only by It is also possible to obtain greater accuracy.
the top punch (see Fig. 6.111). This is not Compacts can be made on this type of tooling
particularly important in the pharmaceutical with dimensional tolerances of less than
industry, although in extreme cases it could 4 X 10" 5 mm.
produce a tablet that disintegrates more In practical terms, apart from the output,
rapidly on one side than the other. This disad- effectiveness of mechanical and hydraulic
vantage is of much greater consequence to the pressure systems is equal. The cycle time of
ceramic and powder metal industries, where the hydraulic press varies with the stroke. The
the difference in density will cause uneven low-pressure stroke can be made quite fast by
shrinkage during sintering. To overcome this using a multistage pump but as the higher
problem, some ejection presses are built with pressures cut in, the remainder of the stroke
314 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Movement of
upper punch
^p5
Movement of die
becomes progressively slower. The length of operated machines with the exception that the
the high-pressure stroke depends directly on dies are mounted in a rotating table and pass,
the thickness of the piece being pressed. In in turn, under a feed position (Fig. 6.137). The
addition, the pumping system of the hydraulic tooling design resembles the one used on the
press can rarely achieve a cycle time compara- simpler ejection presses whereby the punches
ble with the mechanical press when it is used are moved by a series of cams. The design of
near maximum pressure. Therefore, the use of tooling limits the shape of compacts to those
hydraulic presses is restricted to the ceramic that can also be produced on the simpler type
and powder metal industries because of low of single-stroke machines.
output and compacts requiring very high pres- The feed is supplied to the die table by an
sures. It is also applied in the recycling indus- open frame. The lower punch is pulled down
try for the reproduction of large, cylindrical by a cam to the lowest position while the die
compacts from, for example, metal-bearing fills with powder. It then rises up an adjustable
wastes. ramp, ejecting excess powder from the die.
The surplus is scraped off flush with the top of
Rotary Machines. Rotary machines were de- the die table at the highest point of the "weight
veloped to meet the demand for higher out- adjusting ramp," leaving the desired volume of
puts of relatively small tablets, primarily in the material to be compacted. It is common prac-
pharmaceutical industry. Their basic principle tice for the lower punch to drop slightly after
of operation is similar to that for hand- the surplus material has been scraped off and
Upper
punch
cam
Rotating
table
Lower
punch
cam
Ready Filling Adjustment Compaction Ejection Return Ready
Figure 6.137. Operating schematic of rotary tabletting machines.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 315
before the upper punch enters the die. This is Special Design Features of Die Presses.
done to prevent the upper punch displacing (Many of the schematic drawings used in this
material from the die as it enters. The mate- section are reproduced from the "Powder
rial is compressed by the two punches passing Metallurgy Equipment Manual"18 with per-
between two rolls, one or both of which are mission of the Metal Powder Industries Feder-
spring loaded. This produces the effect of dou- ation. Special die presses for the pharmaceuti-
ble pressure. Therefore, the problem of mak- cal industry are described in Section 6.5.4.2).
ing a compact with uneven density is not very
pronounced in rotary machines. Finally, the Shapes. The original and still most common
upper punch is lifted out of the die by a cam shape of die pressed agglomerates is a more or
and the lower punch travels up another cam to less cylindrical "tablet' (Fig. 6.138).19 Included
eject the compact from the die. in this description are flat, faceted, and
The simplest type of rotary machines is crowned compacts. For these shapes, simple
"single-sided" (one feed location); one tablet die and punch configurations are appli-
is produced from each station (die) per revolu- cable. Structured shapes can be necessary in
tion. Therefore, the output of rotary machines Powder Metallury (P/M) where a classifica-
depends on the number of stations in the tion of I through IV characterizes the com-
turret (table) and the speed of the turret. It is plexity of part design.18
usually in the region of 300 to 800 tablets per One-level, relatively thin tablets or parts
minute. A further increase in output is possi- with any contour (Class I of PM, Fig. 6.139)
ble by using a "double-sided" machine. In this can be pressed with a single punch and force
case the stations are filled twice on opposite may be applied from one side. The maximum
sides of the rotating table; two compressions dimension A (Fig. 6.139) depends on the par-
are carried out in each die per revolution of ticulate feed and the shape of the compact.
the turret. Outputs of up to 3000 tablets per Thicker parts (Class II of P/M, Fig. 6.140),
minute can be obtained from the "double- while still requiring only simple tooling, must
sided" machine. Still further capacity increases be pressed from two directions. Holes are ob-
can be obtained by dual or multiple tooling tained by the installation of mandrels or core
(two or more dies) per station. rods.
If ' t
c h c h
if-
Faceted
Figure 6.138. "Standard" tablet shapes.19
316 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Because, owing to interparticle friction there Drives, The above product shapes are usually
is little or no hydrodynamic flow of particulate made in mechanically operated die presses.
solids during compaction, each level of more Advantages of mechanical presses are: high
complicated parts must be supported with a production rates, low power requirements, and
separate punch or die member to maintain a large range of applicable pressing forces.
reasonably uniform density throughout the The most common mechanical drives are:
green pressed part (Class III and IV of P/M, eccentric or crank, toggle, cam, and rotary
Figs. 6.141 and 6.142). arrangements.
Figure 6.143 represents eccentric or crank stroke can be adjusted as mentioned previ-
type drives which convert rotary motion to ously. Final pressure will be even higher and
linear, reciprocating movement. The mecha- pressing speed near the end of compression is
nisms feature small final rate of pressing speed minimal.
(approaching bottom dead center) and high Figure 6.145 depicts schematically the cam
loading with low torque at maximum compres- drive. Cam and lever arrangements are used to
sion (at bottom dead center). The stroke can convert rotary motion to linear movement.
be adjusted on the eccentric cam or "Pitman" Pressing speed, timing, and motion are ad-
link. Normally, this method is used when force justable by changing the contours of the cams
is applied from only one side and, typically, it or cam inserts.
drives the top punch. The cam drive is mostly used for rotary die
Another common drives mechanism is the presses which feature a series of punches and
toggle (or knuckle) type (Fig. 6.144). Actuation dies arranged in a common, rotating, tool
is normally accomplished by eccentric or crank holding table (turret) (see also Section 6.5.4.2
arrangements that alternatively straighten and and Fig. 6.163). The stationary axis around
bend a jointed arm or lever. If one end of which the turret rotates provides a fixed refer-
this lever is fixed, the other—if guided prop- ence point for mounting the press cams and
erly—will produce a reciprocating motion. The pressure rolls.
318 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The disadvantage of all mechanical punch erties. Such products reach sufficient perma-
drives is that, while compression speed be- nent (plastic) deformation and strength only
comes smaller as the eccentric connection of after remaining under pressure for some time.
the rotating drive member approaches dead Premature pressure release results in exces-
center and cam drives may follow curves that sive elastic spring-back which may destroy the
allow a certain "dwell-time" at maximum com- structural integrity of the compact and result
pression, compaction takes place very quickly in well-known failure modes (e.g., capping,
with a sudden release of force after reaching lamination, etc.) indicating "overpressing."
the maximum. This is a particular problem if The only reliable way to overcome this
the material to be compacted has elastic prop- problem in die presses is to employ hydraulic
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 319
Main bearings
Rotation
Eccentric
Main crank
Main gear
( \'Crankshaft
Pitman link
Gibs
v
Crosshead
Eccentric shaft Crankshaft
Figure 6.143. Eccentric or crank drive arrangement. 18
actuation of the punch(es) (Fig. 6.146). The can be very high; and, since pressure rise can
timing of the punch strokes as well as the rate be slow, final pressure high, and "dwell-time"
of increasing or decreasing pressure and the adjustable without limiting constraints (other
"dwell-time" can be easily adjusted. In addi- than capacity), elastic materials, such as or-
tion, hydraulic presses typically feature over- ganic refuse or other organic materials and,
load protection by means of gas filled accumu- for example, steel turnings can be successfully
lators and allow the densification of larger compacted. Figure 6.147 is the sketch of a
amounts of feed even with low initial bulk large, hydraulic, horizontally oriented high-
density. Because there is no physical limit to pressure press.
the length of the stroke, densification ratios More conventional presses feature vertical
design (Fig. 6.148). They can be highly auto-
mated and, with multiple tooling, producing
several compacts per stroke, as well as auto-
Upper link
Main ram
Upper bearing
Crosshead-^ j / \ | \-Crankshaft
Lower link
Gibs or ways
Toggle offset
Figure 6.145. Schematic representation of the cam
Figure 6.144. Toggle or knuckle drive mechanism.11 drive principle.18
320 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 6.147. Diagram showing the principle design of a large hydraulic press with horizontal punch movement
(Lindemann, Diisseldorf, Germany).
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 321
Typical vertical hydraulic press for the manufacture of refractory brick (Horn, Worms, Germany).
j e feeder (Fie. 6.150) may also be amount of material on each press stroke. The
noving cue laoies. it provides a straight arc type feeder (Fig. 6.152) is normally applied
eciorocating action over the die with only on mechanical presses with a stationary
snoe connected directly to the supply table. It uses a pivoting action of the feed shoe
ine motion of the metered shuttle over the die area.
Fig. 6.151) is the same as that of the Control of the lower punch and the feed
(Fig. 6.150) and may also be shoe is typically such that material is trans-
^n moving die tables. It does not have ported to the die area when the punch is still
. connection with the supply hopper. At in or near the ejection (highest) position. This
•noves with a metered amount of mate- avoids the cavity filling with air which must be
on! a Dosition under the hopper to the replaced by feed and finally expelled during
system supplies the same compaction. Particularly with high-speed
322 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 6.149. Selection of different products made with vertical hydraulic presses (Horn, Worms, Germany).
presses, sufficient deaeration may pose a the low-density zone approximately perpendic-
major problem and compressed pockets of air ular to the direction of pressing. Control of
can be an important cause of tablet failure the location of this zone in the compacted part
(e.g., capping). is often important (e.g., to avoid distortion of
P / M parts during sintering) and is achieved
Tooling Design, Since particulate solids do not by the relative tooling motions. Under pres-
flow under pressure, friction within the mass sure, particulate matter will also not flow from
and on the tool walls absorbs part of the force one part level to another. Therefore, when
applied by the punch(es). The "neutral axis" is parts of more than one level are pressed,
Powder hopper*.
Feed tube
Transfer plate
Feed shoe.
separate pressing forces must be applied si- plishes filling, compaction, and ejection. Nor-
multaneously for each level. As a result, there mally, powder feed, anvil, and pick-up are
will be a neutral axis for each part level (Fig. three separate components brought in place
6.153). by a "positioner." Figure 6.156b shows the
Figure 6.154 demonstrates how the location "Pentronix unitized anvil" in which all three
of the neutral axis of a simple, one-level part functions are combined into one assemblage
can be controlled in a die press with upper which is always in contact with the die plate.
punch pressing and controlled withdrawal die Powder spillage and blow-out are reduced to
(see also below and Fig. 6.159). practically zero, making this design ideal for,
As far as variety of applications, complexity for example, the processing of toxic materials.
of shapes, and accuracy of parts are con- In anvil withdrawal pressing (Fig. 6.156c) the
cerned, die pressing is the most versatile ag- lower punch remains stationary while the die
glomeration method. To achieve this versatil- table is moved into positions for filling, com-
ity, the basic principle of die pressing is often paction (with anvil in place), and ejection.
modified. The most important methods, re-
flecting the significance of the technology, are Double-Motion Die Pressing
reviewed in the following.
This method will produce parts with more
uniform density. Double-motion pressing pro-
Single-Motion Pressing
vides force to the particulate mass to be com-
This is the simplest method and is usually pacted simultaneously from top and bottom
limited to compacting relatively thin parts with through movement of two parts of the tooling,
or without through holes obtained by the in- for example, the upper and lower punches
stallation of core rods. Only one part of the (Fig. 6.157). A similar effect can be obtained
tooling is moved during compression. by upper punch pressing with floating die (Fig.
Figure 6.155 depicts schematically the three 6.158) whereby the die table moves if the
stages of upper punch pressing. Other single- frictional forces overcome the supporting or
motion pressing designs are sketched in Figure counterbalancing force holding the die. This
6.156. During sliding anvil pressing (Fig. die travel has the same effect during com-
6.156a) the lower punch movement accom- paction as an active lower punch. Ejection can
324 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Powder hopper
Feed shoe
be accomplished by movement of either the parts may have density variations that are de-
lower punch (Fig. 6.158a) or the table (Fig. termined by the size of the supporting force of
6.158b, upper punch pressing, lower fixed the die and that the neutral axis may not be
punch, floating withdrawal die). Potential dis- located in the center of the part.
advantages of this system are that compacted In upper punch pressing with controlled
withdrawal die (Fig. 6.159) adjustment of tim-
ing of die travel provides positive control over
the position of the part's neutral axis (see also
Fig. 6.154).
One Two
Multiple-Action Pressing
Three
Figure 6.153. "Neutral axes" in single- and multilevel Multiple-action pressing systems are those that
parts. 18 support and compact each level of multilevel
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 325
\7
\7
Sliding anvil
Fill shoe Vacuum pickup
Lower punch
Core rod
Compacted position
Fill position Ejection position
(a)
Compacted
Powder feed Vacuum pickup
Unitized
anvil
™Die
bushing
Anvil
Die-"'
Fixed punch
Core rod
Fill Compacted Ejection
position position position
Figure 6.156. Different sketches representing anvil pressing, (a) Sliding anvil,18 (b) unitized anvi
Lincoln Park, MI, USA), (c) anvil withdrawal pressing.18
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 327
Ejection
position
must be backed up for the full length of the the machine manufacturer. As usual in the
compact to provide rigidity. field of agglomeration, suppliers of die presses
In addition to these basic designs and gen- maintain well-equipped technical centers in
eral requirements there are large numbers of which special requirements can be tested and
supplemental machine and tooling options. machine modifications are developed as
Requirements for nonstandard equipment or necessary.
process characteristics must be determined for Today, the main thrust in new developments
each particular application and discussed with for die presses in in the area of machine data
measurement and control.20 Techniques have
become available to accurately measure the
parameters during a press cycle that may last
only a few hundred milliseconds. Based on
such information, production machines can be
programmed and automatically controlled.
GRANlb,
POSITION
POSITION 2
UPPER
, PUNCH
TABLET DIE
LOWER
PUNCH
LOWER
PUNCH
POSITION 3
Figure 6.162. Steps in the formation of a tablet on a single punch (eccentric) machine.
lifting the tablet out of the die, and the hopper lower punch drops a small amount. With the
then comes back into its original position (and pressure wheels, the upper punch is brought
knocks the ejected tablet onto the discharge down and the lower punch raised to form the
chute). The powder level in the shoe is main- tablet. Both are then raised (by the cam con-
tained by gravity feed from the hopper. tour), and the tablet is ejected. Point A' cor-
The fill weight can be adjusted by the (low) responds to A (the back end of the feed frame
position of the lower punch. The lower it is, which serves as an ejection bar for the tablet).
the higher the fill weight. The fill weight is also It is obvious from the drawing that tablet
a function of the apparent density and the weight can be adjusted by screw E, ejection by
flow rate of the powder. The compression screw F (where the ejected tablet must be
pressure (and hence the tablet hardness and flush with the table) and compression pressure
porosity) can be adjusted by the (low) position by the relative position of the pressure wheels.
of the upper punch. In the simplest case of a rotary machine
In a rotary press there is a series of dies there is one hopper and a certain number of
positioned circularly on a die table (Fig. "stations" (as few as four) on the die table. In
6.163a). The upper and lower punches glide on other words, one rotation produces the num-
cams (Figs. 6.163b, c, d). An evoluted picture ber of tablets given by the number of dies (and
is shown in Figure 6.163b. The filling takes punch sets) on the machine.
place between points A and B, that is, under Expulsion of entrapped air from a granula-
the feed frame. This in turn is fed by the tion or (particularly) a powder mix is impor-
hopper. The powder is leveled (scraped) at tant since it reduces lamination and capping of
point B, so that the fill is a function of the the produced tablets. High-speed machines are
level of the lower punch at this point. As the equipped with a precompression feature. Solids
table rotates (goes from right to left in Figure for tableting are of three types: (1) noncom-
6.163b), the die passes the feed frame, and the pressible powders, (2) compressible powders
330 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
possessing poor flow, (3) compressible powders rally free-flowing powders; hence direct com-
possessing good flow. Noncompressible pow- pression powders (i.e., mixtures of type 3) are
ders are either wet granulated (which adds a usually aided in the filling step of artificial
binder, making them compressible) or (if they means, the so-called forced feeders. Flow in
are of sufficiently low dosage level) mixed with the hopper can be of concern also (and if not
a powder excipient of type (3), so that the uniform will cause inconsistent tablet weights).
mixture is compressible and free flowing.22 Powders of type (2) (especially if moisture
When powders are granulated, flow charac- sensitive) will form tablets, but because of
teristics are usually superior to those of natu- inconsistent flow they cannot be compressed
ROTATIONAL DIRECTION
FEED
FRAME
DIE TABLE
(a)
RAISING
AIS
SIN LOWERING DWEL1_| HOPPER
CAM
CA
AM
UPPER
PUNCH
LOWER c
h
PUNCH
ACCESS — PUNCH TRAVEL
PLUG DIRECTION
Figure 6.163. (a) Schematic of a rotary machine, (b) Path of punches during tableting on a rotary machine in
evoluted presentation. 21
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 331
no tablet may differ by more than twice the Factors Affecting Flow and Compression.
stated percentage: Flow rates of powders affect tableting in two
ways: the flow from the hopper to the feed
Tablets weighing 13 mg or less 15% frame must be adequate, the flow from the
Tablets between 13 and 130 mg 10% feed frame to the die must be adequate.
Tablets between 130 and 324 mg 7.5% Powder flow is a function of
Tablets more than 324 mg 5%
1. Particle size
Binders are added to tablet formulations to 2. Particle shape
produce granules or powders that will bind 3. Roughness of surface
together to make a good compact in the tablet 4. The chemical nature of the compound
die. To describe binders, it is necessary to (cohesion)
briefly classify manufacturing methods. These 5. Moisture.
are (1) wet granulation, in which the binder is
added to a paste (i.e., water is added to the In general, flow versus particle diameter is a
granulation in the process), and (2) dry meth- parabolic function, such as shown in Figure
ods, in which powders are blended and com- 6.165. The maximum (dm, Wm), where d and W
pressed (direct compression); or compressed, are diameter and flow rate, respectively, oc-
reground, and recompressed. The pastes used curs at fairly large diameters (400 to 1000
in wet granulation28 are mostly: Cornstarch /xm), so that flow problems associated with
paste (0 to 10%), sucrose (usually added fineness and cohesiveness of powders can usu-
dry, water being the granulating liquid), povi- ally be solved by particle enlargement. The
done (polyvinylpyrrolidone) (10% alcoholic so- general methods employed are either wet or
lution), acacia (10% aqueous solution), and dry granulation or slugging.
gelatin (5 to 13% aqueous solution). The effect of the particle shape has been
Fillers are usually sugars, sugar alcohols, or described by Ridgway and Rupp.25 They de-
inorganic substances. Lactose, dicalcium phos- fine a quantity for describing particle shape
phate, sucrose, and mannitol are common (shape factor) in the following fashion: If d
tablet fillers. All nondrug substances in a tablet denotes the projected mean diameter of the
are denoted excipients. particle, it is possible to express the surface A
J 16 NO FLOW
l±J
£14
DC
o
d 10
I
400 800 1200 1600
GRANULE DIAMETER ((jm)
Figure 6.165. Flow rates as a function of particle diameter.24
334 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
and the volume V of the particle as A = qxd2 here the tablet becomes a function of flow
and V = q2d3, and the shape factor is then rate:
G = q1/q2- In general the effect of the shape D = WCI/{VL2TTR) (6.55)
factor on flow amounts to a 20% drop in flow
rate with a doubling (from, e.g., 7.5 to 15) of These relations are shown in Figure 6.167.
shape factor. There is no sharp break between the two
The effect of orifice diameter on flow linear portions predicted by Eqs. (6.54) and
is described by the Brown and Richards (6.55), and on high-speed machines, the situa-
Equation26 tion is frequently in the transitional region
(the curve in Fig. 6.167).
(4W/7rpg)0A = (6.52) The thickness h (cm) and the hardness H
(kg) of a tablet are functions of the pressure P
The effect of the addition of fines to a (Pascals) applied in the formation of the tablet.
monodisperse powder has been described for This, of course, is a function of the relative
instance by Danish and Parrott.27 The general distance between the two punches at their
effect of this step is shown in Figure 6.166. closest point of approach. The thickness h
The amount of material that can be filled into follows the Fell-Newton law:28
a tablet die is the apparent density p ' (g/cm 3 )
multiplied by the volume V (cc) of the die In -k(P-P{) (6.56)
cavity. If the contact time between the die and
the feed frame of length a (cm) is t (seconds), and this relation is shown (in linear fashion) in
then on a die table of radius R (cm) and Figure 6.168. h^ is a function of the true
rotational speed Q (rotations per second), density of the tablet p (g/cm 3 ), in that the
(nonporous) mass of the compact is given by:
t = (6.53)
(UTTR D = hoo<ir(D/4)2p (6.57)
In general, as long as the flow rate has a value h0 is given by the apparent density ( p ' ) in a
over a critical value W given by: similar expression:
W' = Vp'/t = (6.54) D = h07r(D/4)pf (6.58)
the fill weight will be D (g). However, for Equation (6.56) applies only to the last steps
values of W <W, this is not the case, and of compaction and hence P{ somehow relates
3*46
LU
£ 44
42
NO FLOW
40
1 i I I I I I I I
20 40 60 80 100
PERCENT FINE PARTICLES
Figure 6.166. Fow rate as a function of percent fines in a granulation. 27
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 335
TX '' ° "THICKNESS" AT
BULK DENSITY
8
LU
o
X
LU
CD
<
THICKNESS AT
TRUE DENSITY
APPLIED PRESSURE
Figure 6.168. Tablet thickness h as a function of applied pressure P.
336 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
compacted, devoid of strata, and possessed rials that are now isostatically pressed include
sufficient green strength to permit handling. plastics (particularly PTFE), explosives, and
Further patents were taken out on the iso- chemicals. Isostatic pressing is also being
static pressing of refractory metal powders by developed for the food and pharmaceutical
Coolridge in 1917 (for tubes of tungsten and industries.
molybdenum), and by Pfanstiehl in 1919; Fehse Hot isostatic pressing, including so-called
described the wet bag isostatic pressing of gas pressure bonding, was developed during
tungsten tubes in 1928. Little further interest the last 30 years. This technique has been
was shown in isostatic pressing until the 1930s developed for two main research applications:
and early 1940s, when a series of isostatic the solid-state diffusion bonding of compo-
techniques was described by Jeffery (1932- nents of various metals and cermets, and the
1942) and Daubenmayer (1934) in patents as- hot compaction of metal, ceramic, and cermet
signed to the Champion Spark Plug Company. powders. However, hot isostatic pressing has
During the same period, Fessler and Russell remained confined to special applications for
patented a technique for pressing spark plug which the high operating costs and low rates
insulators by direct compression isostatic of production are acceptable.
pressing. These workers cited the low number
of rejects, rapidity, and the need for only a
limited amount of equipment as economic ad- Isostatic Pressing Equipment. Isostatic
vantages of isostatic pressing. powder compaction equipment consists of a
By 1942, most of the advantages of isostatic pressure vessel, pumps to generate the neces-
pressing had been recognized, and the basic sary hydraulic pressure, and related equip-
principles in common use today had been es- ment to enable effective and safe machine
tablished, that is, operation.
The time to reach the required pressure
• The wet bag pressing of large or complex depends on a number of factors, that is, vol-
shapes in which the flexible tool is filled ume of the cavity, volume and compaction
externally and subsequently immersed in the ratio of the powder and tool, compressibility
fluid, of the fluid, and delivery rate of the pumping
• The dry bag pressing of smaller, regular system. To speed up pumping, it is possible to
shapes in which the tool forms an integral use a number of pumps in parallel. Alterna-
part of the pressure vessel. tively, a pump system using different types of
• The use of rigid formers to produce accu- pumps to reach different pressure levels may
rate internal or external surfaces, and be designed.
• Pressurized by pumped systems or by direct Air-driven and hydraulically driven pumps
compression with punches in a die. can be built easily in a variety of modules for
various demands. It is simple, therefore, to
Materials that had been pressed included change the pumping requirements by changing
ceramics, metals, and cermets. the intensifier (Fig. 6.170) or increasing the
In recent years, fully automatic dry bag number of intensifies.
presses for producing small ceramic compo- Most isostatic presses operate satisfactorily
nents have been developed, while semi- up to 400 MN/m 2 on an oil/water emulsion
automatric wet bag presses are used to or hydraulic oil; for higher pressures special
manufacture large and sometimes complex fluids may have to be used, but the tools used
components with reasonable dimensional must be compatible with these liquids. Prob-
accuracy and requiring only minor trimming to lems can arise when it is necessary to dispose
produce the final form. The size of pressure of contaminated fluid after each pressing op-
vessels has increased greatly. Additional mate- eration. Such contamination may originate
338 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
DRY-BAG WET-BAG
Figure 6.171. Schematic representation of the difference between dry bag and wet bag pressing.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 339
FILLING
(a) Apply vacuum to
mould to ensure
accurate cavity.
(b) Dispense measured
quantity of powder into
the mould.
EJECTION
(a) Remove the compacted
part from the
COMPACTION mould.
(a) Clamp the integrated (b)Transfer the part from
tool set against press frame. the press.
(b) Apply isostatic pressure
(c) Decompress
Figure 6.173. Operational sequence of an automatic, rotating isostatic press (Olin Energy Systems, Ltd).
340 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
cooling channel, the product will separate into In a closed mold, the development of a
single briquettes. predetermined pressure presents no difficulty,
Equally important is that at a typical rota- but in extrusion presses the situation is com-
tional speed of the eccenter drive of 90 rpm plicated. The peak pressure developed at each
the duration of the compression phase, during stroke depends not only on the power exerted
which the primary briquette is compacted, is by the ram but also on the resistance to the
only approx. 0.4 s.37 Because brown coal is forward movement of the material to be bri-
very elastic and the time is too short to achieve quetted. The latter is influenced by many fac-
conversion of elastic into plastic volume tors: the shape and length of the channel, die
change, the elastic recovery during the back- or bore, the changes in cross-section in rela-
stroke is high. Without the condition that dur- tion to length, the smoothness of the tool
ing each compression stroke all briquettes in walls, the nature of the material to be pro-
the pressing (extrusion) channel are again cessed including parameters such as tempera-
loaded and compacted, whereby more and ture, structure, plasticity, etc., and the type
more permanent plastic deformation is ob- and length of the curing channel if applicable.
tained, successful briquetting or organic mate- The rate of pressure increase is also impor-
rial with high elasticity would not be possible. tant; it depends on stroke frequency and length
This is an important difference from, for ex- and on the rather complicated relationship
ample, roller presses (see also Section 6.3.3 between movement of the ram and magnitude
and Fig. 6.62). That all briquettes up to the of the resisting frictional force between extru-
point of narrowest cross-section in the extru- date and die as well as the force caused by the
sion channel participate in the densification column of already compressed product being
and expansion was shown by Metzner38 and pushed forward. These forces change with both
Schenke.39 state of compaction and rate of movement.
To accomplish the above, the design of a
Sizing of Discontinuous Extrusion Presses.
ram extrusion press must provide a relatively
As for all pressure agglomeration methods,
long extrusion channel. However, there are
the most important design parameter is the
physical limits to this parameter because fric-
compaction pressure acting upon the material
tion and drive power as well as overall stress-
to be compressed and extruded. In a machine
ing of the equipment increase with channel with "parallel-wall die channel," that is, a die
length. Briquettes may retain a certain elastic with constant cross-section, and without curing
deformation which, if suddenly released, will channel, this pressure, which is necessary to
damage or destroy the product. Therefore, in produce compacts of good quality, is deter-
most applications, a gradual release is pro- mined by the static frictional resistance. It
vided in the channel prior to product dis- depends on the radial pressure pY acting on
charge. the die wall, the coefficient of static friction u,
Figure 6.175 shows cross-sections through and the length of the channel (Fig. 6.176).40
relatively modern ram extrusion or Exter Since the radial pressure and the coefficient of
presses. The upper channel wall is adjustable static friction are practically constant for a
such that different release angles can be ob- given set of conditions, channel length is the
tained. In addition, a flexible support system only variable for obtaining the desired com-
at this point serves as a safety device to avoid paction pressure pK.
excess loading due to tramp material in the Recently40 earlier theories of noncontinu-
feed or overcompaction. During the back- ous extrusion were corrected by taking into
stroke the energy of the drive is stored in a fly account the two distinctly different phases,
wheel (Fig. 6.175b) and again made available that is, compression and extrusion or transport
during compaction. (see Fig. 6.174). As long as the compaction
342 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
pressure has not overcome the static friction Figure 6.177a depicts the relationship between
of the column of already compressed com- axial (compaction) pressure pK and radial
pacts, the mechanism of pressure agglomera- pressure pr. pT r is the residual radial pressure
tion in a ram extrusion press is the same as after separation of the ram from the elastically
experienced in confined volume punch (die) recovering column of compacted material in
presses (see Section 6.5.2). Later, during the the channel during the backstroke. Figures
transportation or extrusion phase, all previ- 6.177 b.l and b.2 show the axial and, respec-
ously densified compacts in the die are, to a tively, radial pressure distributions along the
certain degree, densified again while being length of the channel. While the axial com-
pushed forward. paction pressure drops to "zero" each time the
Figure 6.177 illustrates these conditions.40 ram retracts, a residual radial pressure always
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 343
Extrusion
(or transport)
Elastic deformation
(extrusion phase)
arc
taru
Plastic deformation
L (compression phase)
P
arc tan X
r
r.r
(a)
Figure 6.177. Axial and radial pressures of a compact as it moves through a channel die with parallel walls.4'
344 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 6.178. Sketch depicting the pressure acting on the particulate material in a ram extrusion press.
compact at the beginning of forward move- From the equations a number of dimension-
ment and H is the thickness at the dead-center less parameters can be obtained that charac-
turnaround point of the ram (beginning of the terize the noncontinuous compression in an
backstroke). Experimental investigations40 extrusion from open-ended dies. If these pa-
proved that there is excellent agreement be- rameters are all plotted in one diagram, they
tween actual data and theory. can be correlated graphically which provides
If in additional counter pressure PQ acts at a method to size an extrusion press with
the press mouth onto the end of the column of "parallel-wall die channel."40
compacts (Fig. 6.178), for example, because of In reality, the conditions are not as simple
a line of curing briquettes or a control baffle and uniform. In most cases, the die cross-
(see below) Eq. (6.64) becomes: section decreases somewhat to enhance the
compression phase of the method. Since this
[Atr +ApG]/[pTtT+Ap%]) results in nonlinear differential equations, so-
(6.65) lution is not easy. Furthermore, to avoid dam-
age of the extrudate by sudden elastic recovery
when it emerges from the "press mouth" (die
end), the channel walls are set at a slight
1 - J taper, opening toward the discharge end, to
provide for a slow and controlled release of
elastic deformation. With these design fea-
\ tures the preconditions for the above theory
are no longer valid and the results can be
taken to determine only approximate order of
PT
Pm\ \ magnitude parameters.
H 6x The material characteristics are also not as
1 constant as assumed. Relatively small inhomo-
geneities in the particulate solid may result in
invariations in backpressure pG as well as
residual radial pressure pTT and, conse-
} quently, in compaction pressure pR as well as
m density or strength of the extrudate. To
demonstrate the extent of variations in mate-
rial characteristics, Figure 6.180 shows the
compressibility presented as pressure/
Figure 6.179. Model describing conditions in the par- densiflcation graphs of 15 lignite samples, most
ticulate matter during the compaction phase. from the same mine and all subjected to iden-
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 345
Sample number
4217 23U0
23129 2312
250 rr
23119 23126
23127 23130
2315 23U5
6119 •23123
200 23125 6118
23120
E
150
CL
3 100
* 50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Piston stroke s (mm)
Figure 6.180. Pressure/densification graphs of 15 different lignite samples (laboratory evaluation).42
tical feed preparation.42 The samples having achieve compaction by squeezing material be-
constant weight were compacted with a maxi- tween two countercurrently rotating rollers
mum pressure of 200 N/mm 2 . The large dif- (Fig. 6.181), much in the same manner as the
ferences in compaction behavior are charac- operation of rolling mills.43 Pockets or inden-
terized by the piston stroke length at maxi- tations, which have been cut into working sur-
mum pressure which varies from less than 35 faces of the rollers,44 form briquettes or com-
mm to 70 mm. pacts.
There are important parameters that influ- Between smooth, fluted, corrugated, or
ence the extrusion of particulate matter. To waffled rollers, material is compacted into
obtain reproducible results, as many of these dense sheets. Normally, these sheets are
parameters as possible must be kept constant. crushed and then screened to yield a granular
The need to cool the die is rather unique for product.
binderless briquetting of lignites in ram extru- If rows of identical pockets are machined
sion presses. In this application, if the die into the working surface and the rollers are
heats up, the coefficient of friction between timed such that the pocket halves exactly
lignite and die wall changes such that move- match, so-called briquettes are formed. Roller
ment occurs at lower pressures, which results presses do not produce compacts with the
in less densification and inferior strength. The same fine detail and uniformity as those made
speed of densification, as in other high- by tabletting machines or other die presses.
pressure agglomeration methods, influences The flashing or web, caused by the "land
the amount of elastic springback. Slower speed areas" around each briquette pocket, which is
allows conversion of a larger portion of elastic usually found on the edges of all briquettes
energy into plastic deformation; on the other from roller presses cannot be removed com-
hand, capacity is reduced by this measure. pletely and reliably and, therefore, may also
be objectionable.
6.5.4.5 Roll Pressing Because of these characteristics, roller
presses find their natural field of application
Double Roll Presses. The most widely used where relatively low investment and operating
roller presses are double roll presses which costs are more important than the absolute
346 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 6.184. Compaction of particulate matter in the nip of a smooth roll press.
opens the force acting vertically to the line better investigated and defined deformation of
connecting the roller centers tries to "extrude" metals in rolling mills.43
the briquette, thus assisting in the release of
the briquette from the pocket, provided the Ring Roll Presses. 47 In the ring roll press,
shape is correctly designed. an alternative to the double roll press have
Much of this knowledge is still phenomeno- been developed for high-pressure work. The
logical in character. A comprehensive theory particulate matter, normally powdered coal, is
of densification of particulate matter between pressed between a roll and the inner surface
counterrotating rollers is not yet available even of a ring (Fig. 6.186). Thus, a very narrow
though many similarities exist with the much angle of entry is achieved, and with it, of
Figure 6.185. Five successive momentary conditions of briquetting between two countercurrently rotating rollers
with matching pockets.46
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 349
Figure 6.187. Strip model: Geometry of rolling and forces acting on a volume element. 43
350 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
V = volume of each briquette (cm3) hA. If the peripheral speed of both pairs of
n = roller speed, revolutions per rollers is the same (i.e., theoretically, both
minute (1/min) machines yield identical volumetric output)
y = apparent briquette density (kg/ compaction takes place more gradually in the
cm3) case of the larger roll diameter. At the same
then: Co = throughput of the roll type bri- time, a larger volume element is pulled into
quetting machine (kg/h) the nip, resulting in a higher density of the
compacted product (i.e., potentially, a larger
Because of leakage at the sides of the rollers gravimetric output is obtained).
and, in case of roll-type briquetting machines, For smooth roll compactors a formula can
the flashings or webs around the briquettes, be derived that correlates roller diameter and
the actual throughput of and the feed to roller gap. With the definitions of Figure 6.184 and
presses are somewhat higher (approx. 5% the restrictions imposed by the modified strip
to 15%). model [i.e., beginning at the line hE(aE)
horizontal increments move with the periph-
Roll Diameter. One of the most important eral speed of the rolls (no slip) and remain
criteria for the design of roller presses, which absolutely horizontal (no distortion)], the fol-
also determines the physical size of the entire lowing equation for the porosity emin at the
machine, is the roll diameter, D. It is also one narrowest point (a = 0) is obtained:49
of the few parameters that is fixed in a given
machine and cannot be adjusted to different
- cos aE) hA]/yhA
operating conditions. (6.68)
Referring to Figure 6.189 it is obvious that Since emin cannot become negative, it follows:
the sizes of the feed and compaction zones
depend on the roll diameter. Under the (al- yt[D(l - cos aE) + hA] < yhA (6.69)
most correct and therefore acceptable) as- or:
sumption that the gripping angle aE changes
only slightly with roll diameter, the conditions hA > D[\ - cos aE]/[(y/yt) - 1] (6.70)
of Figure 6.189 are obtained49 for the nip In Eqs. (6.68) to (6.70) yt is the tap density
areas between two pairs of rollers with differ- which is assumed to be equal to the density at
ent diameters, Dt and D2, and identical gap, point aE (see Fig. 6.184).
For materials requiring relatively little den- however, hs is always greater than hA for the
sification during compaction, the classic theory following two main reasons:
(strip model) can be used to determine the
minimum roller diameter needed to form a 1. Under load the roll gap changes because of
dense sheet or briquette. Equation (6.68) can (a) clearance in the roll shaft bearings and
be rewritten as follows: frame members, (b) elasticity of the
machine frame, (c) deflection of rolls and
D = hA/(l - cos aE)[yQ/yt(l - c) - 1] shafts, and (d) elastic deformation of the
(6.71) roller surface.
2. After pressure release the strip expands
where e characterizes the remaining porosity because of (a) recovery of elastically de-
at a = 0 (disregarding elastic recovery). In the formed particles and (b) expansion of
case of briquetting, an equivalent gap width compressed air trapped in pores of the
h'A must be calculated from the briquette vol- compact.
ume and web thickness combined.
If the rollers are larger than necessary to The extent of the roll gap change depend only
achieve e(a = 0), control can be applied by on machine design and is constant for a given
restricting the flow of feed to the roll nip (see compaction pressure.
Fig. 6.182). Expansion of the strip after pressure release
With increasing densification ratio the nec- is influenced by the physical characteristics of
essary roller diameter becomes larger. How- the material to be compacted (plasticity, brit-
ever, there are economic advantages in reduc- tleness, particle size and distribution, particle
ing the roller diameter to below the minimum shape, etc.), the roll diameter, the speed of
diameter if materials needing high densifica- rotation, and the surface configuration of the
tion must be processes. Then a force feeder rollers. With increasing roll diameter and/or
system must be used (see Fig. 6.183). In such a decreasing speed the expansion of compacted
case, the above criterion can be applied to material is reduced owing to better deaeration
choose a diameter that is less than the dimen- during densification and a more complete
sion calculated with Eq. (6.71). The selected conversion of elastic into permanent, plastic
roller diameter should be always sufficiently deformation.
smaller than the calculated minimum to allow
The smallest theoretical roll gap can be
density control by as large an adjustment of
calculated using Eq. (6.70). However, because
the force-feeding system as possible.
of the mechanical deformations discussed
Another criterion for selection of the roller above, it is possible to roll a strip with finite
diameter, particularly of briquetting machines, thickness even if the static (= no load) gap is
is the release mechanism from the pockets set at zero. This means that, in reality, the
(see Fig. 6.185). dynamic roll gap, which develops under load,
must be considered. The largest acceptable
Roll Gap. There is a close correlation be- roll gap results from the need to obtain a
tween strip thickness hs and theoretical roll coherent compact, that is, the compaction ra-
gap hA. Since with a given roll diameter the tio; this is influenced by the roll diameter as
gap defines the compaction ratio, the strip well as the amount and predensification of
density, y, also depends on the gap as indi- feed; the latter is characterized by the density
cated by rewritten Eq. (6.69): yt at hE(aE). In addition, because of pressure
and density gradients in the particulate mass
y - yt[D/hA(l - cos aB) + 1] (6.72)
during compaction, it is possible that the cen-
As a rough approximation it can be assumed ter of strip or sheet has insufficient strength if
that strip thickness equals roll gap. In reality, too large a thickness is desired.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 353
For briquetting presses the correct relation- rollers virtually no minimum speed exists. As
ship between feed rate and volume of com- the filling of the cups is the controlling factor
pacts is of special importance. To avoid thick and the disintegrating forces due to the re-
"flashings" or "webs" on the edges of bri- lease of residual elastic deformation and com-
quettes, it is necessary to use strong machines, pressed air trapped in the pores diminish with
to prevent flexing, with rigid response, and a reduced speed of compaction, briquette qual-
static roll gap of close to zero. ity improves in most cases if the rollers are
slowed down.
Roll Speed. For most considerations and ap-
Roll Feeding. The simplest form of feeding
proximations it is assumed that the peripheral
roller presses is by gravity (choke feeding). A
speed of the rollers and the speed of the
mass flow hopper with rectangular feed open-
particulate matter are identical in the entire ing to the nip between the rollers should be
compaction zone. In reality this is not true; used for this purpose.
throughput does not increase proportionately
The feeder dimension h0 (see Fig. 6.184) is
with roll speed. The maximum speed is deter- characterized by the angle a0 and depends on
mined by two effects; starved conditions in the the roller diameter, D, the gap hA or, respec-
compaction zone develop if (1) too much slip tively, the surface configuration of the briquet-
occurs between rolls and material in the feed ting roll. To make use of the full transport
zone and/or (2) air squeezed from the partic- capability of the rolls, the feed angle or angle
ulate mass flows upward and fluidizes the feed of delivery, aQ, should be greater than the
thus reducing the supply of material to the gripping angle, aE.
nip. In many applications the degree of com-
In the first case, compaction is not high paction necessary to produce a satisfactory
enough to form a stable compact, and inter- agglomerate is so small that the combination
mittent operation, accompanied by sometimes of commercially and conveniently sized rollers
severe chattering and potential equipment (as well as pockets, if applicable) provides too
failure, occurs in the second case. much densification if choke feeding is used.
The minimum speed for smooth rolls is Then, the flow of material to the nip between
reached if the mass flow rate Mp of the free the rollers must be deliberately restricted to
flowing powder is higher than the mass flow avoid overcompaction (see Fig. 6.182).
rate Ms of the compacted strip. Determination In contrast, the briquetting or compacting
of minimum speed is important only if strips of some other materials demands a degree of
with tightly controlled thickness are to be made compaction that cannot be achieved by a sin-
between smooth rollers, for example, in pow- gle pass in a choke-fed roller press, irrespec-
der metallurgy. In other applications, for ex- tive of the ratio pocket size (or gap width) to
ample, the compaction of fertilizers, the prob- roll diameter. In addition, redistribution of
lem of minimum speed may be circumvented material (which may be extensive) from the
by selecting a narrow static gap and adjusting nip against the flow of material or from the
the hydraulic pressure such that, when feed is rear of cups into following cups, for example,
introduced into the nip, the clearance in- owing to the flow of displaced air, may further
creases to the operating gap and, at the same reduce the efficiency of compaction. In these
time, the pressure rises to the operating level. cases the use of force feeders (see Fig. 6.183)
A completely different situation exists if the is required.
rollers are pocketed or corrugated because the
flow of material is stopped when the land Roll Pressure and Torque. After determining
areas between the pockets or the ridges of the roller diameter, width, and gap or briquette
corrugations are in close proximity. For such size and shape as well as roller speed using
354 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
throughput capacity and product density as the fifth region, residual elastic deformation in
input, roll force and torque as well as feed the compacted solid springs back when the
pressure must be determined. The require- pressure is released.
ments on these design parameters of a roll-type Even though bench scale densification tests
press are: do not reliably predict the performance of a
roller press, results can provide valuable infor-
1. The press must be capable of safely sup- mation on the relative behavior of different
porting the roll force and sustaining the feed materials.
torque necessary to make a good sheet or The solids pressure pmax will be influenced
briquette, and by the "precompaction" pressure of the feeder,
2. the press with associated feed mechanism p0. Reductions in roll force and diameter ac-
must allow development of the torque and companying the increase in precompaction
force required to make a good product at pressure lower size, weight, and cost of roller
the required throughput rate. presses. In contrast, roll drive requirements
remain almost unchanged00 if the production
These parameters relate to the flow properties rate is kept constant. Feed screw precom-
of the solid to be compacted.46 paction pressures up to and exceeding 2.8 • 106
Figure 6.190 depicts schematically a typical Nm" 2 have been reported. In normal opera-
compressibility diagram (density versus force) tion the pressures are probably in the range of
of a particulate solid. In a log/log plot the 104 to 106 Nm- 2 .
curve can be approximated by five straight-line Feed screws are axial flow type compressors
segments. The first occurs at low pressures whose power requirements increase with the
where density essentially does not change. The compression ratio and also with larger fric-
second range, during which density increases tional forces between material and screw oc-
slowly, applies to positive force-feed systems curring at the higher pressures provided, how-
(gravity chutes, screw feeders, etc.). The third ever, that the permeability of the densifying
represents the high-pressure nip region be- bulk mass remains high enough to allow unre-
tween the rollers. The compressibility factor K stricted flow of the gas that is expelled during
of the solid is characterized by the slope of the compaction. The total power requirement of
curve in this range. In the fourth segment of the roller press with screw feeder is the sum of
the curve density again remains constant; this both drive energies. Figure 6.191 illustrates
operating condition is normally outside of the schematically the correlation between total
desirable working range of roller presses. In drive energy and precompaction pressure for
Pressure release
Elastic
1 spring back
f —«
K
log Constant Intermediate High Constant
density pressure range pressure range density
log p —* pmax
Figure 6.190. Typical compressibility diagram (density versus force) of a particulate solid.46
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 355
eventually polish the surface, this measure is of the press to the maximum pressure, charac-
only of limited value. terized by pmax near the narrowest point of
Other surface "irregularities" include dif- the nip (part A of Fig. 6.192). The increase
ferent types of corrugations or shallow pockets may be calculated as a function of roll diame-
that produce "waffled" sheets.51 The latter ter, sheet thickness, and roll friction coeffi-
seem to improve deaeration.52 cient as well as the material's compatibility,
While profiled rollers are acceptable for interparticle friction, and permeability. On
some small-capacity applications and for mate- discharge, the pressure is released and initial
rials with low abrasivity, large, high-capacity strength is caused by binding mechanisms that
machines processing abrasive solids require have been activated during compaction. Resid-
the inherent advantages of smooth rollers, ual elastic deformation at the point of dis-
which are: rugged design, easy manufacturing, charge is relieved by expansion of the sheet
the possibility of refacing work rolls, and lower which may result in a weakening of the bind-
price. To improve the angle of grip, weld beads ing forces.
may be applied to the surface; these welds can Part B of Figure 6.192 shows the corre-
be replaced from time to time as required. sponding increase in apparent density which is
A relatively homogeneous sheet is most eas- typically approx. two times higher after com-
ily formed across almost the entire width of paction but may reach values of up to three
the rollers with small roller diameter or nar- times the feed density depending on material
row roll gap (sheet thickness) and low circum- as well as roll press size and design. As can be
ferential speed (both resulting in small capac- seen, densiflcation occurs very rapidly (in 1 s
ity) as well as small compaction ratio. Then, or less) in the narrow part of the nip. Ideally
only a relatively small amount of air is ex- the compact density remains constant after
pelled which can escape partly to the top and discharge but may become somewhat lower
partly to the sides of the rollers. Production of due to elastic expansion (dotted curve).
a homogeneous sheet will be further facili- Part C of Figure 6.192 shows that, depend-
tated by coarser feed and correspondingly ing on permeability of the particulate solids
larger pore diameters (permeability). being processed and its change during com-
Figure 6.192 illustrates the forces at work in paction, respectively, air pressure in the mate-
a roll press when powders are compacted.53 rial may increase to different levels. If residual
The rotating rollers magnify the small contact porosity (permeability) remains high enough
pressure between the solid particles from a during densification and in the compacted
value correspondingly to p0 at the feed point sheet, this air pressure equalizes by gas flow
Air
Solids pressure
contact Solids (P) in
pressure density solids
P 1 P
p
XT ^ V nmax
X ,
^max
\
r
^—
l'
i
1
I 7
""A
A B C
Figure 6.192. Representation of forces at work in a roll press when powders are being compacted.5
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 357
and venting both during and after compaction. drop considerably, thus reducing process eco-
If permeability is or becomes low, air pressure nomics, but equally important is that large
increases to very high levels and the sheet fluctuations in pressure and torque are experi-
expands on release similarly to the effect of enced that may result in serious damage to
elastic recovery mentioned above. However, rolls, bearings, gear reduces, and drives
because it is not a relaxation of the material (chattering).
itself but an "explosive relief of compressed Second, the gas flowing into higher levels of
air located in the interstices (pores) between a gravity feeder hinders the free flow into the
the solids, expansion of the sheet by this nip and reduces the roller press capacity. This
mechanism always results in some, often seri- problem can be overcome by installation of a
ous destruction (bursting) of the compact. feeder (e.g., screw feeder) which forces mate-
Bursting is frequently associated with a pop- rial into the nip.
ping noise. Sheets may break into slivers or Third, the conditions described above are
irregularly shaped pieces and sometimes disin- most pronounced for fine feed materials fea-
tegrate to powder. turing low permeability. It is possible that the
The damage that is done by the expanding problems caused by entrained air cannot be
gas depends on the strength of the compacted solved by simple and economical (i.e., suffi-
material (Fig. 6.193) and its remaining open cient roller speed and, thus, capacity) means
porosity but there is always some reduction of without changing the feed characteristics by
quality associated with the process. Therefore, coarsening the particle size and, therefore,
it is most desirable to remove the air while it is increasing permeability. One rather simple
expelled from the densifying material. If ini- method to achieve this is to recirculate a cer-
tially relatively narrow rollers, arranged side tain amount of crushed compacted material
by side, are considered, three types of prob- with a particle size distribution that must be
lems created by the removal of entrained air determined by experimentation.
can be identified. Figure 6.194 shows the effects of roller speed
First, gas flowing countercurrently to the and permeability on air pressure in the com-
feed material in the nip causes particulate pacted sheet.53 To the original graph a line
solids to alternatively fluidize and flow. These has been added that characterizes the theoret-
process conditions repeat in a cyclic manner. ical strength of the compacted sheet (i.e., prior
This operating condition is not acceptable be- to decompression); it decreases with increas-
cause not only does the yield of good product ing roll speed because of the shorter time
available for the development of binding
forces. Comparison of this line with the curves
. Air pressure for air pressure shows that air entrainment
does not limit roller speed for coarse granular
Highest
"D (V green strength
C JC
offtake ,
o o
Maximum air pressure (Pm,max)
Strength
I? Fine powder
(impermeable)
^m^»~- * """
^""Coarser powder
^">^\ erately
•S3
Maximum permeable)
O Q. operating
LL pressure
Figure 6.193. Effect of entrained air on compacted Figure 6.194. Effects of roller speed and permeability
sheet strength. 53 on air pressure in the compacted sheet. 53
358 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
material, and only insignificantly influences the compression of residual air cannot be com-
choice of roller speeds for "moderately per- pletely avoided even at low roller speed and
meable" coarser powder, but leaves only a high permeability of the particulate solids and,
small range of very low speeds for "impermea- on the other hand, during briquetting a final
ble" fine powders. product is to be made, the disruptive effects of
In most cases, the feed of roller presses entrained air are even more critical during
does not consist of the coarse granular mate- and after release from the rollers than in the
rial with no limitation to roller speed. Conse- case of compaction.
quently, if equipment with large capacity is
required, roller width must be increased. Fig- Phenomenology of Roll Briquetting. During roll
ure 6.195 reiterates52 that air can escape from briquetting individual pieces with defined
the nip countercurrently to the flow of mate- shape are generated but are not compacted
rial into the feeder arrangement, over the top simultaneously all over; rather, pressing takes
of the rollers, and sideways between the cheek place at varying rates and reaches different
plates sealing the roller nip against excessive maxima at different times in separated points
leakage of solids. The first portion, which within the briquette. Only in the relatively
causes limitations of free flow of feed to the rare case of materials with a very high intrinsic
rollers, grows with increasing roller width. bond strength caused by compaction and re-
While wide rollers (with working widths in quiring a low degree of densification can the
excess of 1000 mm) operate without problems product of roll briquetting be described as
in high-capacity applications if materials with fault-free. Even in these cases the compact is
"high permeability" are handled,52 decreasing not a perfect match to the pockets. The gener-
feed permeabilities will reduce acceptibility of ative process of rolling always produces a com-
wide rollers, even if force feeders are applied. pact that is longer than the circumferential
Generally, the same phenomenon as dis- length of the cup. This process, together with
cussed above occur during briquetting with expansion due to elastic recovery and/or com-
roller presses. Differences are, that it is more pressed air make the briquettes larger than
difficult to vent the gas that is being squeezed the combined pocket volumes. If other materi-
out from a pocketed roll, particularly during als are briquetted, especially those requiring
the last stages of compaction when the pockets high densification, imperfections and faults do
close (see Fig. 6.185) and essentially seal re- arise that may not occur in every compact and,
maining air within the briquette. Since this often, very similar problems can arise for en-
tirely different reasons. Moreover, the precise Because the trailing edge of briquettes does
causes of some of these faults are still not receive its final pressing until the front
unknown. ends of the pockets have separated (see Fig.
One of the most easily recognized and prob- 6.185), compacts are not homogeneous in den-
ably the best understood of the various faults sity and, in general, using a symmetrical cup
is a narrow, broken band of material around shape, the trailing end is distinctly denser than
the plane dividing the two briquette halves. the leading end. This may suggest that the
This is commonly known as "flash".or "web" rear end undergoes higher rolling load than
and results from the fact that the rollers are does the front; this, however, is not always the
not in contact during operation. The web can case. The difference in density is least when
become excessively thick owing to either the material is plastic because it will flow, both
stretch of the press frame or misalignment of in part and in whole, and may even extrude
the rollers during the setting-up procedure; in forward when the cups open at the leading
that case, briquettes are joined together and, edge. Such flow can also result in a highly
particularly in the case of multirow presses, polished surface of some finished briquettes.
may have the appearance of a chocolate bar. A near uniform state of stress and strain
In addition to distracting from the appearance within a briquette is more difficult to achieve
of the product, special equipment is necessary with a roll press than with uniaxial compaction
to separate the briquettes which may also cause presses (either closed mold or extrusion) be-
damage to the structure. cause of the more complicated geometry of
Another fault, equally as common as that of the "pressing chamber" (nip plus briquette
pockets). Homogeneity (but not necessarily
thick flash but probably less understood, is
isotropy) could be attained if either:
that in which the compacts open up along the
plane of pocket contact. In the vast majority of
1. A cup could be designed that would apply
cases, this opening is at the trailing (last com-
equal strain increments to all elements of
pacted) edge of the briquettes but, occasion-
the material without gross movement of the
ally, opening at the leading (first compacted)
materials within the cups, or
edge has been described. These faults are
2. the material is deliberately made suffi-
known as "clam-shelling," "oyster-mouthing,"
ciently plastic (either by previous process-
or "duck-billing."
ing or the addition of a plasticizing con-
The most common explanation of the above, stituent) to allow equalization of strain
especially with low-plasticity materials, is that, throughout the material during compaction.
in attempting to achieve adequate compaction
at the leading edge, the trailing edge is sub- Neither of these extreme situations is feasi-
jected to excessive pressure and also contains ble. For case (1) no practically conceivable cup
most of the compressed air; therefore, it splits shape can produce equal strain increments;
as a result of elastic recovery and expansion of and in case (2) a material with the necessary
air when the briquette is released. However, degree of plasticity will normally be incompati-
as the phenomenon has also been observed for ble with a potential need to develop adequate
very plastic materials in which even forward pressing load because the material could be
extrusion has occurred, it is likely that other extruded from between the pockets at rela-
mechanisms participate in producing this fault. tively low pressure. Alternatively, the product
Breaking away the flash may be a source of specification may exclude modification of the
cracks which could lead to splitting along the material or it is impossible to remove the
central plane. This would also provide a satis- plasticizing constituents after briquetting if
factory explanation for clam-shelling, at the they are inacceptable in the product. However,
front and, occasionally, the sides. a combination of rational pocket design with a
360 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
material featuring maximum plasticity com- leading part of the briquette are released while
mensurate with required pressing load and the back is still being compacted (Fig. 6.185).
product specification is likely to give optimum The effect of this mechanism will be be-
briquette equality. tween two extremes: one for a highly elastic
One factor that may contribute to the low modulus material and the other for a
nonuniformity of strain is an increase in roller completely inelastic (or very high modulus)
speed. During the main stage of the com- material.
paction process, the strain rate in volume ele- Briquettes made from elastic materials can
ments varies from point to point in a cup and always expand sufficiently at their leading end
with cup position. In the simplest geometrical to support the rear stress during the critical
estimation of these strains, their rates of period and, except in the unlikely case that the
change will be directly proportional to roller new stress distribution is so distorted that bri-
speed. Therefore, it is likely that operating a quette strength is exceeded at some point, the
briquetting roller press at the slowest possible compact will remain undamaged. In contrast,
speed consistent with economic throughput inelastic briquettes cannot follow the receding
would be advantageous in reducing stress dif- pocket surfaces by expansion; therefore, it
ferences during compaction. Moreover a moves forward until the front edge protrudes
slower roller speed will allow more time for beyond the plane containing the receding
any time-dependent recovery to attain equilib- edges of the cup and very high stresses can be
rium and plastic flow to reduce high stress generated at the line or point contacts with
concentrations. the compact. Some damage to the briquette is
almost inevitable. Furthermore, the trailing
Extraction Considerations in Optimizing Pocket edge of the compact may remain compara-
Design. Equally as important as designing a tively weak because not enough material is
pocket shape to achieve stress-free com- contained to fill the now larger briquette vol-
paction is the requirement to obtain stress-free ume. If the material can deform plastically
extraction. Even if the briquette experiences a extrusion of a "tongue" through the opening
fairly uniform stress distribution at the point gap into the rear of the preceding compact
of minimum volume (owing to a combination may occur.
of optimum pocket shape and good material Secondary release problems arise from vari-
characteristics) and is, at this point, relatively ous adhesive forces between briquette and cup.
fault-free, it can be damaged during its re- Obviously, pockets cannot contain any reen-
lease. Although the release portion of the trant surface because, as the pockets part, the
cycle is geometrically the same as the com- briquette would get caught and tend to split in
paction portion, the material has changed from half. Similar forces can be caused by friction
a deformable particulate solid to a coherent between briquette and cup and on surfaces
mass that is often under considerable elastic nearly parallel to the roller radius (Fig. 6.196,
deformation. Consequently, the principal re- left).
lease problems are associated with changing Generally, three factors must be considered
stress distribution within the compact. in optimizing the pocket shape for easy release
Because the trailing edge of the briquette of briquettes:
must ultimately attain a near closed shape,
with the lands at the rear of the pockets 1. The overall release geometry. This is gov-
almost touching, the rolls will continue to ap- erned mainly by the ratio "roll diameter/
ply pressure until the land between successive pocket length." If this ratio is large enough,
cups passes the plane of roll axes. During this the trailing edges of the cups will close
phase, the forward cup space is already in- before the leading edges have separated
creasing in volume and the constraints to the sufficiently to cause damage or extrusion.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 361
bution of material within the cups. The 3. D. Train, "Transmission of Forces Through a Pow-
distribution within the pockets is more criti- der Mass During the Process of Pelleting." Trans.
Inst. Chem. Eng. J5(4):258-266 (1957).
cal in systems requiring high compaction
4. D. C. Hicks, Private Communication, LCI Corp.,
ratios. The effect of cheek plates is less Charlotte, NC (1993).
pronounced or absent in multirow presses. 5. G. Schenkel, Schneckenpresse fur Kunststoffe, Carl
Hanser Verlag, Miinchen, Germany (1959).
6. Anonymous, Schneckenmaschinen, Mitteilungen de
Entrainment of Material by Roller Presses. The Verfahrenstechnischen Versuchsgruppe der BASF,
mechanisms that control the entrainment and Ludwigshafen/Rh., Germany (1960).
subsequent movement during densification are 7. G. Menges, Einfuhrung in die Kunststoffverar-
beitung, Carl Hanser Verlag, Miinchen, Germany
not yet fully understood. However, a number
(1975).
of theoretical approaches have been successful 8. K. F. Mauch, "Compounding and Pelletizing of
in predicting the behavior of roller systems, Plastic Materials with Twin-Screw Extruders," Un-
particularly if small changes in density are published report, Werner and Pfleiderer, Stuttgart,
involved. Germany (1986).
9. J. C. Steele, Jr. and K. A. Hanafey, "Agglomeration
Originally, most workers considered a hori-
via Auger Extrusion," in Proceedings of Sixteenth
zontal volume element of material "in a roll Biennial Conference, IBA, pp. 287-95 (1979).
press with rollers arranged side by side and 10. D. C. Hicks, "Extrusion, Spheronizing, and High-
assumed that it remains horizontal and retains Speed Mixing/Granulation Equipment," Unpub-
constant thickness as it moves through the nip lished manuscript, LCI Corp., Charlotte, NC (1988).
between the rolls. This is a gross oversimplifi- 11. G. Frank, "Pelletizing with Horizontal Dies,"
Unpublished manuscript, Amandus Kahl Nachf.,
cation and leads to the prediction of exces- Reinbek/Hamberg, Germany (1984).
sively large changes in density for a given roll 12. R. H. Leaver, "The pelleting process," Unpub-
system if the material is "entrained" at the lished manuscript, Koppers Co., Inc. (1982) (Cur-
angle of friction. rently Sprout-Bauer, Inc., Muncy, PA).
Therefore, later research concluded54"58 13. Anonymous, "Matrize fur eine Pelletisier-
maschine," German Patent Application OS 3 342
that material is entrained at some other angle 658 (1985).
—the "true angle of nip"—which is smaller 14. Anonymous, "Pelletisiermatrize," German Patent
than the angle of friction and must be deter- Application OS 3 342 659 (1985).
mined experimentally. The use of an empirical 15. Anonymous, "Flachbettpresse," German Utility
"angle of entrainment" makes allowances for Model CM 8 310 601 (1987).
the "upward movement" of material avoiding 16. D. C. Hicks, "Extrusion and Spheronizing Equip-
ment," Unpublished manuscript, Luwa Corp.,
the squeeze after compaction has commenced. Charlotte, NC (1988).
For additional information on roller presses, 17. N. Nakahara, "Method and Apparatus for Making
particularly special design features, instru- Spherical Granules," US. Patent 3 277 520 (1966).
mentation, and control, as well as peripheral 18. S. Bradbury (ed.), Powder Metallurgy Equipment
equipment for systems with roller presses, the Manual, 3rd ed., Metal Powder Industries Federa-
tion, Princeton, NJ (1986).
available literature should beconsulted.1'43'46'59 19. R. Voigt, Lehrbuch der Pharmazeutischen Technolo-
gie, 6th ed., VEB Verlag Volk und Gesundheit,
Berlin, DDR, and VCH, Weinheim, FRG, and
References Deerfied Beach, FL (1987).
20. R. Ridgeway-Watt, Tablet Machine Instrumentation
. 1. W. Pietsch, Size Enlargement by Agglomeration, John in Pharmaceutics—Principles and Practice, Ellis
Wiley & Sons/Sail + Sauerlander, Chichester, Horwood Series in Pharmaceutical Technology,
UK/Aarau, Switzerland (1991). John Wiley & Sons, New York (1988).
2. W. Pietsch, "Pressure Agglomeration-State of the 21. J. T. Carstensen, "Tabletting and Pelletization in
Art," in Agglomeration 77, Vols. 1 and 2, edited by the Pharmaceutical Industry," in Handbook of
K. V. S. Sastry, Proceedings of the Second Interna- Powder Science and Technology, edited by M. E.
tional Symposium on Agglomeration, Atlanta, GA, Fayed and L. Otten, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
AIME, New York, pp. 649-677 (1977). New York, pp. 262-269 (1983).
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 363
22. J. T. Carstensen, Pharmaceuticals of Solids and Solid 42. R. Kurtz, "Important Parameters for Briquetting
Dosage Forms, John Wiley & Sons, New York, Soft Lignite in Extrusion Presses." Aufbereitungs
p. 161 (1977). Technik 27(6): 307-316 (1986).
23. J. T. Carstensen, J. B. Johnson, W. Valentine, and 43. H. Herrmann, Das Verdichten von Pulvern zwischen
J. J. Vance, /. Pharm. Sci. 53:1050 (1964). zwei Waken, Verlag Chemie GmbH, Weinheim,
24. J. T. Carstensen and P. Chan, /. Pharm. Sci. 66:1235 Germany (1973).
(1977). 44. W. Pietsch, "Roll Designs for Briquetting-
25. K. Ridgeway and R. Rupp, /. Pharma. Pharmacol. Compacting Machines," in Proceedings of Eleventh
21:305 (1969). Biennial Conference, IBA, pp. 145-163 (1969).
26. R. L. Brown and J. C. Richards, Trans. Inst. Chem. 45. G. Franke, Handbuch der Brikettbereitung, Vol. 1,
Ing. 38:243 (1960). Die Brikettbereitung aus Steinkohlen, Braunkohlen
27. F. Q. Danish and E. L. Parrott, /. Pharm. Sci. und Sonstigen Brennstoffen, Verlag Ferdinand
60:550 (1971). Enke, Stuttgart, Germany (1909).
28. J. T. Fell and J. M. Newton, /. Pharm. Sci. 60:142$, 46. W. Pietsch, "Roll Pressing," in Monographs in
1868 (1971). Powder Science and Technology, edited by A. S.
29. S. Leigh, J. R. Carless, and B. W. Burt, /. Pharm. Goldberg, Heyden and Son, London (1987).
Sci. 56:888 (1967). 47. W. John, "Brikettieren," in Ullmann's Enzyklopddie
30. T. Higuchi, E. Nelson, and L. W. Busse, /. Am. der Technischen Chemie, 4th ed., Vol. 2, Allgemeine
Pharm. Assoc. 43:345 (1954). Grundlagen der Verfahrens und Reaktionstechnik.
31. E. Shotton, J. J. Deer, and D. Ganderton, /. Pharm. Brikettieren, Verlag Chemie GmbH, Weinheim/
Pharmacol 75:106T (1963). Bergstr., Germany, pp. 315-320 (1972).
32. J. M. Newton, P. Stanley, and C. S. Tan, /. Pharm. 48. K. Kegel, Aufbereitung und Brikettierung, Vol. 4,
Pharmacol. 29:40V (1977). Part I: Brikettierung der Braunkohle, Wilhelm Knapp
33. J. T. Fell and J. M. Newton, /. Pharm. Sci. 59:688 Verlag, Halle/Saale, Germany (1948).
(1970). 49. W. Pietsch, "Agglomerieren problemlos—Kom-
34. J. M. Newton and P. Stanley, /. Pharm. Pharmacol. paktiervorgang in Walzdruckbrikettier—und Kom-
26:60V (1974). paktiermaschinen." Maschinenmarkt MM Indus-
35. J. M. Newton and D. J. W. Grant, Powder Technol. triejournal 7<5(88):2036-2040 (1972).
9:295-297 (1974). 50. J. R. Johanson, "A Rolling Theory for Granular
36. P. Popper, "Isostatic Pressing," in Monographs in Solids." Trans. ASME J. Appl. Mechanics, Ser. E,
Powder Science and Technology, edited by A. S. 32:842-848 (1965).
Goldberg, Heyden & Sons Ltd., London (1976). 51. R. Zisselmar, "Kompaktiergranulieren mit Walzen-
37. E. Rammler, "Uber die Theorien der Braun- pressen." Chem. Ing. Techn. 59(10):779-787 (1987).
kohlenbrikettentstehung. Sitzungsberichte der 52. W. Pietsch, "Modern Equipment and Plants for
Sachsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Potash Granulation," in Potash Technology, edited
Leipzig." Mathematisch naturwissenschaftliche Klass, by R. M. McKercher, Proceedings of First Interna-
Vol. 109(1), Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 38 tional Potash Technology Conference, Saskatoon,
pp. (1970). Sask., Canada, Pergamon Press Canada, pp.
38. H. Metzner, "Untersuchung des Pressvorganges in 661-669 (1983).
Strangpressen mit Hilfe von Pressdruckmessungen 53. J. R. Johanson, "Reducing Air Entrainment Prob-
unter besonderer Berucksichtigung schnellauf- lems in Your Roll Press." Powder Bulk Eng. 2:43-46
ender Zweigelenk Pressen," Ph.D. Thesis, (1989).
Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany (1962).
54. B. E. Kurtz and A. J. Barduhn, "Compacting Gran-
39. K. Schenke, "Uber die Veranderungen der Briketts
ular Solids." Chem. Eng. Progr. 56:61 (1960).
beim Durchgang durch den Formkanal der Strang-
55. Anonymous, A study of the compression in tangen-
pressen und sich daraus ergebende Erkenntnisse
tial roll briquetting presses, Sahut, Conraur and
liber den Pressvorgang, insbesondere bei der Fein-
Cie., Varrangeville, France (1950).
stkornbrikettierung von Braunkohle," Ph.D. Thesis,
Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany (1968). 56. J. H. Blake, R. G. Minet, and W. P. Steen, "Pres-
40. W. Horrighs, "Determining the Dimensions of Ex- sure Developed in a Roll Press," in Proceedings of
trusion Presses with Parallel-Wall Die Channel for Eighth Biennial Conf., IBA, pp. 38-48 (1963).
the Compaction and Conveying of Bulk Solids. 57. F. S. Novikov, "Calculating of Roll Briquetting
Aufbereitungs Technik, 26(12): 724-732 (1985). Presses." Ugol. (Russ.), 38:50 (1963).
41. K. Schneider, "Druckausbreitung und Druck- 58. B. Atkinson, "Compaction of Powders and Pastes
verteilung in Schuttgiitern." Chem. Ing. Techn. in Double Roll Presses." NCB/CRE/Solid Prod-
41(1/2): 51-55 (1969). ucts Dept. Report No. 108 (Feb. 1964).
364 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
59. Z. Drzymala, Industrial Briquetting, Fundamentals and partial melting (Fig. 6.2). It is frequently
and Methods, Vol. 13 of Studies in Mechanical called "sintering."
Engineering, Elsevier, Amsterdam, NL/PWN Pol-
ish Scientific Publishers, Warszawa, PL (1993).
In the first edition of this book Limons1
covered the sintering of iron ores in much
detail; this treatice is recommended as a ready
reference.
6.6 OTHER AGGLOMERATION
Often, agglomeration by heat is a second
METHODS
step (curing) in an agglomeration process,
6.6.1 General whereby in the first stage size enlargement to
discrete agglomerates occurs by means of tum-
Agglomeration methods are defined and con-
ble or pressure agglomeration methods with or
trolled by binding mechanisms. Different tech-
without binders and, in the second stage, hard-
niques use different binding mechanisms and
ening and development of permanent bonds is
the equipment applied to accomplish agglom-
achieved by heat.
eration is characterized by suitable handling
The largest application of such two-stage
and treatment of particulate matter to bring
agglomeration procedures is the pelletization
about the desired effect. For example, in tum-
of iron ores.2"8 Figure 6.197 shows schemati-
ble agglomeration, the particulate solids are
cally the three main induration methods used
subjected to movement that is irregular, often
in this industry.2 They are the vertical shaft
turbulent, and controllable, resulting in colli-
furnace (a), the straight or sometimes circular
sions between particles, development of bonds,
(traveling) grate or strand machine (b), and (c)
and growth of agglomerates. In pressure ag-
the combination of straight grate and rotary
glomeration a more or less stationary bed of
kiln ("grate-kiln"). In a complete pelletizing
particles is consolidated by pressure bringing
system these induration methods are com-
about various binding mechanisms.
bined with tumble agglomeration in drums or
Therefore, the basis of all agglomeration
discs.
methods can be found in the availability
The final, often very high strength of ag-
and/or selection of binding mechanisms. The
glomerates is obtained by development of solid
technique or equipment used is only the
bridges between the ore particles at elevated,
"vehicle" to obtain the agglomerated product
so-called "sintering" temperatures. In the first,
of desired shape, size, strength, density, etc.
the tumble agglomeration stage, nearly spheri-
Consequently, "other" agglomeration meth-
cal pellets are produced. These "green" ag-
ods still employ similar effects and mecha-
glomerates are held together by surface ten-
nisms as mentioned before in the two main
sion and capillary forces. During induration
groups: tumble (Section 6.4) and pressure
the pellets must be first dried and preheated
(Section 6.5) agglomeration. Most of the ex-
before, at approx. two thirds of the melt-
amples that will be discussed in the following
ing temperature, migration of atoms and
are intended to show that for special applica-
molecules sets in at solid/solid interfaces and
tions and tasks knowledge of the binding
solid bridges are formed. The problem with
mechanisms as well as creativity in regard to
this and many similar processes is that, after
techniques to be used may result in special
drying, the original binding mechanism of the
new methods for solving a particular problem
green agglomerates (capillary forces and sur-
more economically or conveniently than cur-
face tension) has disappeared but sintering has
rently available through existing technologies.
not yet begun. Therefore, there is a time dur-
ing the process at which the agglomerates
6.6.2 Agglomeration Heat exhibit almost no strength. Theoretically, only
Agglomeration by heat uses primarily the the traveling grate may introduce low enough
binding mechanisms sinter (or mineral) bridges stresses into the essentially stationary bed of
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 365
Green agglomerates
fore, recent efforts to optimize the process
have come up with organic additives10'11 that
Burner chambers do retain strength in the dry stage but burn
out during sintering, thus preventing un-
wanted contamination.
The principle of first forming and then in-
durating agglomerates is also applied for other
materials, particularly nonferrous ores and
D Drying metal bearing recycled or reclaimed wastes.6
B Firing Sintering as a process of solidifying and
C Cooling
densifying powders is very often used in mod-
(a) ern powder metallurgy and for manufacturing
Green agglomerates
of high-quality technical ceramics as well as
composite materials, for example, cermets. Be-
/ D 1 B I C \ cause of the need for good control of the
\
Pellets
process and extreme final quality of the prod-
Grate (belt) ucts, a theory of sintering has been developed
(b) for these applications and extensive research
has been carried out.12"16 During sintering,
Green agglomerates
shrinkage takes place that is correlated to the
density of the "green" (preagglomerated) part.
Since most "preforms" are produced by pres-
sure agglomeration, density gradients (see Fig.
Grate kiln (Ring) cooler 6.111) can cause distortion during sintering. It
is therefore most important to select the cor-
Pellets
rect tooling (see Section 6.5.4.1). To obtain
(c)
small density variations and little distortion,
Figure 6.197. Schematic representation of the three
isostatic pressing may be used for the pro-
major induration methods used in iron ore pelletiza-
tion. (a) Shaft furnace, (b) grate, (c) "grate-kiln." duction of agglomerated preforms (see
Section 6.5.4.3).
becomes supersaturated during drying, solid remaining liquid from the pore space. If the
particles are already present in the other liq- liquid is a solution or emulsion, dissolved ma-
uids. The feed is pumped to an atomizer, terial is transported to the surface and forms a
either nozzle or rotating wheel; the resulting crust. Final drying and crystallization or depo-
droplets are immediately contacted by hot gas sition of solid (often colloid) material takes
that has entered the drying chamber through a place within the agglomerate, thus causing
specially designed air dispenser. Hot gas and bonding by solid bridges and/or binding
droplets move con- or countercurrently, pro- mechanisms.
ducing excellent heat and mass transfer. Ow- In a single-stage spray dryer the process is
ing to the large surface area of many small finished when most of the moisture in the pore
droplets, rapid evaporation takes place. At the space has dried. The agglomerates accumulate
same time, heat evaporation is removed which in the lower part of the spray drying chamber
actually results in cooling. This effect is very and are removed by the suction of a fan driv-
advantageous as it prevents overheating of ing a dust collection system. The agglomerates
the product while allowing for a relatively are collected in a cyclone while dust is col-
high inlet air temperature, thus improving lected in a wet scrubber (not shown in Fig.
economy. 6.198). Material-laden scrubber water may be
During drying the drop becomes smaller recirculated and mixed with the liquid feed.
and the newly formed (e.g., by crystallization) Since the resulting agglomerates are rather
or concentrating particles are compacted small and light (from solutions, hollow spheres
within the diminishing droplets because of are obtained), further development of the
forces caused by surface tension. Van der technology was directed to additional size en-
Waals forces may develop. At a certain point largement and, potentially, increase of product
in time a small, almost spherical wet agglom- density. One possibility is to treat the spray-
erate has formed and further drying removes dried material in fluidized bed whereby addi-
Feed
Rotary
valve
Rotary
valve
Fan
Figure 6.198. Flow sheet of a single-stage spray dryer.1;
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 367
tional drying, cooling, and/or agglomeration ing may take place in one or more fluidized
can take place.19 For the latter to happen, the beds installed in-line with the equipment
product is slightly rewetted with solvent or shown in Figure 6.199. Also, different spray
liquid feed material, to make it sticky enough drying and tumble agglomeration (not only
for agglomeration, and dried. low-density, fluidized bed) technologies can be
Spray and fluid bed drying technologies can combined in a similar way.
be combined into one multistage process to Recently, a new fluidized spray dryer-
accomplish the tasks discussed above. Figure agglomerator was introduced that accom-
6.199 shows as an example the two-stage ar- plishes both tasks in one unit.18 Figure 6.200
rangement of a spray dryer and a vibrating shows the flow sheet. The spray dries essen-
fluid bed. Further agglomeration (size enlarge- tially as described before but the particles now
ment and/or densification), drying, and cool- collect in a fluidized bed at the bottom of the
Exhaust
gas
Feed
Rotary _ Cyclone
Feed pump atomizer
Roof air
disperser
Spray
drying
chamber
Fan
Vibrating fluidized
bed dryer
Rotary
valve
Product
Fan
Figure 6.199. Flow sheet of a two-stage spray and fluidized bed dryer.1
368 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
chamber. Primary hot air for the process en- tween spray and fluid bed areas can be rela-
ters the dryer at the top through an air dis- tively high and is adjustable. This moisture
penser surrounding the atomizer and is used content in and on the surface of the fluidized
for the spray drying part of the process. Sec- particles is a major contributor to the agglom-
ondary air, about 25% to 40% of the total eration process. In addition, smaller particles
process air, is introduced from the plenum at are propelled from the fluidized bed area
the bottom through a perforated distributor into the spray zone. This upward blowing of
plate to fluidize the fluid bed portion of the particle-laden air against the downward flow
dryer. This air may be hot, warm, or cold of drying gas creates a very turbulent environ-
depending on process requirements. ment causing most of the relatively dry fines to
Because the residence time of particles in interact with the wetter particles coming from
the fluidized bed can be minutes as compared the spray and agglomerate.
to seconds in a normal spray dryer, lower air The combined process air exists through
temperatures can be used for the same amount outlet openings in the top of the chamber.
of liquid to be evaporated. Particularly, the Particles still entrained in the gases are sepa-
slow, last drying stage (removal of moisture rated in a cyclone. The material collected in
from pores of the agglomerate) will occur only the cyclone can either be removed from the
in the fluidized bed and, therefore, the inter- system for direct use or it is recirculated into
mediate moisture content at the interface be- the fluidized bed for further agglomeration.
Exhaust]
gas
Feed
Fluidized spray
drying chamber
Feed pump
Roof air disperser
for nozzle atomizer
Fines
recycle
system
(optional) Fluidized bed
air distributor
Post drying/cooling
(optional)
Fan
Figure 6.200. Flow sheet of a fluidized spray dryer-agglomerator. 1
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 369
The main differences in product character- Two such technologies shall be discussed as
istics between spray-dried and fluid bed further examples. One represents a relatively
agglomerated materials are: sophisticated approach, the other an extremely
low-cost application.
Spray-dried: Small, light (often hollow), The efficiency of currently used techniques
spherical with relatively smooth surface for the removal of particulates from gases
Fluid bed agglomerated: Larger, denser, ir- drops off sharply if the particle size becomes
regularly formed with relatively rough surface. smaller than 1 /xm. On the other hand, the
human pulmonary system is most efficient in
The difference in particle size is shown in the absorbing and retaining particles in the mi-
graph of Figure 6.201. In the recently intro- cron and submicron range. These particles are
duced fluidized spray dryer-agglomerator18 then the primary cause of respiratory ailments.
spray-dried powders are directly agglomerated While such suspended particles in emissions
whereby differently sized spherical particles from, for example, stacks of power plants, are
are bonded together. invisible, measurements have revealed that
approx. 50% of the particulates suspended
6.6.4 Alternate Sources for Particle in the air of urban regions are smaller than
Movement 1 /xm.20
Micron and suhmicron particles can be ef-
As indicated in the introduction of this sec-
fectively removed from aerosols if they are
tion, many different techniques may be ap-
first converted into agglomerates with a size
plied to induce irregular movement which will
of, say, 5 to 20 /xm. To accomplish this, acous-
cause collisions and, if sufficiently high adhe-
tic agglomerators can be used. As described in
sion forces are present, bonding (agglomera-
a historic review,21 accelerated agglomeration
tion). In addition to rotating discs, drums, mix-
of particles in sound fields is, per se, not a new
ers of all kinds, fluidized beds, vibrating and
idea.
shaking conveyors, etc., many other methods
Movement of micron and submicron parti-
to produce turbulent stochastic particle move-
cles in a carrier gas can be due to Brownian
ment are possible.
movement, caused by the collision of ther-
mally agitated gas molecules with solid parti-
cles, and by convection currents or turbulence.
In addition, an acoustic field would impose
acoustic pressure and velocity. For a typical
acoustic sound pressure of 160 dB the acoustic
velocity will be about 5 m / s and a typical
acoustic frequency of 2000 Hz might cause a
fully entrained particle to flit back and forth
2000 times a second over a distance of about
600 /xm.21 Particle entrainment is defined by
an entrainment factor rjp:
= 1/(1 (6.76)
20 100 200 500 1000 5000 with a) the acoustic frequency and r =
Particle size (urn) p p d p /18 /xm the particle relaxation time. p p is
Figure 6.201. Comparison of typical particle size distri-
the particle density, dp the particle diameter,
butions obtained from spray drying (left) and fluidized and /x the gas dynamic viscosity. ryp = 1 char-
bed agglomeration (right). acterizes full entrainment and for rjp = 0 no
370 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
entrainment occurs; the latter means that the micron particle removal from breathing air
particle is not affected by the acoustic field warrants large expenditures for research and
and, in respect to particles moved by the commercial installations.
acoustic pressure, stands still. Figure 6.202 de- On the other end of the scale of sophistica-
picts the particle entrainment factor as a tion are agglomeration methods needed for
function of particle size for five sound low-cost applications in the field of recovery of
frequencies.21 For each of the frequencies a small amounts of valuable materials by leach-
particle size exists below which particles are ing and waste processing for disposal. Many
almost fully entrained (i7p > 0.5). For example, finely divided particulate wastes cannot be de-
in the case of a sound frequency of 2000 Hz, posited in landfills or similar open storage
this "cut size" is approx. 4.5 jum. The larger facilities because of the danger of recontami-
particles, compared to the cut size, are essen- nation by wind and water. Because, in this
tially still while the smaller particles are mov- case, agglomeration is only an additional
ing through large displacements, colliding with cost, the cheapest possible method must be
and then adhering to the large particles be- selected.
cause of high van der Waals forces. Such cheap solutions will be described in
In the hot gas clean-up system of a coal the following. They were developed for the
burning fluidized bed power plant acoustic ag- low-cost heap leaching technology applied for
glomeration could be installed after the first low-concentration gold and silver ores and
cleaning cyclones and followed by a high- tailings that could not be economically pro-
efficiency cyclone. The power required to op- cessed by conventional methods. The technol-
erate the acoustic agglomerator is about 0.02% ogy relies on the ability of a liquid to contact
to 0.5% of the power plant output. This means the entire surface of a particulate mass and
that for a 250 MW power plant several hun- leach out the valuable component. The main
dred kilowatts of acoustic power are needed. reason for agglomeration in heap leaching is
Compared with the acoustic power output of a to prevent percolation problems in the heap
four-engine jet aircraft on take-off of approx. caused by the segregation of coarse and fine
36 kW, these are very large acoustic powers. particles during heap construction.22 This seg-
Therefore, while the theory of acoustic ag- regation creates areas with significantly lower
glomeration is well understood, large-scale permeability because, there, fines fill the void
application still requires considerable develop- volume between coarse particles. Conse-
ment. However, the need for micron and sub- quently, the leach solutions follow the path of
least resistance through "open" areas and by-
pass or barely wet the areas containing large
1.0 TTI 1 1 1 1 1 IN
amounts of fines. This results in lower extrac-
v
\ \ •
tion, longer leach time, and higher reagent
.0.8 \ \
consumption. In addition, after the heap has
8 \ \
' M been built, fines are washed into pockets and
I 0.6
\ \
\* \ I\
E
\ \ *. \ layers of the pile and thereby further impede
\ \
uniform flow of the solution.
S
500 Hz
\
\W \ \
Percolation problems can be minimized if
i \
\\ \ \ fines are attached to the coarser particles by
\
3000 Hz \ \
H20 or
NaCN solution
[ Finished agglomerates
Figure 6.207. Diagram depicting schematically the flow sheet of a typical (film) coating facility.23 (a) PLC
(programmable controller), (b) storage tanks for spray liquid(s) and metering/pumping system, (c) equipment for
air supply and processing, (d) air cleaning and exhaust system.
SIZE ENLARGEMENT BY AGGLOMERATION 373
are available: top, tangential, or bottom spray- in top-spray equipment because larger
ing (Fig. 6.208). The nozzles used are often amounts per batch can be processed and the
binary, that is, liquid is supplied at low pres- equipment design is simpler.
sure through an orifice and is atomized by air. The rotating disk coater (Fig. 6.208b) com-
Such pneumatic nozzles produce smaller bines centrifugal, high-intensity mixing with
droplets, an advantage when coating finer par- the efficiency of fluid bed drying. One major
ticles. However, it is an important principle of advantage of this method is its ability to layer
coating that the solution or suspension droplets large amounts of coating materials onto nuclei
impact the nuclei and uniformly distribute on consisting of either robust granules, crystals,
the surface before the liquid is dried off (film or nonpareil seeds. Because of the unit's high
coating). Since very fine droplets start evapo- drying rate, relatively large grains in product
rating liquid quickly as they travel from the weight can be achieved in short periods of
nozzle to the fluid bed, solids concentration time. Another advantage is the possibility to
and viscosity increase. Therefore, droplets may layer dry powders onto nuclei wetted with
contact the substrate surface and fail to spread binder solution. Because the liquid spray
uniformly, leaving an imperfect film. This dry- nozzle(s) is (are) located below the fluid bed
ing of the coating spray is most severe in surface the above mentioned problems with
top-spray coaters (Fig. 6.208a) in which parti- early drying are not experienced.
cle movement is the most random and liquid is The same is true of the Wurster process for
sprayed against the drying air flow. Neverthe- bottom-spray coating (Fig. 6.208c). This is the
less, a sizable amount of coating is performed only fluid bed coating method that is applica-
ble for tablets, pellets, and coarse granules as
well as fine powders. The Wurster coating
chamber is cylindrical and contains normally a
concentric inner partition with approximately
half the diameter of the outer chamber. At the
base of the apparatus is a perforated plate
that features larger holes underneath the in-
ner partition. The liquid spray nozzle is lo-
cated in the center of the orifice plate and the
partition is positioned above the plate to allow
movement of material from the outside to the
higher velocity air stream inside the partition.
This design creates a very organized flow of
product. Material moves upward in the parti-
tion, where coating and highly efficient drying
occur, into an expansion area and then down
as near weightless suspension in a bed of
particles outside the partition. Design varia-
tions include different configurations for use
in coating tablets, coarse granules, or fine
powders. If larger sizes must be treated, the
outer vessel diameter and the number—rather
than the size—of inner partitions increase.
Figure 6.208. Schematic representations of the product For example, a Wurster coater with 1200 mm
handling sections of three fluidized bed coaters. 24 (a)
outer diameter for an approximate batch size
Top spray, (b) tangential spray (rotary fluid bed coater),
(c) bottom spray (Wurster coating system). of 400 to 575 kg will contain a total of seven
374 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
partition tubes (size in a circle and one in the culating the system without aid of electrolytes.
center).25 These processes are known as sensitization
and adsorption flocculation, respectively. The
second is the more common. To create aggre-
6.6.6 Flocculation in Gases and Liquids
gates, the polymer adsorbs on various particles
Flocculation of fine particles in gases or liq- simultaneously which is best accomplished by
uids plays an important role in industrial envi- using substances with high molecular weight
ronmental control systems. Solid particulate and a strong affinity to the particles to be
contaminants are often so small that their agglomerates. Figure 6.210 is a sketch of a
removal from liquid or gaseous effluents is not flocculate. This is how commercial flocculants
economically possible. The agglomeration of that are used extensively in practice work, for
these solids into sometimes rather loose larger instance in water purification.29"32 By influ-
"floes," conglomerates, or "strings" of parti- encing the affinity of the flocculant, it is also
cles facilitates removal with conventional, possible to obtain selective agglomeration. This
economic environmental control devices. method is used in the upgrading of certain
Agglomeration may take place naturally or minerals.
require support by forces or movements intro- Less well known is the fact that, more often
duced from the outside or by the addition of than not, solids and droplets dispersed in
binders. Natural aggregation has been ob- aqueous solution are electrically charged ow-
served and used in the precipitation of so- ing to preferential adsorption of certain ion
called, brown smoke from steel mills. The pri- species, charged organics, and/or dissociation
mary particles, mostly Fe 2 O 3 , are ferromag- of surface groups.27 Depending on such vari-
netic and form dipoles that attach to each ables as nature of the material, its pretreat-
other forming string-like agglomerates (see ment, pH, and composition of the solution,
Fig. 6.34) which can be separated from the these charges can be either positive or nega-
flue gases in conventional dust collection sys- tive. Since the surface charges on particles are
tems. Similar but artificially induced effects compensated by an equal but opposite coun-
take place in electrostatic precipitators. In an tercharge surrounding them an electrical
electrostatic field the naturally produced double layer develops that, even though as a
agglomerates of brown smoke grow into whole the system is electrically neutral, results
dendritic structures, thus further facilitating in repulsion of the particles. On addition of
precipitation. indifferent (nonadsorbing) electrolyte, the
Similar aggregation takes place in liquids. If double layers become less active and, as a
contaminated water is stirred, floes form natu- consequence, the particles can approach each
rally, the size and shape of which depend on other more closely before repulsion sets in. If
circumferential speed of the propeller and the enough salt is added, the particles may eventu-
processing time. Figure 6.209 shows that the ally come so near to each other than van der
floes will be larger if the shear forces are low Waals attraction binds them together. This is,
and the processing time is short. However, in principle, the expansion of the sensitivity of
further investigation revealed that higher pro- colloids and suspensions to salts and may, in
peller speed and/or longer duration of stirring other environments, be used to destroy stable
result in denser and more stable floes. colloids or suspensions and cause flocculation.
For quite some time it has been known For technical applications, electrocoagula-
that polymers added to colloidal systems tors are used to charge the solids in contami-
can have a dramatic influence on particle nated liquid effluents. Metal hydroxides are
interaction.27'28 There are two ways in which produced, by a system of soluble electrodes
polymers can promote aggregation: by making (anodes) that, in suitable electrolytes, cause
particles more susceptible to salts or by floc- coagulation of particles into larger floes.33
Circumferential speed of propeller
1 m/s 0.6 m/s 0.27 m/s 0.18 m/s
30min
60 min
•If 90 min
Stationary sample
after 15 h mixed Processing
time
Figure 6.209. Natural flocculation of solid contaminants in river water. Parameters are circumferential speed of the stirrer and processing time. 26
376 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Solids Conference, Rosemont, IL, pp. 299-312 keitsabtrennung," Chem. Ing. Tech. 5S(4):279-286
(1985). (1986).
22. P. D. Chamberlin, "Agglomeration: Cheap Insur- 30. R. Hogg, R. C. Klimpel, and D. T. Ray, "Ag-
ance for Good Recovery When Heap Leaching glomerate Structure in Flocculated suspensions and
Gold and Silver." Mining Eng. 22:1105-1109 (1986). Its Effect on Sedimentation and Dewatering."
23. Anonymous, "DRIACOATER," Prospectus Minerals Metal. Proc. 5:108-114 (1987).
DRIAM Metallprodukt GmbH and Co.KG., 31. L. A. Glasgow, "Effects of the Physiochemical En-
Eriskirch, Germany. vironment on Floe Properties," Chemie. Eng. Proc.
24. D. M. Jones, "Factors to Consider Fluid-Bed Pro- &5(8):51-55 (1989).
cessing." Pharmacut. Technol 4 (1985). 32. B. M. Moudgil and T. V. Vasudevan, "Evaluation
25. K. W. Olsen, "Batch Fluid-Bed Processing Equip- of Floe Properties for Dewatering Fine Particle
ment. A Design Overview: Part II. Pharmaceutical Suspensions." Mineral Metal. Proc. 8:142-145
Technol 6:39-50 (1989). (1989).
26. W. Pietsch, "Das Agglomerationsverhalten feiner 33. M. M. Nazarian et al, "Electrocoagulator,"
Teilchen," Staub-Reinhalt. Luft. 27(l):20-33 German Patent PS 34 90 677 (1988).
(1967); English edition (The Agglomerative Behav-
ior of Fine Particles), 27(1):24-41 (1967).
27. J. Lyklema, "The Colloidal Background of Agglom- 6.7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
eration," in Agglomeration '85, edited by C. E.
Capes, Proceedings of the 4th International Sympo- For the first edition of the Handbook of Pow-
sium on Agglomeration, Toronto, Canada, The Iron
and Steel Society, Inc., Warrendale, PA, pp. 23-36
der Science and Technology, C. E. Capes of the
(1985). National Research Council of Canada (NRC),
28. B. M. Moudgil and A. McCombs, "Physical Simula- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, coordinated the
tion of the Flocculation Process. Minerals Metal. contents of Chapter 7, entitled "Size Enlarge-
Proc. 5:151-155 (1987). ment Methods and Equipment."
29. H. Burkert and H. Horacek, "Anwendung von
Flockungsmitteln bei der mechanischen Fliissig-
Chapter 7 in the first edition was subdivided
into eight parts:
The editors decided to ask W. B. Pietsch to operation with Salle + Sauerlander, Aarau,
write Chapter 6 for the second edition using Switzerland, and Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
those parts of the first edition that fitted com- Many of the new parts of this second edi-
pletely or partially into the current chapter 6. tion are exerpts from the above mentioned
For the new chapter the author used a book which are presented with permission of
classification that was presented in his recent the publishers. In addition some of the
book Size Enlargement by Agglomeration, pub- original texts were used after editing. The
lished in 1991 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, respective authors are acknowledged in the
Chichester, West Sussex, England, in co- references.
7
Pneumatic Conveying
Mark Jones
CONTENTS
commonly referred to as dense phase characteristics it can be seen that the shape of
systems. the curves is governed by the mode of convey-
ing, which itself is determined by the physical
The link between the modes of flow that a properties of the material being conveyed.
bulk material can achieve and its properties is The extent of the performance envelope for
discussed in subsequent sections. a conveying characteristic is bounded by four
limits:
7.2.3 Conveying Characteristics
• The lower limit due to the air only pressure
An alternative way of presenting the three drop for the pipeline.
major pipeline variables is to plot solids mass • The right-hand limit which is governed by
flow rate against the mass flow rate of gas as the volumetric capacity of the air mover.
shown in Figure 7.2. This graphical form is This could be increased simply by using a
referred to as the conveying characteristic, or larger capacity machine. However, there is
performance map. A conveying characteristic no advantage in most applications for in-
applies to a particular: creasing the air velocity, since this simply
limits the rate at which material can be
• bulk material conveyed.
• pipeline • The upper limit can be due to either the
pressure rating of the air mover, or the
In this form, the third variable, conveying maximum rating of the solids feed device.
line pressure drop, is presented as a set of In the cases shown, the maximum pressure
curves. Each curve represents a line of con- rating of the air mover was 7 barg(105 psig);
stant conveying line pressure drop. The shape thus the upper limit is due to the solids feed
of these curves varies and depends on the device.
conveying capability of the particular material. • The limit to the left-hand side of the char-
Bulk materials can be classified according to acteristic is normally the most important
the modes of flow that they can achieve in the since this marks the boundary between flow
pipeline of a pneumatic conveying system. and no flow. For a system to operate with-
From a comparison of different conveying out possibility of a blockage the operating
point must be to the right of this boundary.
Polyethylene Pellets
.Pressure drop [bar]
r f
CO
CO
CO
1
CO
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Bulk material
1-Potassium sulphate 2-Granulated sugar
3-Potassium chloride 4-Silica sand
0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 5-Magnesium sulphate 6-Catalyst
Gas mass flow rate [kg/s] 7-Coal
Figure 7.4. Example of a conveying characteristic for a Figure 7.5. A comparison of dilute phase conveying
plug flow material. performance.
382 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Inlet Outlet
The gas mass flow rate remains constant
: throughout the pipeline, provided no air injec-
= pf-p,-
tion system is used. This provides a useful
datum for reference.
The SLR gives an indication of the concentra- • Pressure drop across the gas-solids separa-
tion of solids (by mass). It is constant along tion system:
the pipeline and relatively easy to determine. There will always be a pressure loss associ-
The value of the SLR shows how the concen- ated with gas-solid separation; however, its
tration of solids in the flow changes for dif- significance will depend on the gas flow rate
ferent operating points. However, values of and the size of the pressure loss compared
SLR achieved with different materials cannot with the total system pressure drop. For
be readily compared. most cyclones and bag filters information
can be obtained to estimate the likely
pressure loss.
7.4 SPECIFICATION OF AIR
REQUIREMENTS
The pressure drop elements making up the
total system pressure drop are illustrated for a
Air movers are specified according to two
positive pressure system in Figure 7.8.
major parameters:
u
Conveying Pipeline
Resistance
i
Ap conv = Ap g (1 + a )
Jfe
• Air Supply Pipe Resistance
oo Ap = 4fLpU2
2D
Figure 7.8. Pressure drop elements for a positive pressure system.
Air
Supply Pipe internal
Line diameter, d
Po
To
i
Air
Mover
Feed point
Ui
Pi
Ti
Figure 7.10. Specification of free air volumetric flow rate for positive pressure systems.
386 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Q[CFM]
850 H
- • $ -40
20
6.5 —-T-70
14 -SO
13
12 •50
11
10
-40
•30
4 -20
3
2 _
18 IS 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32.8
• For a fixed blower speed, the volumetric lected, the blower speed can be calculated
flow rate at the inlet to the blower de- using the following procedure:
creases as the delivery pressure increases.
• From the volume flow rate axis (top left)
Choosing an operating point in the middle of draw a horizontal line that intersects with
the characteristic provides the greatest flexi- the pressure lines.
bility for the pneumatic conveying system. • Find the point at which the volume flow
Once a blower with the range necessary to rate line intersects the pressure line corre-
satisfy the system requirements has been se- sponding to the required pressure and draw
PNEUMATIC CONVEYING 387
a line vertically down that intersects the • The pressure drop along the pipeline must
blower speed axis. be known.
• The flow rate of gas into the air-mover must
There is a second set of pressure lines just be calculated.
above the blower speed axis, which can be
used to calculate the power rating of the
blower's motor. To calculate the power The difference between this case and the posi-
requirement: tive pressure case is that the calculation of the
free air volumetric flow rate is relatively sim-
® Find the point at which the blower speed ple, since the conditions at the feed point can
line intersects the pressure line correspond- be regarded as similar to those of free air. The
ing to the required pressure and draw a line sum of the pressure drops:
horizontally that intersects the motor power
axis (bottom right). • along the pipeline
• through the filter
The third set of curves is provided (in the
• in the pipe to the air mover
middle of the graph) to estimate the air tem-
perature rise across the blower.
allows the pressure at the inlet to the air-mover
7.4.6 Determination of Air Requirements to be calculated. This can be used to calculate
for Vacuum Systems the gas volume flow rate into the air-mover
The determination of the air-mover specifica- from the free air flow rate. A characteristic
tion for a vacuum system is similar to that for similar to that for a positive pressure system
a positive pressure system in that: can then be used to find the necessary operat-
ing condition for the air-mover to satisfy the
• The gas velocity at the solids feed point air requirements of the pneumatic conveying
must be specified. system.
NOMENCLATURE
Variables
A Area m2 lft 2 = 0.0929 m2
D Diameter m lin = 0.0254 m
f Friction Factor
8 Gravitational m / s 2 1 ft/s 2 = 0.3048 m / s 2
acceleration
L Length m lft = 0.3048 m
m Mass flow rate kg/s 1 ton/h = 0.252 kg/s
P Pressure Pa 1 psi = 6895 Pa
R Gas constant J/kgK 1 ft lb f /lb R = 5.381 J/kg K
T Temperature K IR = 0.5556 K
u Velocity m/s 1 ft/min = 0.00508 m/s
ug Superficial gas m / s
velocity
V Volume flow m 3 /s 1 ft 3 /min = 0.00047195 m 3 /s
rate
Ap Pressure drop Pa 1 in
H2o = 249.083 Pa
P Density kg/m 3 1 lb/ft 3 = 16.02 kg/m 3
SLR Solids loading ratio
388 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
CONTENTS
8.1 INTRODUCTION 389
8.2 DEFINITIONS 390
8.3 TYPES OF BIN CONSTRUCTION 390
8.4 FLOW PATTERNS IN BINS AND HOPPERS 397
8.5 STRESSES ON BIN WALLS 405
8.6 SOLIDS FLOW ANALYSIS AND TESTING 416
8.7 BULK DENSITY AND COMPRESSIBILITY 424
8.8 OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING FLOW PROPERTIES DURING STORAGE 425
8.9 DESIGN OF BINS FOR FLOW 427
8.10 EFFECT OF THE GAS PHASE 436
8.11 OTHER METHODS OF CHARACTERIZING SOLIDS RELEVANT TO
STORAGE AND FLOW 440
8.12 PARTICLE SEGREGATION DURING STORAGE AND FLOW 446
8.13 STATIC DEVICES TO RROMOTE GRAVITY FLOW FROM BINS 453
8.14 FLOW-PROMOTING DEVICES AND FEEDERS FOR REGULATING FLOW 459
8.15 REFERENCES 480
Stresses imposed on the bin walls by the Hopper: A converging sloping wall section
stored material are less understood. They are attached to the bottom of a silo. If a converg-
affected by the location of the filling point, the ing section stands alone as an independent
configuration of the flow channel, and by any bin, it is called a bunker.
deviations in the bin geometry produced dur-
ing manufacture. Most published information Solids Flow Patterns: As solids flow from a
on wall stresses deals with axisymmetric filling bin, the boundaries between flowing and non-
and discharge of a bin. It is well known that flowing regions define the flow pattern. Three
wall stresses are higher during eccentric filling common patterns—funnel flow, mass flow, and
and eccentric discharge and they require expanded flow—are defined in Section 8.4.
special consideration. Flow Obstructions: It is assumed that inter-
An important consideration, often over- ruption of solids flow in a bin can be caused by
looked, is the required rate of flow from the either of two types of obstructions: an arch
outlet. Flow-regulating devices at the bin out- (sometimes called a bridge) formed across a
let must be properly configured to produce the flow channel or bin opening, or a rathole
desired solids flow pattern in the area of the (sometimes called a pipe) formed when the
outlet without arching or ratholing. The air flow channel empties, leaving the surrounding
permeability of powders will vary with the stagnant material in place. These obstructions
consolidating pressures as they flow through are defined in more detail in Section 8.4.
bins. This can cause an erratic or restricted
flow from the bin outlet. Air injection at spe-
cific points may be necessary to balance the 8.3 TYPES OF BIN CONSTRUCTION
interstitial air pressures in order to maintain a
required flow rate. Bins and silos can be categorized as either
agricultural or industrial-type construction.
8.2 DEFINITIONS The general descriptions that follow apply to
either type.
The following definitions are commonly
accepted and will be used in this chapter: 8.3.1 Metal Construction
8.3.1.1 Shop-Welded
Bin: Any upright container for storing bulk
solids. These are welded as a complete assembly in
Silo: A tall bin, where H > 1.5D (H is the the shop (with roof in place) and then shipped
height of the vertical and D is the diameter of as a complete unit to the site. The maximum
a round bin or the dimension of the short side width or diameter is normally limited to 3.6 to
of a rectangular bin). A tall bin is described in 4.0 m to accommodate rail and road clear-
some structural engineering texts as a bin ances encountered during transportation. The
where the "plane of rupture" of the contained maximum volume accommodated by shop-
material, determined by Coulomb's theory, in- welded bins is about 1700 m3.
tersects the side walls. There is disagreement
among engineers regarding the actual location 8.3.1.2 Field Assembly by Welding
of this plane of rupture in bins having hopper Preformed parts are shipped to the site, fitted
bottoms and this definition is becoming less together, and assembled by welding. Elevated
used. silos and bins with hopper bottoms have been
Bunker: A shallow bin, where H < 1.5D or, built up to 15 m diameter. Flat-bottom silos
as above, where the "plane of rupture" inter- and bins resting on concrete slabs have been
sects the top surface of the stored solids. built up to 48 m diameter. Shop- or field-
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 391
Figure 8.2. Detail of vertical and horizontal seams. 8.3.2.1 Precast Construction
Courtesy of Peabody Tec Tank, Inc., South Industrial
Park, Parsons, KS.)
8.3.2.1.1 Concrete Staves. The bin is
formed by assembling the staves in a circle
crimped spiraling seam. This generates a con- and stacking them to form a cylinder. Circum-
tinuous rigid water tight cylinder (Fig. 8.9). ferential steel hoops, usually consisting of
Field-assembled bins are made by mounting three or more rods connected by steel or mal-
coil and forming machine on the silo pad and leable iron lugs, are spaced at intervals along
continuously unwinding and seaming (Fig. the outside of the staves and post-tensioned to
8.10), producing a continuous vertical cylinder.
A detail of the double-crimped seal is shown
in Figure 8.11. Prefabricated roof sections are
put in place close to ground level after several
revolutions have formed the initial cylinder;
then unwinding and seaming is continued until
the desired height is reached. These bins can
also be shop-fabricated horizontally, then
shipped to the site for erection.
Figure 8.5. Assembling a glass-coated steel bin. (Reprinted with permission of Koppers Co., Inc., Sprout
Waldron Div.)
place the staves in compression (Fig. 8.13). mize moisture condensation on the inner walls.
Staves are usually about 250 to 300 mm wide Solid staves can be used for less critical appli-
by 500 to 750 mm long and 60 to 100 mm thick cations and can be cast in heavier duty con-
(Fig. 8.14). They are pressed in forms and then struction for storage of high-density solids.
cured in high-pressure steam kilns. Staves can The staves are fitted together with a tongue-
be made with hollow cores or can be made of and-groove fit. Each stave has a tongue cast on
lightweight aggregate to provide a measure of top and one side with grooves cast on the
insulation to protect solids from the effects of bottom and opposite side.
sudden temperature changes and/or to mini- The exterior of the structure is coated with
either of several coatings as required by the
application. These include sand and cement
INTER10R EXTERIOR
slurry coatings, waterproof agents combined
with the slurry coatings, or special paint or
POLYBUTYLSEALANT
epoxy coatings. The coatings provide weather
ABS PLASTIC OR STAIN
LESS STEEL COVERING ~ C A D M I U M PLATED OR PLASTIC protection, a water drip over the hoops, and
COATED NUT
ON BOLT HEAD
improve the appearance of the silo. The inte-
rior of the structure can be finished to provide
a smooth monolithic appearance using several
coats of a brush and trowelled cement plaster
Figure 8.6. Details of bolted seam. (Reprinted with or several coats of epoxy coatings applied with
permission of Koppers Co., Inc., Sprout Waldron Div.) spray equipment or trowels.
394 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 8.7. Exterior view of a bolted preformed rectangular steel bin. (Reprinted with permission of Leach
Manufacturing Co., Inc. [Lemanco].)
A flat-bottom silo mounted on a concrete vated slab, capping with a precast roof slab,
slab at ground level will discharge from the and then vertically post-tensioning them to-
side. When steel hoppers are used for dis- gether with wire rope. Details of the design of
charge, they are fabricated with compression a group of 4.9 m diameter X 9 m deep bins
ring girders and supported on steel columns are described in Ref. 2.
from grade. The silo roof normally consists of
a reinforced concrete slab, sometimes mounted
on a bar joist or structural steel beam support. 8.3.2.1.3 Prefabricated Reimbert Silo. This
Where applicable, concrete stave silos are construction is described in detail by the Re-
the lowest cost concrete construction. They imberts.3 Shaped, precast reinforced concrete
have been built up to 12 m diameter and 30 m slabs about 4.5 m long by 0.5 m high are used
high. Specifications and standards for con- as the basic structural element. These are
crete stave silos have been published by the stacked in a horizontal position with each end
American Concrete Institute.16 fastened to vertical concrete posts. These units
can be used to form storage cells of any shape
8.3.2.1.2 Post-tensioned Rings. These —rectangular, hexagonal, etc. Storage of up to
structures are assembled by stacking circular 30,000 tons of grain and other agricultural
precast concrete sections vertically on an ele- products has been reported.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 395
1lllllll
Figure 8.8. Typical construction details of a bolted preformed rectangular steel bin. (Reprinted with permission of
Leach Manufacturing Co., Inc. [Lemanco].)
8.3.2.2 Cast in Place about the periphery of the wall, and guided in
the lift by vertical rods (Fig. 8.16).
Concrete silos or bunkers can be cast in sta-
Concrete is cast into the forms on a contin-
tionary forms, slip forms, or jump forms in
uous basis. The speed of the upward move-
various configurations (Fig. 8.15). Detailed de-
ment of the form is determined by the setting
scriptions of these silos constructions are given
time of the concrete. Continuous pouring as-
by Safarian and Harris5 and the Reimberts.2
sures that the concrete does not set before the
Slip forms and jump forms are well suited to
following layer is cast, thus providing a mono-
silo fabrication and are the most commonly
lithic structure. The slip form moves from 0.2
used method for large silos.
to 0.38 m / h (with 0.3 m / h a good average)
and continues around the clock until the walls
8.3.2.2.1 Slip Form. In this method, forms are complete. Steel reinforcing is placed in the
erected on the silo foundation are continu- forms as they reach predetermined positions
ously raised by hydraulic screw jacks spaced in the pour. Conventional reinforcing bars or
396 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
8.4 FLOW PATTERNS IN BINS rial compacts and exhibits poor flow properties
AND HOPPERS when consolidated under solids head pres-
sures. Material in the stagnant areas may gain
A knowledge of flow patterns occurring in a strength with time and remain in place when
bin is fundamental to any understanding of the active flow channel empties out, forming a
the forces acting on the material or on the bin rathole or pipe (Fig. 8.19). In severe cases, the
walls. Wall pressures are determined not only material can form a bridge or arch over the
by frictional forces caused by sliding of solids discharge opening (Fig. 8.20).
along the wall, but also by the flow patterns The flow channel may not be well defined.
that develop during filling and withdrawal. It may follow a serpentine path through the
bin, particularly if particle segregation has oc-
8.4.1 Types of Flow Patterns curred. Material surrounding the channel may
Three basic flow patterns have been be unstable, and in this condition will cause
identified:55 stop-and-start flowing, pulsating, or "jerky"
flow. High pressures within the channel are
8.4.1.1 Funnel Flow often muffled by the stagnant material and
may not reach the walls. At high discharge
This is sometimes also called "core flow." It
rates, however, these pulsations could lead to
occurs in bins with a flat bottom or with a
hopper having slopes too shallow or too rough structural damage. As the bin is emptied (as-
to allow solids to slide along the walls during suming the material does not compact to form
flow. Solids flow to the outlet through a chan- a stable rathole) solids continually slough off
nel within a stagnant mass of material. This the top surface into the channel. If solids are
channel is usually conical in shape, with its simultaneously charged into the top and with-
lower diameter approximately equal to the drawn from the bottom, the incoming solids
largest dimension of the active area of the will pass immediately through the channel to
outlet. It usually increases in size as it extends the outlet.
from the outlet, up into the bin (Fig. 8.18). In tall bins or silos, the channel boundaries
Serious flow problems can occur if the mate- may expand to intersect the cylinder walls at a
398 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 8.13. Concrete stave silos. (Reprinted with permission of First Colony Coip. and the Nicholson Co.)
point defined as the effective transition (Fig. widely because of the varying stresses in the
8.21). Material above this intersection may flow channel. This can render ineffective
move in plug flow and stresses developed any volumetric feeder installed at the silo
within the flow channel reach the bin walls. discharge.
A storage bin having a funnel flow pattern Fine powders can become aerated and flush
is the most common in industry and many uncontrollably when arches or ratholes col-
have been designed to provide a certain vol- lapse. Positive sealing-type discharge devices
ume for storage without considering that the or feeders are mandatory when these condi-
actual discharge capacity may be much less tions exist.
owing to accumulation of stagnant material. Solids can degrade or cake solid when left
The funnel flow bin is usually the least under consolidating stresses in the stagnant
costly design. However, it has several disad- areas.
vantages when handling certain materials: A stable rathole or pipe can form if the
stagnant material gains sufficient strength
• Flow rate from the discharge opening can to remain in place after the flow channel
be erratic because arches tend to form and drains out.
break and the flow channel becomes un- Indicators mounted along the length of the
stable. Powder density at discharge will vary bin wall to detect bin level will remain sub-
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 399
(o)
Figure 8.15. Typical silo or bunker grouping. (Reprinted from Ref. 5, with permission of Van Nostrand
Reinhold Co.)
400 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 8.16. Slip-form concrete silo under construction. (Permission First Colony Corp. and the Nicholson Co.)
of the vertical section and the converging hop- First-in first-out flow occurs, minimizing the
per (Fig. 8.22). Material in the vertical part problem of caking, degrading, or segregation
moves down in plug flow as long as the level is during storage.
above some critical distance above the hop- Particle segregation is considerably reduced
per-cylinder transition. If the level drops be- or eliminated.
low that point, the material in the center of The material in the silo can act as a gas
the channel will flow faster than the material seal.
at the walls. The height of this critical level Flow is uniform at the hopper outlet: bulk
has not been exactly defined but it is appar- solids density is unaffected by the solids head
ently a function of material angle of internal
in the upper part of the hopper. As a result,
friction, material-wall friction, and hopper
volumetric as well as gravimetric solids feeders
slope. The height shown in Figure 8.22 is
can regulate flow from the outlet with a high
approximate for many materials. In mass flow,
degree of control.
stresses caused by the flow act on the entire
wall surface of the hopper and vertical part.
Mass flow offers significant advantages over Since flow is well controlled, pressures will
funnel flow: be predictable and relatively uniform across
any horizontal cross-section. Flow channel
Erratic flow, channeling, and flooding of boundaries will be predictable and, therefore,
powders are avoided. the analysis based on steady-state flow condi-
Stagnant regions within the silo are tions described in Section 8.6 can be used with
eliminated. a high degree of confidence.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 401
STAGNANT
AREA
FUNNEL
FLOW
STAGNANT
AREA
Figure 8.21. Funnel flow below an effective transition.
MINIMUM LEVEL TO
ENFORCE MASS FLOW
INHOPPERW.75BTO1B
Figure 8.22. Mass flow. Figure 8.24. Expanded flow through multiple outlets.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 403
(a) (b)
Figure 8.27. Flow zones during free discharge of glass beads from a model bin after loose filling with no
compaction; (a) Immediately after discharge begins, the zone of flow extends vertically above the orifice. Height
varies with orifice diameter and material properties, (b) During steady-state flow, the following zones appear:
Fl, Material sinks uniformly with steady velocity. F2, Material entering this zone then flows into zone F3 with
radial velocity. Material at boundary of Fl and F2 reaches state of failure and flows plastically. F3, Material falls
vertically with a high radial velocity. F4, stagnant zone, (c) In the final state of discharge when the free surface
moves down to a certain height, the boundary between Fl and F2 makes a slow ascent. Eventually this boundary
rises up to the falling free surface, Fl disappears, and a crater is formed. (From Ref. 33.)
size, and head of material in the bin. He Angle 6 and factor A are dependent on the
proposed the following equation for determin- angle of internal friction as given in Figure
ing the boundaries as shown in Figure 8.31: 8.32. This angle is defined in Section 8.6.
Giunta states that Equation (8.1) is valid
D only if H > AD/2. If H < AD/2, the diame-
H -A —
= (8.1) ter of the flow boundary will remain the same
1 + A tan 0 as the opening (2Y = D).
A study of PVC and sand flow in a 1.5 m
where bunker reported by Van Zanten et al.87 con-
D = diameter of discharge opening (ft) (where firmed the central flow region close to Giunta's
D is large enough to prevent arching or prediction but also found a large cylindrical
ratholing) slow flow zone surrounding the central "fast
9 = angle of flow pattern boundary at edge of flow" core. They identified several flow zones
opening (degrees) (Fig. 8.33a). The number of zones was found
H = head of material in bin (ft) to be different depending on flow properties
Y = maximum radius of boundary between of the material (Fig. 8.33b) and the configura-
flowing and nonflowing material (ft). tion of the bin. In some sloped hoppers, only a
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 405
Fl
conical and cylindrical fast flow, with stagnant 8.5.1 Static and Dynamic Conditions
zone were present. The angle OT was found to Stresses on the bin walls are caused by combi-
be close to that predicted by Jenike54 and nations of static and dynamic conditions that
shown in Figure 8.33c. occur during filling and discharge of a bin.
Johanson39 studied the zones in funnel flow. Extensive bibliographies on this subject are
He identified the steady flow zones (Fig. 8.34) presented in Refs. 11 and 101. Experimental
as a function of angle of internal friction as in measurements on models and industrial size
Jenike, but he further defined the surrounding bins have shown that the distribution of wall
region of unsteady flow that occurs with free stresses changes significantly when flow begins
flowing, noncohesive, frictional solids (Fig. after the initial filling, and these stresses
8.34). He attributes formation of this sec- remain after the outlet is closed.
ondary channel to pressure changes along the
steady flow channel walls during flow that
8.5.1.1 Initial Filling: Mass Flow
causes loosening of the adjacent material and
causes the outer region to become unstable. When a bin is initially filled, the solids con-
These unstable zones in funnel flow cause tract mostly vertically in the cylinder and hop-
406 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
245
• 46cm.dia.
ill
Plug
flow
Zone of dynamic
equilibrium
forming rapidly v
1 I
continuous
deformation, solids
Free fall zone expand, density
forming * * : :• •,
decreases
Dead Zone Free fall zone
fully developed
(a)
(d)
Figure 8.30. Flow zones during free discharge of sand from a model bin; (a) Bin is full, discharge port closed.
(b) Discharge port opens, discharge begins, (c)-(f) Discharge continues. (From Ref. 34, with permission of the
Institute of Civil Engineers.)
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 407
BOUNDARY OF .
FLOW CHANNEL
-HI
EFFECTIVE ANGLE OF FRICTION.8. DEGREES
Properties of materials
PVC PVC
Property grade X grade Y Sand
p(kg/m J ) 495 595 1525
5 (deg) 39.5 35.0 37.5
0' steel/zinc 25.0 24.0 23.5
compound (deg)
0' aluminum (deg) 27.0 24.0 18.0
(b)
(c)
Figure 8.33. Funnel flow patterns determined from test on model bins: (a) flow zones, (b) properties of the
materials used in tests, (c) summary of measured and predicted flow patterns. (From Ref. 88.)
not been well defined. In the case of tall silos, tersection will move down the cylinder walls
the channel may expand sufficiently to inter- and a pressure peak will occur at the point
sect the cylinder wall as shown in Figure 8.36. where the solids converge into the flow chan-
This point of intersection has been called the nel. The location of the effective transition
"effective" transition.101 Solids above this in- will change as fill level in the silo changes.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 409
UNSTEADY FLOW
Figure 8.34. Predicted flow zones with free-flowing noncohesive frictional solids. (From Ref. 39) (Permission
Chemical Engineering).
Switch
CO
CO
ID
a wall
Figure 8.35. Stress field and profile of stress a, normal to wall in mass flow, (a) Initial filling; (b) flow.
410 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
FILLING
"FLOW
-* INTANTANEOUS POSITION
OF EFFECTIVE TRANSITION
FUNNEL FLOW
p(kP Q )
WALL PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION
(a) (b)
Figure 8.36. Wall pressure distribution—funnel flow: (a) Funnel blow bin, (b) wall pressure distribution.
As depth Z increases, the lateral pressure on Carson and Jenkyn150 suggested that the
the wall approaches asymptotically the limiting pressure ratio is more silo-dependent than
value: solid-dependent and therefore attempts to
measure its value for a given solid are
p = ygR/i* (8.5) inappropriate.
Current industrial design practice is tending
toward using numerical values for K. Jenike109
8.5.2.1 Pressure Ratio, K states that the numerical Janssen value for K
Janssen determined a value for K from mea- ranges from 0.30 for soft powders to 0.60 for
surements on a silo model. Although it has a hard particles. In most of the new drafts of
significant impact on the pressures as calcu- national silo design codes, a variety of indus-
lated by Janssen, there is no agreement on trial solids are tabulated, with suggested nu-
how to measure a value for K experimentally merical values for K, to be used in Janssen-
on a solids sample. As a result, a number of type equations. The given K values range
equations, most of which relate the value to from 0.25 to 0.6, although the basis for this is
the measured angle of internal friction 0 of not given. Some codes list upper and lower
the solids, have been proposed and are in use. bound values for K and wall friction /JL for
These include, for example; each solid, and recommend that they be used
in the combination that maximizes the com-
puted horizontal and vertical pressures, and
K = 1 - sin 0 / 1 + sin 0 (8.6)
the vertical frictional wall pressures.
K = 1 + sin 0 / 1 - sin 0 (8.7)
K= 1 + sin2 0 / 1 - sin 2 0 (8.8) 8.5.2.2 Stress Theories
The theories of Walker, Walters, Jenike, Jenike, Johanson, and Carson. The authors
and Johansen have been the most widely measured wall stresses on 300 mm diameter
quoted. Details can be found in the refer- model bins handling sand and coke. They
ences. Their published information is mostly found widely varying pressure fluctuations in
concerned with axisymmetric filling and dis- the cylinder portion during flow, which they
charge. It is recognized that much of the silo attributed to very slight deviations from per-
overstressing and failures have been caused by fect uniformity in the shape of the bin cross-
eccentric flow patterns induced by eccentric section. (These results and conclusions were
single or multiple discharge openings. These confirmed by Van Zanten et al.).87'88 Wall
conditions impose severe, unbalanced lateral pressures were measured on models with non-
stresses along the horizontal cross sections of diverging cylinders, with cylinders having sur-
a bin, particularly where the flow channel in- face imperfections caused by weld shrinkage
tercepts the wall. The points of interception on girth seams, with continuously converging
are often difficult to determine. This area of cylinders, and with cylinders having internal
study remains the least explored and requires ledges or constrictions. The wall pressure pro-
the most caution on the part of bin designers. files measured with dry sand and with coke in
a 0.152 m model bin are shown in Figures 8.37
and 8.38.
Walker and Walters. Walker proposed an The authors concluded that wall boundary
approximate theory to describe stresses and layers tend to form, dissolve, and reform as
arching in hoppers and bins, and presented a solids move through a cylinder having these
considerable amount of data derived from tests imperfections. They proposed that the flow
with wet and dry coal in a 1.8 m diameter and pressures that occur in the region of these
1.8 m square bins. His data confirmed that the boundary layers be determined by assuming
stress fields developed during filling and dis- that the elastic strain energy within the flow-
charge are very different; withdrawing a small ing solids tends toward a minimum. Since the
amount of material while filling a bin signifi- locations of these boundary layers are indeter-
cantly reduces the high initial pressures found minate, the bound enclosing all possible pres-
near the hopper apex; during loading with no sure peaks should be determined. Design
withdrawal, initial pressures increased with charts for this purpose are given in Refs. 103
depth of fill; flow pressures in the lower region and 107. These bounds are shown in Figures
of a mass flow bin were linearly proportional 8.37 and 8.38 for the experimental models.
to height above the hopper apex and indepen- In a later article, Jenike109 presented a sim-
dent of depth of fill (evidence of a radial stress plified method of computing the upper bounds
field). Flow pressures were independent of flow of the cylinder wall pressures, using the
rate and once established by withdrawal they Janssen equation, with lower and upper bound
remain, even when withdrawal is interrupted values for K and /JL, as shown in the following
for a period of time. example.
Walters extended the Walker theory to dis-
tinguish between the stresses developed dur- Mass Flow. For initial fill pressure, use
ing filling and flow in conical hoppers and in Janssen Eq. 8.2 with K = 0.4. Some conver-
conical hoppers with vertical sections above. gence and divergence is assumed to occur
He also proposed an approximate method of along the length of an industrial silo. During
calculating the "switch stress." Clague ex- flow through the cylinder, wall pressure p in-
tended it to plane flow bins. Arnold and creases to contract the solids laterally when a
Roberts107'108 integrated these theories with layer passes a convergence, and decreases
Jannsen to propose a generalized theory for when a layer passes a divergence. This results
predicting wall stresses in mass flow bins. in a varying value for Janssen's pressure ratio
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 413
\ /
(a) (b)
\ / \
(c)
Figure 8.37. Wall pressures on model bin handling sand: (a) Diverging 1/2° with no ledges (b) diverging 1/2° with
ledges, (c) converging 1/2° with no ledges, (d) converging 1/2° with ledges. *Pressures calculated by Jenike,
Johanson, and Carson strain energy theory. Pressures calculated by Janssen theory. (From Ref. 103.)
K. Wall friction, as well, may vary between that case, Jenike suggests cylinder wall pres-
kinematic (/xk) or static conditions (/i t ). sures computed from Janssen, using K = 0.4.
Jenike therefore suggested using the Janssen If the flow channel intersects the cylinder
pressure distribution for the cylinder, with the wall, an "effective transition" is formed, and
following bounds: the overpressures must be considered.
For design purposes, the minimum product of It is known from experimental work with mod-
K/JL = 0.25 (/xk - 0.05) gives the maximum els and with industrial silos that the distribu-
value of q, and a value of K = 0.6 gives a tion of wall pressure in mass flow silos is
maximum value of p. closely approximated by the profiles shown in
Figure 8.35. The proposed constitutive models
Funnel Flow. In the stagnant areas, cylinder for calculating stresses on solids and silo walls
deviations have a minimum effect on the walls are complex and the experiments or the exper-
as long as there is no sliding on the walls. For imental equipment required to determine spe-
414 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Strain
Energy
(a) (b)
/ \
(c) (d)
Figure 8.38. Wall pressures on model bins handling coke: (a) diverging 1/2° no ledges, (b) diverging 1/2° with
ledges, (c) converging 1/2° no ledges, (d) converging 1/2° with ledges. *Pressures calculated by Jenike, Johanson,
and Carson strain energy theory. "''Pressures calculated by Janssen theory. (From Ref. 102)
cific bulk solids characteristics needed for the might be imposed by the flow of solids, has
particular models have not yet been clearly been suggested by Carson and Jenkyn.150 Note:
defined.153 Despite the disagreement on de- all values in Eqs. (8.10) to (8.17) are given
sign equations, it is universally accepted that in English units, as used in the original
the silo cylinder and converging hopper should reference.
be analyzed individually, for both filling and
flow conditions. 8.5.3.1 Mass or Funnel Flow: Cylinder—
At present, industrial practice is to make Initial Filling
use of selected portions of equations given in
Use Janssen's equation for a round cylinder
models appearing in the open literature, and
(R = D/4)
then add safety factors to these design equa-
tions to allow for the not well understood
(8.10)
stresses that result from nonsymmetric filling 4/x
and discharge.
where
The following example, for estimating wall
stresses, for the simple case of a round silo p = pressure acting normal to silo wall (lb/ft 2 )
with central filling and discharge, and, with no D = cylinder diameter (ft)
allowance for vibration or shock loads that y = solids bulk density (lb/ft 3 )
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 415
i
h - z q h z \ni+1 nf
- - ( i - S
- - - y nf \ h
(8.15)
y nt
(8.11)
2 11
/ tan cf)' 1
tan cf)'
-3 (8.12) 3I tan 0c J 6(o-'/yB)tan 0c
tan ft
(8.16)
where tan
= 2KAl -3 (8.17)
tan
h = hopper height (ft) where
z = vertical distance measured downward
from the top of the hopper (ft) q is computed by Janssen's horizontal pressure
p = calculated from Janssen horizontal pres- p, at the bottom of the cylinder, divided by
sure at the bottom of the cylinder, di- K. For conservative design purposes, the
vided by K (K = 0.4) (ft) minimum value of K is suggested.
4>' = angle of wall friction z is vertical distance measured downward from
6C = hopper wall slope. the top of the hopper (ft).
(cr'/yl?)tan 6C is a function of 8, presented
as design charts for conical and plane flow
8.5.3.3 Mass Flow: Cylinder—Discharge
channels in Ref. 55.
As pointed out earlier by Jenike et al.,103 devi-
ations in shape and concentricity of vertical The authors suggest that, for design pur-
walls, and the presence of girth seams and poses, peak pressures due to the switch pres-
other protrusions and ledges on interior walls sures be distributed for a short distance along
of an industrial silo are not unusual. These the bottom of the cylinder wall as shown
irregularities as well as nonuniformity in solids in Figure 8.35. Details can be found in the
density and flow properties caused by segrega- reference.
tion will cause changes in the stress field, and
actual wall pressures during flow will be higher 8.5.3.5 Funnel Flow
than those predicted by Jannsen's equation. In funnel flow, the boundary between active
Carson and Jenkyn150 suggest a simplified and stagnant material is often unstable and,
method to account for these conditions: use particularly with powders, is very often not
the Janssen equation, selecting the values for axisymmetric with the silo discharge opening.
wall friction and pressure ratio to maximize Limited studies to predict the shape of flow
416 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
channels have been concerned with fairly take the form of overpressure multipliers for
free-flowing solids. On short silos (ht/diame- specific flow conditions and hopper geome-
ter < 2) the flow channel seldom expands tries, and suggested upper and lower boundary
sufficiently to intersect the cylinder walls, and limits for pressure ratio K and wall friction ^,
in those cases the wall pressures during flow to maximize the computed stresses.
are assumed to be the same as those during Most codes include a tabular listing of ex-
initial fill. perimentally determined properties for a range
In tall silos where the flow channel is likely of "typical" bulk solids. However, it is recog-
to intersect the silo wall (effective transition), nized that, wherever possible, the flow proper-
an overpressure must be considered in a man- ties of specific bulk solids to be stored should
ner similar to the switch pressure encountered be determined by tests, rather than by refer-
in mass flow. Carson et al.150 suggest that this ence to the listed properties of a "similar,
overpressure be calculated as in a mass flow generic material," which may or may not actu-
hopper, substituting an estimated flow channel ally replicate the solids to be handled. The
angle for the hopper angle, the solids internal effects of moisture, particle size distribution,
friction for the wall friction, and distributing temperature, and chemical activity on flow and
the stress over a region at the intersection. storage properties cannot be adequately de-
Since the location of the intersection will vary scribed in a tabular listing. This is also true for
with solids level, a locus of pressure peaks is the wall friction values for the many available
assumed as an upper bound on wall pressures types of wall surface finishes. Most of the
along the cylinder wall, within the range of the Codes will include suggestions for testing solids
boundaries of the effective transition. as described in Section 8.6.
tant in soil mechanics but it is in powders. Figure 8.39. Yield locus of a Coulomb solid.
Stresses in powders stored in bins can be up to
1000 times smaller than those normally en- of the locus is a function of the degree of
countered in soil and are not detectable in consolidation of the material. During flow the
mechanics tests of soils; boundary conditions stresses in the plastic regions of the solid are
in powder mechanics are usually not the same continuously defined by point E.
as in soil mechanics, since powders are usually
The yield locus for a cohesive solid is shown
stored in bins; powders can be subjected to
in Figure 8.40. The yield locus for a free-
much larger deformations than is common in
flowing material such as dry sand would have a
soil mechanics.
locus as shown in Figure 8.41.
Continuum plasticity-type models for pow- In his analysis, Jenike assumed that in the
ders have been proposed by a number of plastic region, solids properties at a point are
51 52 53
workers, ' ' including Jenike and Shields. the same in all directions (isotropic), and fric-
Jenike was the first to use the concepts of tional, cohesive, and compressible. During in-
plastic failure with the Mohr-Coulomb failure cipient failure, the bulk solid expands and
criteria in analyzing the flow of solids in bins during steady-state flow it can either expand
and hoppers to develop the concept of a or contract, stress at any point does not change
flow-no-flow criterion. This has produced an with time, and stresses are not significantly
extremely useful quantitative method for de- affected by velocity changes.
signing storage bins for gravity flow of solids.
Since this method has been proven in engi-
8.6.1 Stress - Strength Relationships
neering practice, the information that follows
54 55 60 61
is based on Jenike's original work. ' ' ' As an element of material flows through a
Jenike assumed that a bulk solid can be channel, the major consolidating stress a1 and
closely approximated by a rigid-plastic minor consolidating stress a2 on the element
Coulomb solid. From soil mechanics, such a change (Fig. 8.42) and continuous shear defor-
solid is characterized by a yield locus that mation occurs, causing slip planes as the ele-
defines the limiting shear strength under any ments slide on one another or on the bin wall.
normal stress (Fig. 8.39). A Coulomb solid has During flow the "strength" (resistance to shear
a linear yield locus. Plotting shear stress r and
normal stress <r, the yield locus for a Coulomb
powder intersects the r axis at a value of r T
defined as cohesion C at an angle <j>, defined SHEAR STRESS
as the angle of internal friction.
After many experimental measurements,
Jenike found that with real bulk solids, at low
pressures, the locus deviates from a straight
line (Fig. 8.40); the locus does not increase
indefinitely with increasing values of a but 1
NORMAL STRESS O"
terminates at some point E; and the position Figure 8.40. Yield locus of a cohesive solid.
418 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
SHEAR STRESS
STRAIN GAUGE
OUTPUT-FORCE VS.
TIME AND TRAVEL V=crA
RING
SHEAR PLANE
FIXED MACHINE
BASE
The base and ring are filled with powder and Preconsolidation (Fig. 8.44a). With a pack-
the cover put in place. A vertical force is ing ring in place, the cell is filled, a twisting
applied to the cover. A horizontal shearing top is placed on the sample, a force Vt is
force is applied to the bracket by a motor- applied to the top while it is given a number of
driven stem. Part of the shearing force is oscillating twists. The twisting top and force
transferred to the ring by a loading pin at- are then removed and the powder surface
tached to the cover bracket. This helps to scraped level with the shear ring.
ensure more uniform distribution of shearing
force across the cell during shear. With 60 Hz Consolidation (Fig. 8.44c). A shear cover is
electrical supply, the shearing force is applied placed over the powder sample and a selected
at a constant rate of 0.91 mm/min (0.036 normal force V is applied. A shear force is
in./min) in older machines, and 2.7 mm/min then continuously applied until it reaches a
(0.108 in./min) in newer machines. With 50 steady-state value indicating plastic flow. The
Hz electrical supply, the rates are 0.76 shear force is then interrupted and the stem
mm/min (0.03 in./min) and 2.3 mm/min (0.09 retracted. The measured steady state stress is
in./min). The shearing force is transmitted point E on the yield locus (Fig. 8.45).
through the pin to a load cell and displayed as
shear force versus time and displacement. Shear. The normal force V is replaced by a
The flowability and yield strength of a mix- smaller force V and the shearing force is re-
ture of coarse and fine particles are most applied until the stress/strain peaks and falls
dependent on the properties of the fine frac- off, indicating a failure plane in the sample,
tion since shear occurs across the fine fraction and a point on the yield locus. This procedure
during flow. Therefore, when testing such a is repeated several times with fresh samples,
mixture, particles greater than about 3 mm are each consolidated as above but sheared with a
usually screened and removed from the shear progressively smaller normal force.
test sample.
Time Yield Locus. When the steps in the
procedure just described are performed with-
8.6.3 Determining the Yield Locus with
out interruption, the results are characteristic
the Jenike Shear Cell
of solids placed in a bin and discharged almost
Section 8.6.1 describes the change in stresses immediately. The yield locus determined this
that act on an element of material as it flows way is usually referred to as the instantaneous
through a bin. The Jenike test sequence is yield locus. Solids that remain stationary in a
intended to simulate these conditions. The test bin, under a consolidating stress, may gain
is accomplished in three steps. The first, called strength and resist flow as described in Section
preconsolidation, is to ensure uniformity be- 8.6.1. To describe these conditions, a time
tween samples. The second, called consolida- yield locus must be determined. After precon-
tion, reproduces flow with a given stress, under solidation and consolidation are completed as
steady-state conditions. In the third step, the above, the sample is placed under a consoli-
sample is sheared to measure shear stress at dating stress, V1? and left undisturbed for a
failure. period of time equal to the expected storage
time (Fig. 8.44e). The value for force Vj is
determined from the stress a1 at the intersec-
8.6.3.1 Test Procedure tion of the Mohr semicircle through the in-
The procedure for testing with the Jenike Cell stanteous yield locus as shown in Fig. 8.46.
is depicted in Fig. 8.44 and briefly described After the time interval is complete, the sample
below. Detailed procedures are given in Refs. is removed and sheared under the same V
55 and 159. forces used for the instantaneous yield locus
420 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
-TWISTING LOAD
BASE
\\*— OFFSET
(UP TO 3mm)
V«aA
e)
Figure 8.44. Jenike shear test sequence: (a) preconsolidation, (b) Removal of twisting top and packing mold ring,
(c) consolidation, (d) shear, (e) time consolidation.
(Fig. 8.44d). A time yield locus is then con- be represented by a Mohr circle. For any
structed as shown in Fig. 8.47. stress condition represented by a Mohr semi-
circle tangent to the yield locus, the bulk solids
Mohr Stress Semicircle. Mohr stress semi- will be at yield, and the major principal stress
circles are used to identify the frictional and (jx and minor principal stress cr2 a* this condi-
strength properties of the sample from the tion will be defined by the intersection of the
yield locus as shown in Figure 8.46. The state semicircle with the a axis. The yield locus
of stress on any plane within the bulk solid can terminates at the point of tangency of the
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 421
CONSOLIDATION
(STRESSES DURING
STEADY FLOW) CONSOLIDATION
(STRESSES DURING
STEADY FLOW)
principal stress al and cr2. The effective yield function as shown in Fig. 8.48b. The flow func-
locus (EYL) can be defined by: tion for a bulk solid can then be defined as:
FF = <rJfQ (8.20)
sin <j = a1 - (8.18)
Instantaneous flow functions are deter-
mined under conditions of zero consolidation
8.6.4.2 Effective Angle of Friction (8) time. Time flow functions are determined un-
The angle 8 is called the effective angle of der conditions occurring during time consoli-
friction of the solids, a measure of resistance dation. Many materials gain strength with time
of the solids to flow while they are in a consolidation. The upper line in Figure 8.48
steady-flow condition. Higher values of 8 indi- represents the greater strength and the greater
cate lower flowability. With a given solid, it ability to support an arch.
usually increases slightly with decreasing stress. 8.6.4.5 Angle of Internal Friction (</>)
The values for 8 range from 25 to 70° for most
materials that have been tested. The slope of the yield locus at the point tan-
The ratio of major principal consolidating gential to the Mohr circle passing through the
stress a1 and minor principal consolidating origin defines (f>, the angle of internal friction
stress d2 during steady flow can be expressed of the solids. This is also called the kinematic
by the effective yield function: angle of internal friction since it is determined
by the instantaneous yield locus. Fine and dry
°"i/°2 = 1 + sin 8/1 - sin 8 (8.19) solids have lower values of </> (and 8). Coarse
and wet solids and cohesive solids have higher
values.
8.6.4.3 Uneon fined Yield Strength (fc)
At a free surface formed on the bottom sur- 8.6.4.6 Static Angle of Internal Friction (<|>t)
face of an arch, the minor consolidating stress The slope of the time yield locus at the point
cr2 acting normal to the surface is equal to tangential to the Mohr circle passing through
zero, and the major stress vx is tangent to the the origin defines <f>t, the static angle of inter-
surface. Therefore, a Mohr circle through the nal friction of the solids. This is a value used
origin, tangent to the yield locus, defines the in the analysis of funnel flow.
largest stress crc that the solids can withstand
at a free, unsupported surface. The value of crc 8.6.4.7 Cohesion
defines the unconfined yield strength / c . For
each value of consolidating stress, there is a Cohesion is the sticking together of the parti-
corresponding value of / c , and as the consoli- cles in a bulk solid. A relative measure of the
dating stress increases, fc increases. cohesion of a bulk solid sample can be deter-
mined from the intercept of a straight line
extended from the solids yield locus, across
8.6.4.4 Flow Function (FF)
the low-stress region, to the shear stress axis.
The flow function, sometimes called the fail- Cohesion increases with decreasing particle
ure function, characterizes the "flowability" of size. With wet solids that do not absorb water,
a bulk solid. The unconfined yield strength is a higher moisture increases cohesion. It has been
function of the major consolidating stress cr1 reported that this increase in cohesion with
and for a value of a1 the corresponding value moisture is more pronounced for coarse parti-
of fc can be found from the yield locus. cles than for fine particles.153 Cohesion values
Therefore if a family of yield loci is con- obtained by extending the yield locus as de-
structed as shown in Fig. 8.48a, the corre- scribed are only rough estimates and are not
sponding values for ax and fc for each family used in this chapter for analyzing flow in a bin.
member can be plotted to produce a flow The results of a study of shear testers for
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 423
fc fc f c 01 01
(1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3)
(a)
Flow Function
°i
(b)
Figure 8.48. Flow function.
measuring cohesion in powders and granular the same material to be used for the silo
materials are given in Ref. 153. hopper wall, and measuring the shear force
required to slide the exposed solids along the
8.6.5 Wall Yield Locus (WYL) plate under a range of normal loads as shown
in Figure 8.49.
8.6.5.1 Kinematic Angle of Friction Between
The normal stresses and corresponding
a Solid and Wall Surface (<(>')
shear stresses are plotted to produce the wall
Solids flow along slip lines that form bound- yield locus (Fig. 8.50). The angle 4>' is the
aries between flowing and static solids de- angle of wall friction or, as it is also called, the
scribed by the yield locus, or they can flow kinematic angle of wall friction, since it repre-
along rigid bin walls. Stresses along the wall sents continuous flow along the wall surface.
during this type of flow lie along the wall yield Tangent 4>' is the coefficient of friction, fx,
locus (WYL). between solids and wall.
This locus is determined by substituting, for The WYL may be a straight line (Fig. 8.50a)
the base in the Jenike tester, a sample plate of or convex shaped (Fig. 8.50b). A straight line
424 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
WEIGHTS
WALL YIELD LOCUS (WYL)
STRAIN GAUGE
OUTPUT FORCE VS
TIME AND TRAVEL
,COVER
(a)
MACHINE
BASE
\
MOTOR DRIVE
AND STRAIN GAUGE N0RMAL STRESS, a(Pg)
POINT OF INTERSECTION
locus through the origin indicates the friction
is independent of wall pressure. A convex line
locus indicates that the friction is pressure
dependent. In that case, </>' must be deter-
NORMAL STRESS. <r <P,)
mined for stress conditions at the hopper wall CALCULATED VALUE OF 0%
AT THE PARTICULAR POINT
at the particular area of interest. This is done IN QUESTION ON THE HOPPER
WALL
by extending a straight line through the origin
(b)
to the intersection of the WYL and the Mohr
Figure 8.50. (a) Linear wall yield locus, (b) Convex
circle representing stress conditions at the
wall yield locus.
point in question and computing <£' (Fig.
8.50b), as described in Section 8.6.5. With ra-
dial stress, a low-stress region exists near the movement is compared with the steady-state
outlet of a mass flow bin, so solids having a value. If higher, there is adhesion, and a value
pressure-dependent wall friction (higher fric- for </>t can be determined.
tion value at lower stresses) will require a McLean161 critically examined the increase
steeper sloped hopper at the lower region near in wall friction with decreasing major consoli-
the outlet. dating stress displayed by many solids, particu-
larly those having adhesion tendencies and
8.6.5.2 Adhesion or Static Angle of Friction concluded that in certain cases the definition
(4>t) Between a Solid and Wall Surface of wall friction angle becomes meaningless
In some cases, solids will stick or adhere to a below a certain critical consolidation stress—
wall surface if allowed to remain at rest, in the solid will tend to slip within itself in
wall contact, under a consolidating load. When preference to the wall.
this happens, a higher stress will be required
to initiate flow and restore the WYL to steady
flow conditions, after the bin outlet is opened. 8.7 BULK DENSITY AND
This can be predicted by a wall adhesion COMPRESSIBILITY
test. Steady-state shear across a plate is estab-
lished as described for the WYL test. The Bulk density of a solid is a function of the
shear is then interrupted for a specified time, consolidation stress, and during flow, it changes
and reapplied. The force required to initiate as the stresses change. Bulk density as a func-
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 425
, LOCKING SCREWS
BULK
DENSITY ft
CONSOLIDATING STRESS, cr
ENCLOSED ELEVATING
SCREW DRIVE
a = major consolidating stress (kPa)
Figure 8.51. Bulk-density compression test apparatus.
a0 = arbitrary chosen base value (kPa).
y= (8.21)
where
y = bulk density (kg/m 3 )
y0 = bulk density at major consolidating stress Figure 8.53. Jenike and Johanson Inc. compressibility
tester. (From Ref. 61.)
426 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
since the sample size is small. Several useful the silo outlet is closed or the discharge feeder
studies of caking due to these mechanisms are stopped.
described in Refs. 66 to 70. The use of flow The application of vibration to assist flow is
conditioning agents to improve flow are re- strictly empirical at this time. Many manufac-
viewed in Refs. 71 and 72. turers have developed rules of thumb regard-
ing proper locations for their particular vibra-
8.8.4 Particle Size tor on a particular hopper geometry.
If the shear test data (or other experience)
Flowability usually decreases, and wall friction
indicate that vibration will be required to start
<fi' tends to increase as particles become finer.
flow (i.e., reduce the time flow function to the
Permeability also decreases, resulting in an
instantaneous flow function), the silo outlet
increasing potential for flooding or flow limita-
should be designed with a safety factor to
tion from the hopper outlet.
allow for possible solids over compaction due
If materials are to be handled in equipment
to vibration (see Section 8.6). Roberts de-
that will cause particle attrition before storage
scribes the effects of vibration in more detail
(pneumatic conveyors for instance) the sam-
in Chapter 5.
ples used for shear testing must be representa-
tive of material after handling.
Future possibilities of producing and storing
8.9 DESIGN OF BINS FOR FLOW
finer particles should be anticipated in the
initial design. Coarse particles may break and 8.9.1 Mass Flow
generate finer particles during storage and
Mass flow bins can have a variety of shapes,
flow. Run crush tests to determine potential
but they are all characterized by steep hoppers
breakage with the anticipated consolidating
and, usually, also by the absence of in-flowing
stresses in the bin. If breakage cannot be
valleys and sharp transitions. Some commonly
tolerated, consider storage in smaller bins
used shapes are shown in Figure 8.55. In this
where the stresses will be lower. If breakage
chapter, all hopper slope angles, 0C' for conical
will occur and can be tolerated, shear test the
flow, and 6^ for plane flow, are measured
minus 3 mm fraction since the flowability of
from the vertical, as shown in Figure 8.55. The
the mixture will be most affected by these
diameter of a circular discharge opening in a
particles. Particles larger than this are consid-
mass flow hopper will be designated as Bc.
ered coarse granular and are usually free
The dimension of a rectangular (slot) opening
flowing.
in a plane flow hopper will be designated by its
width Bp, and its length L. The length of the
8.8.5 Vibration slot opening should be at least three times the
Vibration can be induced into storage struc- width to avoid end wall effects and ensure
tures by nearby moving equipment; by trans- mass flow.
port in over-the-road vehicles, and by vibrating For mass flow to occur in a bin, the hopper
devices used to promote flow. slope angle, wall frictional surface, and the
Many bulk solids, particularly those contain- size of the discharge opening must be compat-
ing fine particles, will tend to compact very ible with the measured flow properties of the
rapidly when vibrated. Those solids that have stored solids. In addition, any discharge device
high instantaneous flow functions are particu- at the hopper outlet must withdraw solids from
larly susceptible to flow stoppages caused by the entire cross-section. If the device or con-
compaction during vibration. Use of vibrators necting chute causes the solids to flow prefer-
to assist flow should be restricted to only the entially from a portion of the outlet, the mass
time that material is flowing in the hopper. flow pattern within the bin will be destroyed
Vibration should be stopped immediately when and funnel flow will result.
428 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Expanded flow
Figure 8.55. Mass flow silo geometries hopper slopes: 0C, conical; 0p, plane flow.
Flow properties are influenced by the tends to form, and is proportional to the span
stresses imposed on them as they move through B, and therefore will vary as shown. The
a bin. Figure 8.56 illustrates the approximate flow-nonflow criterion53 states that a cohesive
distribution of stresses on an element of solids arch will form in a hopper when the yield
as it flows along the wall of a mass flow bin. strength fc exceeds the stress av tending to
The major consolidating stress, crl9 increases break it. In a hopper, this will occur below the
exponentially with depth (as predicted by point of intersection in Figure 8.56 where the
Janssen), abruptly increases at the transition, critical value is:
then decreases toward zero at the vertex (area
of radial stress as described in the following). /c = ^ i . (8.23)
The solids develop a yield strength / c (resis-
tance to shear failure) that changes in re- Jenike and Leser73 analyzed the equilibrium
sponse to the consolidating stress. The stress of forces acting on an arch in a converging
a1 acts at the abutments of any arch that hopper at the point of collapse and obtained
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 429
UNCONFINED
YIELD STRENGTH
(fc)
V
MAJOR STRESS
FLOWING ACTING ON
ELEMENT^ ABUTMENT
OF ARCH
(5=1)
MAJOR
.CONSOLIDATING
STRESS
10
0°
10° 20° 30° 40° 50O
HOPPER SLOPE 6'
Figure 8.58. Critical wall slope for conical mass flow hoppers for 8 values from 30 to 60°.
Jenike solved the equations for this relation- on the region of mass flow in a plane flow
ship, as a function of angle of wall friction <£, hopper are wider than conical flow.
hopper slope 0C', and angle of internal friction The flow factor is a constant, and plots as a
8, and presented the solutions in the form of linear function through zero. When it is super-
design charts for conical and plane flow (slot imposed on the flow function, the critical stress
opening) hoppers.55 Figures 8.60 and 8.61 are value av for determining the minimum
examples of the charts for conical and plane hopper discharge opening (Eq. 8.24), is found
flow for solids having a 8 value of 40°. The from the point of intersection, as shown in
limiting hopper slope 6Q for conical flow, or 0p Figure 8.62a.
for plane flow, and the flow factor, for mass If the FF and the ff do not intersect, and FF
flow are determined by entering the measured lies completely below ff, the minimum hopper
value of angle of wall friction $' on the proper opening is very small and cannot be deter-
chart, and moving right to intersect the bound- mined with this flow analysis. Opening size will
ary. At the intersection read the flow factor ff, be limited only by the possibility of mechanical
and then move down to read the required interlocking of particles, or by the required
hopper slope. In practice, the slope angle 6C is solids discharge rate.
reduced 3 to 5 degrees from that value read If the instantaneous FF lies below ff, and
from the chart to allow for the instability of the time FF lies above, then it is usually possi-
conical channels in the region of convergence ble to use vibration or other means to start
from the cylinder to the hopper. No reduction flow after time consolidation, and thus return
in the value for 0p is made because the limits the solids to the instantaneous flow condition.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 431
FLOW
CRITICAL VALUE_
OFf c
T'NOFLOWT FLOW
VALUE OF MAJOR
HOPPER SLOPE d'p CONSOLIDATING
STRESS o-^o-^VW
CRITICAL POINT
Figure 8.61. Flow factors (ff) for symmetric plane flow IN HOPPER
(slot opening) hoppers where 8 = 40°. (From Ref. 55).
(a)
Care should be taken to ensure that a wall flow factor (ff) increases, indicating a decreas-
finish specified in the design is reproduced in ing flowability of the channel. The vertical wall
the actual bin. flow factor can be superimposed on the flow
Do not substitute "similar" paint or coated function as before to determine if the material
surfaces unless samples have been submitted will gain sufficient strength to arch across the
and tested to determine wall friction. bin at the transition (the value of 4>r appropri-
ate to this area of the bin must be determined
• When using unpainted carbon steel, use the if the WYL is pressure sensitive).
WYL for rust-coated steel unless precau- If the time flow function FFt continues to
tions are taken to prevent rusting. Mass rise steeply at high pressures, even though it
flow may not start if the rusting is sufficient lies below the flow function (ff) (and indicates
to prevent sliding of the material during a small or zero arching diameter) arching may
initial use. still be possible at the cylinder cone transition.
® Specify surface finish of stainless steel This condition is described in Ref. 109.
sheets, and plates can be obtained in sev- If it is suspected that smooth walls in the
eral different surface finishes (smoothness). vertical portion of a silo will cause arching at
The standard commercial finish usually de- the transition, the vertical wall specification
scribed as a No. 1 finish has a surface should call for a rough surface, for a distance
profile ranging from about 150 to 500 /JLAA of about one diameter above the transition.
(micro inches, arithmetic average) and is Borg147 presented an interesting paper sum-
standard on most sheet and plate. Sheets up marizing a statistical evaluation of 500 shear
to jg inch thickness can be furnished in a tests on (unidentified) solids commonly used in
2B finish, having a 5 to 15 /xAA profile. the chemical industry. Hopper wall friction
Plates can sometimes be furnished with a with various wall surfaces, hopper slopes, and
2D surface (40 to 60 juAA profile). Flat critical outlet diameters required for mass flow
sheets and plates can also be polished to were calculated for more than 200 bulk solids
any desired surface finish before forming having varying degrees of cohesiveness. The
and fabrication. critical outlet diameter exceeded 1.2 m for
• Construct the hopper so no ledges are pre- 35% of all products. The percentage of prod-
sented to the flowing material. With lap ucts for which mass flow could be achieved
welded construction, overlap plates in the with the wall surface having the lowest friction
direction of flow. Grind circumferential (</>') was plotted against the hopper angle 6C
welds flush. Fasten any interior liners with for which mass flow will occur. Eighty percent
countersunk or shallow-head fasteners. of these products would mass flow at 6C = 10°;
only 25% would mass flow at 0C = 30°. The
curve between these points was almost linear.
8.9.1.4 Surface Finish of Vertical Section Confirming comments made earlier in this
Smooth walls on the vertical part of a silo may chapter, the author reported that polishing a
not be desirable. As the solids-wall friction in wall surface does not always reduce solid wall
the vertical part of the silo is reduced, more of friction.
the consolidating stress from the stored mate-
rial is transmitted directly to the material in
8.9.2 Funnel Flow
the converging hopper below. This could cause
arching across the silo at the transition be- To ensure funnel gravity flow from a funnel
tween cylinder and hopper. flow bin, the discharge opening must be large
An inspection of Figures 8.60, 8.61 and 8.57 enough to prevent a rathole or arch from
will show that as #c' decreases to zero (vertical forming. The critical opening dimensions Df,
wall) the function H(d') decreases and the for preventing a rathole or arch from forming
434 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
over a circular, square, or rectangular opening, calculate q, using Janssen's k value = 0.4 and
are shown in Figure 8.63. assume:
q = <rt (8.28)
8.9.2.1 Ratholing Transposing this value of cr1 to the time
flow function chart, determine a value of ax
The bin or hopper opening must be larger from the intersection of al and FF t . Calculate
than the critical rathole (piping) dimension the critical piping diameter D{(m) as:
Df. At this critical dimension, the stress im-
posed on the material will exceed the yield Z)f = ^ G ( ^ t ) / 7 (8.29)
strength, and any rathole that tends to form where
will continually collapse. = function of 0 t as given in Figure
The critical flow properties of materials de- 8.64.
termined from the shear test as described so
far are based on steady-state flow conditions. If the bin height-to-diameter ratio is 1 or less,
As pointed out earlier, and in Section 8.11, use:
initial pressures caused by filling a bin, without q = Hyg (8.30)
withdrawing solids, result in an active stress
field and higher consolidating pressures on the where H = height of material surface above
material near the outlet. The material at the the opening.
bottom of the bin, therefore, gains greater Since the major consolidating stress is lower
strength during initial filling than during steady in the upper part of the bin, the solids strength
flow. is correspondingly lower. Therefore, it is possi-
In a mass flow bin, any obstructions to flow ble to have material flow in the upper part
caused by initial filling will fail, and the critical without piping but when the level drops to a
certain height, a stable pipe can form as shown
flow properties are determined from steady-
in Figure 8.65. The height at which this
state conditions. This is not true in a nonmass
occurs can be estimated as follows. Restate
flow bin. Therefore, the strength of the solids,
Eq. (8.23):
the ability to support a rathole, and the mini-
mum rathole diameter must be calculated on vx = Dfyg/G(4>t) (8.31)
the basis of initial filling as well as steady-state
flow.56
12
Under initial filling conditions (with no
withdrawal) the critical rathole diameter D is
1
J
determined first calculating the consolidation 10
stresses on the material at the hopper open-
ing. In bins where the height to diameter ratio
exceeds 1, use Janssen's equation (Eq. 8.1) to f
t
CD
y
}
/
B = Df
8.9.2.2 Arching
Arching will not occur over circular or a square
outlet with a dimension, Df, sufficiently large
enough to prevent ratholing. This is not true
for a rectangular opening. The width, B, must
be sufficiently large to prevent the formation
of an arch. This minimum dimension is com-
STABLE RATHOLE
FORMS IN puted by:
LOWER PART
handling ore under dynamic conditions and 8.9.5 Arching of Large Granular
provided a reasonable safety factor for engi- Particles
neering design. The predicted critical outlet
size agreed closely with experimental results, Noncohesive large granular particles will
but the predicted hopper slopes were 5 to 10° bridge or arch by mechanical interlocking of
steeper than those found by test to be re- particles. They develop very little, if any, un-
quired for mass flow. The same conclusion confined yield strength and cannot be ana-
regarding plane flow hopper slopes was re- lyzed by existing powder mechanic's theory.
ported by Eckhoff and Leversen.77 These re- Minimum hopper opening size to prevent
sults are consistent with theory, since it is bridging has been based mainly on rules-of-
known that while the regions of mass flow are thumb. Orifice tests with noncohesive granular
quite restrictive in conical-flow channels, they material reported by Reisner80 indicate a the-
are much wider in plane-flow channels. Ac- oretical minimum limit of 3 for the ratio of
cordingly, the Jenike flow factor charts for hopper opening diameter/maximum particle
plane flow contain a safety factor to allow for dimension (D/Dp).
variations in solid head in the vertical portion The most commonly quoted minimum ratio
of the bin. Wright also confirmed that consoli- for design is 5. Schwedes81 recommends a.
dating stresses caused by impact during initial ratio of 10 to provide a larger factor of safety
fill must be considered in sizing the discharge to assure no mechanical block in a hopper
opening and reported that arching at the verti- outlet. Peschl82 studied the flow of coarse
cal, sloping wall transition can occur. granular materials in model bins. He de-
Richards86 tested wet and dry sand in sym- scribed the flow as being characterized by con-
metrical conical hoppers and reported that the stant formation and collapse of successive
critical hopper slope and outlet for mass flow arches, which he termed "dynamical" arches.
and the critical outlet for funnel flow deter- This is similar to observations reported with
mined by test agreed very closely with values flow of granular material by early experi-
predicted by the Jenike method. menters. Peschl concluded that the probability
Enstad78'79 pointed out that if the flow of arch formation with coarse granular materi-
function is determined in a region of high als cannot be predicted theoretically, but can
stresses where it may be linear and this linear be predicted by making a small number of
function is extrapolated to regions of low repetitive tests with model hoppers, and statis-
stress, it will intersect the flow factor at a tically, analyzing the data.
higher, incorrect value. This overestimates the
strength of the material in the region of the
hopper outlet and will predict an opening con-
siderably larger than that required. Eckhoff 8.10 EFFECT OF THE GAS PHASE
and Leversen77 report similar results when the
yield locus was extrapolated into a region of The previous sections on flow in bins were
very low normal stress. Jenike, however, sug- based on single-phase flow, under gravity
gests that at low normal stresses, the powder forces, and the effect of the gas phase was not
in the cell is exposed to tensile stress compo- considered.
nents that produce measurements at shear During loading and subsequent settling, the
stresses at failure that are actually too low. gas entrapped within the solid bed can have a
This is avoided by following a test procedure significant influence on wall pressures and flow
whereby normal stresses imposed on the cell behavior, a fact recognized in the national silo
during shear are greater than \ of the normal design codes. Entrapped gas in fine powders
stress used for consolidation. can be retained for an appreciable time. Sug-
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 437
gestions for estimating the settlement time of Pfeffer113 demonstrated this principle. They
powders in industrial bins are given in Refs. 62 showed that air pressures within a plug-
and 110. flowing bed in a 90 mm tube exhibited a
In a funnel flow bin, powders move to the significant axial gradient. In their test, the
outlet through narrow, unstable channels. solids head was maintained constant and the
Often the residence time is not sufficient to air pressures along the axis of the tube were
allow powders that have become aerated measured through hypodermic needles in-
during filling to deaerate before discharging. serted through the tube wall. They found that
The problem then, with these bins, is how to the interstitial gas pressure above the dis-
regulate an unpredictable, relatively high flow charge orifice was below atmospheric, and this
of fluidized powder. pressure was dependent on the particle size,
As mass flow bins have come into orifice size, and the rate of discharge as shown
widespread use, it has been found that the in Figure 8.66. When the lower needle was
discharge of powders from these bins can be- vented to the atmosphere, the powder flow
come flow rate limited. Interstitial gas pres- rate increased, as air entered to eliminate the
sures within a powder bed change during flow, pressure gradient at the outlet. A similar phe-
and this influences the rate of discharge from nomenon was pointed out by Bruff and
a mass flow hopper.11'112 Wlodarski and Jenike114 in describing a design of a mass flow
I
d = PARTICLE SIZE (mm)
mm
D = 8.06 mm
ORIFACE -3 -2 -1 0 -3 -2 -1 0
PRESSURE (mm H2O) PRESSURE (mm H2O)
Figure 8.66. Air pressure measured during flow of sand through a model bin: (a) arrangement of test apparatus,
(b) air pressure measured (in center) at varying heights, with sand particles having a size distribution d of
0.10 < 0.25 mm, and orifice diameters D varying from 8.06 mm to 16.98 mm, (c) air pressure measured (in center)
at varying heights, with an orifice diameter D = 16.98 mm and various sand particle size distributions d. (From
Ref. 113.)
438 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
hopper for ground anthracite, in which gas the bin, thereby reducing the compaction and
injection was found to be needed to overcome subsequent expansion in the lower regions of
a flow rate limitation at the hopper discharge. the hopper, and it supplies gas to the inter-
The permeability of powders is a defining stices, reducing or eliminating the pressure
parameter that influences the rate of dis- gradient at the outlet. This can substantially
charge. The importance of permeability can be increase the rate of powder discharge from a
seen by the following example of a fine powder mass flow hopper. Experimental work and ex-
discharging from a mass flow silo, as shown in amples of air injection or permeation are given
Figure 8.67. in Refs. 115-118, 162. The injection or perme-
As an element of powder moves through a ating air flows used for solids flow rate en-
mass flow silo to the outlet, the consolidating hancement in industrial silos are in the range
pressure on the element changes as described of 0.03 to 0.3 m 3 /min, much less than that
earlier. Initially, as the element is compressed, which will cause the powders to become
the voidage is reduced and interstitial air is fluidized.
squeezed out through the top surface. As it
moves through the hopper the consolidating
8.10.1 Permeability Constant
pressures on the element decrease, the ele-
ment expands, and the voidage increases. If Jenike and Johanson62 have proposed a per-
the powder has a low permeability to air flow, meability constant a to characterize powders,
the interstitial pressure in the lower region of using the device shown in Figure 8.68. A pow-
the hopper can decrease to below atmospheric der sample of known mass is placed under a
pressure. The resulting pressure gradient will range of consolidating loads. At each load, the
cause an influx of air from the hopper outlet column height is recorded, and a measured
that will retard the solids flow. flow of dry gas is permeated through the sam-
It has been found that injection of a small ple. The gas pressure gradient is measured,
amount of well-distributed air at appropriate and the consolidating stress and solids bulk
locations in the powder bed provides some density calculated for each applied consolidat-
support for the solids in the vertical portion of ing load.
(a) (b)
Figure 8.67. Air pressure gradient that may occur in a mass flow bin: (a) mass flow bin, (b) air pressure in
flowing mass.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 439
COMPRESSION COVER
(RAISED POSITION)
PERMEABLE MEMBRANE
i
PRESSURE GAUGE
A permeability factor C for the sample is The relationship of C with bulk density y can
determined from a form of the Darcy equation be expressed in a similar manner, as:
for laminar flow: y=yo[cT/ao]~a (8.36)
and a is expressed in m/s.
C= -v/dp/dx (8.34) Gu et al.163"166 reported on their extensive
research on powder permeability and flow rates
where in mass flow silos, and reviewed the work of
others. They concluded that using permeabil-
v = superficial air velocity ity as a parameter to delineate coarse and fine
dp/dx = pressure gradient across sample solids is more useful than using a single parti-
column. cle size. Their studies showed that the critical
permeability necessary to produce a significant
effect of interstitial air on the flow rate from a
Computed values for the permeability factors,
mass flow silo is dependent not only on the
when plotted as shown in Figure 8.69, closely
powder flow properties, but also on the hopper
approximate a straight line. The relationship
geometry and the outlet size. They suggest
between C and the consolidating stress can be
that critical permeability be determined in
expressed by: relation to the outlet size since it affects the
flow rate as well as the interstitial pressure
C = C0[a/a0] (8.35) gradient.
Because of the complexity of the powder
where flow regemi, no acceptable model for predict-
ing the limiting flow rate of fine powders from
a = consolidation stress mass flow bins is yet available in the open
Co = value of C, arbitrary value, correspond- literature. A proprietary mathematical model
ing to chosen value of a0 that includes the compressibility and perme-
a = permeability constant for the powder, ability factors has been developed by Jenike
m4 / N • s and Johansen, Inc.159
440 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
8.11 OTHER METHODS FOR expansion of the sample during shear is trans-
CHARACTERIZING BULK SOLIDS mitted through a vertical rod to a vertical
RELEVANT TO STORAGE AND FLOW displacement transducer. Shear force and
cover displacement are measured and recorded
Consolidation stresses are always present dur- for each test. The test procedure includes ini-
ing storage and during flow of bulk solids in tial preconsolidation, as with the Jenike cell.
bins, hoppers, and containers and processing However, with rotational shear, greater shear
equipment. Flowability is a function of these strain is possible, so multiple shear tests can
stresses. Therefore, a sample must first be be made on the same sample to obtain the
preconsolidated to a predetermined level of complete yield locus. Usually a maximum of
stress in order to obtain a quantitative three to five yield loci (depending on the re-
measure of its flowability (or yield strength). producibility of the steady-state shear values)
In many pharmaceutical, bulk powder pro- can be made with a single sample.
cessing, and handling operations, quantitative Two tester models are available: a manual
bin design information is not needed but a machine where the consolidating loads are
reproducible, easily measured flowability or placed manually by the operator, and an auto-
relative flowability index is highly desired for matic machine. With the automatic machine,
routine quality control operations. the operator selects the values for the consoli-
dating loads, but the placement of the weights
8.11.1 Commercial Test Devices that on the cell is done by programmed electro-
Preconsolidate the Sample magnets, and the sequencing of the consolidat-
ing and shearing procedures and acquisition
8.11.1.1 Peschl Rotational Split Level
and evaluation of the test data are controlled
Shear Tester
by a programmed microprocessor. The result-
The applied shear strain is limited in the ing data, yield locus, flowability index, bulk
translational type shear cell of Jenike as can density, and angle of internal friction can be
be seen from an inspection of Figure 8.43. The printed out, displayed, or stored on tape or
rotational, split level, shear tester was devel- floppy disc. Time-consolidated yield loci are
oped by Peschl59 to overcome the shear strain more time consuming because of the need to
limitation and to reduce the needed operator interrupt operating sequence, to time consoli-
skill and the time required to complete a shear date the sample each time, before proceeding
test. with the shear.
As shown in Figure 8.70, the material sam- There is disagreement as to the precise lo-
ple is sheared in a rotary motion that has cation of the shear profile within the rota-
almost unlimited travel. The cell containing tional shear cell, and what effect the repeated
the material sample is clamped to a turntable shear of the same sample for the construction
that rotates at about 0.050 rpm. A consolidat- of the yield locus has on the final results.
ing load is applied to the cover, which is kept
stationary through a vertical shaft attached to
8.11.1.2 Johanson Bulk Solids
the cover. The stationary shaft allows the ap-
Indicizer® System
plication of the loads to be automated if de-
sired. The shaft is mounted on an air bearing JR Johanson Inc. have developed three auto-
to minimize friction and to hold the cover mated testing devices, described below, for
parallel with the cell base. The torque applied measuring the primary characteristics of pow-
to the cell cover during cell rotation is trans- ders that affect their performance in handling
mitted through a torque arm attached to the and storage. With each tester, a powder sam-
cover, to a strain gauge load cell. The vertical ple is prepared in a cell configured for that
movement of the cover that occurs during particular test. The cell is then inserted into
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 441
Cover ^ ^ ^
r &
Applied Load | $ n
-Shear Plane
Shear C e l l
Schematic
Figure 8.70. Peschl rotational shear tester.
the tester, the information required for the range of solids. It operates rapidly, and re-
particular test is entered through a keypad, quires minimum operator training for its oper-
and the test, guided by an on-board computor, ation (168). The validity of the testers for
is performed automatically. design of bins by an unskilled technician is
being debated in the literature. In one study it
Johanson Hang-Up Indicizer.® This is a was reported that hopper openings required to
uniaxial shear device as shown in Figure 8.71. prevent an arch and rathole from forming, as
In the test procedure, the test cell is filled with determined by the Hang-Up Indicizer, were
a known weight of powder, and inserted into less than that predicted by the Jenike proce-
the tester. The sample weight and desired dure. This may be due to the fixed values
indice is entered on the keypad. The top disc assumed for the stress functions and the com-
and cylinder lower with a vertical force to putation method imbedded in the program, as
consolidate the sample to a pressure approxi- well as the lack of understanding of the actual
mating the condition at a hopper outlet. When stress distribution throughout the sample. (167)
consolidation is complete, the top cylinder and
disc are withdrawn and the bottom disc is Hopper Indicizer.® This device measures the
lowered, leaving the consolidated sample sup- angle of slide of a powder sample, constrained
ported on the horizontal ledge within the cell. within a ring, on the surface of a wall sample
The top disc, smaller in diameter than the mounted on a tilted platform within the tester.
supporting inner ledge, is then lowered and The powder is subjected to two sliding tests,
the force required to fail the sample is mea- each with a different predetermined consoli-
sured. The top disk then retracts. From this dating load applied through the ring cover.
force, an unconfined yield strength is The measured static surface friction angles </>'t
calculated. (after any adhesion is broken) are interpolated
Two powder indices are determined with to the conditions at the outlet. A conservative
the Hang-Up Indicizer: an Arching Index (AI), value of 60° is assumed for the effective angle
a relative measure of the propensity to arch of friction 8, and a recommended conical
over a hopper opening, and a Ratholing Index Hopper Index (HI) predicts hopper slope re-
(RI), a measure of the propensity to rathole in quired to cause flow at the walls. A second test
a bin. The Hang-Up Indicizer tester has been determines a Chute Index (HI), the minimum
reported to be highly repeatable across a wide angle of slope of a chute, having the same
442 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Inner Piston.
Top Cylinder-
Top Disc — ^
Bottom Disc
Consolidation Shear
(b)
Figure 8.71. (a) Typical Indicizer® arrangement, (b) Schematic arrangement: Hang-up Indicizer.(
surface characteristics as the wall sample, af- air permeability of a sample is measured, fol-
ter the solids impact the wall at a pressure lowed by compressibility. A Bin Density Index
equivalent to about 100 psf. (BI) and a Flow Rate Index (FRI) is calculated
using a proprietary procedure. The FRI is
Flow Rate Indicizer.® The test cell is similar stated as the limiting flow rate for unassisted
to the Hang-Up Indicizer® cell except that it gravity flow of fully deaerated solids through a
has provisions for introducing a controlled and 12 in. diameter outlet (or the diameter speci-
measured air flow through the bottom. First, fied by the operator), in a mass flow bin.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 443
8.11.1.3 Jen ike & Johanson Quality above a converging hoppers section, as shown
Control Tester schematically in Figure 8.72. A perforated slide
gate covers the hopper opening when the solids
This device is intended for routine measure-
sample is gently filled into the container. After
ments of the relative flowability of a bulk
loading, the container top is sealed, and the
solids, mainly for quality control applications,
where rapid off-line measurements can pro- container pressurized to a predetermined
vide guidance in recognizing and diagnosing pressure for about 30 s to consolidate the
problems in solids processing control. sample as air permeates out through the screen
A solids sample is placed in a sample con- opening at the bottom of the cone. After 30 s,
tainer configured with a cylindrical section the pressure is reduced to zero, the screen
Plan View
Cover
trover -j
1/
Removable
sample
container
Perforated
1 I slide gate
\ I
Removable
tray
slide gate is removed, and the pressure reap- powder. In theory, the unconfined yield stress
plied until the arch at the outlet breaks and of a powder can be determined by consolidat-
solids flow from the container. The peak pres- ing a supported column of powder under a
sure is recorded by a digital pressure indicator. stress crv then removing the support and ap-
The consolidating and failure procedures plying a vertical stress on the unsupported
are repeated several times and an average column until it fails (at / c ) . The obvious prob-
peak pressure value is calculated. This peak lem with this test is how to maintain an unsup-
pressure value, corresponding to the ported powder column. This is handled in the
"strength" of the material, can be compared Postec device as shown in Fig. 8.73.
to a reference value to establish relative The die and piston are aligned and fixed in
flowability of the sample170. Three different position. A flexible rubber membrane is fitted
size containers are available with the tester, to to the edge of the piston and the lower end of
accommodate a range of particle sizes. the die. The membrane is stretched, so that it
will contract as the piston moves downward,
8.11.1.4 POSTEC-Research Uniaxial Tester and, with lubricant between membrane and
Scientific testers like biaxial or modified triax- die, sliding and wall friction will be reduced to
ial testers are indirect shear testers where the a minimum. The die is filled upside down, with
shear zone is independent of the design of the bottom plate removed. The assembly is
apparatus. The data from these testers can then mounted upright, and the sample consoli-
define the stress-strain relationships and flow dated by moving the piston slowly downward
functions directly but are too complex for rou- until a predetermined stress crl has been
tine industrial use. reached. After a period of time for stabiliza-
POSTEC-Research [171] has developed an tion, the compaction stress cr1 is reduced to a
interesting Uniaxial Tester that shows a po- minimum value and the die is pulled up allow-
tential for a rapid and direct method of mea- ing the sample to stand by itself. The piston
suring the unconfined yield strength (fc) of a then moves slowly downward until the value of
V///////////A
(a) Consolidation (b) Compressive Failure
Figure 8.73. POSTEC-Research Uniaxial Shear Tester. 171
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 445
fc, at failure of the sample, is measured. The terials that affect the design of materials
shear plane at failure will fall close to the handling equipment.
angle a indicated in Fig. 8.73b. The test is Two general descriptive categories are used
repeated at several different consolidating in CEMA. First are those physical characteris-
stresses and the yield strengths are plotted to tics that can be determined by simple bench-
determine a flow function as described for the top tests. Eighteen tests are described. A bulk
Jenike test. The authors report that in some material is assigned an alphanumeric code
cases the scatter in test results was higher than designation corresponding to the measured or
what they considered acceptable, but there observed results. The second category de-
was not an unreasonable agreement with scribes 20 specific properties that are difficult
the Jenike tester results. Further refine- to quantify. These are classified as hazards
ment of this patented tester is reported to be affecting conveyorability. These are also as-
underway. signed an alphanumeric code designation.
Tables 8.1 and 8.2 show typical code designa-
8.11.2 Other Test Procedures tions. The results of all these classifications
are combined into the widely used CEMA
Numerous empirical tests have been devised
Material Classification Code, shown in Table
to measure and characterize the properties of
bulk solids that affect their behavior in storage 8.3. The Definition and Test Reference col-
and handling. Most do not produce quantita- umn shown in Table 8.2 refers to the first
tive design data. However, lacking that data,
the information from these tests can be useful
for comparing certain characteristics with Table 8.1. CEMA Factors (Reprinted with
known or reference solids. permission of Conveyor Equipment
Manufacturers' Association Ref. 40).
A compilation of methods of measuring
physical properties of bulk solids, taken from CEMA
existing trade and research literature, is avail- MOHRS NO. FACTOR
able in the Powder Testing Guide published on Hardness 1 1
behalf of the British Materials Handling 2 4
Board. [172] 3 9
4 16
The American Society for Testing Materials 5 25
(ASTM) [180], Subcommittee D18.24 Charac- 6 36
terization and Handling of Powders and Bulk 7 49
Solids, is embarked on a comprehensive pro- 8 64
gram to accumulate, develop, and publish a 9 81
10 100
series of procedures for testing powders and LB / CU FT
bulk solids. At the time of this writing, the first
standard is being prepared for publication. Density 0-60 1.0
61-120 1.1
121-180 1.2
8.11.2.1 CEMA 181-240 1.3
241-300 1.4
The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers' As- TYPE
sociation (CEMA) in the United States has
published a guide to the Classification and Shape Rounded 1.0
Subround or 1.5
Definition of Bulk Materials.40 A similar guide Subangular
is published by the British Materials Handling (approach rounded or
Board. These widely used guides attempt to angular shape but
establish a terminology for describing the vari- well-rounded edges)
ous properties and characteristics of bulk ma- Angular 2.0
446 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 8.2. CEMA Abrasive Index. (Reprinted cases, this is undesirable, and the storage and
with permission of Conveyor Manufacturers9
handling system must be designed to minimize
Association, Ref. 40)
the possibility of its occurring.
CEMA ABRASIVE Segregation occurs most frequently in free-
CODE INDEX flowing granular materials having a wide size
CHARACTERISTICS NUMBER RANGE distribution and seldom in fine powders where
Mildly abrasive 5 1-17 particle size is about 70 /nm or less.
Moderately abrasive 6 18-67 Cohesive powders usually do not segregate
Extremely abrasive 7 68-416 during handling. Powders containing cohesive
and noncohesive components can segregate.
The more cohesive components tend to move
category tests by the prefix A, the second by
together in relatively thick unsegregated layers
the prefix B. As an example of this coding
or patches when sliding in a chute or on a pile
system, alumina, having a bulk density of 50 to
and will form rivulets of nonsegregated cohe-
65 lb/ft 3 fine particle size less than no. 6
sive material extending down the face of the
sieve, free flowing, extremely abrasive, can be-
chute or pile.
come aerated, windswept, and dusty, is as-
signed the material code designation of A review of segregation of particulate mate-
58B627MY. rials is given by Williams120 and Johanson.121
Particle properties that cause segregation are
due to differences in particle:
8.11.2.2 Can's Method of Classification
Carr devised a system to characterize bulk Size
solids with respect to what he defined as Density
Flowability and Floodability.43'44 With Carr's Shape
procedure, a series of tests are made and each Resilience
test result is assigned a numerical value that is Angle of repose
based on Carr's past experience in observing Cohesiveness
flow of powders and granules through hoppers
and feeders. The numerical values are summed
to give a "Flowability Index" and a "Floodabil- Many workers122 127 have confirmed that dif-
ity Index," the relative values of which indi- ferences in particle size is by far the most
cate the level of flowability and the potential important cause of segregation, with differ-
for the solids to become aerated and flood ences in particle density and shape (assuming
when discharged into or from a hopper. The not gross shape difference) being compara-
solids are not consolidated before or during tively unimportant.
the tests. Carr's procedures have been incor-
porated into a testing machine, manufactured 8.12.1 Mechanisms
by Hosokawa Iron Works, Osaka, Japan (Fig- The mechanisms leading to segregation of
ure 8.74) and Micron
noncohesive particles include:
Powder Systems.
Table 8.3. CEMC Material Classification Code Chart. (Reprinted with permission of Conveyor
Manufacturers' Association, Ref. 40)
DEFINITION
MAJOR AND TEST CODE
CLASS MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDED REFERENCE DESIGNATION
A well-known example of surface percola- into the stationary layer below and become
tion occurs during filling of a silo (see Fig. locked in position. The large particles do not
8.75a). The particles striking the heap form a penetrate and continue to roll or slide to the
thin layer of rapidly moving material. The outside perimeter of the heap. This has been
finer particles in the moving layer percolate compared to a sieving or screening mecha-
448 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
;
ff
BOUNCING ON
IMPACT, PERCOLATION
AND ROLLING CAUSE
SEGREGATION ALONG
SURFACE OF HEAP
EFFECTIVE
WORKING RANGE
FOR MIXING IN
HOPPER
APPROX.0.75TO1DD
MIXTURE
COARSE* FINE
(a) (b)
Figure 8.75. Typical segregation and mixing during mass flow: (a) Bin filling with no discharge, (b) discharge.
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 449
nism. The result is considerable radial ratio exiting the hopper can vary, depending
inhomogeneity. on the rate of refill as shown in Figures 8.76b
When the silo discharges, particle rear- through 8.76g. If the hopper is drained, the
rangement again take place. In a mass flow last material to exit the hopper will be mostly
silo, remixing occurs as the segregated mate- coarse. If the level is lowered and then refill is
rial leaves the vertical section and enters the begun, a short-term increase in coarse fraction
mass flow hopper (Fig. 8.75b) where the fine will be noted at the discharge, until the new
fraction mixes with the coarse fraction.121 incoming material has reestablished the cen-
In a funnel flow bin, particle segregation tral core flow.
occurs during filling as the particles fall onto a If refill continues at the same rate as dis-
heap (Fig. 8.76a). A central core of finer mate- charge and a narrow flow channel has formed,
rial is deposited during filling just as it does in segregation at the outlet will be reduced. This
the mass flow hopper. However, the mixture condition will continue until a change in silo
CENTERFILL
MIXTURE
COARSE & FINE
NOTE:
IF BIN IS DRAINED INFREQUENTLY,
FINES CAN PERCOLATE INTO
INTERSTICES OF COARSE PAR-
TICLES IN STAGNANT AREA
AND FORM STABLE RATHOLE
MOSTLY COARSE
MIXTURE COARSE
THEN ABRUPT
AND FINE
^ - " " CHANGE TO FINE
(e) (f)
Figure 8.76. Typical segregation and discharge patterns during funnel flow; (a) Center filling, no discharge, (b)
discharge begins; (c) discharge continues, level in bin dropping; (d) level continues to drop, heel discharging; (e)
start to refill before heel is completely discharged; ( / ) level rising; (g) discharging at the same rate as filling, level
remains unchanged. Note: Flow patterns shown are typical for a funnel flow bin when any free flowing
(segregating or nonsegregating) material is stored.
450 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
level takes place. In time, if the silo is not to differences in particle size, particle density
emptied, fines can percolate into the coarse and occasionally because of air drag effect.
fraction in the stagnant region and this could Usually, if the material has segregating ten-
cause stable ratholes to form. dencies they have already occurred on the
Percolation also occurs when a mixture of incoming conveyor or chute because of the
particles are vibrated or agitated during con- mechanisms described above, and the trajec-
veying. This effect can be noticed in vibrating tory of discharge serves to preserve this
conveyors and chutes and small hoppers that separation (Fig. 8.77).
are vibrated to promote flow. Guidance on estimating the trajectory of
material discharged from the head pulley of a
8.12.1.2 Vibration belt conveyor can be found in Ref. 128. Calcu-
lated trajectories of a single fine particle usu-
Williams120 describes a condition other than
ally have no practical significance in this case
percolation that can cause even a single large
since it is not possible to account for the
particle in a vibrated bed to rise to the sur-
effects of air turbulence and particle to
face. Each vertical movement of the bed al-
particle contact in a dense falling stream of
lows fines to run in under the large particle.
material.
As the fine material accumulates and com-
pacts, it supports the large particle, causing it
to rise to the surface. 8.12.1.4 Impact on a Heap
Ahmad and Smalley125 studied the move- After impacting on a pile, large coarse parti-
ment of a single 12,700 ^m diameter lead ball cles will tend to roll or slide over smaller
in a vibrated bed of 500 to 600 /mm dry sand coarse particles to concentrate on the outside.
particles. They reported that at a constant The more resilient larger particles will tend to
frequency of vibration, segregation increased bounce and also concentrate along the outside
as acceleration increased, but at a constant of the pile, while the smaller, less resilient
acceleration, segregation was reduced as fre- particles will tend to concentrate in the center.
quency increased. Acceleration was the most If the mixture contains sufficient moisture,
critical variable affecting segregation. the fine fraction will tend to stick on impact,
Harwood122 studied the behavior of cohe- and large particles will roll or bounce away.
sive and noncohesive powders subjected to If a mixture of fine powder and coarse parti-
vertical vibration using tracer powders compa- cles is impacted directly onto a heap after
rable in size to the powder bed to determine discharge from an air slide,® or pneumatic
segregation. He reported that particle size was
the major controlling factor for segregation. In
a binary system of free flowing and cohesive
powders, segregation was very limited once the
powder bed had become compacted, but if
vibrational energy was sufficiently high to in-
duce a semifluidized state in the bed, segrega-
tion was significantly increased.
CONCENTRATION OF
Storage silos do not usually experience vi- COARSE PARTICLES
-MAY ESTABLISH FLOW
bration with sufficient intensity to cause segre- PATTERN ALONG WALL
conveyor, the fines fraction can become aer- regated mixture is required at the silo
ated during a free-fall, and, on impact, will discharge.
assume a very shallow or zero angle of repose. As long as the solids level in a mass flow bin
The heavier, coarse particles will concentrate remains above the transition, a distance equiv-
in the impact area. alent to about three quarters the diameter, the
If the silo is loaded with a pneumatic con- material moves down the vertical section in
veyor impacting on the bed, the fine material plug flow with radial segregation relatively un-
can remain fluidized or can remain entrained changed. However, radial mixing will occur in
in the moving air stream above the bed until the hopper section before discharge, as noted
loading is completed and the pneumatic con- earlier in Figure 8.75.
veyor shut down. If the silo is then completely Mixing will not occur in a funnel flow bin.
emptied, the fine fraction that has settled at To minimize segregation in these bins, some
the top of the silo will discharge in a mass. means of redistributing the incoming material
and/or changing the internal flow pattern are
required. The BINSERT®173 is such a device,
8.12.1.5 Angle of Repose
and represents the newest and most important
When a mixture of uniformly sized granular advance in the design of inserts and hopper
particles consisting of components with dif- geometry for the purpose of reducing particle
ferent angles of repose is poured on a heap, segregation in storage bins. This is described
the particles having a steeper angle of repose in Section 8.13. A moving fill spout (Fig. 8.78a),
tend to concentrate in the center of the heap. a fixed deflector, flow spitter, or multiple load-
ing spouts (Fig. 8.78b) have been used to dis-
tribute incoming material on the heap. A
8.12.2 Theoretical Analysis patented rotating device for this purpose is
Segregation is usually studied by sampling from shown in Figure 8.79.
a model bin or from a full-size bin and by Devices to reduce segregation by changing
reporting the results on a statistical basis. No the flow pattern are, in essence, designed to
theoretical basis for analyzing segregation simulate mass flow as much as possible. An
mechanisms has yet been formulated, al- insert mounted high in the hopper section can
though some work in this area is beginning. widen the flow channel and assist in remixing
Theoretical models to describe segregation by (Fig. 8.80). Multiple discharge pipes (Fig. 8.80b)
percolation have been proposed by Shinohara have been used to extract material from dif-
et al.129'130 and by particle size and density by ferent segregated areas of the bin and recom-
Tanaka.131 Matthee132 has proposed an ap-
proach to modeling all aspects of segregation.
INLET CHUTE
OSCILLATES OR
ROTATES TO DISTRIBUTE FIXED FLOW SPLITTER
INCOMING SOLIDS STREAM
8.12.3 Minimizing Segregation
-MULTIPLE LOADING
SPOUTS
Particle rearrangement and segregation will
occur each time a material is dumped onto a
conveyor, or a chute at the loading or transfer
points. Knowing the likely segregation mecha-
nisms that will be present, the probable distri-
bution of coarse and fine particles across and
along the length of the conveyor coming into (a)
the silo can be predicted with reasonable cer-
Figure 8.78. Devices to minimize segregation during
tainty. This incoming stream then must be filling of a bin; (a) Moving fill spout, (b) flow splitter or
redistributed or mixed in the silo if a nonseg- spreader-deflector.
452 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
RECTANGULAR
GRANULAR BULK INSERT\
INLET SPOUT
(FIXED POSITION)
INSERT-TO WIDEN
FLOW CHANNEL
RATIO DIVIDERS OR TO INDUCE MASS
FLOW
MIXING IN ANNULAR
FLOW CHANNEL
-ANGLE IRON
DEFLECTORS 8.13.2 Other Inserts
OQQQOFh METERING
ROLLS
It has been known for a number of years that
correctly placed inserts can solve flow-related
FUNNEL HOPPER problems in silos. Newton,137 in 1945, de-
scribed the use of perforated trays and in-
clined pipes to provide even distribution (mass
flow) of a granular catayst in a moving bed.
TO BAGGING MACHINE
Morse138 described the sizing and placement
Figure 8.81. Metering rolls (U.S. patent 3, 285, 438).
of inserts placed on the vertical axis of a
(From Ref. 134.)
vessel, near the junction of a cone and a
vertical shell, to cause mass flow in a moving
8.13 STATIC DEVICES TO PROMOTE bed when shallow hoppers are used.
GRAVITY FLOW FROM BINS Sizing and placement of inserts in bins have
8.13.1 Binsert® generally been based on rules-of-thumb, or
have been found by trial and error.
The Binsert®175 is formed by positioning a Johanson139"141 proposed a method of sizing
mass flow hopper in a funnel flow hopper as and placement based on the bulk solids flow
shown schematically in Figure 8.83. The inner properties and hopper geometry. This work
hopper is configured for mass flow using the predates the more recent invention of the
design procedures described earlier. It has Binsert®. It is summarized in the following
been found that flow will occur in the inner paragraphs, and is the most specific guide to
hopper, as well as in the annular space be- insert placement that has appeared in the
tween hoppers, when the slope angle of the literature.
(outer) funnel flow hopper is up to a maximum Johanson reasoned that since an insert
of twice the slope angle 6C, of the mass flow forms an annular opening that approaches a
insert hopper. Binserts have also been con- long slot opening (Fig. 8.84), a plain-strain
structed for plane flow (wedge-shaped) hop- wedge-shaped hopper is closely approximated
454 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
STD.DEV.<T» 1J91
STD.DEV. <r»6.50
TRUE AVERAGE
20 40 60 80
20 40 60 80
PERCENT BY WEIGHT REMOVED
PERCENT BY WEIGHT REMOVED
(b)
STD.DEV. CTM.78
1 ~-TAPERED SCREW-
LARGER AT DISCHARGE
f 60
oc
UJ
20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80
PERCENT BY WEIGHT REMOVED PERCENT BY WEIGHT REMOVED
(d)
40 60
PERCENT BY WEIGHT REMOVED
(e)
Figure 8.82. Segregation patterns in model bins handling granular material: (a) cylindrical unit with 60° cone
bottom; axially filled, then axially discharged completely, (b) cylindrical unit with 60° cone bottom, well-sized and
located insert, axially filled and then axially discharged completely, (c) cylindrical unit with 60° cone bottom, filled
through three points, then axially discharged completely, (d) cylindrical unit with symmetrical wedge bottom, filled
through three points, then discharged completely by uniform withdrawal across the slot discharge opening, (e)
cylindrical unit with 60° bottom and vertical partition, filled and discharged completely through openings adjacent
to the partition. (From Ref. 123) (Excepted by special permission from Chemical Engineering, copyright © 1964 by
McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, N.Y.)
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 455
2x8c
Mass flow cone
in the area around the insert. Since flow will Figure 8.85. Approximate critical W/R for inserts and
hoppers having the same slope.
occur along the walls of wedge-shaped hop-
pers at relatively shallow slopes, an insert can
change a funnel flow pattern to flow along the
angle between the insert wall AB and the line
walls in the region influenced by the insert as
AC to the point at which flow occurs along the
shown in Figure 8.84. The critical ratio of the
hopper wall is presented in graphical form
dimensions W/R given by Johanson and shown
(Fig. 8.86) as a function of the total included
graphically in Figure 8.85 was calculated for
angle p = 6X + 92, assuming a symmetric
the case where 62 = 6V Johanson states that
channel. (The value of a is approximately the
the values shown in the figure will give a good
approximation for any insert slope angle. The same for nonsymmetrical channels where 6l
and 02 a r e n ° t equal.)
70 \
S 60
. 50 —
\
40
I -
g 20
-
i
\j
K k
-
10
Figure 8.87. Placement of inserts.
i i 1
20 40 60 80 100 8.12.1.3 Inserts with Cohesive Materials
INCLUDED FLOW CHANNEL ANGLE
An insert can be used to prevent ratholing by
Figure 8.86. Approximate angle a to determine limit
providing a vertical flow channel greater than
of flow along hopper walls. the critical rathole diameter. To design this
insert, first determine the minimum opening
required to prevent an arch forming over a
circular opening in a funnel flow bin, as de-
2. Determine critical W/R and a values us- scribed earlier. The critical dimensions W
ing solids flow properties and Figures 8.85 should be no less than three fourths of this
and 8.86. Johanson suggests adding a safety minimum opening. If this insert is placed high
factor to the design by reducing the critical in the hopper, a rathole may form below if the
W/R by 10%. angle of repose of the material allows a depth
3. On a sketch of the silo, draw the line AB of material above the hopper opening greater
having as its slope the angle (TT/2 — a — than the diameter of the opening. Johanson
02) from the horizontal. Draw line CD suggests a second, lower insert may be neces-
through the vertex at angle a, where sary to prevent this (Fig. 8.87).
tan a = tan Qx/(\ + WR). Points on this Inserts placed in the hopper section usually
line represent critical values of W/R. do not cause higher overpressures (stresses)
4. Draw line BE at slope angle 62 to deter- on the hopper wall. Inserts that project up into
mine point E, the bottom of the insert. or are located in the cylinder portion can
cause overpressure (stresses) on the cylinder
8.13.2.2 Insert to Widen the Flow Channel walls because of the presence of the flow
channel transition at the insert.
The same procedure can be used to determine
insert size and placement low in the hopper to 8.13.3 BCR Easy-Flo Bin
widen the flow channel and reduce stagnant Large discharge outlets are usually required to
areas in a funnel flow silo (assuming the mate- prevent bridging over the outlet in bins used
rials will not bridge or rathole). The diameter to store fine coal, particularly when surface
of the desired flow channel locates the approx- moisture is present. Bituminous Coal Re-
imate point C (Fig. 8.84). search Inc. (BCR) has developed the Easy-Flo
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 457
MATERIAL
LAST IN-FIRST OUT -
a two-section hopper, the upper section would Design so that inclined hopper surfaces
have a circular inlet, transitioning to an oval intersect with vertical wall surfaces.
cross-section where it joins the lower section. 2. To promote flow of cohesive materials in
The matching oval inlet on the bottom section large silos provide a design that reduces the
would transition to a circular discharge open- consolidating pressures and allows expan-
ing. The flow channel therefore changes from sion of the material as it flows through the
circular to oval to circular again. The manu- lower hopper area. This can be accom-
facturer states that this configuration makes it plished by the inserts described previously,
possible to significantly reduce the size of the by pressure relief "noses," or by expansion
discharge opening, compared to that required of the hopper cross-section at the junction
for no arching or ratholing in a conventional of hopper and vertical section. Other hop-
mass flow hopper. per geometries are reviewed by Reisner and
The fully expanded version of the Diamond Eisenhart.143
back is based on the same principle as the
arch-breaker version, except that all surfaces
are converging, in accordance with mass flow 8.14 FLOW-PROMOTING DEVICES AND
principles similar to those of the transition FEEDERS FOR REGULATING FLOW
hopper. This reduces the overall height that
Selection and design of feeders or other flow
otherwise would be required for a conical mass
control devices to be installed at a bin outlet
flow hopper.
must be considered to be an integral part of
the storage bin design. Feeders should be de-
8.13.5.2 Concrete Bins signed to withdraw material uniformly from
the entire area of the discharge opening. This
Theimer142 describes a variety of silo and hop- will ensure the largest possible flow channel in
per geometries, mostly for concrete silos, de- a funnel flow bin. It is a mandatory require-
veloped through trial and error, that have ment for a mass flow bin. If the entire opening
proven useful for promoting gravity flow of is not active in such a bin, mass flow will not
bulk solids. Most of the examples cited refer occur.
to storage of poor-flowing grain and food The minimum opening size and shape re-
products in large concrete silos. In these large quired to ensure flow from a bin must be
concrete silos, mass flow hoppers in many cases determined before selecting a discharge device
are prohibitively expensive. However, by tak- or feeder. It is not always correct to select the
ing into account the flow properties of the feeder and then match the hopper opening to
solids and by judicious shaping and propor- it. Feeders are usually rated by manufacturers
tioning of the silo bottoms, the structures de- on the basis of volumetric capacity. If the
scribed in this article are successfully storing feeder selected on this basis has an inlet
and discharging poor-flowing materials. smaller than the minimum required hopper
The design criteria for shaping bin and hop- opening size, it is unacceptable. Too small an
per geometry to improve flow include the opening could result in bridging, ratholing,
following: and erratic flow. Selecting the feeder on the
basis of opening size, therefore, may require
1. When handling poor-flowing powders in a unit that is considerably "oversized," and
hoppers having a rectangular or square operate at low speed.
cross-section, avoid sloping walls that inter-
8.14.1 Basic Feeder Types
sect to form a valley angle. These materials
will not flow in the region of the valley The most commonly used types of feeders are
angles and will cause ratholes to form. described below. An important selection crite-
460 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
FEED HOPPER
\
RECIPROCATING
EXCITER \
SPRING COUPLING
(a)
(d)
^r x
SPRING COUPLING
(b)
Figure 8.96. Various screw feeder geometries produc-
ing improved flow patterns under slot openings, (a) Figure 8.98. Indirect force (tuned two mass) vibrating
Increasing flight pitch, (b) increasing flight diameter, feeders; (a) Electromagnetic feeder, (b) electrome-
(c) increasing pitch with decreasing shaft diameter. chanical feeder.
VERTICAL SECTION
MIN. 1/2 TROUGH HEIGHT
POOR FLOWING
OR NON-FLOWING COMPACTION AND JAMMING AS
REGION SOLIDS LEAVE HOPPER
(fxrrs V
FRACTIONAL DRAG ON BELT
metal pans, supported on each side by a driven beneath the opening in a bin or hopper and
roller chain, riding on steel tracks. suspended from the bin or hopper by elas-
tomeric-bushed links. Elastomeric bands con-
8.14.2 Feeder /Flow-Promoting Devices nect and seal the inlet to the bin above and to
the feed device or chute below. Motor-driven
A number of flow-promoting devices and spe- eccentric weights, mounted on the vibrating
cial feeders have been developed for specific hopper, cause it to gyrate in an elliptical path
applications. Several commonly used devices on a horizontal plane. The frequency is fixed
classified by the principal method used to in- by the rotational speed of the weights: ampli-
duce flow are described below. tude is varied by positioning of the weights.
Frequencies vary from 15 to 50 Hz, but 15 to
8.14.2.1 Vibratory-Type Devices 30 Hz are most commonly used. Weight posi-
tioning (amplitude) is determined by solids
Vibrating Bin Bottom or Bin Discharger (Fig. flow characteristics, density, and amount of
8.103). This is a conical hopper mounted material in the bin, and is based on experience
« 5° DIVERGENCE
-•/..FEED HOPPER".
illil/r I TO 3° SLOPE
SKIRTS
BEADED
FLEXIBLE
SLEEVE
1
VIBRATION ISOLATOR
SUSPENSION HANGERS
with similar materials or from tests on small by shielding the outlet from direct pressure
hoppers. from the solids.
A pressure cone or baffle mounted axially In the Whirlpool® vibrating hopper con-
within the unit vibrates with the hopper and figuration (Fig. 8.104), two motor-driven vibra-
serves two purposes: It reflects the vibratory tors with their axis of rotation inclined to the
motion up into the material in the bin above horizontal plane are mounted 180° apart on
and prevents solids compaction at the outlet the hopper. The action of the vibrators impart
Figure 8.104. Whirlpool vibrating hopper. (Reprinted with permission of Carman Mfg. Co.)
466 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
a twisting and lifting motion that can be effec- is mounted. This dimension can be determined
tive in inducing flow of very sticky or cohesive by first making allowances for possible com-
materials. paction due to vibration and using the tech-
Vibrating hoppers can be very effective in niques described in Section 8.8.
promoting flow of a variety of powders, includ- If vibrating hoppers are improperly applied,
ing those that agglomerate and form friable bridging can occur above the hopper or pow-
lumps, those that must be deaerated to pre- ders can be overcompacted and flow at very
vent flooding, and cohesive powders that will reduced rates from the outlet. Conversely,
not flow by gravity. Because of their heavy flooding can occur if ratholes form and col-
rugged design, they will accept very high head lapse in the bin above, or if hopper flow rate,
loads from material in the bin. Selection of the discharge nozzle size, and hopper amplitude
hopper inlet diameter is dependent on the are not properly matched. The Metalfab bin
solids flow pattern desired in the bin above. If discharger (Fig. 8.105) features a secondary
mass flow is required, the vibrating hopper can adjustable baffle designed to prevent overcom-
be sized to match the full cylinder diameter, or paction at the outlet.
it can be mounted at the discharge of a conical Since it is a vibrating device, care should be
mass flow hopper. This latter arrangement is taken to prevent transmission of the vibration
useful where a mass flow hopper would re- into building structures when designing sup-
quire inordinately large openings for gravity ports for bins having large bin dischargers.
flow. The vibrating hopper in that case can be An additional feed device must be installed
used to converge this flow to a smaller outlet. at the vibrating hopper outlet to achieve
If funnel flow in the bin above is acceptable, accurate flow control.
the vibrating hopper can be sized large enough
to expand the flow channel to the desired size, Vibrating Screw Feeders (Fig. 8.106). In this
and converge to a small discharge opening. feeder, a screw and trough assembly are
The inlet dimension of a vibrating hopper mounted on an elastomeric isolation system.
must be sized to be larger than the minimum Motor-driven eccentric weights cause the en-
hopper outlet required to prevent bridging or tire assembly to vibrate or oscillate in a rock-
ratholing in the hopper or bin under which it ing motion. This keeps the material in the
Figure 8.105. Metal Fab bin activator, vibrating hopper for attachment to hopper opening. (Reprinted with
permission of Metal Fab Inc.)
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 467
hopper section above the screw in motion, by the powder tests, to ensure that powder will
preventing bridging or channeling, and a more flow during vibration, and stop when the vibra-
consistent solids density is achieved as the tion stops. These devices combine the function
material flows into the vibrating screw. This of a bin discharger, and a feeder to regulate
action also permits feeding into very small the flow. Because they extract solids from the
screw feeders at low rates. The rate is con- entire cross section of an opening, they can be
trolled by screw size and speed. Frequency of used at the outlet of mass flow silos. They are
vibration is fixed and amplitude, determined fabricated to accommodate round or square
by test or experience, is set by eccentric weight openings, ranging from 0.15 m to 1.5 m in
positioning. diameter or width.
The Hogan® discharger (Fig. 8.107b) is sim-
Vibrating Louver-type Discharger-Feeders. ilar to those described above, except that in
There are two general types of these devices. addition to varying the vibrator stroke, the
In the Silleta® and Superfeeder® design, a blade positions can be adjusted to any position
feed tray is suspended from a frame fastened between closed (zero flow) to fully open (maxi-
to a silo outlet as shown schematically in Fig- mum flow), by manual, electric, or pneumatic
ure 8.107a. A row of fixed position, inclined actuators, while the unit is operating.
blades, mounted in a feed tray, divides the
flow area into a series of powder feed slots. Thayer "Bridge Breaker" (Bin Discharger)
The feed section reciprocates in response to (Fig. 8.108). Expanded metal or perforated
an electromagnetic or electromechanical vi- metalscreens in this device are positioned in-
brator to provide, in theory, an infinite vari- side the hopper and parallel to the walls. They
ability in feed rate. The fixed blade dimen- are attached by studs to externally mounted,
sions, inclination, and spacing are determined low-frequency, high-amplitude air vibrators.
468 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Vibrator
Figure 8.107. Vibrating louver-type discharger feeder, (a) Silleta,® and Superfeeder® fixed blade tray, (b)
Hogan® adjustable blade.
The studs pass through and are supported by tween the hopper wall and cone, allowing solids
resilient elastomeric wall mounts. When acti- to flow. Solids flow rate is regulated by the
vated, the vibrators agitate the screens in a positioning of the cone. To promote flow, a
reciprocating motion almost parallel to the pneumatic piston vibrator, mounted inside the
plane of the hopper wall. Since this motion cone, is actuated while the cone is in the
puts most of the energy directly into the mate- raised position.
rial instead of the hopper walls, this device The hopper units range from 1 to 10 ft in
uses less energy and makes less noise, com- diameter.
pared to standard bin vibrators.
8.14.2.2 Agitation-Type Devices
Matcon-Buls® Discharger Valve. This de-
vice, shown in Figure 8.109, is in the form of Acrison Bin Discharger (Fig. 8.110). In this
an inverted cone, mounted on a pneumatic unit, helical agitators turn at 1 to 2 rpm to
spring-actuator in a truncated hopper body, prevent consolidation and maintain the solids
bolted to a bin outlet. The cone is raised in in a flowable condition. Solids discharge from
the hopper section, by pressurizing the pneu- one or more openings on the bottom, with no
matic spring. This opens an annular gap be- control of rate. A variety of feeders can be
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 469
(a)
(b)
Figure 8.108. Thayer Bridge Breaker: (a) assembly of two units on a conical hopper, (b) internal view into conical
hopper. (Permission Thayer Scale Co., Hyer Industries, Inc.)
470 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Pneumatic
Vibrator
Cone Lowered:
Shut-off Position
Pneumatic
Actuator
Matcon ® Hopper
mounted at the discharge to control feed rate. tions" the solids as they enter the feed screw.
The size of the unit is governed by the maxi- This controlled agitation maintains density at
mum opening required to prevent bridging in a consistent level, reduces the tendency to
the hopper opening under which it is mounted. arch or bridge over the feed opening, and
permits feeding into very small screw feeders
Acrlson Bin Discharger Feeder (Fig. 8.111). at low rates. Rate is controlled by screw speed
This device combines the fixed-speed bin dis- and/or screw size.
charger to induce flow to a variable-speed
screw. Feed rate is controlled by screw speed. Metal Fab Feeder (Fig. 8.113). Specially
configured agitators mounted on the feed
Acrison Feeder (Fig. 8.112). A slow- screw loosen the material in the feed hopper,
moving concentric ribbon (or agitator) "condi- prevent arching, and induce a consistent flow
Figure 8.110. Acrison bin discharger. (Reprinted with permission of Acrison, Inc.)
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 471
Figure 8.111. Acrison bin discharger-feeder. (Reprinted with permission of Acrison, Inc.)
through the feed screw. This also permits feed- bridging as solids flow into wiped-surface coro-
ing into small screws at low rates. tating screws. Specially designed flights on
these screws intermesh in close proximity to
K-Tron Twin Screw Feeder (Fig. 8.114). The provide a wiping action that aids in discharge
feeder uses a mechanical agitator to prevent of sticky or cohesive materials. The feeder
Hopper
, Conditioning Auger
Gearbox with
Two Output
Speeds
Variable-Speed
Drive
Figure 8.114. K-Tron twin-screw feeder. (Reprinted with permission of K-Tron Inc.)
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 473
Figure 8.116. Stephens-Adamson circular bin discharger with arch breaker, (a) Single-stage feeder, (b) two-stage
feeder. (Reprinted with permission of Stephens-Adamson Div., Allis Chalmers Co., Aurora, IL.)
474 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 8.117. A. O. Smith sweep-arm unloader. (Reprinted with permission of Koppers Co., Inc., Sprout Waldron
Div.)
used primarily with solids that tend to bridge, and discharging sticky, very cohesive or com-
or to gain increased volumetric capacity at pacting-type solids that require very large hop-
reduced cost by allowing a flat-bottom in place per openings, or those that require vertical or
of a conical-bottom hopper. negatively sloped hopper walls.
DISCHARGE
height of an adjustable feed collar or the speed material from an annular space formed by a
of the plate. hopper wall and a stationary flow cone into a
For best flow control and to keep the hop- discharge opening. This action promotes mass
per opening fully active, the feed collar should flow in the vicinity of the hopper opening. This
be high enough to allow flow from under the unit can be classified as a combination dis-
entire perimeter of the collar onto the rotating charger and feeder. Feed control is achieved
plate. The device is not intended for precise by varying drive-motor speed.
feed control. The table feeder is selected for
materials that require large bin openings to Disc Feeder. This is a small-scale version of
eliminate arching, such as wood chips, sticky the table feeder. The table is grooved to ex-
or wet granular materials, and for abrasive tract a fixed volumetric amount of material. It
materials such as minerals and sand. is used for very low feed rates (about 1 to
2 cu ft/h), with fine free-flowing or cohesive
Corn-Bin Feeder (Fig. 8.120). This feeder is powders.
designed for a variety of solids and is particu-
larly effective for damp, oily, or sticky materi- Rotary Plow Feeders. There are two general
als. It resembles a table feeder except that the types: one in which a rotating plow is moved
shell and contained solids rotate with the plate. horizontally and one in which the plow is
A stationary plow strips off solids from a gap stationary, and coaxially mounted in a
between rotating shell and plate. Flow rate hopper.
can be controlled by gap height and rotational An example of the first is shown in Figure
speed. 8.122. A self-propelled carriage, supporting a
rotating plow, travels parallel to a slot opening
Flow Star Feeder (Fig. 8.121). In this de- in a bin, and above a conveyor. Solids are
vice, specially configured wiping blades draw plowed from a continuous shelf onto the con-
SLOT OPENING
BELT CONVEYOR
Fixed pressure
relief cone
Rotating spiral-shaped
sweep arm
Discharge
8.14.2.4 Flexible Wall Devices als and are for aiding flow, but provide no
control of flow rate.
Wall Panels (Fig. 8.124). These elastomeric
panels are fastened along the inner wall of Accu-Rate Feeder (Fig. 8.125). This is a
hoppers. Periodic inflation with air expands low-cost volumetric feeder combining a flexi-
the panel and forces solids into the flow chan- ble wall hopper for loosening material in the
nel. Pressure control of the air prevents over- hopper with a variable speed screw feeder.
inflation. The panels are sized and spaced to Motor-driven mechanical agitators distort
suit the storage hopper geometry. Since they or agitate the walls of a one-piece molded
are elastomeric, they are temperature limited. flexible-vinyl hopper during operation to pre-
The sequence and timing of inflation of single vent bridging or ratholing and to provide a
or multiple panels is determined by material constant solids feed to the screw.
characteristics and flow rate. Inflation is most
effective in promoting flow if there is a void to 8.14.2.5 Aeration-Type Devices
accept the displaced material. Inflation will be Certain solids can be aerated easily by con-
ineffective if it packs cohesive material into a trolled gas injection and are readily discharged
filled channel or if the cohesive material forms from hoppers or fed to process by a variety of
a void around the panel. The hopper walls aeration devices. These devices operate at low
must be sufficient to withstand the reaction noise levels, require little maintenance, are
forces generated during inflation. The panels relatively low cost, and can handle large vol-
are useful for powders as well as sticky materi- umes of solids with low gas flows. If well
Iffi
PLENUM
AIR TO MEMBRANE
AIR SLIDEtONVEYOR
.TRANSITION HOPPER
TO SLOT OPENING
HOPPER
TO MEMBRANE
AIR TO MEMBRANE
Figure 8.127. Air hoppers; (a) Airslide mounted under slot opening; (b) dished head with fully aerated interior
surface, mounted under circular bin opening; (c) conical hopper with fully aerated interior surface, with radial
aeration strips or individual aeration pads.
silo, and the orientation of the air release vated sequentially at time intervals through
nozzle is determined by the probable location electrical controls, to maintain the solids in a
of flow obstructions. The expanding air pocket flowable condition.
can break down bridges or ratholes in the Caution is advised if using blasters where
material. Single or multiple units can be acti- serious bridging or ratholing may occur in
bolt holes
equally spaced
on 28 1/4"
bolt circle.
I N N E R CONE
WN.P.T.
AERATION AIR INLET
OUTER CONE
Figure 8.128. Aerated bin discharge cone; (1) Steel discharge hopper, (2) neoprene inner seal hopper, (3) aeration
plenum. (Reprinted with permission of Monitor Mfg. Co.)
480 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 8.129. Air Blasters shown attached to conical hopper. (Reprinted with permission of Martin Engineering
Co.)
large silos. The silo must be capable of with- 4. J. M. Haeger and S. S. Safarian, "A New Concept
standing the stresses caused by a sudden col- of Storage Bin Construction," 9 Proceed V 64:
J. Am. Cone. Inst. 9:575-597 (Sept. 1967).
lapse of these flow obstructions, and the dis-
5. S. S. Safarian and E. C. Harris, "Silos and
charge device must be capable of sealing Bunkers," M. Fintel (ed), Handbook of Concrete
against a sudden rush of solids. Engineering, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,
New York (1974).
6. H. A. Janssen, Versuche Uber Getreidruck in
Silozellen, VD1 Zeitschrift, Diisseldorf,
REFERENCES
39:1045-1049 (1895).
7. O. F. Theimer, "Failures of Reinforced Concrete
1. Eurosilo Holland, Wormerveer, The Netherlands.
Silos," Trans. ASME, J. Eng. Ind. (B)91 (2):460-477
2. M. Reimbert and A. Reimbert, Silos-Theory and
(May 1969).
Practice, Clausthal, Germany: Trans. Tech. Publi-
cations (1976). 8. J. E. Sadler, "More Research Needed in Coal Silo
3. M. Reimbert and A. Reimbert, Silos-Traite Technology," Coal Mining and Processing, pp.
Theoretique et Pratique, Editions Eyrolls, Paris 70-72 (May, 1976).
(1961). 9. J. E. Sadler, "Silo Problems," International Confer-
STORAGE OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 481
ence on Design of Silos for Strength and Flow, Univ. 26. W. Resnick, "Flow Visualization Inside Storage
of Lancaster, U.K. Powder Advisory Center, Equipment," Intern. Conference on Bulk Solids
London (Sept. 1980). Storage, Flow and Handling, Stratford-Upon-Avon,
10. A. W. Jenike, "Denting of Circular Bins with England, Powders Advisory Center, London
Eccentric Draw Points," /. Struct. Div., Am. Soc. (1976).
Civil Eng. 93(STl):27-35 (1967). 27. P. M. Blair-Fish and P. L. Bransby, "Flow Pat-
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in Silos with Code Recommendations," Bulk Solids 173. J. W. Carson, T. A. Royal, and D. J. Goodwill,
Handling S(2):145-153 (1988). "Understanding and Eliminating Particle Segrega-
159. Standard Shear Testing Procedure for Particulate tion Problems," Bulk Solids Handling 6(1): 139-144
Solids Using the Jenike Shear Cell, Institute of (1986).
Chemical Engineers, England (1989). 174. J. R. Johanson, "Controlling Flow Patterns in Bins
160. J. Y. Ooi, W. C. Soh, Z. Zhong, and J. M. Rotter, by Use of an Insert," Bulk Solids Handling
"Bulk Mechanical Properties of Some Dry Granu- 2(3):495-498 (1982).
lar Solids," in RELPOWFLOW II, EFChE Pub. 175. BINSERT®, U.S. Patent 4, 286, 883.
Ser. 96, 75-86 (1993). 176. D. Schulze and J. Schwedes, "Tests on the Appli-
161. A. G. McLean, "A Closer Examination of the cation of Discharge Tubes," Bulk Solids Handling
Variation of Wall Friction Angle with Major Con- 22(0:33-39 (1992).
486 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
177. M. Terziovski and P. C. Arnold, "Effective Sizing Storage of 10,000 Tons of Moist Limestone,"
and Placement of Air Blasters," Bulk Solids in Reliable Flow of Paniculate Solids, Bergen,
Handling 70(2):181-185 (1990). Norway, EFCE Publication Ser. 49 (1985).
178. U.S. Patent 4,958,741. 180. American Society for Testing Materials: PA, USA,
179. R. Schafer, H. Schroer, and J. Schwedes, "Silo for Herts, England.
9
Fluidization Phenomena and
Fluidized Bed Technology
Frederick A. Zenz
CONTENTS
The term fluidization is used to designate Standard Oil Development Co., The M. W.
the gas-solid contacting process in which a bed Kellogg Co., and Standard Oil of Indiana in
of finely divided solid particles is lifted and their efforts to find a better catalytic cracking
agitated by a rising stream of process gas. At process than the fixed-bed process that was
the lower end of the velocity range, the amount introduced commercially in 1937. The fixed-
of lifting is slight, the bed behaving like a bed process was a major improvement over
boiling liquid (hence the term boiling bed). At the earlier thermal cracking methods. It
the other extreme, the particles are fully sus- yielded more gasoline of higher octane rating
pended in the gas stream and are carried
and less low-value heavy fuel oil byproduct.
along with it; the terms suspension, suspensoid,
Initial experimentation in developing a still
and entrainment contact have all been used to
superior process began along the lines of the
designate this action.
fixed-bed method. Oil vapor was passed
through one of a pair of beds until the catalyst
9.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT became fouled with carbon formed in the re-
action; then the oil vapor was fed to an adja-
The fluidized technique as it is known today cent fresh bed while air passed through the
was born from the pioneering work of fouled material to burn off the carbon and
487
488 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
regenerate the catalyst. It was soon appreci- lowed by 31 additional plants during the war
ated that some innovation would be desirable years alone.
to avoid the complexity and cost of such inter- During the past succeeding 35 years the
mittent operations. application of the fluidized technique has
Placing the regenerating and reacting beds spread rapidly to metallurgical ore roasting,
in series and continuously moving the catalyst limestone calcination, synthetic gasoline,
mechanically from one to the other appeared petrochemicals, and even to the design of nu-
to be an obvious method of approach. Initial clear reactors. A realization of the scope of
experiments indicated that such a system might applications and number of organizations with
suffer considerable loss from catalyst attrition a vested interest in fluidization is some indica-
unless pneumatic rather than mechanical con- tion of its importance and its rate of growth.
veying methods were adopted. Thus, experi- Table 9.1 gives a representative sampling of
mentation turned to studies of pneumatic fluid-bed applications that have been investi-
transport of catalysts. gated over the past 40 years. This list is far
It was soon discovered that, in order to from exhaustive; yet it records substantial evi-
avoid severe erosion as well as attrition, rela- dence of a lively pace of interest and activity.
tively lower gas velocities would be required. Each application listed in Table 9.1 may
This led to the investigation of powder-form represent a host of operating units. Table 9.2,
catalysts and eventually to the observation that for example, lists a number of metallurgical
dense beds of powder could be maintained processing installations and Table 9.3 indicates
with relatively low carryover losses even at the level of activity in fluidized bed combus-
superficial gas velocities that were orders of tion. When it is realized that none of these
magnitude greater than the calculated settling tables is exhaustive, that equal if not greater
velocity of the individual particles making up activity exists in fluidized bed gasification than
the bed. At these gas velocities the particles in fluidized bed combustion, and that nearly
were observed to be considerably agitated, as 200 fluidized bed catalytic cracking plants are
gas bubbles passed upward through the bed in in operation, it becomes apparent that flu-
a manner analogous to the boiling of liquids. idization as a unit operation has touched al-
Simultaneously, it was observed that the pres- most every process industry and every related
sure drop through such a boiling or fluidized corporate body.
bed was equal to the weight of the bed charge; Though the commercial development of the
the bed was in effect heterogeneously buoyed fluidized technique was a direct outcome of
by the gas stream and thus took on effective the work of the major petroleum process de-
flowing properties similar to liquids. These velopment companies, scattered references
simple experiments gave birth to the present- bearing on the fluidized technique can be
day fluid-bed concepts. found as far back as 1878.
Before such processing techniques could be In all processes using the fluidized-solid
applied commercially, considerable further technique, it is common to handle the solid
work had to be done to develop satisfactory material in one or more stages or steps and to
solids recovery systems, proper aeration tech- transfer it from step to step through pipe lines
niques, instrumentation, methods of line siz- in much the same manner as with a liquid. To
ing, minimizing of erosion problems, reactor raise the material to a higher level, it is car-
conversion correlations, heat-transfer data, re- ried as a suspension in a gas stream; to take it
generation rates, and numerous other matters. to a lower level or to a region of higher
The first commercial fluid-bed catalytic crack- pressure, the settled material is allowed to
ing plant was put in operation in 1942 fol- flow by gravity down a pipe line to the desired
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 489
point, the weight of material in the pipe more to a combination of the following three factors
than equaling the differential pressure. (listed in the order of their importance):
Table 9.2. Some Commercial Fluid Bed Installations in the Mining and Metallurgical industries
NO. SIZE
LOCATION UNITS (FT) TONS/DAY MATERIAL
1) New England USA 1 12 100 (CaO) Limestone
Lime Co. (5-compt.)
2) Wright Construction USA 1 7.12 360 Chrome ore
14.11
3) City of Lansing, USA 1 6 30 Lime sludge
Mich.
4) New England USA 1 12 100 Limestone
Lime Co.
5) J. G. Stein Co. Scotland 1 9 175 Fire clay (4 compt.)
6) Central Farmers USA 1 14 500 Phosphate rock
(3 compt.)
7) Corn Products USA 1 7 25 Carbon reactivator
(3 compt.)
8) Cleveland-Cliffs USA 1 3 24 Iron ore pilot plant
9) San Francisco USA 2 14 1000 Phosphate rock
Chemical (3 compt.)
10) Anglo Lautaro Chile 1 7 180 Caliche (2 compt.)
11) Caroline Tufflite Co. USA 1 8 960 Stone preheater
(3 compt.)
12) J. G. Stein Co. Scotland 1 9 175 Fire clay (4 compt.)
13) J. R. Simplot Co. USA 1 15 1000 Phosphate rock
calciner
14) Chemical Lime Co. USA 1 12 200 (CuO) Limestone calciner
15) Djebel Onk Algeria 3 23 3000 3 compartment with
aftercooler.
Phosphate rock
16) Soc. Montecatini Italy 2 10 750 3 compartment
Follonica magnetic roast
17) Bay State USA 1 3 24 SiC grit
Abrasives
18) W. S. Moore USA 1 5 120 LT/D Pilot plant-iron ore
19) GAFSA Tunisia 1 4 50 LT/D Phosphate rock
20) Djebel Onk Algeria 1 4 50 LT/D Phosphate rock
21) OCP Morocco 1 4 50 LT/D Phosphate rock
22) International USA 1 4 25 LT/D Phosphate rock
Minerals
23) Smith Douglas USA 1 4 25 LT/D Phosphate rock
24) S. D. Warren Co. USA 1 10 70T/D Lime mud
reburning
25) Kimberley-Clark USA 1 9 50 1 compartment—
paper mill lime
sludge
26) Billiton The 1 3 Pilot (2 compt.)
Netherlands tin volenbering
27) Anchor Minerals USA 1 12 220 T / D Limestone calciner
28) J. R. Simplot USA 1 15 1000 T / D Phosphate rock
29) Chas. Pfizer USA 1 12' 200 ST/D Limestone
(NELCO)
30) Phelps-Dodge USA 1 13' 220 T / D Lime calciner
31) Ford Motor Co. USA 1 9' 15T/h Foundry sand
32) Ford Motor Co. Mexico 1 9'-6" 2T/h Foundry sand
33) Gainesville USA 1 4 T/D Lime mud
reburning
508 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 9.3. Fluidized Bed Coal Combustion Developments among Major U.S. Interests.
1) Argonne Nat'l Lab. (Argonne, IL) PFBC a) Designing a 24,000-94,000 lb/h steam
boiler as a CTIU to fire 6 to 18 tons of coal/
day, expected completion 1981; Stearns-
Roger doing the actual design; Bed vel. ~ 7
ft/s, press, 3-12 atm, size 3' X 3' to
4' X 4'.
b) Operated a 6" diameter PFBC at up to 10
atm pressure.
2) American Electric Power Co. (NY) PFBC a) Sponsored feasibility study of combined
cycle plant (105 MWe steam turbine and
65-70 MWe gas turbine) with Stal-Laval and
Woodall-Duckham; sponsoring pilot scale
tests at CRE in Leatherhead.
3) Babcock Contractors (subsidiary of AFBC a) Installing a 60,000 l b / h boiler in an Ohio
Babcock & Wilcox Ltd.) State mental hospital (at a cost of
$4,300,000).
4) Babcock & Wilcox (Alliance, OH) AFBC a) Operating a 20,000 l b / h steam 6' X 6'
boiler under EPRI contract firing 22 tons/
day of coal.
b) Operates a 39" X 39" unit under EPRI con-
tracts to study sorbent utilization firing 500
lbs/h of coal with 8 ft/s fluidizing
velocity.
c) Operates a 1' X 1' unit also studying sorbent
and fuel characteristics.
5) Babcock & Wilcox AFBC a) Has designed a product line of FBC boilers
(North Canton, OH) producing steam in the 50,000 to 300,000
l b / h range.
6) Battelle (Columbus, OH) AFBC a) Has operated a 6" diameter MS-FBC bench-scale
unit with a combustor superficial velocity of
30 ft/s.
b) Is designing (with Foster-Wheeler and A. G.
McKee) a 40,000 l b / h steam boiler proto-
type to serve Battelle's facility wherein the
combustor will be 6'-0" I.D. and the
external heat exchanged 5' X 10'.
7) Burns & Roe Inc. (Oradell, NJ) AFBC a) Designing a 200-300 megawatt utility power
plant under a DOE $1,300,000 study
contract.
b) Designed a 570 MWe under a DOE contract.
PFBC c) Designed a 583 MWe FBC combined cycle
plant in association with Babcock & Wilcox
and Pratt & Whiting div. of United Tech-
nologies, Inc.; unit will have 5 beds
71' X 24'.
8) Cleaver Brooks Div. of Aqua-Chem. AFBC a) A mfr. of packaged boilers supplied the
Inc. (Milwaukee, WI) Alexandria VA test facility of Pope, Evans
& Robbins.
9) Combustion Engineering (Windsor AFBC a) Designing a 50,000 lb/h steam generator at
Locks, CT) the Great Lakes Naval Training Center
scheduled to be in operation before the end
of 1980.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 509
19) Foster Wheeler Corp. AFBC a) Constructing a 100,000 lb/h steam unit at
(Livingston, NJ) Georgetown Univ.; this is a 2 bed unit with
over bed feed of coal and limestone to
operate an 8 ft/s fluidizing velocity burning
125 tons/day of coal.
b) Operated a 6' X 6" cold model to study scale
up correlations regarding tube spacing,
solids distribution, etc.
c) Operates two test facilities in Livingston,
one is 1.75' X 1.75' and the other a 36 ft2
bed.
d) Offering commercial warranties on FBC
boilers up to 600,000 lbs/h of steam
e) Operated an 18" diameter unit burning 100
lbs/h coal; this unit now at METC.
f) Designed a 70,000 lb/h steam AFBC boiler
for Ford Motor Co.
20) The General Electric Co. AFBC a) Operate a 1' X V and a 2' X 2' test bed to
(Schenectady, NY) & explore effects on in-bed exchanger tubes.
PFBC
21) General Electric and TVA AFBC a) Completed conceptual design and cost
& comparison study of a 750-925 MWe FBC
PFBC utility power plant.
22) Grand Forks Energy Research AFBC a) This DOE laboratory has been testing
Center (Grand Forks, ND) various coals and lignites for bed sulfur
retention in a 6" diameter combustor.
23) International Boiler Works, AFBV a) Manufacturing an FBC from an Energy
subsidiary of Comb. Equip. Resources Co. design.
Assoc. Inc.
(East Stroudburg, PA)
24) Johnston Boiler Co. AFBC a) Operates a 10,000 lb/h FBC steam
(Ferrysburg, MI) generator at its Michigan offices.
b) Offering 2500-50,000 lb steam/h units
(under licence from Britains Fluidfire Ltd.
through CSL).
c) Constructing a 23,500,000 BTU/h boiler
for the Ohio Center Convention Complex
in Columbus, based on a design developed
by Britain's CSL.
25) John Zink Co. (Tulsa, OH) AFBC a) Is reported to be fabricating an in-house
FBC.
26) Morgantown Energy AFBC a) Designing a 60,000 lb/h steam capacity unit
Technology Center to burn 10 to 90 tons of coal/day as a Com-
(Morgantown, WV) ponent Test and Integration Unit with two
beds each 6' X 6' stacked vertically
surmounted by a 3' X 6' carbon burnup cell.
The beds will operate at superficial veloci-
ties of 7 to 15 ft/s through beds 2-8
ft deep; this CTIU will be sited on the
Medical Center Campus of West Virginia Univ.
and is scheduled for operation end of 1979.
b) Have an 18" diameter unit for test purposes,
27) NASA-Lewis Res. Center PFBC a) Operates a bench scale PFBC for technical
(Cleveland, OH) support studies; burns 10-80 lbs/h of coal
at bed press of 25-200 psia in an 8.9" to
20" conical bed.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 511
would contain only about 0.05 lb of air/ft 3 , volume is very large; for example, the sur-
corresponding to a mass ratio of 1400 to 1. face area of a bed of ordinary sand would
3. High heat-transfer rates, which are possible be in the range of 1000 to 5000 ft 2 /ft 3
because of the large amount of transfer of bed.
surface per unit volume of the fluidized
bed. This permits rapid leveling of any tem- The remarkable uniformity of temperature
perature surges either from the incoming in a well-fluidized bed has been noted in many
gas or from reaction within the bed. Al- references. Temperature traverses in large
though the heat-transfer coefficients are not fluidized-catalyst beds indicate that the point-
usually high, the amount of surface per unit to-point variation is less than 10°C when the
512 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
feed-gas temperature is not greatly different second by direct contact with hot fluidized
from that of the bed and particularly if the solids.
inlet gas is carefully distributed.
9.2.1.4 Catalysis
9.2.1.2 Continuity of Operation
Fluidized-solid technique is particularly adapt-
The ability to handle the fluidized solid like a able to the contacting of free-flowing, non-
liquid permits the technique to be easily sticky, granular solids with gases. It may there-
adapted to many continuous operations, fore be applied in catalytic gas reactions in
thereby obtaining the advantages of lower which solid catalysts are used. The technique
labor requirements, precise and automatic has been most widely applied to the catalytic
control of process variables, and uniformity of cracking of petroleum because of the unique
product quality. combination of advantages that are inherent
in fluidized-solid processing:
9.2.1.3 Heat Transfer
than would one which loses activity rapidly; is not possible; however, by proper design,
correspondingly, a higher level of activity including baffles or other staging or zoning
would require a larger withdrawal rate. The means plus internal heat exchangers or by the
activity in any actual bed must be a compro- use of series reactors, temperature gradients
mise based on economic considerations, taking may be secured.
into account the following factors: The pressure drop through a fluidized bed
may be large as compared with that through
1. Relationship between yields and catalyst an ordinary heat exchanger. If the fluidized
activity bed is used solely for heat transfer, this high
2. Value of incremental yield pressure drop might be detrimental unless cir-
3. Rate of catalyst degradation cumvented by use of shallow beds.
4. Costs of handling and regenerating the The pressure drops must be balanced
catalyst throughout the system in such a manner that
5. Catalyst losses during handling and regen- gases will not flow to undesirable parts of the
erating system; this may necessitate providing a gas
6. Cost of catalyst. purge at several points.
The observation that gas bubbles rising
9.2.1.5 Gas - Solid Reactions
through the fluidized solids contain but little
Advantages of the fluidized-solid technique for of the solids indicates that the efficiency of
carrying out gas-solid reactions are the contact in a boiling bed may be much less (in
isothermal reaction bed, the easily varied time terms of the availability of the active surface
of contact, the effective contact (as compared of the solids) than in a fixed-bed reactor; this
with rotary kilns or tray-type reactors), the disadvantage is at least partially overcome by
simple methods of handling solids (no moving the fact that the fluidized catalyst can be of
parts) and transferring heat, and the ease of much smaller particle size (and therefore much
continuous, automatic operation. greater surface) than than used in fixed-bed
reactors.
9.2.2 Disadvantages
Since 1960, a great deal of experimental and
Solids that do not flow freely or tend to theoretical work has been carried out in study-
agglomerate cannot be processed in a ing this bubble phenomenon in fluidized solids.
fluidized-solid reactor; rotary kilns and tray- When finally resolved it should be possible to
pipe reactors are not thus limited. As the predict the degree of reaction in any such
reaction proceeds, fine solid particles may be gas-solids contactor and, it is hoped, to indi-
formed that will become entrained in the gas cate how bubbles might be controlled and
leaving the fluidized bed; recovery means must contact maximized. To date, these studies have
usually be included in the design. The pres- succeeded in rationalizing the scale-up of pilot
sure drop in the gas system of a fluidized-solid plant results to commercial reactor designs.
boiling-bed-type reactor is larger than in kilns Without experimental reaction rates and con-
or tray-type reactors because the gas supports versions from an operating fluidized bed pilot
and fluidizes the solid; this pressure drop may plant, it is still a nebulous procedure to predict
sometimes be a serious objection because of what might occur in a commercial scale plant;
the larger compressors required. fixed-bed reaction kinetics are not as yet, with
Occasionally it is desirable to obtain a tem- any degree of certainty, transferable to a bub-
perature gradient in a catalytic process; for bling bed.
example, a higher temperature may be desired An appreciation of the operating limits and
at the upper part of a reactor in order to operating characteristics of a fluidized bed of
effect a clean-up of residual reactant. In the particles is likely best gleaned from an outline
simple boiling-bed fluidized-solid reactor this of the steps involved in the design procedure.
514 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
1000,
1001
Drag coefficient
for spheres, discs
and cylinders
g 10
it
Q 1
— — Sphere
— — Horizontal disc
————— Infinite cylinder
— — — Cylinder of length = 5 X Diam.
0.1
0.01
0.01 0.1 1 10 102 103 104 105 106
Reynolds number
Figure 9.3. Drag coefficient for spheres, discs, and cylinders.
516 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
optimum operating velocity. This is simply cal- locity and particle diameter appear in the ab-
culable from the conventional drag coefficient scissas as well as the ordinates, the prediction
versus Reynolds number curves17 for the free- of incipient bubbling velocity or of terminal
fall, or terminal, velocity of equivalent single velocity involves a trial and error procedure.
spheres, as represented in Figure 9.3. This can be circumvented35 by converting fric-
It is obvious from Figures 9.2 and 9.3 that tion factor to drag coefficient (C D = (f)/) and
the drag coefficient and friction factor differ then plotting (C D Re 2 ) 1 / 3 versus (Re/C D ) 1 / 3 ,
solely in the constants f and \ and are there- as shown in Figure 9.4, where now the denom-
fore interchangeable. Also, because both ve- inators of the abscissa and the ordinate repre-
I I M *z
SMOOTHED CORRRELATION
OF
PARTICULATE FLUIDIZATION
I I I I I I 111 I I 1 I II III I 1 1 1 1
1/3
4gpf(pp - Pf) \
1/3
vs p
\ tif ) J j \ 4gPf( pP - Pf)
sent composites of the physicochemical prop- in series whose diplegs are submerged in the
erties of the fluidizing medium and the solids bed to discharge as near the grid level as
(which composites are constants for any given feasible. The greater the superficial operating
system), so that Figure 9.4 is effectively a velocity, the greater the entrainment rate and
generalized correlation of velocity versus par- the greater the need to design efficient
ticle diameter at any known or desired bed cyclone recovery systems.
density or void fraction. The incipient bub-
bling velocity is found from the value of the
9.3.3 Predicting the Particle
ordinate corresponding to an abscissa deter-
Entrainment Rate
mined by the geometric weight mean particle
diameter of the bed and the bed's void frac- The entrainment of particles from the surface
tion at its loosest bulk density. At a value of of a bubbling bed is directly analogous to the
the abscissa representing the largest particle entrainment of liquid droplets from a boiling
in the bed, the ordinate determined from the or bubbling pool of liquid as occurs on a
6 = 1.0 curve yields the velocity that would distillation tray. Because solid particles cannot
blow the largest particle out of the bed. This is coalesce in the manner of liquid droplets, the
not necessarily an upper limit to bed operation entrainment above a fluidized bed of solids,
because the particles entrained at any operat- though declining with increasing height, in-
ing velocity must be separated from the exit evitably reaches a constant rate representing
gases and returned to the bed in order to all the bed particles with a free-fall velocity
maintain the bed. This particle recovery sys- less than the operating superficial velocity,
tem usually consists of one or more cyclones1 which were ejected from the bed surface. The
300
200
100
60
: : ^
y
/
60
/ /
O)
o
40
I
1 y
i
20
X
O
10
6
/
6
/
4
> <**"'"
O.I
A 0.2 0.4
V — fVmb
I Z 4 6 8 10
Figure 9.5. Empirical correlation of transport disengaging height.
518 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 9.7. Bubble formation from bed-penetrating gas jets at the grid points.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 519
can best be found in Chapter 11 of the A.P.I. from the sides,39 cutting off the void and pre-
Emissions Control Manual.1 senting a new interface to the incoming gas.
This sequence is illustrated in Figure 9.7. The
9.3.4 Grid Design and Initial depth of penetration of the grid gas jets has
Bubble Size been correlated empirically,31'34'40 as shown in
Figure 9.8, and the diameter of the initial
Bubbles form at the grid ports when fluidizing
bubble resulting from a detached void has
gas enters the bed. They form simply because
the velocity at the interface of the bed just been observed, within experimental error, to
above the hole represents a gas input rate in be about half the penetration depth. Because
excess of what can pass through the interstices the grid is the source of the bubbles, its design
with a frictional resistance less than the bed is relatively critical. The holes should be as
weight, and hence the layers of solids above small as is reasonable (considering cost, plate
the holes are pushed aside until they represent strength, and possible pluggage) and of such
a void through whose porous surface the gas total area that the pressure drop of the flu-
can enter at the incipient fluidization velocity.41 idizing gas passing through the holes is suffi-
If the void attempts to grow larger, the inter- cient to ensure gas distribution14'20'26'43 to all
face velocity becomes insufficient to hold back the holes. As in the case of a perforated plate
the walls of the void and hence they cave in distillation tray, bed weepage flow down
40
35
30 £5
DC
O
20 H
LU
Q
O
I*,
15 DC§
111
Q_
0
0.1 10 100 1000
OR
through the holes is to be avoided. It has been 9.3.5 Fluid Mechanics of Bubble Flow
demonstrated that the pressure drop through Bubbles or "gas voids" rise in a fluidized bed
a flat plate grid necessary to ensure that all by being displaced with an inflow of solids
the holes are bubbling must be at least 30% of from their perimeter.3'39 Because free-flowing
the pressure drop through the bed atop the or incipiently fluidized bulk solids have shal-
grid. This criterion establishes the grid hole low angles of repose, their walls cannot stand
velocity and, in conjunction with the lowest at 90° and hence the solids slide down the
anticipated fluidizing gas volume, determines bubble's walls into its bottom where all the
the total hole area. The number of holes is peripheral streams collide to form a so-called
then dependent on the designer's choice of the wake as illustrated in Figure 9.9. Observations
hole diameter which simultaneously also de- of this downflow of solids in a "shell" around
termines the initial bubble size. In passing up the bubble have shown it to occupy an annular
through the bed these bubbles inevitably merge thickness of \ of the bubble diameter so that
when they meet and hence their fluid mechan- the overall diameter within which a bubble
ics must be understood in order to relate to can rise "freely," as it would in a bed of
the gas-solids contact occurring within the infinite diameter, can be defined as 1.5 DB.
bed and to the size of the bubbles bursting on Because the peripheral surface of the bub-
the bed surface. ble is simply a layer of particles, it is at first
bubble - displacing
annulor downflowing
"shell" of bed solids
Figure 9.9. Bubble rise via displacement by inflow of a surrounding downflowing shell of bed solids.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 521
difficult to understand why the particles do not simply means that a particle cannot fall from
fall from its roof and annihilate the bubble. the roof of a bubble because if it did, then it
Danckwert's7 simple bed support experiments, would immediately be followed by the particle
illustrated in Figure 9.10, provide the physical above it, and that by the particle still farther
demonstration and Rowe and Henwood's24 ex- above, etc., so that the entire mass or bed
periments the classical approach. above the bubble would have to collapse as a
In Figure 9.10a the air rate is raised to the unit. For this to occur, the excess gas could
point of incipient fluidization and in Figure not be passed through the bed unless the bed
9.10b through 9.10f this same gas rate is passed were physically held down or restrained at its
through the bed in the opposite direction. upper surface.
Note that in position (d) the solids do not slide The velocity at which bubbles rise in a gas
to their angle of repose but instead are held at fluidized bed has been measured photographi-
90° and that on reaching (f) the bed is held up cally by several investigators. The results are
without solids falling from what is now its in excellent agreement with what would be
lower side or conversely the upper surface of a predicted for gas bubbles in liquids from the
bubble in a fluidized bed. When the surface of drag coefficient versus Reynolds number
a bed is traversed by an incipiently fluidizing correlations of such investigators as Van
flow the particles cannot separate from each Krewelen and Hofttijzer33 illustrated in Fig-
other. This not only explains the bubble's sur- ure 9.11. Over the range of Reynolds numbers
face stability but also the integrity of the walls corresponding to reasonable size bubbles the
of a bed-penetrating jet, as in Figure 9.7. drag coefficient is essentially a constant so
Rowe and Henwood carried out classic drag that simple substitution shows that if gas den-
measurements that revealed that the drag on a sity is small relative to the bed density:
downstream particle is reduced because of the
presence of an adjacent upstream particle. This PB ~ PG>
PB ~ PG>
3C D p B
or
VB = 4.0lJDB
SERIES BUBBLING
SINGLE BUBBLES—*^*\^**7*
(a) (b)
O £D O CD
G> & O O
O <D O O O o o p
O O O O
o o o o CD O
(I 0 0 0 0 .0
(c) (d)
o (Jj o o
CO o <£D <=
o o o o o o
LJULJULOJ 0 0 0 0 00
Figure 9.12. The "catch-up" mechanism of bubble growth.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 523
20
// •
Q
CD - •
\
Q
CD
•
y/ •
•
I 10 100
LB/DBi
Figure 9.14. Bubble growth by merger represented by the Fibonacci sequence.
rate, there would appear to be no limit to the leaving the shell and being entrained into the
attainable bubble size, or dome, apt to col- bubble void. Such entrainment, or particle
lapse. Presumably, if the dome cannot collapse pick-up, would be most likely to occur from
amid free-flowing bed solids then as the bub- the bubble walls as the result of the relative
ble grows it could only be limited by particles velocity between gas and surface particles at
10
\
CD
Q
Figure 9.15. Comparison between empirical bubble growth correlations and the "catch-up" mechanism
represented by the Fibonacci sequence.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 525
the interface.27 Because against the downward mum bed depth required to avoid any feed gas
velocity of bulk solids the bubble fluid (whether breakthrough (e.g., 100% bubble purging) rep-
gas or liquid) rises at approximately an equal resents the minimum bed depth required for
velocity, the relative flow of fluid past the the desired reaction.44 This is represented
particles at the bubble wall is twice the shell graphically in Figure 9.16 for a freely bubbling
or bubble velocity. Equating twice the bubble bed.
velocity to the particle pick-up velocity allows In choosing a pilot plant such as to entirely
calculation of the minimum bubble size neces- avoid scaleup considerations, superficial veloc-
sary to stir up the solids interface and thus ity and grid details must be identical to those
thwart bubble appearance or growth. Because anticipated in the commercial reactor; in addi-
pick-up velocity is approximately twice salta- tion, the diameter of the shell of downflowing
tion,15'37 this is equivalent to equating bubble bed solids surrounding the rising bubbles rep-
velocity to saltation velocity. This procedure resents the minimum pilot reactor diameter
has given results in reasonable agreement with necessary to simulate free bubbling and avoid
a broad range of observations reported to approach to slugging. In addition to simulating
date.41 For example 80 fim particles of sand free bubbling hydrodynamically, it may be ar-
fluidized with air could sustain a maximum gued that gas permeation from bubble into a
bubble diameter of the order of 24 in., whereas surrounding bed should also be equalled. This
when fluidized with water the maximum bub- only becomes significant or controlling with
ble size would be indiscernible. Sand particles coarse and easily permeated beds having a
600 fim in diameter when fluidized with water high incipient fluidization velocity. The gas
would permit a maximum stable bubble size of permeation or "cloud" diameter25 is calcula-
only \ in., and 3000 /xm lead particles a water ble from the depth of gas flow at incipient
bubble of 7 in. fluidization velocity over the time interval re-
quired for the bubble to rise a distance of one
bubble diameter. Because the bubble rises at a
9.3.8 Gas-Solids Contact velocity equal to 4 times the square root of its
From grid design, operating superficial veloc- diameter it follows that:
ity, and fluid particle properties, it is possible
Thickness of gas penetrated "cloud"
to calculate the initial bubble size at the grid,
the maximum stable size, and the bed depth Thickness of downflowing solids "shell"
over which the bubbles may grow from their Kmb
initial to their stable diameter. Once having
reached their maximum stable diameter, any
further unlikely mergers would also lead to or because
collapse, so that bubble diameter may be con-
sidered constant once having reached the sta- "Shell" O.D.= 1.5ZX
ble size. Because the bubbles represent a flow 'Cloud" O.D. = DB + 0.5JD B Vmh
superimposed on the superficial incipient bub-
bling velocity passing up through the bed, they In applying free shell or cloud criteria in
are in effect being continuously purged as they scaleup or scaledown, the relationship be-
rise. Because their local size, velocity, and tween bubble diameter and bed depth is ob-
residence times are calculable from grid to tainable from Figure 9.15 with the limitation
bed surface, it is also possible to calculate the of the system's maximum stable bubble size.
degree to which they are purged before burst- An unquestionably conservative approach to
ing at the surface and hence to make certain a minimal risk pilot plant reactor free of
that no bubble gas bypasses contact with the scaleup considerations would suggest it equal
bed solids. It may be assumed that the mini- the larger of either "cloud" or "shell" diame-
526 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
28
/ /
3
56
1
26
24
22
/ /
54
52
50
1
1 /
/
20 7/ 48 A
18 7 DB < D B
46 0*1
J /
/
16 I sa 44
1/ / /
/
14 42
/ Jf
/
~ 12 -I 40
10 38 / / >
I 36
Jf
f
/ V /
/ / 4
1
34
> / / /.
I1 *^\
32
30 / /
f
/ ,<D
/
28
12 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
L B - (P + DBi)
DBi
Suggested units
English Metric
- Volume fraction of bubble gas purged from bubble ft3 /ft3 m3/m3
= Initial bubble diameter ft m
= Minimum superficial bed bubbling velocity ft/sec m/s
= Bed height above grid ft m
= Gas jet penetration at grid port ft m
= Maximum stable bubble diameter ft m
= Gravitational acceleration 32.2 ft/sec 2 9.71 m/s 2
9
Note: Ordinate, abscissa, and parameter are dimensionless
Figure 9.16. Degree of bubble gas purging during its rise through a fluidized bed.
ter surrounding the system's maximum stable reasonably uniform particle size distribution
bubble. and bed temperature throughout its volume.
Reasonable quantitative estimates of such lo-
cal solids mixing rates 16 ' 25 ' 45 are of major im-
9.3.9 Solids Mixing and Heat Transfer
portance principally in determining allowable
Because rising gas bubbles are replaced with solids feed rates, since to avoid accumulation
bed solids it is evident that the superficial gas at any feed pipe location the bed mixing rate
velocity minus the incipient bubbling velocity must be able to remove the feed material as
also approximates the volumetric bulk solids rapidly as it enters. Such solids mixing rates
movement across any unit bed cross section have been reasonably well correlated by
per unit time. This amounts to a relatively Talmor and Benenati.28
substantial mass movement, and hence it is The substantial heat capacity of the bed
not surprising that a fluidized bed exhibits solids relative to the gas inventory represents
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 527
an enormous "flywheel" which, coupled with rized in Figure 9.18. Conductive transfer to or
the high solids mixing rate, leads to a rather from stationary solids as at A in Figure 9.17,
uniform temperature throughout the bed. The as well as transfer between bubble gas and
heat transfer between gas and solids is nearly metal surface as at C, are nearly negligible
instantaneous, primarily because of the high relative to the rate occurring when the surface
particle surface area per unit of bed volume. is "wiped" by the shell of solids flowing down
However, the transfer of heat between the around a bubble passing within a distance of a
bulk bed and the vessel walls, or any other quarter of its diameter from the transfer sur-
heat transfer surface, represents a composite face, as at B in Figure 9.17.
of mechanisms such that the average may Though advantageously exploitable in in-
range from 10 to 100 BTU/h X ft2 X °F de- dustrial installations only under relatively rare
pending on particle size, bubble size, fluid circumstances, a number of experimental in-
properties, and superficial fluidizing velocity. vestigations4'8'9'12'22 of the heat transfer co-
The homogeneity and relative uniformity of efficients under conditions such as at B in
bed temperature make fluidized beds an at- Figure 9.17 have also been correlated in terms
tractive vehicle in which to conduct exother- of Nusselt and Reynolds numbers, as shown in
mic as well as endothermic reactions con- Figure 9.19. The cross hatched area in Figure
trolled by immersed boiler tubes, exchangers, 9.19 encompasses the overall heat transfer data
platecoils, or other heat transfer surfaces when of Figure 9.18.
the bed walls do not offer sufficient area for
cooling or heating via a fluid circulated through 9.3.10 Bed Internals
a surrounding jacket.
Bed internals in the form of vertical tubes
The transfer of heat from the bed to an
have no effect on bed hydraulics other than to
immersed or wall surface depends instanta-
slow down the rise velocity of bubbles. They
neously on whether the surface is bathed in
do not break up bubbles or "cage" them to
stationary solids, in moving solids, or in a
limit their size or growth. They simply repre-
bubble void38 as illustrated at points A, B,
sent impediments to the rate of inflow of
and C in Figure 9.17. Overall coefficients av-
surrounding bulk solids that cause the bubbles
eraging these local mechanisms are summa-
to rise by displacement. Thus the bubbles'
longer residence time affords greater opportu-
nity for their gaseous content to be purged,
thereby enhancing gas-catalyst contact. The
Heat Transfer
Surface
increased contact time, or reduced bubble rise
velocity is derivable from the rate of rise
of the equivalent or hydraulic bubble size47
calculable as:
No Solids
V=4(Dh)1/2
where
V = rate of bubble rise (ft/s)
Dh = 6 (free internal volume)/(internal sur-
face)
Internal volume = TTD\/6 minus the volume
Stationary occupied by the penetrating tubes
Solids
DB = actual bubble diameter (ft)
Internal surface = bubble surface, 7rZ)| mi-
Figure 9.17. Comparison between overall bed coeffi- nus surface of penetrating tubes within
cients and local flowing dense phase coefficients. the bubble (ft2)
528 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
100
• c =• 0.4-0.499
x 0.5-0.599
10 A
0.6-0.699
• 07-0.799
• 0.8-0.899
o 0.9-1.00
Approx transition
Re for empty tubes
Approx transition Re
for packed tubes
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001 1
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10.000
Figure 9.18. Heat transfer between fluid beds and tube walls (correlation of overall coefficients).
Curves
(-) data for flow of fluid through fixed beds (M. Leva, Ind. Eng. Chem. 39, 857-862 (1947); see also D. A. Plautz
and H. F. Johnstone, A.I.Ch.EJ 1, 193-200 (1955)).
(—) correlation for flow of fluids through pipe (W. H. McAdams, Heat Transmission, 2nd edit., McGraw-Hill,
New York, 1942).
Sources of Data
R. N. Bartholomew, Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. of Michigan, 1950; Chem. Eng. Progr. Symp. Ser. 48 (4), 3-10 (1952).
L. H. Collins, M.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 1946.
W. M. Dow, Ph.D. Thesis, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1949; Chem. Eng. Prog. 47, 637-648 (1951).
H. Fischer and E. F. Dillon, B.S. Thesis, MIT, 1947.
W. Lazor and S. A. Murray, M.S. Thesis, MIT, 1947.
M. Leva, M. Weintraub, and M. Grummer, Chem. Eng. Prog. 45, 563-572 (1949).
H. S. Mickley and C. A. Trilling, Ind. Eng. Chem. 41, 1135-1147 (1949).
W. H. Millick and A. S. Humphrey, M.S. Thesis, MIT, 1948.
R. V. Trense, Ph.D. Thesis, Northwestern University, 1954.
R. W. Urie, M.S. Thesis, MIT 1948.
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 529
W Weight rate of solids entrained, Symp. Ser. 66(101):l-7 (1970); idem, Chem. Eng.
lbs/s X ft2 of vessel area Sci. 24:1143-1154 (1969).
20. Nat'l Petrol. Refr's Assoc, Proceedings of the Ques-
e Fractional void volume in bed
tion and Answer Session on Refining Technology,
pB Bed or bulk density p. 86 (1970).
pf Fluid or medium density 21. A. O. Oman and K. M. Watson, Natl Petrol. News
pG Gas density 36:R195 (1944).
pL Liquid density 22. R. Raju, Ph.D. thesis, Andhra Univ., Waltair, India
pp Apparent particle density (1959).
fji{ Viscosity of fluidizing medium 23. P. N. Rowe, International Fluidization Conf.,
Asilomar, Cal. (June 15-20, 1975).
24. P. N. Rowe and G. A. Henwood, Trans. Instn.
Chem. Eng. (London), 39, 43 (1961).
25. P. N. Rowe, B. A. Partridge, and E. Lyall, At.
REFERENCES Energy Res. Estab. (Gt. Brit.), Repts. R-3777, R-
3846, "Particle Movement Caused by Bubbles in a
1. Amer. Petrol. Inst., "Cyclone Separators," in Fluidized Bed." (Oct. 1961); R-4108, "Gas Flow
Emissions Control Manual, Pub. no. 931 (May, 1975). through Bubbles in a Fluidised Bed," (Jan. 1963);
2. B. A. Bakameteff and N. V. Feodoroff, /. Appl R-4543, "Cloud Formation around Bubbles in Gas
Mechanics 4:A97 (1937). Fluidised Beds," (Feb. 1964); Chem. Eng. Sci. 18:913
3. J. S. M. Botterill, J. S. George, and H. Besford, (1964); Chem. Eng. Prog. 60:15 (March 1964);
Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser. 62:1 (1966). Fluidisation, Society of Chemical Industry, London
4. J. S. M. Botterill and J. R. Williams, Trans. Instn. (1964).
Chem. Engrs. (London) 47:217 (1963); idem, Fluid 26. P. N. Rowe and F. A. Zenz, The School Sci. Rev.
Bed Heat Transfer, Academic Press, New York (Pub. by the Instn. of Chem. Engrs., London),
(1975). 53(182):94-102 (Sept. 1971).
5. P. C. Carman, Trans. Instn. Chem. Eng. (London) 27. A. M. Squires, Paper delivered at the 54th Annual
75:150 (1937); idem, / . Soc. Chem. Ind. (London), A.I.Ch.E. Meeting, New York (Dec. 6, 1961); Chem.
57, 225 (1938). Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser. 58(38):51 (1962).
6. C. Chavarie, J. R. Grace, Ind. Eng. Chem. Fund., 28. E. Talmor and R. F. Benenati, A.I.Ch.E.
pp. 75-78 (May, 1975). /9(4):536-540 (1963).
7. P. V. Danckwerts, Symp. on Fluidization held at 29. C. Y. Wen and Y. H. Yu, Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp.
AERE, Harwell, England (Oct. 5, 1959). Ser. <52(62):100-lll (1966).
8. A. A. H. Drinkenburg, N. J. J. Huige, and K.
30. J. Werther, International Fluidization Conference,
Rietema, Proc. Third Internafl Heat Transfer Conf.,
Asilomar, Cal. (June 15-20, 1975); idem, Fluidiza-
Vol. IV, p. 271-279, A.I.Ch.E., New York (1966).
tion Technology, edited by D. L. Keairns, Vol. 1,
9. V. D. Dunsky, S. S. Zabrodsky, A. I. Tamarin, Proc.
Hemisphere Pub. Co., Wash pp. 215-235 (1976).
Third Internal I Heat Transfer Conf., Vol. IV,
31. J. Werther, Fluidization, edited by J. F. Davidson
p. 293-297, A.I.Ch.E., N.Y. (1966).
and D. L. Keairns, Cambridge Univ. Press,
10. S. Ergun, Chem. Eng. Prog. 48(89) (1952); idem,
pp. 7-12 (1978).
Ind. Eng. Chem. 41:1119 (1949).
32. R. H. Wilhelm and M. Kuauk, Chem. Eng. Prog.
11. J. F. Frantz, Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser.
62(62):21-31 (1966). 44:201 (1948).
12. N. K. Harakas and K. O. Beatty, Chem. Eng. Prog. 33. D. W. Van Krewelen and P. J. Hoftijzer, Chem.
Symp. Ser. 59(40:122 (1963). Eng. Prog. 44:529 (1948).
13. D. Harrison and L. S. Leung, Trans. Instn. Chem. 34. W. C. Yang and D. L. Keairns, Fluidization, edited
Eng. (London) 59:409 (1961). by J. F. Davidson and D. L. Keairns, Cambridge
14. J. W. Higby, Chemie. Ingr. Tech. 36:228 (1964). Univ. Press, pp. 208-214 (1978).
15. P. J. Jones and L. S. Leung, Ind. Eng. Chem. Proc. 35. F. A. Zenz, Petroleum Refiner, 3<5(8):147-155 (1957).
Des. Dev., 77(4):571-575 (1978). 36. F. A. Zenz and N. A. Weil, AJ.Ch.EJ. 4:412
16. S. Katz and F. A. Zenz, Petrol. Refiner (1958); idem, Hydrocarbon Processing, pp. 119-124
33(5):203-204 (1954). (April, 1974).
17. C. E. Lapple and C. B. Shepherd, Ind. Eng. Chem. 37. F. A. Zenz, Ind. Eng. Chem. Fund. 3(0:65-76
32:605 (1940). (1964).
18. M. Leva, Shirai Takashi, and C. Y. Wen, Genie 38. F. A. Zenz, Proc. of the Third International Heat
Chim. 75(2):33-42 (1956). Transfer Conf., Vol. VI, A.I.Ch.E., p. 311-313
19. J. M. Matsen and B. L. Tarmy, Chem. Eng. Prog. (1966).
FLUIDIZATION PHENOMENA AND FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY 531
39. F. A. Zenz, Hydrocarbon Processing 46(4):lll-115 L. S. Fan (ed.), "Fluidization and Fluid Particle Sys-
(April, 1967). tems: Fundamentals and Applications," A.I.Ch.E.
40. F. A. Zenz, Instn. of Chem. Eng. (London), Symp. Symp. Ser. No. 270, Vol. 85 (1989).
Ser., no. 30, pp. 136-139 (1968). L. S. Fan (ed.), "Advances in Fluidization Engineering,"
41. F. A. Zenz, Chem. Eng., pp. 81-91 (Dec. 19, 1977). A.I.Ch.E. Symp. Ser. No. 276, Vol. 86 (1990).
42. F. A. Zenz, The Fibonacci Quarterly 76(2):171-183 D. Gidaspow, Multiphase Flow and Fluidization,
(April, 1978). Academic Press, San Diego (1994).
43. F. A. Zenz and D. F. Othmer, Fluidization and J. R. Grace, L. W. Shemilt, and M. A. Bergougnou
Fluid-Particle Systems, Reinhold, New York, p. 171 (eds.), "Fluidization VI," in Proceedings of the In-
(1960).
ternational Conference on Fluidization, Engineer-
44. Ibid., Chapter 8. ing Foundation (1989).
45. Ibid., Chapter 9.
G. Hetsroni (ed.), Handbook of Multiphase Systems,
46. F. A. Zenz and D. F. Othmer, Fluidization and
Hemisphere Publishing, New York (1982).
Fluid Particle-Systems, annotated 1966 edition,
p. 281, orig. pub. by Reinhold, New York (1960). D. Kunii and O. Levenspiel, Fluidization Engineering,
47. F. A. Zenz, "Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Sys- 2nd edit., Butterworth-Heinemann Series in Chem-
tems," Vol. II, 1989, PEMM-Corp Pub., Rte. 1, Box ical Engineering (1991).
BOA, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 10516. K. Ostergaard and A. Sorensen (eds.), "Fluidization
48. F. A. Zenz, Hydrocarb. Proc.,pp. 155-156, January V," in Proceedings of the Fifth Engineering Foun-
1982. dation Conference on Fluidization (1986).
A. W. Weimer (ed.), "Advances in Fluidized Systems,"
A.I.Ch.E. Symp. Ser. No. 281, Vol. 87 (1991).
W. C. Yang (ed.), "New Developments in Fluidization'
ADDITIONAL READING
and Fluid-Particle Systems," A.I.Ch.E. Symp. Ser.
No. 255, Vol. 83 (1987).
The editors recommend the following publica- W. C. Yang (ed.), "Fluidization Engineering: Funda-
tions for additional reading. mentals and Applications," A.I.Ch.E. Symp. Ser.
No. 262, Vol. 84 (1988).
L. S. Fan, "Gas-Liquid-Solid Fluidization Engineering," F. A. Zenz,."Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Systems,"
Butterworths Series in Chem. Eng. (1989). Vol. II Draft, Pemm-Corp Publications (1989).
10
Spouting of Particulate Solids
Norman Epstein and John R. Grace
CONTENTS
OUNTAIN
BED SURFACE
SPOUT
ANNULUS
SPOUT-ANNULUS
INTERFACE
CONICAL BASE
FLUID INLET
(a) (b)
Figure 10.1. (a) Schematic diagram of a spouted bed. Arrows indicate direction of solids movement, (b)
Photograph of air-spouted wheat bed in half-cylindrical column.
through a hollowed central core, or spout, The spouted bed regime, which occurs over
within the bed of solids. These particles, after a limited range of fluid velocity, is bracketed
rising to a height above the surface of the by fixed packed bed (i.e., static bed) operation
surrounding packed bed, or annulus, rain back at the lower velocities and by bubbling or
as a fountain onto the annulus, where they slugging fluidized bed operation at the higher.
slowly move downward and, to some extent, For a given combination of fluid, solids, and
inward as a loosely packed bed. Fluid from the vessel configuration, the transitions between
spout leaks into the annulus and percolates regimes can best be represented quantitatively
through the moving packed solids there. These by plots of bed depth versus fluid velocity. An
solids are reentrained into the spout over the example of such a flow regime map is given in
entire bed height. The overall system thereby Figure 10.2. The demarcation line obtained by
includes a centrally located dilute-phase decreasing the fluid velocity until the spout
cocurrent-upward transport region and a sur- collapses to give a static bed in its random
rounding dense-phase moving packed bed loose-packed condition represents the mini-
through which fluid percolates countercur- mum spouting velocity, Ums, at various bed
rently. A systematic cyclic pattern of solids depths. The horizontal transition line separat-
movement is thus established, with effective ing spouting and bubbling represents the max-
contact between fluid and solids, and with imum spoutable bed depth, Hm, for the given
unique hydrodynamics.1 system. Above some critical value of the inlet
534 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
(10.1)
SPOUTING
in the annulus by the increasing annular fluid Grbavcic et al.,17 among others,19 have shown
flow at the higher bed levels. A small excess of that for given vessel geometry, given spouting
b over unity is attributable to the persistence fluid and given solids material, Ua at any level,
of a higher superficial velocity in the spout z, is independent of total bed depth, H. Hence,
than in the annulus, even at z = H = Hm. Eq. (10.8) should apply for H < Hm, and this
Other postulated termination mechanisms are is borne out by experiment,17'19 especially
the onset of slugging (or "choking") in the when U ~ Ums. There is evidence that Eq.
spout owing to the particle flow exceeding its (10.8) works well even where the annulus
conveying capacity, and the growth of surface Reynolds number, pdpUa/fi, is one or two
instability waves at the spout-annulus inter- orders of magnitude greater than the upper
face.1 Experimental studies have shown the limit for Darcy's law. This insensitivity of fluid
spout-slugging termination mechanism to pre- flow distribution to deviation from Darcy's law
vail in gas spouting of relatively small particles has been explained theoretically.19
at room temperature 2 ' 5 and of larger particles If the spout diameter at any bed level,
at elevated temperatures15 where Ar < labelled Ds, is known, continuity at that level
223,000, while termination is due to fluidiza- yields
tion at the top of the annulus for larger parti-
cles at room temperature,2'15 where Ar < USZD2 + Ua(D2 - D2) = UD2 (10.9)
223,000. The critical diameter given by Eq. Hence, the fraction of the total fluid flow that
(10.7) therefore also appears to represent the passes through the spout at any level, for a
transition between these two termination given superficial spouting velocity, U, is simply
mechanisms for gas spouting. USZD2/U2D2. At minimum spouting, the su-
Equation (10.7) appears to be inapplicable perficial velocity, U= Ums, can be estimated
to liquid spouting. Liquid spouted beds are from Eq. (10.1); operating velocities for gas
characterized by a decrease of Hm as dp in- spouting are typically 10% to 50% above Ums.
creases for all values of dp,16 by the onset of As a first approximation, the additional gas
fluidization in the annulus at z = H = Hm, flow above that required for minimum spout-
and by persistence of spouting to a depth of ing may be assumed to pass through the spout,
Hm even when H > Hm, the spouted bed of while the gas flow through the annulus is
height Hm then being capped by a particu- constant once U > Ums. Figure 10.3 indicates
lately fluidized bed of height (H - Hm).17 that, assuming ea is invariant with respect to
U, increasing the spouting velocity above Ums
actually results in some decrease in the net gas
10.4 FLOW DISTRIBUTION OF FLUID flow through the annulus.19 This is caused by
the increased spout diameter and the in-
For a bed height Hm, Mamuro and Hattori18 creased solids downflow in the annulus.20 The
considered a simplified force balance over a same effect is responsible for decreasing Ua
differential dz of the annulus. Based on the at z = H = Hm from Umf, as given by Eq.
assumption that Darcy's law applies to the (10.8), to about 0.9*7mf at U = l.lUms.19 Eq.
vertical component of flow through the annu- (10.8) must then be modified by substituting
lus and on the boundary condition that the l4 H m (~0.9£/ m f )fort/ m f .
annular solids are incipiently fluidized at z = Typical gas streamlines in the annulus are
i/ m , they derived the following expression for shown in Figure 10.4. There is considerable
the superficial fluid velocity, Ua, in the annulus evidence22"24 that, below the outermost
at height z in a cylindrical column: streamline shown, that is, immediately adja-
cent to the gas inlet, the gas reverses itself and
flows downward and radially inward from the
annulus to the spout, especially at U >
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 537
160
J i l l
140 -
120
100
80
60
40
20
20 30 40 50
2.00 i i
B
-AP.
1.75
y ^ ^ ^ v ^ H • 30 cm
)
1.50
C
g 1.25 _
z
*4/ *&&'
1.00 A H * 20 cm
h
or D
o i n
LU 0.75
z> l5cm
(/>
</>
hi 0.50 / ^£#\ V
\ Urns
QC
a. w £*G^r^ lot I
V sOr H = IOcm |
0.25
0 i i
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
SUPERFICIAL AIR VELOCITY, m/s
Figure 10.5. Typical pressure drop versus flow rate curves for the onset of wheat spouting. dp = 3.6 mm, D = 152
mm, D{ = 12.7 mm, a = 60 0 . 1 ' 26
The longitudinal pressure gradient in the the longitudinal pressure distribution in the
annulus of a fully spouted bed at any level is annulus:
given by
1
• [2( j8 - 2)
-dP/dz = - K2U* (10.11) -APf
Note that the final term of Eq. (10.14) disap- locities decrease with decreasing level in the
pears when Darcy's law prevails in the annulus column. As shown in Figure 10.6, the mass
(p -> oo) while the first term on the right-hand flow of solids, based on velocities measured at
side drops out for the opposite extreme of the wall, increases approximately linearly with
inviscid flow (ft -> 2). For a bed of maximum height in the cylindrical part of the column, at
spoutable depth (i.e., h = 1), Eq. (10.14) shows least for z > D.29 If the sometimes apprecia-
that (AP s /AP f ) max = 0.75 and 0.643 for the ble radial variation of downward solids veloc-
Darcy and inviscid regimes, respectively.1'19 ity30 is neglected, the slope of the plot at any
A simpler empirical relation for vertical level,
pressure distribution was proposed by Lefroy
and Davidson:27 dW/dz = pp(l - ea)d(vwAa)/dz (10.18)
P- P (10 15)
S) - is a measure of the crossflow rate at that
level. Here e a ( - emf) represents the constant
Differentiating Eq. (10.15) with respect to z annulus voidage.
Individual particles in the spout are acceler-
yields
ated by the surrounding fluid from a vertical
dP APS ( ITZ \ velocity of essentially zero, when they first
^ =
^77 7rsin
\2H) (1016) enter, to some maximum value, after which
the particles decelerate to achieve zero veloc-
dz lti \ Lti J
ity again at the top of the fountain. The parti-
If incipient fluidization of the annulus is as-
sumed at z = H = Hm, then
dP\ (AP s ) n
(10.17) D =61 cm
dz / mf 2Hr
0.4 -
^
10.6 PARTICLE MOTION 0.2 - -
cles that enter the spout from the annulus A momentum balance on the spout particles
rapidly become indistinguishable from the par- over a differential height dz yields
ticles already in the spout at the same level.
An experimental longitudinal profile of parti- 2vsdvs des vl d(D2)
cle velocity, usc, along the spout axis appears dz 1 - 6S ~dz D2 dz
in Figure 10.7. The point at the top of the
- vs)\us - vs
fountain where i;sc = 0 is also shown. At any
horizontal level within the spout, the variation
of upward particle velocity, vs, with radial dis-
tance, r, from the spout axis may be repre- (10.20)
sented by
The drag coefficient C D can be evaluated31'32
as:
(10.19)
CD = Cm/e2(n~l) (10.21)
with 1.3 < m < 2.2.29 where for gas spouting of spheres the terminal
drag coefficient, C DT , usually assumes the
Newton's law value of 0.44 and the corre-
sponding Richardson-Zaki 31 index n = 2.39.
The upward interstitial fluid velocity in the
spout, ws, at any level is related to the corre-
sponding superficial velocity, Usz, by
Us = usz/es (10.22)
ppAs(l - es)vs =
(10.23)
spout may be used, and this has been referred conditions to vsdvs/dz, can then be solved in
to as Model II.29 Lim and Mathur 29 used a conjunction with Eqs. (10.21) and (10.22) for
coefficient of unity instead of 2 in the first ws, es, and vs, with Usz = U and
term of Eq. (10.20), and their results for vs by
vs(l - 6S) = vsH(l - esH) (10.24a)
both models compared to experimental data
for wheat spouting are shown in Figure 10.8. when
Model I gives good agreement with experi-
^s > vsH(l - €sH)/(l - ea)
ment over the entire bed height, but depends
on measurements of W or dW/dz, for which or
no generalized correlations exist. Model II, 6S = e a (10.24b)
which in theory requires no experimental in-
put except Ds as a function of z, becomes when
unstable at z/H < 0.2: reasonable values can
be obtained only for z/H > 0.2 by starting
The height of the fountain, HF, can also be
with the experimentally measured values of vs
predicted with little error by ignoring drag in
and es at z/H = 0.2.
the simplified Eq. (10.20). Integration of this
Recently, Krzywanski et al.20'24 have devel-
equation with the upper boundary condition,
oped a more rigorous axially symmetric two-
z = H + HF, vs = 0, gives
dimensional fluid-particle model of a spouted
bed that predicts radial variations of pressure,
gas velocity, particle velocity, and voidage. F
(10.25)
2g(p-p)
A one-dimensional analysis similar to that
used in the spout, but without the necessity of where empirically vsH is taken32 as (vsc)He^3;
an auxiliary equation, has been applied32 for the decrease of the index on esH from 0.93 to
particle motion in the fountain core. It is 0.73 arises from the neglect of drag.
assumed that there is no crossflow of solids Because of solids crossflow from the annu-
and that the interstitial gas velocity is approxi- lus into the spout over the entire annulus
mated by U/es. The boundary conditions at height and because of the showering effect of
z = H are taken as es = esH and vs = vsH = the fountain, a spouted bed is a good solids
(VSC)H€®H3, the last relationship having been mixer when a single species of solids is used.
obtained empirically.32 Equation (10.20), the For most practical purposes, assuming that the
left-hand side of which reduces for the present solids feed and discharge ports are located to
preclude any obvious short-circuiting, that the
cone angle is sufficiently small to prevent any
dead solids zones at the base, and that the
Model I mean residence time of the solids exceeds
Model 11
some minimum value in the order of minutes,
• Experimental
perfect mixing of the species is a good approx-
imation for a continuously fed spouted bed.
This is illustrated by Figure 10.9, in which the
perfect mixing line is given by
7(0) = e x p [ - 0 ] (10.26a)
and the nearby regression line by
Figure 10.8. Radial-average particle velocity profile for 1(6) = exp[-(1/0.92X0 - 0.10)] (10.26b)
air-spouting of 2.82 mm X 5.14 mm wheat particles.
Pp = 1240 kg/m 3 , D = 152 mm, D{ = 19 mm, H/D = . When more than one species of solid mate-
3, U/Um = l.l. 29 rial is used, for example, particles of different
542 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
profiles of vs and es via the one- or two- quired. It is better represented at both high
dimensional models mentioned above, and and low temperatures by the dimensionally
predictions of fluid-particle heat transfer, mass consistent semiempirical equation,15
transfer, and chemical reaction via the two-
zone model discussed below. Longitudinal •>0.433r>0.583 „0.133
variations of spout diameter that have been = 5.61 x 0.283
± 5% (10.28)
observed in conical-cylindrical columns are il-
lustrated in Figure 10.11. Shape (a), the most
common, tends to give way to (b) as column which, however, has been tested only for D =
diameter increases, to (c) as particle size de- 1.56 mm and p b ~ 1500 kg/m 3 .
creases, and to (d) for large inlet diameters.1'39
The variation of spout diameter with bed
level for shapes (a) and (b) is predictable in 10.9 HEAT TRANSFER
good approximation by soil mechanics princi-
ples combined with variational analysis and Transfer of heat between the fluid and the
knowledge of the longitudinal average spout solid particles in a spouted bed is most accu-
diameter, £>s.40 The latter has been correlated rately described by means of the two-region
empirically by the dimensional equation,41 model discussed below. A more conservative
approach, based on the use of a fluid-particle
Ds = 2.00G°-49Z)°-68/Pb-41 + 5.6% (10.27) heat transfer coefficient for a loose-packed
bed, has also been employed.1 In the annulus,
over a wide range of experimental data at unlike the spout, thermal equilibrium between
room temperature, where SI units are re- fluid and particles is achieved even in a shal-
a b e d
Figure 10.11. Observed spout shapes. 1 ' 39 (a) Diverges continuously; (fr)expands, then tapers or remains constant
in diameter; (c) expands, necks, and then diverges; (d) necks, expands, then tapers slightly.
544 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
low bed. For the relatively large particles used wall heat transfer coefficient, /zw, can be pre-
in spouted beds, intraparticle heat transfer dicted from the empirical equation of Malek
must be considered.1 and Lu:42
Transfer between the bed and the wall is 0.52
characterized by the development of a thermal
boundary layer in the annulus, as exemplified H
by Figure 10.12 for gas spouting. For liquid 0.45 0.08
spouting this boundary layer extends all the Pbc pp
X (10.29)
way to the spout. Over the range of conditions P.c
'g'-pg
-
Pb)
for which wall-to-bed heat transfer in gas-
An alternative theoretical approach, based on
spouted beds has been studied,1 the bed-to-
a two-dimensional penetration model,1 results
in:
f
Aw = 1.129[vwPhcppkb/(H - z)] (10.30)
where the heat transfer surface extends over a
length (H - z). The mean coefficient given by
Eq. (10.30) is twice the local coefficient at
level z. Equation (10.30) tends to overpredict
/*w somewhat, owing to the higher voidage at
the wall than in the bulk of the annulus.1
A heating or cooling element submerged in
-36.I°C
the bed is a more efficient heater or cooler
than a jacket around the column wall. Typical
radial profiles of the immersed heat transfer
coefficient, hs, for a vertically aligned cylindri-
cal heater are shown in Figure 10.13. It is seen
280 -
-35.9
200 -
36.8 0 10 20 30 40
RADIAL DISTANCE FROM AXIS, mm
that hs reaches a maximum at the spout- two-region model described below. Again, a
annulus interface and increases with dp. more conservative approach for fluid-particle
Typical vertical profiles of hs in the spout mass transfer under conditions of external
for a horizontally aligned cylindrical heater control, for example, constant rate drying can
are shown in Figure 10.14. It is seen that hs be based on the use of a mass transfer coeffi-
decreases with increasing z, sharply near the cient for the loose-packed bed conditions that
bottom of the bed and then gradually farther prevail in the annulus.1
up, and that it increases with increasing spout- However, drying of such materials as agri-
ing velocity. Profiles of hs within and around cultural products and fertilizer granules, for
the fountain have also been reported for a which a hot air spouted bed has proved to be
spherical probe.1'44 Values of hs obtained in most effective, is often carried out over ranges
the annulus are generally similar to those for of moisture content that are well within the
objects submerged in moving packed beds; val- falling rate period. Moisture diffusion within
ues at the bottom of the spout are like those the particles then controls the overall drying
for the pure fluid flowing past the submerged process. For such internal mass transfer con-
object at comparable velocities, while coeffi- trol, the oft justified assumption that the bed
cients higher in the spout and in the fountain is deep enough for the outlet gas to be in
are similar to those for objects submerged in a thermal equilibrium with the well mixed
dense-phase fluidized bed.
spouted solids precludes the need for heat
transfer rate considerations. An overall mass
balance, overall energy balance, and particle
10.10 MASS TRANSFER moisture diffusion equation, combined with
moisture desorption isotherms for the given
As in the case of fluid-particle heat transfer, solids and a knowledge of particle moisture
mass transfer between the fluid and the sur- diffusivity, &, as a function of temperature
face of the particles is best treated by the and local composition, can then be solved nu-
merically to give good prediction of the tem-
perature and uniform mean moisture content,
i l I I 1 I m, of batch-dried particles as a function of
300 1
uniform drying time, t.45 For steady continu-
•
\ \ u « 0.96 m/sec
220 -
m = Crh{e)E{e)de (10.31)
— - —
•'o
^ ^ ^ - ^ . ^ ^ U =0.84 m/sec
200
-
where m(d) is the average particle moisture
— — .
40
I
50
I
60
i
70 80
1 ,
90
I content for the corresponding isothermal batch
VERTICAL DISTANCE FROM GAS INLET, mm process of duration 6 = t/t and the exit age
Figure 10.14. Vertical profiles of centrally submerged distribution function, E(6), is related to the
object-to-bed heat transfer coefficient in the spout internal age distribution function, 1(6), by46
measured with a horizontally aligned cylindrical heater,
10 mm diameter X 17 mm long,43 air-spouted silica gel,
dp = 2 mm, D = 94 mm, D{ = 15 mm, H = 100 mm.1 E(e) = -di(e)/de (10.32)
546 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Substitution of Eq. (10.32) into Eq. (10.31) a one-dimensional model47 in which radial gra-
with the appropriate change in integration dients within each region are ignored. For a
limits results in first-order reaction in an isothermal spouted
bed reactor, steady-state mass flow balances
m= Cm(0)dI(0) (10.33) for an element of height dz of each region
•'o then result in:48
which was derived more directly by Becker
and Sallans.35 For continuous grain drying, Eq. dCs
(10.26b) leads to even more accurate predic- ^ ( )
tion of particle temperature and m than Eq.
+ KY j Ds2(l - es)Cs = 0 (10.34)
(10.26a).45
The analytical simplification, used for wheat and
drying,35 which results when the surface mois-
dCa dQa
ture content of the particles is assumed con- +
stant, and other shortcut or empirical meth-
ods, are summarized elsewhere.1 + KT(1 - ea)AaCa = 0 (10.35)
for the spout and annulus, respectively. The
10.11 CHEMICAL REACTION: first and last terms in each of these equations
TWO-REGION MODELS are due to convection and chemical reaction,
respectively. Plug flow of fluid is assumed to
Spouted beds share some of the principal ad- prevail in each region, and the reaction rate in
vantages of fluidized beds as chemical reactors each region is assumed to be controlled by
—solids mobility, relatively uniform tempera- chemical kinetics. The middle terms arise from
ture and, to some extent, favorable bed-to- inter-region mass transfer, the second term in
surface heat transfer. Shared disadvantages Eq. (10.35) being due to net outflow from the
between spouted and fluidized bed reactors spout into the annulus, as discussed above; the
are bypassing of gas, backmixing of solids, terms involving ksa account for any additional
particle entrainment, and attrition. Spouted transfer. The flow rates Qa and Qs through
beds give more reproducible flow patterns and the two regions and the derivative dQJdz can
have fewer flow regimes than fluidized beds, be obtained as functions of height from Eqs.
but their ranges of application in terms of (10.8) and (10.9). The spout diameter, Ds, can
mean particle size and vessel diameter are be estimated from Eqs. (10.27) or (10.28) or
much more limited. measured in a half-column, while Aa can be
Bypassing in spouted beds is caused by fluid obtained from the geometry of the column.
elements in the central spout travelling more The rate constant, KT, should be determined
quickly and with a much higher voidage than separately under isothermal conditions in a
in the annulus. For a catalytic gas-phase reac- reactor whose hydrodynamics are well under-
tion, it is essential to distinguish between the stood, for example, in a packed bed or spin-
two regions, since reaction is much more fa- ning basket reactor. For non-first-order kinetic
vorable in the annulus, where gas elements rate expressions, the final terms in Eqs. (10.34)
are in intimate contact with the solids, than in and (10.35) must be replaced by the appropri-
the spout. Similar considerations apply when ate rate expressions. There is no reliable
spouted beds are used for heat transfer be- method of estimating ksa, but values are typi-
tween fluid and particles or for an analogous cally less than 0.1 m / s and ksa - 0 appears to
mass transfer process, for example, adsorption be a reasonable assumption when d > 1 mm.48
of a component from a gas. The boundary condition required for solu-
The earliest and simplest representation of tion of Eqs. (10.34) and (10.35) is Cs = Cin at
a spouted bed for these purposes is in terms of z = 0. The equations can be integrated numer-
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 547
ically from z = 0 to z = H. The exit concen- for the spout and annulus, respectively. The
tration is then evaluated from the overall mass particle-gas heat transfer coefficients, (hpg)s
balance: and (/*pg)a, for the spout and the annulus may
again be obtained from correlations for dilute
xit = [QSCS (10.36) suspensions and packed beds, respectively. Gas
entering the annulus equilibrates with the
For the case where a component is removed solids temperature within a small distance. To
from a gas stream in a spouted bed, for exam- obtain the change of particle temperature for
ple, for collecting aerosol particles on the bed a batch process or the steady-state particle
particles,49 the same one-dimensional model temperature for a continuous process where
can be applied, but with the reaction terms solids are fed at a different temperature from
replaced by the respective adsorption rate per the gas, a heat balance is also required for the
unit volume in that phase. For the annulus, solids. Equations (10.37) and (10.38) can be
the adsorption rate can be based on correla- solved numerically with the boundary condi-
tions for mass transfer between particles and tions r gs = Tga = Tgi at z = 0. The outlet gas
fluid in packed beds. For the spout, mass temperature is obtained from an energy bal-
transfer between the spouting fluid and parti- ance, that is,
cles can be estimated from the high-voidage
correlation of Rowe and Claxton.50 These u
7 QJgJH (10.39)
equations should also be used when reaction
rates within the individual regions are mass- The one-dimensional model has been extended
transfer controlled. to spout-fluid beds (see section 10.13) by
Analogous equations can be developed for Hadzismajlovic et al.51 These workers also al-
heat transfer when a hot gas enters a bed of lowed for variation of es with z rather than
cold particles or vice versa. Let us assume adopting an average value.
constant properties and spherical particles and An alternative model, the streamtube model,
neglect any interphase transfer, aside from has been applied48 to the case of a first-order
that associated with crossflow of gas. In view gas phase reaction in an isothermal spouted
of the rapid mixing of solids in spouted beds bed. The model was first used21 to describe
and the fact that the volumetric heat capacity gas residence time distributions in spouted
of the solids, p p c pp , is much larger than that of beds. Whereas the one-dimensional model im-
the gas, PgCpg, we may, as a first approxima- plicitly assumes perfect radial mixing of gas
tion, treat the particles at any instant as being elements in the annulus, the streamtube model
of uniform temperature, Tp. Then energy bal- is based on a physical picture, shown in Figure
ances for gas in each of the regions yield 10.15, in which the gas entering the annulus
fans outward and upward in a finite number of
streamtubes. The coordinates of the stream-
0s
lines bounding each of these streamtubes are
calculated on the assumption that the vertical
(1037) component of gas velocity is radially uniform
at each section of the annulus. Streamwise
and dispersion is ignored in each of the stream-
tubes. Any inter-region mass transfer, aside
from the bulk flow obtained from Eqs. (10.8)
gs
dz and (10.9), is also ignored. Plug flow of gas is
again assumed in the spout region.
^ (1038) With these assumptions, a mass balance in
the spout phase gives Eq. (10.34) with ksa = 0.
548 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
9
The concentration of gas leaving the top of N
the /th streamtube is given48 by
c
exit / c in f r o m equation (11.41)
/ Cexit/Cinfrom
/ experiment
(10.40) 1
0.6
Spou Ar nu
bution of which to the overall conversion is Population balances may be required to ac-
usually small) is presented by Hook et al.,53 count for different sizes of particles as reac-
whose comprehensive streamtube model is tion, attrition, and entrainment proceed. Since
based on a set of relationships developed by heterogeneous reactions are often highly
Littman, Morgan, and their co-workers. exothermic or endothermic, energy balances
The one-dimensional and streamtube models may also be required. Finally, the extent of
described above can be used to predict the reaction of gaseous components must be linked
performance of gas-phase solid-catalyzed to that of the solids by means of the stoi-
chemical reactions. In principle, they can chiometry of the reactions. Models complex
also be applied to gas-solid heterogeneous enough to cope with all these factors have not
reactions, in much the same way that two- yet been developed.
phase reactor models for fluidized beds have
been extended to the case of heterogeneous
reactions.54'55 Foong et al.56 used the one- 10.12 APPLICATIONS
dimensional model to describe conversion in a
spouted bed coal gasifier. However, since the Originally developed for wheat drying53 (Fig.
kinetics of the reaction were unknown, the 10.17), gas-spouted beds have since been ap-
reaction was treated like a gas phase reaction plied to a wide variety of operations1 involving
to yield an effective rate constant, and this coarse (e.g., 1 to 5 mm) solid particles. These
value was then used to predict the influence of operations rely on one or more of the follow-
bed height, bed composition, and column di- ing features of the technique:
ameter. It is noteworthy that conversion is
predicted to increase with increasing reactor 1. Good solids mixing coupled with satisfac-
diameter, in contrast to the case of fluidized tory gas-particle contact, thereby accom-
beds where conversion almost always de- plishing for coarse solids what a fluidized
creases as a reactor is scaled up. The improved bed does for fine solids.
performance with increasing D arises because
the spout occupies a smaller fraction of the
cross-sectional area of the spouted bed as the
reactor is scaled up. The same trend has been
predicted for spout bed reactors previously,1'47
but has been contradicted experimentally over
a limited range, D = 0.15 to 0.22 m.57
Several complications arise in applying the
reactor models to the more general case of
gas-solid heterogeneous reactions. The ki-
netic rate expression must account for the way
in which particles react, for example, by as-
suming a shrinking core, surface reaction, or
homogeneous reaction throughout the parti-
cles.54 The physical properties (size, density,
and shape) of the particles may change during
their residence in the bed as a result of reac-
tion, attrition, or agglomeration. Solids resi-
dence time distributions (commonly approxi-
mated by perfect mixing) must be considered, - COOLED WHEAT RECEIVER
since the extent of reaction of each particle Figure 10.17. Original pilot wheat drier at National
depends on its residence time in the reactor. Research Council of Canada. 1 ' 58
550 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Good solids mixing, together with effective Figure 10.18. Layout of industrial drier for agricultural
gas-particle contact, is the basis for spouted products. 1 ' 59
bed drying of noncaking granular solids.1 The
method is particularly suitable for heat-
sensitive materials such as agricultural prod- blending polyester polymer chips in batches
ucts or polymer granules, since the rapid agita- exceeding 57 m3.1
tion of the solids permits the use of higher The relatively high gas velocities and corre-
temperature gas than in nonagitated driers, spondingly low gas residence times associated
without the risk of thermal damage to the with spouting of coarse particles are the basis
particles. Commercial driers of 0.6 m diameter for the bench-scale development at Hokkaido
with a bed depth of about 2 m are capable of University of a dual-spouted reactor-regen-
safely drying up to 2 Mg/h of peas through an erator combination for thermal cracking of
8% moisture range, dry basis, using about 3 petroleum feedstocks.1 A similar combination
Mg/h of air at temperatures up to 557 K.59 has been developed by the same investigators
The layout of such an industrial unit for drying for catalytic desulfurization of residual fuel
peas, lentils, and flax is shown in Figure 10.18. oil, using steam at 923 K plus the fuel oil as
Many other agricultural products have been the spouting fluid in the reactor, and air in the
successfully dried in spouted beds.60 regenerator.61 High gas throughput per unit
Sensible heating or cooling of coarse solids cross-section and high gas-solids relative ve-
in spouted beds also makes use of the favor- locity also make the use of a spouted bed of
able gas-solid contacting, but the good solids coarse solids attractive for gas cleaning pur-
mixing is more important in heating than in poses, especially since high efficiencies at min-
cooling. In the use of a spouted bed for blend- imum spouting velocities have been measured
ing of solids, the intimate gas-particle contact for the bench-scale collection of liquid and
is incidental, and only the good solids mixing electrified-solid aerosols from a gas in spouted
is of importance. Multistage spouted bed beds of inert solids,49 as well as for the chemi-
preheating of coal feed to coke ovens has cal reduction of dilute SO 2 gas by a spouted
been successfully piloted, while commercial- bed of activated charcoal.62 However, for both
scale rectangular (4.9 m X 1.8 m) two-stage these gas cleaning processes, operation at ve-
multiple-spout fertilizer coolers with capacities locities above minimum spouting sharply re-
up to 30 Mg/h and thermal efficiencies ex- duces the respective efficiencies, undoubtedly
ceeding 85% have been developed by Fisons as a result of excessive gas bypassing through
Ltd.; single-spout circular units of equal size the spout, in addition to the lowering of gas
have been operated by I.C.I. Fibres Ltd. for residence time.
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 551
TO
j—»—I r > INCINERATOR
DI2
911
• GAS SAMPLE
10
TRANSPORT
OXYGEN/AIR
BED SAMPLE
vided that the bed temperatures were above below Hm for a single nozzle), and when the
870°C and that the fines captured in the pri- ratio DJd is less than about 8.99a Bed stability
mary cyclone were recycled to the bed.98 can be improved by using fluid inlet nozzles
The applications cited in this section relate, that project (e.g., about 3 mm) above the bed
for the most part, to the "standard," "classical" floor (as in Fig. 10.21), by installing vertical
or "conventional" spouted bed (CSB) de- partitions that cut off lateral flow fluid be-
scribed in the earlier sections. Many signifi- tween spouting cells,1 and by fixing inverted-
cant modifications to the standard geometry funnel spout deflectors above the fountains1
and/or mode of operations have, however, to minimize interference between adjacent
been made over the years. Such modifications, cells by spout wandering.
and a few applications thereof, are discussed Foong et al.99a have shown that, if one takes
next. the diameter of each spouting cell as that of
a circular cylinder having the same cross-
sectional area, then both the minimum spout-
ing velocity and the pressure drop across the
10.13 MODIFIED SPOUTED BEDS spouted bed can, for a stable multispout bed,
be predicted by relationships applicable to a
The following modifications of the CSB, many CSB. For handling equal inventories of solids,
of which have been detailed elsewhere,1 are a multispout bed requires considerably more
worthy of note. fluid than a single-spout unit, but results in
faster solids turnover.1
10.13.1 Multiple Spouts For given solids, fluid, column configura-
tions, and bed depth, there exists a maximum
There is a practical limit to the vessel diame- superficial velocity beyond which steady spout-
ter that can be served by a single fluid inlet. ing gives way to chaotic fluidization.100
Since H/D > 1 for stable spouting, the large CERCHAR of France utilizes a multiple cone
bed heights required for large column diame- base as an efficient distributor to a fluidized
ters would give rise to excessive pressure drops. bed. In these units, the static bed height must
In addition, the long times spent by particles exceed the maximum spoutable height or the
in the annulus of a large bed over the course gas velocity must exceed the maximum spout-
of a single cycle, especially along the outer ing velocity.101
streamlines similar to those shown in Figure
10.4, could be a distinct disadvantage for cer-
tain processes, for example, for particle drying 10.13.2 Draft Tube
where excessive time in the hot region of the Crossflow of both fluid and solids between the
bed could cause thermal damage to the parti- spout and the annulus can be eliminated over
cles. One way of overcoming these difficulties most of a spouted bed's height by inserting in
is by using several fluid inlet nozzles in paral- the spout region, starting at some distance (in
lel, that is, multiple spouting. excess of 10 dp) above the fluid inlet nozzle,
Figure 10.21 shows a schematic of a multi- an open draft tube with walls that are impervi-
ple spouted bed with a flat base. Multiple cone ous to both phases. The draft tube diameter is
bases have also been used.1 Although the usually chosen to be similar to that of the
spouting fluid may originate from a single spout without a draft tube, and is equal to or
manifold, the flow to each inlet nozzle must be larger than the inlet nozzle diameter. The
controlled separately. Even with such control, draft tube is aligned vertically with its axis
spouting stability problems arise when the in- collinear with the axis of the column. One
let nozzles are too closely spaced, when the result is that the bed can now function at
bed height is increased excessively (but still depths greater than Hm. Other consequences
554 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
o o
o
0 « • *<>•
#
0 o • • to
are a large reduction in the fluid flow require- removing by attrition the valuable pigmen:
ment for spouting, an even larger reduction in from the seeds of a tropical shrub.105
the solids circulation rate,102 and considerably If the draft tube is permeable, for example
reduced solids mixing.1 These changes are ad- made of metallic screen, it can allow fluic
vantageous for granulation and particle coat- exchange but remain impervious to the solidc
ing, where plug flow of solids increases the Such a screen is well suited to applications ir
uniformity of the product. The method also which it is desirable that all particles spenc
allows smaller solids to be successfully the maximum possible time in the annulu:
spouted.103 The characteristics of a draft tube without curtailing annular fluid flow.1 The h\-
spouted bed grain drier have been detailed.104 drodynamic characteristics of a porous draf.
More recently, a similar unit has been shown tube, intended for thermal disinfestation o^
to be viable for simultaneously drying and grains, have been described quantitatively.106
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 555
Gas outlet
> surface
(without screen)
Motion of
solid particles
Inner draft-tube
Figure 10.22. Schematic diagram of a top-sealed spouted bed with draft tube and dual surface gas outlet, together
with isobars and gas streamlines in the annulus. 108
556 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
UPPER RING
8 EVENLY SPy
25 mm INLETS
IUNEOF
LOWER RING
4 EVENLY
VIEWING PORT SPACED 25 mm
INLETS
PROBE PORTS
SECTION OF RING
LOWER RING OF CONE AIR
MAIN SHOWING
CONNECTION OF 3 AIR INLETS
CONE AIR INLETS
solids.113'114 This regime of a spout-fluid bed carbons,118 diversion of some of the inlet spout
has been applied to liquid contacting of an gas to the annulus may be eliminated by re-
ion-exchange resin.115 ducing to zero the clearance between the draft
If sufficient auxiliary fluid is supplied to tube and the central gas inlet, that is, by
completely fluidize the annular solids while substituting a riser for the draft tube. Transfer
maintaining penetration of the spout to a of solids from the annulus to the riser is then
fountain above the bed, the total fluid flow effected by orifices in the wall of the riser near
requirement for such "spout-fluidization" ex- its base.119
ceeds that for either spouting or fluidizing the The original "air-suspension" technique for
bed.1 In addition to spout-fluidization and coating pharmaceutical tablets initiated by
spouting with gentle aeration, other spout- Wurster120 has since matured industrially into
fluid regimes also exist and have been a spout-fluid bed with a draft tube, illustrated
mapped.9'116-117 in Figure 10.24. Another interesting applica-
For a spouted bed with a draft tube, aera- tion of a spout-fluid bed is in the blending
tion of the annulus tends to counteract the and/or drying of tobacco and similar fibrous
reduction in solids circulation rate caused by masses. In this case, gas jets, introduced at
the draft tube.102 For applications requiring relatively high velocity through the sloping
small contact times of the spout gas with the sides of the distributor, are required to disen-
circulating solids, as in the pyrolysis of hydro- tangle the fibers before they can be mobilized
558 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
and circulated. Additional gas flow introduced distributor. Candidates for this type of vigor-
from the central gas inlet serves only to re- ous gas-liquid-solid contacting include crack-
duce the flow requirement of the mobilizing ing of heavy hydrocarbons, gasification of
gas, but cannot by itself produce any circula- residual oils, and production of adiponitrile
tion of the fibers.121 Current designs of spout- from adipic acid using a B 2 O 3 catalyst.133
fluid coal gasifiers in several industrialized
countries, including the United States,122"124 10.13.7 Dilute-Phase Spouting
Japan,125 and the United Kingdom,126 bear a
striking resemblance to each other. The pre- If shallow beds of solids (e.g., H/D{ = 2 to 5)
ferred British Coal design is shown in Figure in cone-based columns (e.g., a = 30° to 50°)
10.25. are subjected to upward gas velocities greater
than about two to four times their minimum
spouting velocities,134 the result is what has
10.13.6 Three-Phase Spouting been misnamed a "jet-spouted bed"135 (Fig.
In countercurrent gas-liquid spouting, low- 10.26). It is a misnomer because it implies that
density solid spheres are spouted by an up- a conventional spouted bed, unlike this non-
ward flow of gas and irrigated by a downward conventional one, is actuated by something
flow of liquid.127 In its performance and appli- other than a jet. The main difference is that,
cations (e.g., gas absorption, dust removal) this because these beds are initially much shal-
type of operation is comparable to that of a lower and subject to considerably higher oper-
turbulent bed (or "mobile bed" or "fluidized ating velocities than a CSB, their final annulus
packing") contactor, where low-density spheres voidage is well in excess of 0.9, in comparison
are fluidized by an upward continuous-phase with a typical value of 0.4 for the annulus
gas flow counter to a downward trickle of voidage of a CSB.136 A more appropriate name
liquid.128 Three-phase spouted bed operation is therefore dilute-phase spouting, in contrast
is characterized by a higher pressure drop than to conventional or dense-phase spouting. Be-
the three-phase fluidized bed, while the latter cause of the much lower solids holdups and
is characterized by a greater tendency to slug- therefore lower solids residence times, as well
ging and bed nonuniformity.129 The disadvan-
tages of both can be overcome by using a
countercurrent gas-liquid spout-fluid bed, in
which a portion of the gas is introduced via a
centrally located nozzle and the rest through a
surrounding gas distributor.130
In a cocurrent gas-liquid spouted bed, gas FOUNTAIN
is used to atomize the liquid feedstock through
the inside of the entry nozzle and is addition-
SPOUT
ally introduced around the periphery of this
nozzle (as in Fig. 10.19). As in the case of ANNULUS-
gas-liquid fluidized beds, liquid phase volu-
CONICAL B A S E — ^ v ^
metric mass transfer coefficients for the
air-water system in the presence of particles
FLUID INLET
exceeding 3 mm are greater than in their
absence, but this situation is reversed for
CONVENTIONAL JET-SPOUTED BED
smaller particles.131 The introduction of a draft SPOUTED BED
tube gives rise to higher gas holdups.132 In the
Figure 10.26. Diagrammatic representation of dense-
case of a three-phase spout-fluid bed, addi- phase or conventional spouted bed and dilute-phase or
tional liquid is introduced through a conical "jet-spouted" bed. 136 Arrows depict particle movement.
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 559
can be used to prevent dumping of solids when position,147 and this should be taken into
the bed is shut down.1 Unless special startup consideration.
measures1 are taken to avoid the peak pres- For friable solids, columns with little free-
sure drop, - A P M (see Fig. 10.5), the blower board space, or materials with significant fines
or compressor must be sized to provide this contents, entrained solids leaving the column
pressure drop, in addition to the drop across should be captured by one or more cyclones
the screen, entry section and upstream pipes, which may be followed by filters or other col-
valves, and fittings. If the bed is to operate as lection devices. Solids captured in cyclones
a spout-fluid bed, the additional fluid should may be returned to the annulus region by
enter through orifices or nozzles on the coni- means of a dipleg that enters obliquely through
cal lower section133 or in the flat annular base the wall of the spouted bed vessel.
if there is no lower cone. In either case the
flow of auxiliary fluid should be controlled 10.14.6 Baffles
separately from the main spouting flow to
Concave axisymmetric fountain deflectors (e.g.,
allow the ratio of auxiliary to spouting fluid to
an inverted funnel) are sometimes used1 to
be varied.
restrain the fountain, prevent flowover of solids
during startup, and induce greater symmetry
10.14.4 Solids Feeding and less wandering of the spout. For segregat-
ing solids a convex axisymmetric shape (e.g., a
The simplest way to feed solids is to deliver
cone with its apex at the lowermost point)
them via gravity from a hopper to the bed
positioned near the top of the fountain can
surface. Agglomerating solids should be pneu-
help to prevent segregation37 by deflecting the
matically conveyed into the column by the
heavier particles to the outside of the vessel.
spouting gas. Bottom feeding actually in-
Either of these types of baffles in the fountain
creases the maximum spoutable bed height and
may, however, promote attrition.
decreases the minimum spouting velocity.145 A
third means of adding solids is from the side,
using the suction created by the fluid jet enter-
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ing the bed.1
The continuing financial support of the
10.14.5 Solids Discharge Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
and Entrainment Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged.
Solid material can be discharged from a
spouted bed, like liquid from an orifice in the
LIST OF SYMBOLS
side of a container, using the difference be-
tween the local pressure inside the vessel and A [pAPp
that on the outside. Hence, solids efflux will be Aa Cross-sectional area of annulus at
more rapid the lower the discharge port. For any level
orifice-to-particle diameter ratios of about 30 As Cross-sectional area of spout at any
or more, the discharge coefficient is expected level
to be about 0.5, as for solids discharging from Ar Archimedes No.
fluidized beds.146 The exit pipe should slope
down at an angle of ~ 45°, and it should be b
on the opposite side from any overhead solids Ca Species gas-phase concentration in
feeder to prevent short-circuiting. For segre- the annulus
gating solids, the position of the discharge CD Drag coefficient for particle in
port strongly affects the steady-state bed com- fluid = F/(7Td2/4)(p/2)(us - vs)2
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 561
Drag coefficient under terminal set- that have been there for time 0 or
tling conditions greater
Exit species gas-phase concentra- Integer
tion Viscous coefficient in Ergun equa-
Inlet species gas-phase concentra- tion = 150 ju(l - e)2/ct>2d2pe3
tion Inertial coefficient in Ergun equa-
Species gas-phase concentration in tion = 1.75p(l - e)/</>dpe3
the spout First-order reaction rate constant
Specific heat capacity of gas referred to volume of solids
Specific heat capacity of solid parti- Effective thermal conductivity of
cles loose-packed bed
Moisture diffusivity within particles Thermal conductivity of gas
D Column diameter Spout-annulus inter-region mass
A Fluid inlet diameter transfer coefficient
A Spout diameter at any level Index in Eq. (10.19)
m
A Longitudinal average spout diame-
m Final moisture content of batch
ter
solids, dry basis
Particle diameter; horizontally pro- m Moisture content of continuous
jected particle diameter; reciprocal solids product, dry basis
mean particle diameter N Total number of streamtubes
p
Diameter of sphere with same vol- n Richardson-Zaki 31 index
ume as particle P Fluid pressure
£(0) Exit age distribution function46 =
-APf Pressure drop for fluidized bed of
fraction of particles leaving bed that
height H
have been in bed for time 6 or
Peak pressure drop
greater
Spouted bed pressure drop
Drag force on particle
Fluid flow rate through annulus =
G Superficial mass flux of spouting
fluid = pU
Acceleration due to gravity Gai Flow rate of fluid through ith
Height of loose-packed static bed; streamtube in the annulus
H
height of annulus, measured from Gs Flow fluid rate through spout =.
fluid inlet orifice
Fountain height measured from bed Gtot Total fluid flow rate
surface Re Particle Reynolds number
Maximum spoutable bed height
Re T Terminal particle Reynolds number
<*«>•
Gas-to-particle heat transfer coef-
ficient in the annulus Radial distance from spout axis
Gas-to-particle heat transfer coef- Spout radius = Ds/2
<**>•
ficient in the spout Local temperature of gas in the an-
Heat transfer coefficient between nulus
submerged object and bed Local temperature of gas in the
Heat transfer coefficient between spout
wall and bed, surface-mean value Temperature of particles
KB) Internal age distribution function46 Time
= fraction of particles within bed Mean residence time of solids
562 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
10. M. Choi and A. Meissen, "Hydrodynamics of 26. L. A. Madonna, R. F. Lama, and W. L. Brisson,
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Chem. Eng. Progr. 48(2):89-94 (1952). Osberg, "An Analysis of Air and Solid Flow in a
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15. S. W. M. Wu, C. J. Lim, and N. Epstein, "Hydro- 30. G. Rovero, N. Piccinini, and A. Lupo,
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564 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
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91. N. R. Iammartino, "Cement's Changing Scene,"
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78. G. K. Khoe, S. L. Sun, C. J. Lim, and N. Epstein," 94. H. A. Arbib, R. F. Sawyer, and F. J. Weinberg,
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82. A. N. Ingle and S. Sarkar, "Gasification of Coal and A. P. Watkinson, "Spouted Bed and Spout-
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"Spouted Bed Gasification of Western Canadian
98. C. J. Lim, A. P. Watkinson, G. K. Khoe, S. Low,
Coals," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 59:625-630 (1981).
N. Epstein, and J. R. Grace, "Spouted, Fluidized
84. Z. Haji-Sulaiman, C. J. Lim, and A. P. Watkin-
and Spout-Fluid Bed Combustion of Bituminous
son, "Gas Composition and Temperature Pro-
Coals," Fuel 67:1211-1217 (1988).
files in a Spouted Bed Coal Gasifier," Can. J.
Chem. Eng. 64:125-132 (1986). 99. M. Murphy and E. Cox, "Application of the
85. A. P. Watkinson, G. Cheng, and C. J. Lim, Spouted Bed Combustor to the Burning of Low
"Oxygen-Steam Gasification of Coals in a Heating Value Fuels." Report to U.S. Environ-
Spouted Bed," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 65:791-798 mental Protection Agency, Battelle, Columbus,
(1987). OH (Sept. 20, 1983).
86. A. P. Watkinson, G. Cheng, and D. P. C. Fung, 99a. S.-K. Foong, R. K. Barton, and J. S. Ratcliffe,
"Gasification of Oil Sand Coke," Fuel 65:4-10 "Characteristics of Multiple Spouted Beds,"
(1989). Mech. Chem. Eng. Trans. MCII (1,2):7-12,
87. T. A. Sue-A-Quan, A. P. Watkinson, R. P. Instn. Engrs. Aust. (1975).
Gaikwad, C. J. Lim, and B. R. Ferris, "Steam 100. D. V. R. Murthy and P. N. Singh, "Dynamics of
Gasification in a Pressurized Spouted Bed Reac- Multiple Spouted Beds." Distributed at Third
tor," Fuel Proc. Technol. 27:61-81 (1991). International Symposium on Spouted Beds,
88. C. J. Lim, J. P. Lucas, M. Haji-Sulaiman, and A. Vancouver, B.C., Canada (October, 1991).
P. Watkinson, "A Mathematical Model of a 101. B. Taha and A. Koniuta, "Hydrodynamics and
566 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Segregation from the CERCHAR FCB Fluidiza- Transfer in Liquid Spout-fluid Beds of Ion Ex-
tion Grid." Free Forum, 7th International Flu- change Resin," Chem. Eng. J. 77:227-236 (1979).
idization Conference, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 116. W. Sutanto, N. Epstein, and J. R. Grace, "Hy-
Engineering Foundation (May, 1989). drodynamics of Spout-Fluid Beds," Powder Tech-
102. J. R. Muir, F. Berruti, and L. A. Behie, "Solids noL 44:205-212 (1985).
Circulation in Spouted and Spout-Fluid Beds with 117. J. Zhao, C. J. Lim, and J. R. Grace, "Flow
Draft-tubes," Chem. Eng. Commun. 55:153-171 Regimes and Combustion Behaviour in Coal-
(1990). Burning Spouted and Spout-Fluid Beds," Chem.
103. H. Hattori and K. Takeda, "Side-Outlet Spouted Eng. Sci. 42:2865-2875 (1987).
Bed with Inner Draft-Tube for Small-Sized Solid 118. R. K. Stocker, J. H. Eng, W. Y. Svrcek, and L. A.
Particles," / . Chem. Eng. Jpn. 77(2):125-129 Behie, "Ultrapyrolysis of Propane in a Spouted-
(1978). bed Reactor with a Draft tube," AIChE J.
104. G. K. Khoe and J. van Brakel, "Drying Charac- 35:1617-1624 (1989).
teristics of a Draft Tube Spouted Bed," Can. J. 119. B. J. Milne, F. Berruti, L. A. Behie, and T. J. W.
Chem. Eng. 67:411-418 (1983). de Bruijn, "The Internally Circulating Fluidized
105. G. Massarani, M. L. Passos, and D. W. Barreto, Bed (ICFB): A Novel Solution to Gas Bypassing
"Production of Annatto Concentrates in Spouted in Spouted Beds," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 70:910-915
Beds," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 70:954-959 (1992). (1992).
106. J. K. Claflin and A. J. Fane, "Spouting with a 120. D. E. Wurster, "Air-Suspension Technique of
Porous Draft Tube," Can. J. Chem. Eng. Coating Drug Particles," / . Am. Pharmac. Assoc.
67:356-363 (1983). 45:451-454 (1959).
107. H. Hattori and K. Takeda, "Modified Spouted 120a. D. M. Jones, "Value of Laboratory Testing and
Beds with the Gas Outlet Located in the Side Scaleup," Pharm. Tech. Conference '84 Proceed-
Wall Surrounding the Annual Dense Bed." ings, Aster Publishing, Springfield, OR, pp.
/ . Fac. Text. Sci. & TechnoL, Shinshu Univ., no. 317-331 (1984).
70, ser. B, Engineering no. 72:1-13 (1976).
121. R. Legros, C. A. Millington, and R. Clift, "A
108. H. Hattori, A. Kobayashi, I. Aiba, and T. Koda,
Mobile Bed Process for Fibrous Materials," in
"Modification of the Gas Outlet Structure on
Fluidization V, edited by K. Ostergaard and K.
the Spouted Bed with Inner Draft-Tube,"
Sorenson, Engineering Foundation, pp. 225-232
/ . Chem. Eng. Jpn. 77(l):102-103 (1984).
(1986).
109. M. I. Kalwar and G. S. V. Raghavan, "Batch
122. A. Rehmat and A. Goyal, "Fluidization Behavior
Drying of Shelled Corn in Two-Dimensional
in U-Gas Ash Agglomerating Gasifier," in Flu-
Spouted Beds with Draft Plates," Drying TechnoL
77:339-354 (1993). idization. Proc. 4th Internat. Conf. on Fluidization,
edited by D. Kunii and R. Toei, Engineering
110. M. I. Kalwar, G. S. V. Raghavan, and A. S.
Foundation, pp. 647-654 (1983).
Mujumdar, "Spouting of Two-Dimensional Beds
with Draft Plates," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 123. D. A. Lewandowski, J. Weldon, and G. B.
70:887-894 (1992). Haldipur, "Application of the KRW Coal Gasi-
111. A. S. Mujumdar, "Spouted Bed Technology—A fication Hot Gas Cleanup Technology to Com-
Brief Review," in Drying '84, pp. 1-7, Hemi- bined Cycle Electric Power Generation," Pre-
sphere, New York (1984). sented at AIChE National Meeting, Boston
(August, 1986).
112. T. Kudra, "Novel Drying Technologies for Par-
ticulates, Slurries and Pastes," in Drying '92, pp. 124. F. W. Shirley and R. D. Litt, "Advanced
224-239, Elsevier, New York (1992). Spouted-Fluidized Bed Combustion Concept," in
113. H. Littman, D. V. Vukovic, F. K. Zdanski, and Z. Proc. 9th Internat. Conf. on Fluidized Bed Com-
B. Grbavcic, "Basic Relations for the Liquid bustion 2:1066-1073 (1987).
Phase Spout-Fluid Bed at the Minimum Spout- 125. K. Kikuchi, A. Suzuki, T. Mochizuki, S. Endo, E.
Fluid Flowrate," in Fluidization Technology, Vol. Imai, and Y. Tanji, "Ash-Agglomerating Gasifi-
1, edited by D. L. Keairns, pp. 373-386, Hemi- cation of Coal in a Spouted Bed Reactor," Fuel
sphere, Washington (1976). 64:368-372 (1985).
114. C. Dumitrescu, "The Hydrodynamical Aspects of 126. M. St. J. Arnold, J. J. Gale, and M. K. Laughlin,
a Spouted Bed Modified by the Introduction of "The British Coal Spouted Fluidised Bed Gasi-
an Additional Flow," Rev. Chim. (Roumania) fication Process," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 70:991-991
25(8):746-754 (1977). (1992).
115. Dz. E. Hadzismajlovic, D. V. Vukovic, F. K. 127. D. V. Vukovic, F. K. Zdanski, G. V. Vunjak, and
Zdanski, Z. B. Grbavcic, and H. Littman, "Mass Z. B. Grbavcic, "Pressure Drop, Bed Expansion
SPOUTING OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS 567
and Liquid Holdup in a Three Phase Spouted Spouted Bed Dryer for Bio-Products," Drying
Bed Contactor," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 52:180-184 Technol. 77:369-387 (1993).
(1974). 138. A. S. Markowski, "Drying Characteristics in a
128. L. S. Fan, Gas-Liquid-Solid Fluidization Engineer- Jet-Spouted Bed Dryer," Can. J. Chem. Eng.
ing, Chapter 5, Butterworths, Boston (1989). 70:938-944 (1992).
129. G. Vunjak-Novakovic, D. V. Vukovic, F. K. 139. S. Grabowski, A. S. Mujumdar, H. S. Ra-
Zdanski, and H. Littman, "Comparative Hydro- maswamy, and C. Strumillo, "Particle Size Distri-
dynamical Characteristics Relevant for Mass bution of /-Lysine Dried in Jet-Spouted Bed," in
Transfer in Three-Phase Fluidized and Spouted Drying '92, pp. 1940-1946, Elsevier, New York
Bed Contactors," Paper C2.7, 6th CHISA Confer- (1992).
ence, Prague (1978). 140. H. Littman and M. H. Morgan III, "A New
130. D. V. Vukovic and G. V. Vunjak-Novakovic, "The Spouting Regime in Beds of Coarse Particles
Three-Phase Spout-Fluid B e d — A Novel Deeper than the Maximum Spoutable Height,"
Gas-Liquid Contacting System." Paper C3.ll, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 64:505-508 (1986).
6th CHISA Conference, Prague (1978). 141. G. Rovero and A. P. Watkinson, "A Two-Stage
131. M. Nishikawa, K. Kosaka, and K. Hashimoto, Spouted Bed Process for Autothermal Pyrolysis
"Gas Absorption in Gas-Liquid or Solid-Gas- or Retorting," Fuel Proc. Technol. 26:221-238
Liquid Spouted Vessel," in Proc. 2nd Pacific (1990).
Chem. Eng. Cong. (Pachec '77) 11:1389-1396, 142. Gy. Ratkai, "Particle Flow and Mixing in
AIChE (1977). Vertically Vibrated Beds," Powder Technol.
132. L. S. Fan, S. J. Hwang, and A. Matsuura, "Hy- 75:187-192 (1976).
drodynamic Behaviour of a Draft Tube 143. J. R. D. Finzer and T. G. Kieckbusch, "Perfor-
Gas-Liquid-Solid Spouted Bed," Chem. Eng. mance of an Experimental Vibro-Spouted Bed
Sci. 39:1677-1688 (1984). Dryer," in Drying '92, pp. 762-772, Elsevier, New
133. H. Kono, "A New Concept for Three Phase York (1992).
Fluidized Beds," Hydrocarbon Proc. pp. 123-129 144. A. F. Dolidovich, "Hydrodynamics and Inter-
(January, 1980). phase Heat Transfer in a Swirled Spouted Bed,"
134. M. Olazar, M. J. San Jose, A. T. Aguayo, J. M. Can. J. Chem. Eng. 70:930-937 (1992).
Arandes, and J. Bilbao, "Stable Operation Con- 145. A. G. Fane, A. E. Firek, and C. W. P. Wong,
ditions for Gas-Solid Contact Regimes in Coni- "Spouting with a Solids-Laden Gas Stream."
cal Spouted Beds," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. Chemeca '85, Perth, Australia (1985).
37:1784-1792 (1992). 146. L. Massimilla, "Flow Properties of the Fluidized
135. A. Markowski and W. Kaminski, "Hydrodynamic Dense Phase" in Fluidization, edited by J. F.
Characteristics of Jet-Spouted Beds," Can. J. Davidson and D. Harrison, Academic Press,
Chem. Eng. 67:377-381 (1983). London (1971).
136. O. Uemaki and T. Tsuji, "Particle Velocity and 147. N. Piccinini, "Particle Segregation in Continu-
Solids Circulation Rate in a Jet-Spouted Bed," ously Operating Spouted Bed," in Fluidization,
Can. J. Chem. Eng. 70:925-929 (1992). edited by J. R. Grace and J. M. Matsen, Plenum
137. A. S. Markowski, "Quality Interaction in a Jet Press, New York, pp. 279-286 (1980).
11
Mixing of Powders
Brian H. Kaye
CONTENTS
11.1 BASIC CONCEPTS OF POWDER MIXING 568
11.2 DIFFERENT MIXING MACHINES 576
REFERENCES 584
568
MIXING OF POWDERS 569
•«• « i• . • •
• * » • • • -
• • I •
*•• •
• * •«
• • I • M v -
signed.1 To help appreciate the variations that chapter by Dr. J. C. Williams, who had studied
can occur in a random mix Kaye has devised powder mixing for many years. At the begin-
an expert system that can simulate and display ning of that chapter Dr. Williams made the
mixtures of ingredients at various specified statement that during the past 30 years there
levels.2 has been much work done at universities in
In a recent review of powder mixing tech- the study of solids mixing but the results of
nology the statement was made that powder this effort have not yet been applied in indus-
mixing is an important but academically un- trial practice.4
fashionable subject in the United States.3 In Opinions differ as to why the industrial
the book that was being reviewed there was a community is apparently unwilling to learn
570 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
from academic research into powder mixing. studies would eventually be organized along
Some scientists have said that the reason is classic scientific lines with clear-cut determin-
that the university investigations have been istic equations that can be applied to the pow-
too abstract and of little utility to the working der systems. This perspective on powder mix-
scientist. In my opinion the reasons why aca- ing is changing. It is now becoming obvious
demic knowledge has failed to have much im- that powder mixing is not amenable to the
pact on the industrial operations of powder classic investigation techniques in which one
mixing arises from two factors. The first is that seeks to first understand the basic mechanisms
much of the language used by the academic with the ultimate synthesis of such under-
scientist is inaccessible to the working technol- standing into a comprehensive theory of per-
ogist, because it involves advanced manipula- formance. Thus a great deal of time has been
tion of data and the use of decision making spent on studying the mixture of red and white
concepts not normally developed in the back- glass beads of the same size. Such studies only
ground of people who have the responsibility indicate the efficiency of randomization in a
of the day-to-day mixing of industrial powders. given mixing system but it is of absolutely no
Second, much of the powder mixing research use in predicting the mixing efficiency of a set
undertaken in the academic world has been of powders of different physical properties and
based on the assumption that powder mixing different sizes. For example, in the case of
Product Considerations
jm- Explosion
Safety ^
Inhalation
of Fugative ingredients
Avoiding product
contamination
Powder Richness between batches
Mixer Monitor
L j. J
Delivery to process
or packaging
Figure 11.2. A successful strategy for achieving a specified level of powder mixing must take into account
many factors.
MIXING OF POWDERS 571
many cohesive powders electrostatic effects mixer may not be reliable for scale up, therefore an
are very important whereas in the study of the effective design procedure employing both heuris-
intermingling of glass beads, forces are of little tics and algorithms needs to be developed."13
consequence. It is now becoming clear that
the number of factors that interact during the The perspective of this chapter is that one
operation of a powder mixing system are so needs to adopt a holistic approach to powder
varied, and their interaction so complex, that mixing. The assembly of the ingredients prior
powder mixing should properly be regarded as to the operation of the mixer and the subse-
a branch of mechanics to which, in the last few quent handling of the mixture are all part of
years, the name deterministic chaos or simply the problem of achieving a satisfactory mix-
chaos has been applied.5"11 ture of different ingredients. Knowing the per-
The discipline of deterministic chaos has formance characteristics of mixing equipment
emerged over the last 15 years as a study of must be accompanied by the technologist hav-
systems that, although in essence are deter- ing a broad-based knowledge of the powder
ministic (predictable), the process of predic- systems and their behavior before one can
tion is so complex and the progress of a system hope to achieve a satisfactory process.
so sensitive to initial conditions, that in prac- At the beginning of any planning session
tice the exact behavior of a system cannot be concerned with the production of mixtures of
predicted with any high accuracy. One can powders one should use the chart shown in
only predict probable behavior within a broad
range of expectations. When discussing fluid
r
mixing Oldshue, an expert in the area of fluid .' ^7?
mixing, states: 1 •
• .»•
Figure 11.2 as a focus in a protocol planning stearate can cause agglomeration during the
session to see if one has thought of all the mixing process. Sometimes a powder ingredi-
variables and arranged for all the information ent will be unsatisfactory in a powder mixture
retrieval that one needs within a given process. and it may be that the manufacturer of the
In the evolution of mixing strategies one should powder can change the shape or size of the
remember that one can make complex ma- powder to facilitate the mixing process. For
chines to achieve rapid mixing. However, the example, some pharmaceutical powders are
cost of cleaning the equipment between spray dried and others are precipitated and
batches if more than one mixture is to be dried. The two different processes result in
handled is an important aspect of the cost powders having the same size specification but
effectiveness of any mixing procedure. Thus, very different physical properties.
sometimes one can have a very efficient mixer I have been involved in a situation where a
but the cost of cleaning it between batches of mixer, which had been performing satisfacto-
different drug products is prohibitively expen- rily, suddenly started to malfunction. The mal-
sive and one must look for an alternate mixing function was finally traced back to the fact
strategy. In the course of a powder mixing that the maker of the powder had changed
investigation the type of information that will from ball milling to attrition milling in the
be needed for planning an optimum strategy manufacture of the powder. This had changed
will include the flow properties of the powder, the shape characteristics of the powder even
particle size distribution of the powder, and though the powder met the specifications im-
whether it is dry or not. Sometimes a powder posed upon the vendor by the purchaser. Thus,
can look as if it is dry but may contain up to in any mixing situation one should keep a
10% to 15% of moisture. This moisture, when catalogue of the size, shape, and even manu-
the powder is tumbled, can initiate a sponta- facturing processes of the powders being
neous agglomeration of the grains that inter- delivered.
feres with the mixing process. Sometimes a In many situations one needs to be able to
powder has also been treated with a surface sample powder from a mixer to see if it is
conditioning material before it is delivered to performing satisfactorily and all of the precau-
the factory. Thus, many pigment powders have tions with regard to the efficient sampling
been treated with stearate to promote the flow outlined in Chapter 1 should be followed to
of the powder system and the presence of such make sure that the sample ultimately studied
a)
Powder Bed
Figure 11.4. In a tumbling mixer the position of the grains of the powder ingredients are randomized by the
randomizing rods and the turbulence in the transient fluidized bed created by the falling powder. This type of
mixer can sometimes create a mixture in which the properties of the ingredients are at the desired level but the
dispersion of the ingredients within the sample structure is not at the desired level because there are no internal
shear forces to disperse local pockets of high concentration of a particular ingredient, (a) Appearance of a simple
tumbling mixer, (b) When the mixer is inverted, the falling powder interacts with the upward displaced air and the
randomizing rods to create a transient, turbulent, fluidized bed in which the mixing occurs.
MIXING OF POWDERS 573
Feed
a)
Product
^ __ Uppper pins
b)
Lower pins
— Cleaning plow
Product chute
Figure 11.5. The Centri-flow mixer is a continuous mixer with vigorous dispersion by high shear forces generated
between a rapidly rotating set of pins and a stationary set of pins.15 (a) Schematic of feed blending systems used in
the Centri-flow mixer, (b) Exploded view of the Centri-flow mixer showing the two sets of pins and the cleaning
plows.
574 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Spray bar
(b)
§ e ui m e n t hi
Hf KV 1 P ' gh-speed paddles of various shape, rotate rapidly to create a
dturbulent zone m which the powder mixing takes place, («) Schematic of the Forberg mixer." (6) The
Littleford mixer showing (i) the overall system, (ii) plow paddles, and (iii) intensifier choppers "•«
MIXING OF POWDERS 575
11.3b. If the black squares represent drug industry). To improve the quality of the mix-
flneparticles in a starch matrix both samples ture such as that depicted in Figure 11.3b
represent adequate mixtures for the purposes usually requires the use of high-shear force
of drug delivery via a tablet, but if the samples over not more than several diameters of the
represent a pigmented plastic mixture then the flneparticles to be dispersed. Many industrial
color appearance of the two samples would be mixing machines have no component structure
different. (In fact color consistency of dis- capable of applying such shear forces and so
persed powder mixtures in technologies such cannot improve the intimacy of a powder mix.
as cosmetics manufacture is a major problem Consider, for example, the operation of a tum-
limiting the quality control capacity of the bler mixer of the type shown in Figure 11.4a.
A \ft\ ri )c\
(a)
(b)
Figure 11.7. In ribbon blenders, complicated, extended paddle systems rotate relatively slowly to move the powder
ingredients back and forth and intermingle them. 17 ' 20 ' 21 ' 29 ' 30 (a) Four different types of randomizing ribbon mixers
are made by J. H. Day Company.17 (b) An overview of a ribbon mixer.
576 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
When the tumbler is inverted the powder cas- der mixture. The Forberg mixer contains a
cades down the body of the mixer, creating a twin paddle system as shown in Figure 11.6a.
transient fluidized bed. The internal turbu- Very rapid mixing of materials such as dry
lence of this bed is the main mechanism creat- soap mixes and other food products has been
ing the powder mixture. (Note: sometimes the successfully accomplished with this type of
particle kinetics in the transient fluidized bed equipment. For some purposes it has been
generates electrostatic forces that enhance the found useful to mount ancillary rods travers-
mixing action of mixing machines.) The ran- ing the mixer as shown in Figure 11.6a so that
domized action may create an adequate mix- impacting ingredients stirred up by the pad-
ture from the aspect of the gross properties of dles can be deagglomerated. The item labeled
a sample taken from the mixer but the inter- a flow distortion bar in this diagram is also
nal structure of the powder mixture may not known as an intensifier because it increases
be adequate and there are no shear-creating the efficiency of the mixing process. It will be
elements within the mixer. Sometimes tech- noted that this system also incorporates a de-
nologists will operate simple mixers such as vice for adding liquid to the powder ingredi-
those shown in Figure 11.4 long after the
mixer has achieved all the intermingling of the
ingredients that the machine is capable of. SC style Helicone® Mixer
This is done in the hope of improving the
internal structure of the mixture. A far better
strategy is to split the mixing process into two
stages. The ingredients are first randomized in
a mixer such as that shown in Figure 11.4 and
then emptied through a high-shear disperser
of the type shown in Figure 11.5. (An ordinary
pin mill can also be used as high-intensity
shearing dispersion equipment.) The failure of
a powder mixing process can often be traced
to the lack of adequate shear forces in the
internal structure of the powder mixer.
ents. The addition of liquid is sometimes an driven independently of the movement of the
integral part of an ultimate mixture; in other high-speed paddles. It will be noted that the
cases the liquid is added to stabilize the mix- end of the paddles in the Littleford mixer are
ture to prevent segregation when the system is plow shaped so that the walls of the mixing
emptied from the mixer. Another type of mixer chamber are continually cleaned by the rota-
in which the rotation of the dispersing paddles tion of the paddles. These plows do create
is so intense that the ingredients are sus- some shearing action but there may not be
pended in the moving air to create a turbulent sufficient shearing action if an infinite mix of
mixture is the Littleford mixer shown in cohesive powders is required.
Figure 11.6b. (Note this mixture is known in In a different type of active mixer, instead
Europe by the term Lodige mixer.) The prac- of sets of paddles rotating to create the mixing
tice of changing the name of equipment when action, a long complicated single paddle in the
it is licensed to a North American distributor form of a mounted ribbon of material is used
from Europe and vice versa is confusing be- to disperse the ingredients of the mixture. This
cause the relationship between the different type of mixer is known as a ribbon mixer and
names of the same mixer style is not always the details of the different types of ribbon
obvious.17'18 To increase the rate of mixing paddles that are available for these types of
and to disperse agglomerates that can exist in mixes are shown in Figure 11.7a. Ribbon
the ingredients, so-called intensifier choppers blenders of the type shown in Figure 11.7
are mounted in the side of the mixture and move much more slowly than the high-speed
a) b) (i)
Figure 11.9. The Nauta® mixer uses a single convective lift screw that also rotates around the conical blending
chamber.25 (a) Schematic of the Nauta® mixer, (b) Three types of currents are created in the Nauta® mixer: (i)
motion around the screw, (ii) motion around the mixing chamber, and (iii) convection currents from the bottom to
the top of the chamber.
578 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
paddle mixers shown in Figure 11.6. They are Figure 11.8 and the Nauta® mixer shown in
widely used in the food industry and the phar- Figure 11.9 should be dedicated to a given
maceutical industry. Unless the ribbons are product line.19'24'25 All of the mixers discussed
carefully designed, ribbon blenders can have so far are available in different volume capac-
dead pockets in some parts of the mixer, espe- ity and different screw paddle, etc., config-
cially near the ends of the mixer close to the urations.
axis of rotation.20"23'32 In the Nauta® mixer the ingredients to be
A vertical type of ribbon mixer is the Heli- intermingled are placed in a large conical ves-
cone® mixer shown in Fig 11.8.24'19 As mixers sel. A lift screw rotates around the conical
become more complicated in their internal chamber creating convection and lift currents
structure they become more difficult to clean, as illustrated in Figure 11.9.26'27 Another type
especially if trace contamination from one of mixer making use of lift screws is manufac-
mixing product to another is important and tured by Prater Industries Inc.
sometimes it is recommended that mixers as Other types of active mixers are not
complicated as the Helicone® mixer shown in equipped with internal moving parts but the
a)
Sample Cups
Rotation
Unmixed Powder
Figure 11.10. In Y and V mixers, mixing occurs when the powder divides and flows turbulently as the mixer is
turned back and forth. 29 " 31 (a) Y mixer at the start of the mixing process, (b) When inverted the mixer is said to
be in the Lambda (A) position.
MIXING OF POWDERS 579
Tumbling Drum
Sample
Cup
Sample
Jar
Powder
Porous plate
Air in
Figure 11.13. The operation of a simple fluidized bed leads to turbulent mixing of the powder forming the bed.
DUST COLLECTOR
CONVEYING LINE
(UNBLENDED MATERIAL)
THE BLENDER CAN BE
CONSTRUCTED OF BLACK
STEEL, STAINLESS STEEL BIN
OR ALUMINUM
BIN SUPPORTS
Figure 11.15. The Airmerge® blender and homogenizing silo both employ air fluidization to achieve mixing of
powders, (a) The Airmerge® system manufactured by Fuller-Kovako Corp. has a completely fabric-covered
fluidized bottom divided into four quadrants that are fluidized in sequence to achieve strong, varying convection
currents, (b) The homogenizing silo system uses aeration pads on the silo floor divided into eight segmented areas.
This silo also fluidizes the segments in sequence resulting in turbulent convection currents.
582 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
fluidized bed where there is rapid random free fluidized mixing units exist. Because of the
movement of the turbulently suspended grains. diversity of its application the bed is usually
The logical extension of this fact is that flu- designed for a specific process and is not avail-
idized bed mixing should be very efficient mix- able as a standard line product. Several flu-
ing and some fluidized bed mixers have been idized beds are purposely built for the phar-
developed of the type illustrated in Figure maceutical industry.37 In Figure 11.14 the
11.13.36'37 When describing systems such as Airmix® mixer is shown. This equipment
those shown in Figure 11.13 Harnby states makes use of intermittent fluidization created
that fluidization is caused by the passage of a by pulsed air jets at the base of the mixing
gas through a bed of particles. In such a chamber.38'40
system the bulk density of the powder is re- Similar mixers known as Dynamic Air
duced and the mobility of the individual parti- Blendcon are available from Dynamic Air
cles is increased. If the gas flow is sufficiently Conveying Systems.39'41 Another mixer that
large there will be considerable turbulence employs fluidization to achieve mixing is the
within the bed and the combination of turbu- Airmerge System®, manufactured by the Fuller
lence and particle mobility can produce excel- Company.42
lent mixing. A constant danger in the fluidized The basic operational principles of the
mixer is that if the turbulence is not complete Airmerge® system are illustrated in Figure
then the constituent particles can readily seg- 11.15a. The various quadrants at the base of
regate owing to variable settling. He goes on the mixing chamber are alternately the source
to state that very few commercially available of fluidizing air, with the variation in these air
Figure 11.16. The Kenics® Static Mixer uses right- and left-handed "butterfly twisters" to achieve a structured,
total processing intermingling of initially totally segregated feed components.
MIXING OF POWDERS 583
currents creating turbulence and freedom of been particularly successful in the mixing of
motion to achieve rapid mixing.42 A very simi- powder systems, their main utility having been
lar piece of equipment used on a larger scale in the area of liquid mixing.37'43'45 The typical
to homogenize large supplies of material such passive mixer manufactured by Chenincer Inc.
as cement and flour has been described by is shown in Figure 11.16. In this mixer ran-
Harnby and it is shown in Figure 11.15b.37 domization of the moving powder is achieved
Fluidization mixing is basically of use only by a series of left- and right-handed butterfly
when mixing relatively free flowing powders twists opposed to each other in sequence as
because it is not easy to fluidize cohesive pow- illustrated in the figure.44 Other passive mix-
ders. One should also be concerned with the ers using different randomizing elements
potential for dust explosions when operating placed in the system in sequence are available
fluidized bed systems. from several manufacturers.46"49'51'52
In passive mixers the ingredients to be in- A different type of passive mixing system
termingled are brought in contact with each used on a large scale with free-flowing pow-
other by passing the material through a series ders is the system known as a gravity blender.
of randomizing veins. Passive mixers have not In this type of mixer, material from different
b) Vent
a)
Diverter Slide
Valve
Lift
Pipe
Rotary
Valve
Feed
Drain
Figure 11.17. Gravity bin mixers are used in the processing industry to homogenize bin contents flowing into an
industrial process.63 (a) Young's bin mixing system.58'63 (b) Fluidized bin mixer described by Stein using passive
mixing from diverter pipes, moving down in the sketch, and pneumatic recirculation currents. 55
584 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
parts of a storage hopper are drawn by feed Surprising Patterns of Science and Technology. VCH
Publishers, Weinheim, Germany (1993).
pipes into a central area where they mingle to
11. B. H. Kaye, A Randomwalk Through Fractal Dimen-
produce a mixture suitable for industrial pro- sions. VCH Publishers, Weinheim, Germany (1989).
cessing as it comes out of the exit portion of 12. J. Y. Oldshue, "Mixing," Ind. Eng. Chem.
the storage device.53"63 In Figure 11.17a a 60(ll):24-35 (1968).
proprietary design of a bin mixer patented by 13. L. T. Fan and Yi-M. Chen, "Recent Developments
in Solid Mixing," Powder Technol. 67:255-287
Young is shown.58 This type of mixer is pri-
(1990).
marily used in industry for homogenization of 14. B. H. Kaye, 1991. "Optical Methods for Measuring
the contents of a bin going to an industrial the Performance of Powder Mixing Equipment,"
process and is not useful for mixing intimately Presented at the Bulk Powder Solids Conference,
cohesive powders. Some installations are hy- Rosemont, May 6-9, 1991. Proceedings published
by Cahners Exposition, Cahners Plaza, 1350 East
brid mixers using the principles of gravity bin
Touhy Ave., P.O. Box 5060, Des Plaines, IL,
mixers with pneumatic recirculation of the 60019-9593.
contents to promote better homogenization. 15. Centriflow disc mixer is available from J. H. Day &
Thus in Figure 11.17b a bin mixer with pneu- Company; see Ref. 19.
matically activated recirculation of the con- 16. The Forberg mixer was manufactured by Halvor
tents is shown. This type of mixing system has Forberg A.S., Hegdal, N3261, Larvik, Norway. It is
no longer being manufactured.
been extensively reviewed by de Silva and 17. Littleford Day Inc., 7451 Empire Drive, Florence,
colleagues.9'63 KY 41042.
18. Lodige Mixer available from Geruber Lodige,
GmbH, Elenser Strasser P 0A790 Paderborn 1,
Germany.
19. Conical mixers are available from J. H. Day &
REFERENCES Company, 4932 Beech Street, Cincinnati, OH
45212.
1. B. H. Kaye, Powder Mixing. Chapman & Hall, 20. Ribbon mixers are also manufactured by several
London (1996). companies including Beardsley and Piper Process,
2. B. H. Kaye, "Using an Expert System to Monitor Equipment Division, 5501 W. Grand Avenue,
Mixer Performance," Powder Bulk Eng. Vol. 5, Chicago, IL 60639. Every year the May issue of the
No. 1, 36-40. controlled circulation magazine Powder and Bulk
3. H. L. Toor, Book review, in Am. Sci. 75:594 (1987). Engineering is dedicated to powder mixing and this
4. J. C. Williams, "Mixing, Theory and Practice," in issue has a comprehensive listing of the manufac-
Mixing of Paniculate Solids, Vol. 3, edited by V. W. turers of powder mixing equipment.
Uhl and J. B. Gray, p. 314, Academic Press, San 21. Ribbon blenders are manufactured by SCOH
Diego (1986). Equipment Company, 605 Fourth Avenue N.W.,
5. Y. Tsuji, "Discrete Particle Simulation of Gas-Solid New Prague, MN 56071.
Flows," Kona, 77:57-68 (1993). 22. Ribbon and other mixers available from Teledyne-
6. C. J. Broadbent, J. Bridgwater, D. J. Parker, S. T. Redco, 901 South Richland Avenue, P.O. Box
Keningley, and P. Knight, "A Phenomenological M-552, York, PA 17405.
Study of a Batch Mixer Using a Positron Camera," 23. Koch Engineering Company, Static Mixing Divi-
Powder Technol 76:317-329 (1993). sion, 161 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.
7. J. A. C. Gallas, J. J. Herrmann, and S. Sokolowski, The Koch mixing unit is manufactured under
"Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Powder License from Sulzer Chemtech Mixing and Reac-
Fluidization in Two Dimensions," Physica A tion Technology Ltd., CH, 8401 Winterthur,
759:437-446 (1992). Switzerland.
8. G. C. Barker, Computer Simulations of Granular 24. A Helicone™ mixer is available from Design Inte-
Materials in Granular Matter, An Interdisciplinary grated Technology Inc., 100 E Franklin Street,
Approach, edited by A. Mehta, Springer-Verlag, Warrenton, VA 22186.
New York, pp. 35-83. In this communication segre- 25. Nauta® mixers are available from Hosokawa Mi-
gation in a powder mixture is simulated on a cron Group, 10 Chatham Road, Summit, NJ 07901.
computer. Nauta® is a registered trademark of Hosokawa
9. M. R. Stein, "Gravity Blenders: Storing and Blend- Micron International Inc.
ing in One Step," Powder Bulk Eng., pp. 32-36 26. L. Hixon and J. Ruschmann, "Using a Conical
(1990). Screw Mixer for More than Mixing," Powder Bulk
10. B. H. Kaye, Chaos and Complexity. Discovering the Eng. 6(1) (1992).
MIXING OF POWDERS 585
27. W. J. B. van der Bergh, B. Scarlett, and Z. I. a Radioactive Tracer Technique," Powder Technol
Kollar, "Computer Simulation Model of a Nauta® 4:345-350 (1970-71).
Mixer," Powder Technol 77:19-30 (1993). 46. KOMAX Systems, Inc., 1947 E. 223rd Street, Long
28. Prater Industries Inc., 1515 South 55 Court, Beach, CA 90810.
Chicago, IL 60650. 47. Charles Ross & Son Company, 710 Old Willets
29. V. Mixers are available from Patterson-Kelley Co., Path, Hauppauge, NY 11787.
Division of Harsco Corp., East Stroudsberg, PA 48. Toray Industries Inc., 3 to 3 Nakanoshima Kita-ku,
18301. Osaka 530, Japan.
30. V Mixers and Double Cone Mixers are available 49. Lightning Mixer Equipment Co. Inc., 128 Mount
from the General Machine Company of New Road Blvd., Rochester, NY 14603.
Jersey, Inc. (GEMCO), 55 Evergreen Avenue, 50. R. H. Nielsen, N. Harnby, and T. D. Wheelock,
Newark, NJ 07114. "Mixing and Circulation in Fluidized Beds of
31. V Mixers and Ribbon mixers available from O'Hara Flour," Powder Technol 32:71-86 (1982) describes
Manufacturing Ltd., 65 Skagway Avenue, Toronto, the use of Cabosil added to the flour to facilitate
Canada, M1M 3T9. fluidization and minimum fluidization velocity.
32. Ribbon and other mixer systems available from 51. Statitec Mixing Systems, EMI Inc., P.O. Box 912,
Munsun Machine Company Inc., 210 Seward Clinton, CT 06413. The passive mixer available
Avenue, Utica, NY 13503. from Statitec is known as the Statiflo mixer.
33. Mulling equipment is available from National 52. D. A. Pattison, "Motionless Inline Mixers Stir Up
Engineering Company, 20 North Wacker Drive, Broad Interest, Chem. Eng. 11:94 (1969).
Chicago, IL 60606. 53. D. J. Cassidy, B. G. Scribens, and E. E. Michaelides,
34. The Turbula® system was developed by Willy A. "An Experimental Study of the Blending of Granu-
Bachofen A.G., Maschin en fabrik, C.H. 4005 Basel, lar Materials," Powder Technol 72:177-182 (1992).
Utengasse 15, Switzerland. Available in North 54. J. R. Johanson, "In Bin Blending," Chem. Eng.
America from Glen Mills Inc., 395 Allwood Prog. 66(6):50-55 (1970).
Avenue Road, Clifton, NJ 07012. 55. M. R. Stein, "Gravity Blenders: Storing and Blend-
35. The AeroKaye® mixer is manufactured by Amherst ing in One Step," Powder Bulk Eng., Vol 4, No. 1,
Process Instruments Inc., Mountain Farms, Tech- pp. 32-36 (1990).
nology Park, Hadley, MA 01035-9547. 56. A. W. Roberts, "Storage and Discharge of Bulk
36. L. T. Fan and Y-M. Chen, "Recent Developments Solids from Silos with Special Reference to the Use
in Solid Mixing," Powder Technol 67:255-287 of Inserts," POSTEC-Research Report, May 1990.
(1990). 57. A. W. Roberts, "Design of Bins and Feeders for
37. N. Harnby, M. F. Edwards, and A. W. Anti-segregation and Blending," in Proceedings of
Nienow, Mixing in the Process Industries, 2nd edit. the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Bulk
Butterworth, London (1992). Materials Handling—Towards the Year 2000,
38. Air mixers are available from Andritz Sprout-Bauer London 1991.
Inc., Muncy, PA 17756. This equipment is manu- 58. H. T. Young, Apparatus for Gravity Blending
factured in the United States under license from of Particulate Solids, U.S. Patent No. 4,353,652,
Gebruder Grunkg Lissberg, Germany. October 12, 1982.
39. Dynamic Air Conveying Systems, 1125 Walters 59. C. E. Roth, Blending System for Dry Solids, U.S.
Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55110. Patent 4,358,207, November 9, 1982.
40. V. A. Fauver and A. E. Hodel, "Pulsed Air Blender 60. I. A. S. A. Peschl, "Universal Blender—A Blending
Produces Uniform 15 Ton Lots in 20 Minutes," and Mixing for Cohesive and Free Flowing
Chem. Proc. (1986). Powders," Bulk Solids Hand. 6(3) (1986).
41. Blendicon is available in Canada from Ward Iron 61. H. Wilms, "Blending Silos. An Overview," Powder
Works, Ltd., 1223 Victoria Street, P.O. Box 511, Hand. Proc. 4(3) (1992).
Welland, Ontario, L3B 5R3. 62. J. W. Carson and T. A. Royal, 1991. "Techniques
42. Fuller-Kovako Corporation, 3225 Schoeperville of In-Bin Blending," in International Conference
Road, P.O. Box 805, Bethlehem, PA 18016-0805. on Bulk Materials Handling—Towards 2000, 1
43. J. M. Ottino, "The Mixing of Fluids," Sci. Am. Mech. E., London.
56-67, Vol. 260, No. 1 (1989). 63. K. S. Manjunath, S. R. de Silva, A. W. Roberts, and
44. Chemineer Inc. manufactures a passive mixer S. Ballestad, "Determination of the Performance
known by the trade name Kenics® Static Mixer. of Gravity Blenders with Emphasis on Plane Sym-
125 Flagship Drive, North Andover, MA 01845. metric Designs. POSTEC-Research Report
45. L. T. Fan, S. J. Chen, N. D. Eckhoff, and C. A. 921600-2, June 1992. Available from POSTEC Re-
Watson, "Evaluation of a Motionless Mixer Using search A / S , Kjolues Ring, Porsgrunn, Norway.
12
Size Reduction of Solids
Crushing and Grinding
Equipment
L. G. Austin and O. Trass
CONTENTS
Machines for breakage of large lumps are gories, elastic and ductile, with the corre-
called crushers and machines for smaller sizes sponding failure under stress termed brittle or
are called mills, with a range of overlap where nonbrittle fracture, respectively. Consider a
either a fine crusher or a coarse mill can be simple tensile stress, as illustrated in Figure
used. The operation of crushing normally does 12.1. Stress is defined as a = F/A, and Figure
not give problems because the energy con- 12.2 shows the characteristics of elastic and
sumption and capital cost per ton per hour is ductile materials. An elastic material can be
not high. The principal requirement for crush- stressed, producing elongation, and the mate-
ers is a mechanical requirement—they must rial returns to its original shape when the
be very robust because of the high stress re- stress is removed. However, if the solid is
quired to crush a large lump. On the other stretched too far, catastrophic failure occurs
hand, fine grinding consumes a great deal of and the solid fractures at a stress termed the
energy and may lead to high abrasive wear, so
tensile strength. Ductile materials undergo a
the major scientific and technical problems are
partially irreversible stretching before failure
concerned with fine grinding and most current
occurs.
research is focused on these problems.
Elastic materials fail at small strain so or«
Before discussing the various types of com-
0-o and the strain-stress relation up to where
minution equipment in detail, it is invaluable
failure occurs is the empirical Hooke's law:
to have a clear idea of the fundamental physi-
cal laws involved in size reduction. These in-
volve the areas of fracture mechanics, particle- = Ye = Y- (12.1)
fluid dynamics, agglomerative forces (dry and
wet), and powder flow. The last four topics are
covered elsewhere in this book and are men- where Y is Young's modulus, s is strain. For a
tioned here only as they arise. Fracture me- perfect crystal Y depends on the orientation of
chanics are discussed in some detail. Since the the stress, but most brittle solids are polycrys-
objective of size reduction is to obtain a suit- talline with a random arrangement of crystal-
able product size, the accurate measurement lites, so Y is an effective isotropic elastic con-
of powder size distributions is a basic feature
stant. The work done on the solid to go from
of the process; this is also covered in detail
zero external stress to a stressed state by slowly
elsewhere. However, the prediction of size dis-
tributions and how they change with mill oper-
ation is dealt with in depth.
T xy dy dxdz
s
Tyzdzdxdy
sman plane in
the solid
Figure 12.3. Illustration of stress through a point in a Figure 12.4. Moments about a point in the zy plane:
stressed solid at equilibrium. material outside square acts on material inside.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 589
T = (12.7)
fined by a in Figure 12.6a, and imagine the
shaded differential element of solid at equilib-
rium to be acted on by forces from the outside where /3 is now a general direction variable
material, as shown. Because the element is a (angle) measured from the new axes and a, r
differential element, the forces are uniform are the stresses at angle /3 (at angle a = p +
over the small lengths of side and represent a; see Figure 12.6d). These axes are called the
the forces at a point in the solid. The relative directions of principal stress and ax, or^ are
lengths along x,y, and the hypotenuse are the principal stresses.
cos a: sin a: 1, and since rxy = ryx a force bal- Eliminating p between Eqs. (12.6) and
ance gives (12.7) gives the equation of a circle, so the
relation between T and a at any angle p can
a = ax cos2 a + cry sin2 a + 2rxy cos a sin a
be represented by the Mohr circle as shown in
(12.3) Figure 12.7. The maximum shear stress occurs
in a direction of p = 45° ( = 135°) and
- a;, sin 2 a + r cos 2 a (12.4)
T == — xv
(12.8)
course, but the same ax, ay, rxy.
o- at TT = (or, + oj)/2 (12.9)
(c) (d)
Figure 12.6. Equilibrium stress conditions in a planar 135°
element. Figure 12.7. A Mohr stress circle for a planar system.
590 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
related to the normal stresses in the original where X, Y are the body forces in the x and y
coordinates by directions at the point.
crv + a;, The differential strains at point x,y are
(12.10) defined by ex = du/dx, ey = dv/dy for the
linear strains, where u is the change in x
Thus, knowing crx, cry, rxy at any point in the dimension from the nonstressed state at point
solid, the direction and magnitudes of the x, y; v is change in y dimension. The differ-
maximum shear stress, tensile stress, and com- ential planar shear strain yxy is illustrated in
pressive stress are readily calculated. Figure 12.9 and is defined by yxy = angular
A similar treatment 1 in three dimensions, deformation 6X + 62. Clearly 6X =
considering the six stress components, leads to (du/dy) dy/dy and yxy = yyx = du/dy +
Mohr circles for the three planes of principal dv/ dx. The empirical physical laws relating
stress as illustrated in Figure 12.8, where stress and strain are Hooke's law, ex = crx/Y,
(T3,a2, ai are principal stresses ranked in or- and the fact that a strain in the x direction
der of magnitude. It is concluded that the causes a proportional dimensional change in
maximum tensile stress has the magnitude and the y direction (stretching in x gives a con-
direction of the largest negative value of the traction in y, compression an expansion). Thus
three principal stresses and the maximum ey due to ex equals —vex, where v is Poisson's
shear stress occurs at 45° between the av a3 ratio ( « 0.25). For small elastic planar defor-
directions, with a magnitude given by Eq. mations the total strains are:
(12.8).
€
12.2.3 Differential Stress-Strain x =Y + \ p f ) (m3a)
Equations
e + (12 13b)
The second step is to find the values of y= Y (~P~Y) *
ax,ay, rxy at all points in a solid, since these Defining a modulus of rigidity G = Y/2(l +
can be converted to maximum stresses and v), it can be shown from Hooke's law that:
directions. For planar stress, a differential
force balance of a rectangular differential ele- 2(1 + v)
ment at position x, y in the solid gives Jxy = rxy/G = rxy (2.14)
0 = •yx
(12.11) Using the definitions of strain
dx dy
d\ d\ d2yxv
day, dr,xy
0 = —- + + Y (12.12) dx2 dxdy
dy dx
dy stressed
v
non- stressed
Figure 12.8. Mohr principal stress circles for a three- Figure 12.9. Illustration of differential strains at a point
dimensional solid. x, y in a planar solid.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 591
and from Eqs. (12.13) and (12.14) dimensional tension. The tension stretches the
bonds between the molecules, as illustrated in
+ dx2 Figure 12.10, where the arrows indicate inter-
dx2
molecular attractive-repulsive forces. In the
2(1 + v) stretched state, any molecule still has a bal-
(12 15
Y ,dxdy
, - > ance of forces on it but, as Figure 12.10b
If the body forces are known, Eqs. (12.11), shows, the movement away from the non-
(12.12), and (12.15) are three simultaneous stressed equilibrium against attractive forces
differential equations in the unknowns requires addition of energy (integral of
ax,ary, rxy. They are solved using the stress force X distance) and the solid reaches a new
and/or strain boundary conditions, that is, the equilibrium at a higher energy state (stored
stress-strains imposed on the solid from exter- strain energy). The maximum attractive force
nal action. For negligible X, Y the solution that the solid can exert on the surface layer is
procedure is to define the Airy stress function the inflection point of the potential energy
F(x,y) such that ax=d2F/dy2 and ay = curve since force = d(energy)/d(separation
82F/dx2, for then rxy = - d2F/dxdy and distance), and an external tension that exceeds
from Eqs. (12.13) and (12.15) (d4F/dy4) + this maximum causes an unbalance of forces
(d4F/dx4) + 2{d4F/dx2dy2) = 0. Solving this and acceleration of one plane of molecules
equation with the transformed boundary con- away from another. The solid would catas-
ditions gives F(x,y) and ax, cry,Txy follow by trophically disintegrate at all planes in the
double differentiation. Equivalent but more solid. Assuming Hooke's law to apply up to the
complex equations exist for three dimensions. inflection point, the strain energy per unit
The strain energy above the nonstressed state volume of solid is, from Eq. (12.2), a2/2Y.
is calculated from The area produced per unit volume is 2N
where TV is the number of planes per unit
crzez Txyyxy length; N equals 1/d where d is the interpla-
nar spacing. Thus,
(12.16)
(Repulsion
i i i
Applied external tension
Separation in direction
of tension
(a) (b)
Figure 12.10. Illustration of forces between molecules in a solid, (a) Cohesive forces; (b) energy of position.
592 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
must underestimate the ideal strength since where a is the ellipse axis in the y direction, b
Hooke's law underestimates the force re- in the x direction. For an elliptical hole with
quired to reach the inflection point. Since y is its long axis perpendicular to the stress direc-
known for simple solids, it is readily shown tion, a is greater than b, and stress concentra-
that the tensile force for real fracture is orders tion can be very high if a » b.
of magnitude less than ideal. Griffith2'3 argued that real solids contain
The concept of stress concentration or stress many minute flaws corresponding to the
intensity factor can be illustrated by consider- three-dimensional equivalent of the elliptical
ing a planar solid containing a small hole, holes discussed above and that these points of
under a uniform externally applied tensile weakness initiate cracks at stress levels much
stress of S in the x direction and zero in the y below ideal. He made four basic assumptions:
direction. Without the hole, the solution is (1) that stress concentration occurs at the tip
intuitively obvious as ax = S, ay = 0, rxy = 0 of the flaw, (2) that the solid is stressed to
for all values of x and y. With a small hole of where the intermolecular bonds at the tip are
radius a present (see Fig. 12.11), the added stretched to breaking point, (3) that the stress
boundary condition is state is reproduced at the tip for an infinites-
imal expansion of the flaw and, (4) that energy
for expanding the flaw as a propagating crack
is available because the solid cannot immedi-
since there is no external stress inside the ately relax from its externally applied stressed
hole, and the solution is: or strained state. The solution of the
stress-strain equations for a long ellipse gives
the extra strain energy due to the presence of
the ellipse as Az TTC2<J2/Y where c is the long
(12.18) half-axis, that is, half the crack length, and
Az is the crack width. Thus, dwx/dc =
which gives a maximum stress of 35 in the x Az2irc(r2/Y. A sudden irreversible change
direction at 6 = 90° and 270°. Since a crack from c to c + dc at the instant of fracture is
will open up under tension it is reasonable to like a loaded solid suddenly expanding dc at
expect that the solid will fail by cracks starting constant load, so that the work done is twice
at the top and bottom of the hole and pro- the (reversible) strain energy, dw3/dc =
gressing in the ±y direction. The solution for 2Az 2TTC(T2/Y. The energy necessary to break
a small elliptical hole is more complex but bonds is Aye Az for a crack of half-length c,
gives a maximum stress of so dw2/dc = 4yAz. Using the principle of
virtual work, dw3 = dwx + dw2 at crack initia-
2a tion and the critical tensile strength is
OL^/S =1+ — (12.19)
(12.20)
rapidly expands, accelerating to high veloci- may run into a region of compression that
ties. The strength is lower than ideal because prevents further crack growth. Also, solutions
the bulk stress does not have to be sufficient of the stress-strain equations for simple com-
to break all the bonding forces at once, since pression of discs, cylinders in the "Brazilian"
only the bonds around the crack tip are break- radial mode of testing, and spheres, show that
ing at any instance of time. In addition, Eq. tensile stresses are present, with maximum
(12.20) is valid for a single flaw whereas the values along the loaded axis. Even for cubes
presence of many flaws close together will give and cylinders loaded along the axis, friction
further reductions in strength. between the loading platen and the sample
Obviously, pure compressive stress does not leads to nonuniform compressive stress and
cause the flaw to open and will not cause regions of tensile stress. Thus compressive
crack propagation, so tensile stress is neces- loading of irregularly shaped lumps or parti-
sary for brittle failure. It might be thought cles will certainly produce local regions of
that tensile stress will not exist under condi- tensile stress and, hence, brittle fracture.
tions of simple one-dimensional compression. Ductile materials, on the other hand, un-
However, a more detailed analysis considering dergo plastic deformation due to sliding of
all possible orientations of the flaws shows planes of solid over one another, with the
that tensile stresses are produced at the tip of fundamental mechanism being that of move-
an ellipse at a suitable orientation even under ment of dislocations under stress gradients. In
conditions of bulk compression. The result for this type of movement, the bonding forces
a planar system with bulk normal stresses orl between planes are not broken all at once, but
and cr2 and flaws of a size that would give a only enough bonds are broken to allow the
tensile strength of TQ under one-dimensional dislocation to move to the next position, the
tension (with the crack axis perpendicular to bonds reform behind the dislocation, and so
the stress) is shown in Figure 12.12. The com- on, thus leading to slip of one plane over
pressive strength under one-dimensional com- another by a series of low-energy steps. We
pression is ST0, that is, compressive strengths have already seen that the maximum shear
of brittle materials, are about an order of force occurs at 45° to the direction of principal
magnitude higher than tensile strengths. stress, so plasticity and failure by shear will
Under combined stressed conditions the appear as illustrated in Figure 12.13. The slip
crack will propagate in a direction perpendicu- process appears as the region of yielding in
lar to the local tensile stress conditions and Figure 12.1, and is quite unlike the unstable
initiation of brittle failure. Slip may initiate
from a suitably oriented flaw that gives stress
concentration, but there is no opening of a
locus of fail-safe stress
combinations o~|£ »°~2C crack comparable to that under tensile stress.
However, other factors come into play once
plastic yield has commenced. The plastic slip
may cause part of the solid to act as a wedge,
thus creating tensile forces that then propa-
gate brittle fracture, as illustrated in Figure
Oj? Compression 12.13. Also, the movement of dislocations can
pile up dislocations at a grain boundary, thus
-| + < T 2 > O leading to a small hole that can nucleate a
Griffith crack. Highly ductile materials under
simple one-dimensional tensile loading will
Figure 12.12. Illustration of effect of combined stress
on failure from Griffith Flaws with simple tensile neck down, giving increased stress at the neck
strength of To: equations are equations of locus. and, eventually, complete slip failure with pos-
594 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
flaws to tensile fracture in the process. The to give yield, and vice versa. The slip surface is
size distribution of the suite of fragments pro- now along the direction of r - /JLCT > T 0 . The
duced on fracture is as important as the frac- value of /n is normally small so that the tensile
ture itself (see later), and there exists no known strength is fairly close to the compressive
theory for its prediction. Theory predicts, and strength, and slip surfaces tend to lie fairly
experiment confirms, that a fracture propagat- close to 45° to the principal stress directions.
ing under local tensile stress rapidly reaches From Eqs. (12.6) and (12.7) it is readily shown
high velocity (unless it reaches a zone of local that
compressive stress), of the order of the veloc-
ity of sound in the solid. This leads to a stress IJL = ° ~ ? (12.22)
wave that propagates from the crack tip and
this stress wave in turn initiates more fracture
at flaws in the path of the crack. This leads to where Co, To are the magnitudes of simple
bifurcation of the crack, with bifurcation of one-dimensional compressive and tensile
each of the new arms, and so on, to give a stresses required to give yield. It will be re-
"tree" of cracks through the solid (see Fig. membered that the maximum shear stress for
12.14). The energy associated with the rapidly principal stresses of cr-, ^ in two dimensions
moving stress wave is normally sufficient to is |or, — orx\2, so slip is aided by a combination
pass the crack through grain boundaries and of compressive and tensile stresses.
through regions of bulk compressive stress. A comparison between the failure of brittle
Ductile materials fail by initial shear, and it and ductile materials shows the following
is again necessary to find the magnitude and major features:
direction of shear at all points through the
solid. The Mohr-Coulomb criterion is that 1. Pure brittle failure is almost independent
failure occurs when shear stress reaches the of temperature, but as temperature in-
yield point given by creases to where dislocations are more
mobile, the failure may change to slip, and,
= T0 + (12.21) hence, lower strengths. Pure ductile failure
gives decrease of strength with increase of
where T 0 is the yield shear stress under condi- temperature owing to greater mobility of
tions of zero tensile or compressive stress per- dislocations. For brittle failure with a sig-
pendicular to the shear stress plane and /JL is nificant plastic energy term, strength in-
called the coefficient of internal friction. Equa- creases with temperature owing to the in-
tion (12.21) states that a high compressive crease of the plastic zone around the tip,
stress perpendicular to the shear plane will then decreases as failure changes to slip.
tend to prevent slip, thus requiring a higher r 2. For failure from Griffith cracks, a smaller
particle has a smaller probability of con-
taining a large flaw and will be relatively
stronger. Put another way, as brittle materi-
als break, the remaining fragments are
stronger because the larger flaws have bro-
ken out. On the other hand, failure by yield
is not very size-sensitive because the dislo-
cations are very small compared to lumps
or particle sizes.
3. The rate of stress application is more im-
portant with ductile materials than with
Figure 12.14. Tree of cracks in brittle failure. purely brittle materials, because a high rate
596 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
of stress application may give brittle failure to cool to very low temperatures, using liquid
whereas the same stress reached by slow nitrogen (77 K).
steps would give time for ductile behavior. There has been a great deal of misconcep-
4. Ductile materials demonstrate work hard- tion in the grinding literature concerning
ening, that is, initial deformation produces grinding energy. The previous discussions show
movement and pile-up of dislocations and that a strong solid must be raised to a higher
further deformation is more difficult. They state of stress for fracture to proceed, espe-
also demonstrate stress fatigue, again owing cially from applied compressive forces. Once
to the gradual accumulation of dislocations the fracture has initiated, only a fraction of
on repeated cycles of stress. the local stored strain energy around the
5. Loading of brittle materials with uniform propagating cracks is used to break bonds (the
triaxial compressive stress, hydrostatically y term). The fragments of solid are removed
for example, leads to greatly increased from external stress when the solid disinte-
strength by reducing local tensile forces grates, and the rest of the strain energy stored
and preventing cracks from opening. in the solid is converted to heat and sound.
Experiments on mills show that the fraction of
In the case of tough, rubbery materials, the the electric power input to the mill that is
best stress application for size reduction is the used directly to break bonding forces is very
scissors type of action, that is, a cutting action. small ( < 1%), usually less than the errors
This has three main features: (1) a large com- involved in the measurement of the energy
ponent of shear stress, (2) a high strain and balance. Rittinger's law,5 that the "energy of
stress caused by two forces applied in opposite size reduction is proportional to the new sur-
directions by the blades (or stator and rotor), face produced," has no correct theoretical
and (3) the creation of a surface flaw by the base.
very high local stress of a sharp blade pene- To make size reduction more energy effi-
trating the material. These features are illus- cient it is necessary to: (1) match the machine
trated in Figure 12.15. For rubbery polymers to the particles being broken, so that mill
with a substantial degree of crosslinking, which energy is efficiently transferred to stressing the
gives high shear strength, cooling the material particle; (2) get nonuniform stress conditions
to a low temperature can convert it to a brittle in the particles, because nonuniform stress
material, which can then be broken like other
generates local tensile stress to activate flaws
brittle materials. The action of the cooling is
to the point where fracture can initiate; and
to reduce the flexibility (ability to rotate and
(3) generate the right type of stress to match
bend) of the bonds joining the groups making
the failure characteristics of the material. The
up the polymer chains; it is normally necessary
specific energy consumption per unit of area
produced, for example, Joules/m 2 , can be used
as a comparative guide to efficiency, because a
higher value is certainly an index of more size
reduction per unit of energy input. It will not
necessarily be constant for a given machine
and material because it may increase or de-
crease with a greater degree of size reduction.
On the other hand, in many cases, the produc-
tion of extra fine material is undesirable, and
then the specific surface area of the product is
Figure 12.15. Illustration of shear-cutting actions. obviously not a good guide to mill efficiency,
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 597
because the specific surface area is con- edly the high reactivity of freshly fractured
tributed largely by the extra fine sizes. clean surfaces.
Feed
-l
- Bearing
Feed
Non-symmetric
Mantle
Product
Figure 12.16. One type of jaw crusher. Figure 12.18. Gyratory crusher.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 599
<rc = - — (12.23a)
Feed
trolled gap setting or controlled power to the discharge for continuous wet grinding, while
turning rod, so it is not always possible to discharge through slots or grates that retain
break large, strong lumps, which can then leave the balls is often used for continuous dry
in the overflow. The force available for frac- grinding. For grinding coal, the mill is swept
ture is increased by making the steel rods with hot air to dry the coal and the fine coal
heavier (larger diameter) and the mill diame- removed in the exit air stream. Ball mills can
ter larger, but this is limited by excessive dam- be used for very fine dry grinding by air sweep-
age to the mill lining by the falling rods. Thus, ing, with return of oversize particles to the
the feed to a rod mill is normally less than mill feed from a high-efficiency (rotary) size
about 25 mm in top size, depending on mate- classifier cutting at a small size to give a high
rial strength, It is normally used for wet grind- circulating load.
ing. Abrasive wear on the rods means that
worn-down rods must be removed and re-
12.3.4 Autogenous and
placed with fresh rods at suitable intervals.
Semi-Autogenous Mills
12.3.3 Tumbling Ball Mills Autogenous tumbling mills are similar in prin-
ciple to the tumbling ball mill, but use the
Figure 12.24 shows the tumbling ball mill, also material being broken as the breakage media.
a retention mill, which is very widely used for There are four major types. The first is essen-
dry and wet grinding to relatively fine sizes. tially identical in construction to a ball mill,
The principle is identical to that of the rod but the feed consists of two streams, a narrow
mill, but the maximum force available to break size range of lumps of rock (e.g., 75 mm X 150
large, strong lumps is even less, so the feed to mm) and the normal fine crushed feed. The
the mill is rarely larger than 10 mm for strong large rocks wear to round pebbles (hence, the
rock. Because of its great industrial impor- name pebble mills) on tumbling and then act
tance this type of mill has been widely investi- like steel balls on the rest of the feed. The
gated, and is discussed in detail below. Abra- feed rate of large rock is adjusted to keep a
sive wear is easily handled by topping up the suitable load of pebbles in the mill. The sec-
charge with fresh balls at frequent intervals ond type has a large diameter-to-length ratio
and it is not necessary to stop the mill to add (typically 2:1) and takes a natural crushed
the balls. The mill shown has an overflow feed containing rock typically up to 200 to 300
mm, with discharge through slots of typically
20 mm width. Since the feed rate has to be in
balance with the rate at which the large lumps
break themselves to less than 20 mm by their
own tumbling action, it is not possible to vary
the product size distribution over a wide range.
In fact, the third type, semi-autogeneous mills,
are identical but add some charge of large (4
in. = 100 mm) steel balls, typically a few per-
cent of the mill volume, to increase output
capacity. The Scandinavian countries and
South Africa use a variant of this type with a
smaller diameter-to-length ratio (typically 0.5
Grate Discharge
Ball Mill to 1), which behave like semi-autogeneous
pebble mills.
Although very similar to tumbling ball mills,
Figure 12.24. Illustration of a tumbling ball mill at rest. autogeneous and semi-autogeneous tumbling
602 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
mills have some distinct features in their into a shaking mechanism is similar in princi-
breakage action. Since rock has a lower den- ple and very useful for preparing laboratory
sity than steel, the power input per unit of mill samples of fine powders. The planetary or
volume is lower than in ball mills, so the centrifugal mill15'16 contains two or more ro-
equivalent ball milling action is reduced. How- tating cylinders partially filled with balls,
ever, a gradual decrease of the size of large mounted at the periphery (parallel to the axis)
lumps of rock is not a typical disintegrative of a bigger cylinder or frame that is also
breakage but has a major component of a rotated. The respective speeds of rotation are
chipping action in which pieces are broken off set by gears to use the centrifugal force of the
irregular feed shapes to give rounded material. outer rotation to throw the balls across their
The rounded lumps then abrade until the size cylinders as they rotate, thus replacing gravita-
is small enough to be broken by a larger lump. tional fall with much higher centrifugal force
Both chipping and abrasion give small product and also greatly increasing the number of balls
fragments, so the mills give suitable qualities moved per unit volume and time. A fairly
of finely ground material even when the prod- recently developed mill16 accomplishes the
uct contains substantial amounts of very coarse same purpose with a single horizontal mill
particles.11"14 Autogenous mills have lower ca- shell mounted on an eccentric (with counter-
pacity for a given mill volume than a ball mill balance weights), with the radius of gyration
and, hence, higher capital cost per unit of chosen to produce the effect of a centrifugal
output, but they do not have the continuing field moving around the mill with each gyra-
cost of replacement steel balls. The use of tion. This gives a high-force tumbling action of
semi-autogeneous mills allows the best eco- the ball charge but avoids the high force on
the drive produced by the vibrating ball mill
nomic balance to be reached between capital
and is much simpler mechanically than plane-
cost and cost of replacement steel.
tary mills. The power input and capacity per
The fourth type of autogeneous mill, the
unit volume of the mill is very high and it is
rotary breaker, is specific for coarse size re- suitable for underground treatment of ores in
duction of coal. It has the added feature that mining tunnels, thus saving millhouse con-
the cylinder case is lightweight and contains struction costs. Abrasive wear is high and the
many holes (typically 50 to 300 mm), so that mill is designed for rapid replacement of a
material broken less than the desired top size removable lining in the mill.
falls through and forms the product. Coal is
light enough and friable, enough that self- 12.3.6 Roller-Race Mills
breakage by tumbling gives high output with-
Figure 12.25 gives an example of the class of
out requiring a heavy shell to withstand
mills known as vertical spindle mills or roller-
pounding and abrasion.
race mills. The rotating table throws material
through the roller-race and the pulverized ma-
12.3.5 Vibrating / Planetary / Centrifugal terial passes over the rim and is swept up by
Ball Mills an air stream flowing through the annulus
between the rim and the case. The stream
There are two other variants of the ball mill. passes to a classifier that returns oversize to
In the vibrating ball mill the cylinder is not the table, so that the rollers are acting upon a
rotated to cause tumbling but is packed almost fairly thick bed of material. The basic action is
full with balls and mounted on an eccentric that the rotation of the race pulls material
that jerks it around the cylinder axis, thus under the roller, the roller is driven by this
causing the balls to vibrate in the cylinder. material, and the bed of material passing un-
The mechanical stresses on the drive are high der the roller is nipped and crushed as it
and the mill is not conveniently scaled to high passes through the gap between the roller and
continuous capacity. A small ball mill fitted the race. The rollers are loaded with massive
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 603
between the discs readily adjustable during then obtained, but at a cost of wall and media
operation. The force application is by shear wear.
and compression as particles move into the
narrower portions of the gap. There are sev- 12.3.10 Fluid Energy Mills
eral machines similar in principle but with
different plate geometry. Figures 12.28 and 12.29 shows types of fluid
energy mill, in which small particles are sus-
pended in high-velocity streams of air or steam
12.3.9 Stirred Media Mills
obtained by expansion through nozzles with
Figure 12.27 shows a sand mill or Attritor, inlet pressures of 5 to 10 atmospheres. In the
which consists of paddles turning in a bed of device illustrated in Figure 12.28, the tangen-
water and sand or small steel or ceramic balls. tial entry of high-velocity fluid creates a
The large number of grinding particles give doughnut of swirling particles and fluid in the
many breakage actions per unit time but the grinding chamber, which retains coarser parti-
breakage action is mild, and the mill is most cles by centrifugal action. The microturbu-
often used for comminution or deagglomera- lence of the gas stream causes high-speed
tion of small, relatively weak particles or ag- impact of particle-on-particle, and the cen-
glomerates, such as dyestuffs, pigments, clays, trifugal size classification allows only fine sizes
etc. A similar principle is used in the high- to leave the breakage zone. In Figure 12.29,
energy ball mill, with larger balls and high the opposed jets cause high-speed collision of
paddle speeds which give much higher forces the particles, and a size classifier and fan
and a high power input per unit of mill vol-
ume. These are used on a relatively small scale
for preparing mechanical alloys by dry grind- Hypothetical
Feed Injector Tangent Circle
ing of ductile metals. Larger versions are used
for fine grinding of limestone and other fairly
weak materials. In shear mills, slurry is flowing TOP
in a narrow annulus between a rotating drum VIEW
Feed
Particles ag or Product
in Liquid Bin
Figure 12.27. Stirred ball-particle mill: Attritor. Figure 12.28. Fluid energy mill: Sturtevant Micronizer.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 605
Finished
Product
•Screen
Rotary
Knife
Feed
12.4 THE ANALYSIS OF SIZE
REDUCTION PROCESSES
Compressed
Air,Steamfor Gas Opposed Jets 12.4.1 General Concepts
Figure 12.29. Fluid energy mill: Majac Jet Pulverizer. It is clear from the previous section that the
multiplicity of mill types and breakage actions
make it virtually impossible to formulate a
system in the device returns larger sizes into
general theory of the unit operation of size
the jet stream. The mills are designed to give
reduction. In most cases good mill design
fluid boundary layers on the containing sur-
has evolved by trial-and-error starting from
faces, to reduce particle impact on the sur-
common-sense applications of the concepts of
faces and the consequent abrasion. The spe-
fracture. However, for devices that reduce
cific energy consumption calculated from the
large tonnages of material, using substantial
energy required for air compression or steam-
electrical energy, there is considerable impe-
raising is high compared to mechanical
tus for accurate process design rules and for
grinders, but the mills are capable of produc-
techniques for optimization of the system. As
ing very fine material (e.g., - 5 /mm) and are
in other unit operations, it is invaluable to
used primarily for specialty grinding of high-
construct mathematical models of the opera-
value materials or where cheap waste steam is
tion to aid in its understanding and optimiza-
available.
tion. In the last decades, considerable ad-
vances have been made in this respect using
12.3.11 Shredders and Cutters concepts very similar to those of chemical
Figure 12.30 illustrates a whole class of mills reactor theory.17'18 The mill is considered
designed specifically for size reduction of tough equivalent to a reactor that accepts feed com-
but nonabrasive materials such as polyvinyl ponents (the set of feed sizes) and converts
chloride, Teflon, rubber, wood, etc. They rely them to products (the set of product sizes),
on the cutting action, like scissors, between and a size-breakage rate (population) balance
rotating and static sharp edges with narrow is performed on the reactor.
clearance. The efficiency of this type of mill is The rate at which a material breaks in a
highly dependent on maintaining sharp cutting mill depends on its particle size as well as its
edges. Shredders, for example, for waste strength characteristics. Normally, for any
paper, and hogs for waste wood and bark fit given mechanical action there will be particle
into this category. A number of mechanical sizes that are too big for efficient breakage
arrangements are used. because the action is not powerful enough,
606 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
W W
dt
n>i>j>l (12.27)
where W is the mass of powder in the mill and
bitj is the primary progeny fragment distribu-
tion in the interval form, bi}, = Bi}•, - Bi+lj.
o S 16x20 = 0.606 Min.-' This set of n equations is known as the batch
A S4Ox5O=O.29O Min" 1
S|40x200 s 0-088Min.-' grinding equation. If btj and St do not vary
with time, it has the solution:18'19
10 15 20
where the set of transfer numbers dt j is com- mill was plug flow, Eq. (12.27) would still apply
puted from the algorithms with a grind time r of r = W/F, F being the
mass flow rate through the mill. However,
(0 retention mills will generally have a residence
e-stt time distribution (RTD) defined by <£(0 dt =
=j
weight fraction of feed in at time 0 which
a
2^ i,kaj,k leaves between time t and t + dt. This is due
k=j to mixing in the mill which brings some feed
quickly to the discharge, while other material
is back-mixed to the feed end and leaves later.
• E "i,kaj,k
k=i Figure 12.34 gives an example determined by
using a pulse of radiotraced powder in the mill
l 'i feed and counting at the mill exit.21 Then the
^TT E $kbi,kak,j steady product size distribution will be made
up of material ground for all times over the
RTD range, in a weighted sum:18
The equations are programmed20 for compu-
tation on a PC, and the solution starts with
/ = 1, then / == 2, etc., using the feed size (12.28)
distribution w((0). Figure 12.33 shows the com-
puted solution compared to the smoothed ex-
where wt(t) is the solution of Eq. (12.27) for
perimental points for grinding of a narrow
the mill feed. For a fully mixed mill the mass-
feed size, using experimentally determined
rate balance is "the rate of flow size / out =
values for S and B.
rate of flow size / in plus rate of production of
Second, consider a retention grinding ma-
size / by breakage of all larger sizes minus rate
chine where the powder flows uniformly, is
of breakage of size /." Thus,
ground, and is then fine enough to exit through
an overflow or grate without preferential re- i i
tention of larger sizes. If the flow through the (12.29)
Rogers/Gardner
— Semi-infinite
COMPUTED
O EXPERIMENTAL
100
1 2
SIZE /im Dimensionless time, t*
Figure 12.33. Comparison of computed to experimen- Figure 12.34. Residence time distribution for a 4.57 m
tal size distributions for batch grinding. diameter X 9.2 m long wet overflow discharge ball mill.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 609
However, pj = Wj for a fully mixed system bled (k = 2), the required residence time is
with no size classification at the mill exit. halved. Thus, there can be similitude between
Using T = W/F a small mill and a large mill, with only a
/-i difference in time scale. The same result is
ft + r
£ hjsjPj obtained for batch or plug flow grinding, and
for Eq. (12.28) providing the RTD is normaliz-
able with respect to T, that is, 4>(t/r) is the
1+ same from one mill to another.
(12.29a) The use of these models is illustrated below.
This set of equations is readily computed se- Experimental measurement of the variation of
quentially starting at / = 1. the values of Sj with mill conditions is the
The variable used in the computations is the most explicit and logical means for describing
mean residence time T, and any model can be mill operation and mill efficiency.
computed for a range of r values. Since T = It is useful to have an approximate mill
W/F, the value of r that gives the desired model that is simple enough for quick-hand
product size also specifies the mass W neces- calculations. The results of Figure 12.33 allow
sary to get a desired production rate F. Then the deduction that Bond's "law"22 applies to a
the mill size needed to contain W is calcu- reasonable approximation,
lated. Of course, it is also necessary to have lOOjum 100 ^
equations that give mill power, in order to = mpt/W=El\
v
determine the specific energy of grinding. 80F
An important general conclusion can be (12.30)
reached by considering Eqs. (12.27) or (12.29)
applied to a comparison of two milling systems where m p is the shaft mill power, JC80P is
operating on the same feed. Suppose that the the size in micrometers at which 80% passes
B values are the same between the two sys- that size in the product, x 80F is the 80%-
tems, but that S values are different by a passing size of the feed, and the energy index
constant factor, S- = kSt. Using Eq. (12.29a) EY is determined from the data. E is the
as an example, applied to both mills, specific energy of grinding (kWh/ton) re-
quired to go from a specified feed of x 80F to a
desired product of JC80P. This empirical equa-
KisjPj tion enables rapid estimation of the grinding
time or specific energy to go from any feed to
(Mill 1)
any product, assuming that Ex is a constant. It
does not give any information on the size
p-= distribution of the product nor does it take into
account the size distribution of the feed. As
(Mill 2) might be expected, Ex is not closely constant
Substituting for S't in the second equation, from one mill to another, or for different mill
conditions. As used in practice, Ex is deter-
mined for a given material from an experi-
Pi ment under standard conditions23 using an
empirical correlating equation that converts it
(Mill 2)
to the value expected for an 8-ft diameter wet
Obviously, p\ = pt when krr = T, that is, an overflow ball mill operating in closed circuit.
identical set of size distributions is produced El is then known as the Bond Work Index WY,
in mill 2 as in mill 1 but with residence times which has the physical meaning of the hypo-
decreased by the factor k. If S values are dou- thetical kWh/ton necessary to go from a very
610 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
large feed to 80% passing 100 ^m, in the 8-ft These are used in conjunction with the appro-
diameter mill. Empirical correction factors priate mill model to predict the circuit product
based on prior experience are used to allow size distribution from a mill circuit
for different conditions and mill diameter.22 simulation.18
Figure 12.37 shows one interesting result
12.4.3 Mill Circuits: Classification from a simulation of a tumbling ball mill. If a
mill circuit is designed to produce a size distri-
In industrial practice, mills are frequently used
bution passing through a control point (if/%
in closed circuit, where the mill product is
passing size x*) from a given mill, then this
passed through a size classifier that gives two
specification can be met by a suitable feed rate
exit streams, a coarser stream returned to the
through a classifier with set st values, or by a
mill feed and a finer stream, which is the final
different feed rate with the classifier adjusted
product. The operation of the classifier is best
to cut at smaller sizes (and, hence, give more
described by the set of classifier selectivity
recycle and a larger C value). It is seen that
numbers, st, defined as the weight fraction of
there is a permitted band of size distributions
size / presented to the classifier that is sent to
through the control point, from C = 0 to C =
the coarse stream. These are readily calcu-
oo. Austin and Perez24 have shown that the
lated from experimentally measured size dis-
limiting (steepest) size distribution obtained at
tributions of the three streams.18 Figure 12.35
high circulating load depends only on the pri-
gives a typical example. It can be seen that a
mary progeny fragment distribution. Thus, it is
typical classifier is not ideal. It sends some
a material characteristic and it is not possible
coarse material to the product and returns
for a customer to specify a steeper distribu-
some fine material back to the mill. The
tion. The higher circulating load also gives a
smaller the value of d50, the bigger the overall
higher circuit output rate Q tph (tons/h). The
fraction of the classifier feed that is directed
physical reason for these effects is that a high
into the recycle stream. The relation between
flow rate through the mill, F = (1 + C)Q,
the circuit feed and product and the mill feed
brings fine material rapidly to the classifier
and product is shown in Figure 12.36: defining
and removes it before it is overground. Thus,
the circulation ratio by C = T/Q, then
the mill contents contain on the average less
0= fines and more coarser material, and coarser
material breaks faster than fine material. The
and
general reason for closed circuit operation is to
remove particles that are already fine enough, to
prevent energy being wasted on grinding them
even finer.
100
The return of fine material back to the mill
feed, due to the apparent bypass of the classi-
fier as shown in Figure 12.35, decreases effi-
' / ^ Measured;
Measured selectivity ciency by leading to overgrinding. In principle,
*^ curve s(Xj)
this can be compensated by higher circulation,
^ Ideal Classification but in practice (1) it may not be possible to
(S.I. = 1.0)
pass enough mass through the mill to ap-
-S.I. = 0.6 proach this limit without overfilling the mill
leading to poor breakage action and (2) in-
creased mass flow through a classifier may also
increase the bypass fraction, thus defeating
100 500 1000
Size (microns) the action. For these reasons it is advanta-
Figure 12.35. Illustration of selectivity values of a size geous for a classifier to approach as closely as
classifier: a is an apparent bypass. possible the ideal classification shown in Fig-
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 611
CLASSIFIER
ure 12.35. The function of efficient classification small size in retention devices such as ball
is to reduce the proportion of fine material by mills and roller-race mills. As fine material
avoiding overgrinding of fines. The concept of builds up in the bed of powder, the breakage
indirect inefficiency is that although a mill may of all sizes slows down. This appears to be
be operating efficiently in transferring input partly due to coating of the grinding surfaces
energy to breakage it can be inefficient if that but principally due to a cushioning action. In
energy is used to break material that already dry grinding, it is argued25 that the agglomera-
meets specifications. tive forces between fine particles impart a
fluid-like nature to the bed that can absorb
12.4.4 Non-First-Order Grinding and impact without giving high stress to particles
Slowing of Grinding Rate directly under the stressing surfaces. This can
be likened to trying to grind particles sus-
It can be reasoned from fracture mechanics
pended in a sponge; the energy of a falling ball
and the difficulty of efficiently stressing unit
or passing roller is spread over a large elastic
mass of very small particles that the specific
mass instead of being concentrated on a small
rates of breakage are smaller for small parti-
mass of solid. In addition, air trapped in such
cles than for larger ones. This has been con-
a bed cannot rapidly flow out of the bed in the
firmed for every type of mill investigated to
path of the stressing surface because of the
date. However, there is an additional effect of
high drag forces, so it moves away carrying
particles with it, much like a liquid parting to
100p let a solid ball fall through.
It is sometimes possible to predict the cor-
C =D
rect product size distribution even in the pres-
ence of slowing-down effects, by performing
the simulation with a false residence time 6
that is less than the real residence time t. A
10 slowing-down factor K can be defined by K =
0/t, which then also represents the ratio of
the actual mean value of 5,- from time 0 to t
Q.
to the first-order value St. Figure 12.38 shows
values of K for four different materials, plot-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ted against the fraction of fine material less
C
, I. , , , l , , , , , , , , . I , . i than 10 fim in size. It is apparent that differ-
10 50 100 500 1000 ent materials develop the slowing-down pro-
Size fjjn
cess at different amounts of fines. The magni-
Figure 12.37. Permitted band of size distributions pass-
ing through a desired point, with varying circulating tude of the effect can be seen from Figure
load. 12.39, where it takes 20 min to reach a size
612 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
0.71
RELATIVE SIZE
28
x;/x;
1.0
^-•(ir) +«-«(ir
(12.37)
Figure 12.42. Measured primary bypass (fraction un-
broken) and estimated secondary bypass for feeds of y2 where 4>, y, /3 are characteristic parameters
screen intervals of Lower Freeport coal. for the material, as shown in Table 12.1.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 615
Table 12.1. Characteristic Breakage Parameters Determined from Smooth Roll Crusher Tests31
MATERIAL 7 P d5o/xg
Rhyolite 0.29 0.83 3.6' 1.45
Diabase 0.40 0.84 4.0 1.40
Coals
Shamokin anthracite, PA 0.30 1.05 5.0 1.70
Illinois # 6 0.36 0.81 3.0 1.66
Ohio # 9 0.33 0.95 4.2 1.93
Western Kentucky # 9 0.47 1.05 4.0 1.81
Belle Ayre, Wyoming 0.49 1.17 4.0 1.70
Pittsburgh E. Seam, PA. 0.32 0.81 3.0 1.66
Upper Freeport, PA. 0.39 0.96 4.0 1.56
Lower Freeport, PA. 0.50 1.05 4.5 1.54
FEED
particle size 1, stressing again the fraction of later, fracture by bed compression in place of
this volume that undergoes a second fracture, steel-particle-steel nipping fracture tends to
stressing again the fragments of these frag- produce size distributions with proportionally
ments that undergo a third fracture, and so more fines than expected; also additional en-
on. The total stressed volume is readily calcu- ergy is used in the bed compression.
lated as s1 plus the sum of all c terms, that is, The capacity and product size distributions
of other crushers can be analyzed in a similar
fashion.33"36 For example, a jaw crusher acts
+C
2,1 C 3,2 + C
2,1 C 4,2 on a maximum solid volume rate of A{\ -
+ C 2,1 C 3,2 C 4,3 )• 6c)u, where A is the throat area, 6C is the feed
" t " C 3,l C 4,3
porosity, and the velocity of flow u is deter-
If it is assumed that the strain energy per unit mined by the fall of solid under gravity as the
stressed volume required to produce fracture jaw opens. There is repeated breakage and fall
is a constant, which is known32 as Kick's "law," as the material moves down the crusher until
the total stressed volume is proportional to the it passes the gap which is a mean of the open
ideal specific energy required to grind size 1 to and closed side settings. The analysis is similar
less than the gap setting. Defining a reduction for gyratory crushers, although the rotational
ratio by xx/xv Figure 12.45 shows the relation motion can aid the rate of material moving
of the volume of repeated crushing to reduc- down.
tion ratio. In practice, it is usually found that a
larger reduction ratio requires a bigger in- 12.4.6 Analysis of Tumbling Ball Milling
crease of specific energy than that predicted
by Figure 12.45 because smaller lumps become 12.4.6.1 Influence of Mill Conditions
relatively stronger (require higher stress to The tumbling ball mill is the most widely used
cause breakage). device for fine grinding of brittle materials on
If the crusher is run nearer to choke feed- an industrial scale. Because of its simplicity, it
ing then breakage owing to bed compression is mechanically reliable, which is very impor-
becomes an additional factor. As we will see tant in continuous process streams, and it is
available in sizes ranging from small labora-
tory mills to industrial mills of 5 m diameter
by 10 m long, or even larger. It is a retention
device, where a bed of powder is acted upon
by the tumbling balls and the mean residence
time of solid in the bed is typically a few
minutes to 30 min depending on the desired
degree of size reduction. It has certain disad-
vantages. First, the mill power is almost inde-
pendent of the level of filling by the powder,
so a mill operated at lower than design capac-
ity is inefficient because (1) if the powder level
is held at a normal level, a low solid feed rate
gives a long residence time (r = W/F\ and
the energy is used to grind finer than neces-
2.O 5.O 2O.O sary and (2) if the level is dropped to keep r
Reduction Ratio, x,
constant, the energy is used to tumble balls on
Figure 12.45. The total crushed volume per unit feed balls without enough powder between them,
volume for roll crushing of a coal (Upper Freeport)
also giving excess ball wear. Second, the cost
through a smooth roll crusher, as a function of the
particle size to gap size ratio. of replacing steel balls as they wear is substan-
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 617
many more ball-ball collisions for a given the ball density (the balls must have a hard
mass of small balls than for the same mass of surface)
large balls. This means that there is an opti- the load of powder or suspended solid in
mum mixture of ball sizes in the mill to go the mill
from any feed size distribution to any ball mill the rotational speed of the mill, as a frac-
product. tion of critical speed, and the lifting action
The slope a shown in Fig. 12.47 is charac- of mill lifters built into the mill lining
teristic of the material. It is also found that the slurry density and viscosity in wet milling
the primary progeny distributions in the the dispersing action of chemicals used as
first-order breakage region, which occurs to grinding additives
the left of the maxima in the curves, can be
fitted by Eq. (12.37), and the values of <1>, y, plus, of course, the diameter and length of the
and /3 are also characteristic of the material. mill. In addition, the degree of recycle and the
Examples are given in Ref. 18. Especially, a efficiency of size classification or air (gas)
material with a small value of y will produce sweeping to remove fines are also important
proportionately more fines on grinding. factors to prevent overgrinding or the develop-
ment of slowing-down effects. For example,
12.4.6.2 Major Variables tests show that a ball mill that is underfilled
The major variables involved in ball milling, in with solid is inefficient because the breakage
addition to these material characteristics are: zones where balls collide with balls or the case
are not filled and energy is wasted by steel-
• the ball loading in the mill on-steel collisions. On the other hand, over-
• the distribution of ball sizes in the mill and filling by powder or slurry is also found to be
1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 1 1 1 1—1 11
BALL DIAMETER IN mm _
/
UJ
Q / \
o
21.1 . >J
<
Ul / /
cr -
/
m /
o
UJ
0.5-
-
/yOL y
/
V
i-
/
/
O 1 9 \ -
/ \
U. j
/
O / / / /
Ul 25.A 31.8 38.1
Q. \
0.1 i i i 1 I i 11 1 1 1 1 1 >i I I 1 ^
0.1 1.0 10
PARTICLE SIZE Xj.mm
Figure 12.47. Predicted variation of Sz values with particle size for different ball diameters: copper ore (\/2~
intervals).
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 619
where 6C and xc are defined where slip ceases is compressed to zero porosity, emax = 6C from
and material is pulled in without further slip Eq. (12.44). Then Eq. (12.43) becomes
and moves at the horizontal table velocity u. If
)de
there are no large lumps in the feed (to avoid P=\-rL (12.47)
chatter of the floating roller), the material is
pulled in as a bed and crushed by compression
using Eq. (12.45) and its differentiation ($ c in
of the bed. Until the bed is nipped for crush-
radians). Thus, the strain at the gap under a
ing there is very little work done on the mate-
grinding pressure P is determined by the func-
rial. The vertical compression pressure is es-
tion P(e) and the critical angle of nip,
sentially zero at the critical angle of nip (f)c,
but it increases as the material moves toward
the gap and reaches a maximum at the gap P= | — |/,(€„) (12.47a)
where the degree of compression is highest,
where Ix is the integral of Eq. (12.47), which
0 = 0. Let the resolved vertical pressure at <f>
increases as eg increases.
be denoted by P(<f>). Since the critical angle of
nip for bed crushing is less than 12°, sin $ ~ (/> Now consider the work done as the column
and cos 0 « 1.0 and the total vertical force is of powder is compressed. By integrating force
times the distance the force moves, from <j>c to
ILd\ r(i)e (f> = 0, it is readily shown that
* = i — U P(<l>)d4> (12.42)
uLd \ r(k
-PREDICT!
will have a minimum grinding pressure of
about 0.42 MPa. However, such a roller is
0.01 , , , | , , ', i i i expected to rise about 38 mm ( « 1.5 in.),
io3
and with a spring constant of 0.72 X 104
SIEVE SIZE, |im Newtons/mm (40,000 lbf/in.), this will give an
Figure 12.49. Absolute breakage rate of 18 X 25 mesh extra grinding pressure of about 0.48 MPa,
Elkhorn coal as a function of particle size. that is, the total grinding pressure per roller is
about 0.9 MPa. Equation (12.58a) shows that a
lower mill capacity F gives a finer product size
distribution. However, the equation is valid
only with almost constant At values as long as
particles that are larger still. However, feeds
the reservoir W in the mill is sufficient to
containing particles too large in reference to
choke-feed the rollers. If the feed rate is made
the roller diameter are avoided in practice
too small, the value of W will fall below this
because they give rise to chattering of the
level as the rotating race throws material out,
rollers. Second, the linear increase in specific
Q in Eq. (12.59) will change to a lower value
breakage rates with increasing grinding pres-
and F and At each change by the same factor.
sure cannot be extrapolated to high grinding Then the product size distribution will not get
pressures because the coals (especially soft finer and, in fact, the smaller raise of the
coals) will cake onto the rollers and cause slip, rollers will reduce the grinding pressure, cause
which leads to loss of energy as frictional heat less breakage and the product size distribution
instead of causing breakage. Third, the frac- may get coarser, as demonstrated by Austin et
tion of particles of a given size that do not a| 48-50 The m m power w m fall a s t h e r0Hers
break in one pass under the rollers are rein-
are underfed and, to get fine product, it is
corporated into a new bed fed into the next
necessary to have a race designed to retain
pass and can break at the same specific break-
powder, plus efficient classification to give a
age rate, thus preserving the first-order nature high rate of recycle to the bed. Finally, the
of the breakage kinetics. Every reapplication empirical equations for A0T, a, /3, y, and 4>
of grinding pressure will cause further break- are based on limited data and it is advisable
age. A typical result is that the feed to the mill for values to be determined directly for any
is rolled over about 10 times before it leaves coal or other material under study.
the classifier as final product.
Fourth, in practice the rollers in an indus-
trial mill are generally loaded with massive 12.5 NEW MILLS
springs initially compressed to a preload, and
any material passing under the roller is sub- 12.5.1 High-Pressure Grinding Rolls Mill
jected to this minimum grinding pressure, Po New designs of mills are constantly being
say, plus the weight of the roller, M say. patented and constructed in small-scale ver-
However, as the bed is pulled under the roller sions, but most are variants on existing mill
624 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
will float to pass the material pulled into the an advantage for roller-race mills when used
gap, and the product passing under the roller on softer materials such as coals which tend to
will mix into the reservoir of material and be form strong compacts under high pressure.
reground by repeated passes under the roller.
Dry powder flows out of the mill and is lifted 12.5.3 The Szego Mill
in a bucket elevator to a high-efficiency air The original concept is due to the late L. L.
classifier, with return of coarse material to the Szego and the mill has been developed in
mill feed. Toronto, Ontario by General Comminution,
The grinding pressure is quoted as "mod- Inc., in close collaboration with University of
erate" and the mill is not air-swept like a Toronto researchers in the Department of
conventional roller-race mill. The comments Chemical Engineering. As a result, while in-
made on roller-race mills and high-pressure dustrial utilization of the mills is still modest,
grinding rolls apply also to this mill and the there is a great deal of published material
mills will probably give similar specific grind- available. The mill is a planetary ring-roller
ing energies, although the power used for clas- mill, consisting principally of a stationary
sification is probably higher for air-swept grinding cylinder inside which a number of
roller-race mills. It is easier to ensure choke- helically grooved rollers rotate, being flexibly
feeding in the Horomill® and in the HPGR suspended between flanges connected to a
mill as compared to roller-race mills where the central drive shaft (see Fig. 12.53).
rotating table both drives the rollers and The material is fed by gravity, or pumped
throws material into the air stream, but the into a top feed cylinder if wet, and is dis-
deagglomeration and rapid removal of fines is charged continuously at the bottom of the
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 627
have been tested,57'58 as have various waste Other combined processes tested involve
materials, for example, hog fuel,59 sawdust,60 grinding and extraction, applied to oil extrac-
and waste paper,61 the latter for use as a tion from rapeseed (canola);68 and simultane-
reinforcing filler in cellulose-plastic compos- ous grinding and reaction, in a coal liquefac-
ites. Wet grinding of grains, as a preprocessing tion study.69 When a thick slurry is being
step for hydrolysis and fermentation to alco- ground and a very fine product is required, a
hol,62 is another interesting application. The continuous recycle system without classifica-
mill is characterized by high capacity per unit tion is used since classification is very difficult
volume and modest power consumption. It is at high slurry or paste viscosity. The mill is
very versatile; in wet grinding it can also han- then run long enough to give the product the
dle highly viscous materials such as thick desired fineness. Metals have been ground that
pastes, that is, high solids concentrations, way down to submicron flake thicknesses.70
without extreme loss of efficiency.63 Within A significant effort has been expended on
reason, not only particle size distribution but mill modeling. This includes performance
also particle shape can be controlled, for ex- modeling using the population balance ap-
ample, from granular to flaky.64 proach,71'72 with breakage functions and
Another group of applications involve grind- grinding kinetics for single and multipass
ing combined with other operations or pro- grinding for both wet and dry operation. A
cessing. The simultaneous grinding and ag- dynamic model73 of fluid flow between a roller
ridge and the stationary grinding cylinder has
glomeration (SGA) process, 65 ' 66 as an
been made for wet grinding. The centrifugal
example, combines grinding and selective oil
forces are balanced by pressure development
agglomeration of coal with oil in water for coal
in the squeezed film of paste; the model al-
beneficiation. In the conventional process, de-
lows, currently for a Newtonian fluid, com-
veloped at the National Research Council of
putation of the total dynamic force field,
Canada, oil or a hydrocarbon solvent is added
velocities, shear stresses, etc., as well as the
to finely ground coal in water. Intense mixing
clearance between the roller-ridge and the
breaks the oil into fine droplets and allows the
grinding surface. Integration of these events,
hydrophobic coal particles to collect onto the in combination with a confirmed mechanism
droplets, leaving the hydrophilic ash (noncom- of material transport through the mill, allows
bustable mineral matter) behind in the water.67 prediction of the residence time distribution
A period of milder stirring allows the coal-oil and an upper limit to the product particle size
particles to grow into larger spherical agglom- distribution.73
erates for separation from the aqueous phase
Szego Mills are available in laboratory and
by screening or other means. The combined
pilot sizes as well as in small industrial sizes
SGA process uses the Szego Mill to replace with throughputs of 1 to 10 tons/h. Compared
the grinding and high-shear mixing steps, with to a ball mill, throughput per unit volume in
considerable equipment simplification and en- the Szego Mill is some 30 times higher and the
ergy savings,66 with results comparable to the specific power consumption due to the high
conventional process. Other grinding mills power density is typically 30% lower, as is
such as ball or agitated media mills are not characteristic of bed compression mills. While
suitable, as the sticky agglomerates would coat the Szego Mill is a compact and efficient
the balls and either reduce the grinding effi- grinder for many applications, very hard and
ciency greatly or block the mill, whereas the abrasive materials excluded, its special niche is
Szego Mill will operate owing to the positive grinding wet at high solids loading; a tooth-
transporting action of the roller grooves. The paste-like consistency appears to be the best.
objective of those studies was to make benefi- Special mills have been built for operation at
ciated coal-oil-water slurry fuels as an oil high temperatures and pressures, further en-
replacement in industrial or utility boilers. hancing the range of applications of this mill.
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 629
12.5.4 The DESI Mill ter of the rotors passes through the working
zone within a few hundredths of a second. The
This mill is another example of a mill that uses
particles are disintegrated by collision with the
a principle similar to that of an existing type of
mill but that incorporates changes allowing multiple rows of grinding elements and by
it to embrace also new applications. It has particle-particle attrition in the air stream.
been developed in Estonia by the company The grinding elements serve as targets for the
Desintegraator and is in use in various parts of colliding material and as accelerators for the
the former Soviet Union, with applications next collision (see Fig. 12.54). The material
ranging from industrial minerals to fuels to typically undergoes two to eight collisions with
biological materials. A great deal of work on the grinding elements.
the mill has also been done at the Tallinn Whereas many mills, including the HPGR
Technical University, but there are relatively mill, break particles by internal tension pro-
few publications, and most of these are in duced by compressive forces applied relatively
Russian. During privatization in the early slowly, in high-speed impact mills, the DESI
1990s, the original company was broken into included, breakage occurs by a different pro-
smaller entities and information is available cess of producing tension. The particles expe-
from the Desintegraator Association or from rience free, unrestricted impact at high veloc-
DESI-E Ltd., both in Tallinn, Estonia. ity, typically in the 30 to 200 m / s range in the
Invented by the late Dr. J. Hint some 40 DESI. (It has been shown by Vervoon and
years ago, the DESI mill was first used with Austin75 that pellets moving at 30 m / s reach a
the development of silicalcite, a strong build- maximum impact force within a few microsec-
ing material made of sand and lime ground onds after impact when they strike a rigid
together. Mechanical activation imparted to target containing a force transducer). An in-
the materials by the mill accounts for its high tensive compression wave starts from the area
strength; the development of both silicalcite of contact and surges through the particle at
and the mill is described in a 600 page mono- high velocity, with the stresses exceeding the
graph by Hint.74 The DESI is an impact mill normal compressive strength of the particle.
comprising of two rotors moving at high speed When the compression wave reaches the op-
in opposite directions. Thus the mill has the posite side of the particle, it is reflected as a
same principle as the Cage-Pactor mill shown tension wave of the same intensity. The parti-
in Figure 12.20 but it is specifically designed cle then starts to break up. The multiple prop-
for fine grinding. The material fed to the cen- agation of waves in the particle and its
51
Figure 12.54. Operating principle of the DESI impact-roller mill (DESI-E Ltd.).
630 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
fragmentation are believed to activate the ma- amount of work has been done on wear, with
terial chemically.76 Hence, mechanochemical many combinations of both target and abra-
activation of the material occurs which may sive particle materials as well as velocity, parti-
have beneficial effects on downstream process- cle size, impact angle, etc.77
ing, or even for simultaneous grinding and The main unique feature of this type of mill
reaction. Such activation effects have been is the ability to mechanically activate many
observed with chemical catalysts, building ma- materials.78'79 Such a claim is supported by
terial (e.g., silicalcite), fertilizers, and in vari- extensive research; a more recent presenta-
ous biological systems. The DESI mill can be tion80 has summarized some of this work, in-
used for selective grinding of weaker compo- cluding mechanical activation of polymers and
nents in a heterogeneous material by judicious biological systems in the disintegrator. Mill
selection of the speed of rotation to give im- design and operating conditions were related
pact forces between those required to break to the resultant activation. Again, custom de-
the respective materials.76 Besides effective sign is essential, for the desired objectives and
grinding, the fast rotation of the grinding ele- the particular materials, in situ reactions or
ments in opposite directions allows excellent enhanced downstream processing. Of course,
micromixing of solids or solids and liquids. the same comments can be made about high-
The mill can also be used to treat sticky mate- speed hammer mills, which operate at similar
rials since the powerful centrifugal forces dis- impact velocities.
courage adhesion.
For fine, and especially ultrafine grinding,
12.5.5 The Nutating Mill
the DESI mill is used with a built-in aerody-
namic classifier, which recycles coarse material This mill is being developed by the Warmley
for regrinding. The fine product enters a col- company in Australia,81'82 specifically for dry
lector and de-dusting system. DESI mills are or wet grinding at high power density of brittle
available in a wide capacity range, from small materials such as metalliferous ores. It has
laboratory units with capacities of 5 to 10 several similarities to the planetary and cen-
kg/h through to industrial units with capaci- trifugal mills16 described previously since it is
ties up to 100 t/h, the latter for limestone a mill that uses grinding balls at high g forces,
grinding in a DESI 31 M-8 mill. The total but these forces are produced in a different
assembly weighs 14 t, with gross dimensions, way. The mill shell is in the form of an in-
m, of 4.5 length, 2.6 width, and 2.4 height, verted cone, with feed from above into the
including motors, and a power rating of 500 to narrow end of the cone. The shell is rotated
1200 kW. about the center line of the cone, which is at
There are many DESI mills in industrial use an angle to the vertical. This axis is mechani-
covering a number of applications, with a range cally forced to rotate at the same time to form
of quoted product particle sizes varying from the surface of a narrow cone with the tip of
90 wt% < 5 /im to 90 wt% < 3 mm. Many the cone at a fixed point on the vertical (just
more materials have been ground in labora- like the earth rotating on its own axis but also
tory settings down to the micrometer size. moving in orbit with its axis not perpendicular
Apparently, most units are custom-designed, to the plane containing the orbit path). This
with the number of rows as well as size and wobbling planetary action produces high g
inclination of the grinding elements being im- forces and rapid movement around and across
portant variables in addition to the rotor di- the mill of the balls inside. The mill grinds
ameter. The mill rotors are self-balancing and very rapidly because of the high forces and the
the grinding elements are reinforced with high power density and the feed discharges at
wear-resistant ceramics: chamber walls are also the large end of the cone. The mill is capable
reinforced where required. An extensive of very fine grinding by adjusting the feed and
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 631
discharge rate to give a long mean residence new types of mill is proceeding, of course, but
time while maintaining an appropriate hold-up until this research produces industrially impor-
of powder or slurry to avoid steel-on-steel tant results it falls outside of the scope of this
collisions. As with all high power density mills chapter.
using grinding media, the wear rate of media The methodology of characterizing a size
and shell liners is high and the energy effi- reduction operation by examining the specific
ciency is not going to be better than that of a rates of breakage and the primary progeny
more conventional tumbling media mill, but fragment distributions has proved very infor-
the mills are small for a high capacity. High mative. Again, however, there are no precise
power density machines are especially suited descriptions of why the values of S, and Btj
for very fine grinding, to avoid having to use a vary in the ways observed. The variations are
large machine to give a small amount of suit- often sensible from simple physical reasoning,
able product. The application of the concepts but the quantitative relations involved are still
of mill modeling to the nutating mill is well essentially empirical.
advanced and it is possible to predict optimum The choice of a certain crusher-mill combi-
conditions, capacities, and product size distri- nation for a given job is generally made intu-
butions from tests on a new material in a itively at present; the choice is not the logical
laboratory-scale mill. result of a precise set of rules or calculations.
Programming of the calculations for computa-
tion with current desktop computers and avail-
12.6 FUTURE WORK able software is not the problem: it is inade-
quate systemic, quantitative descriptions of
It is still true that much work remains to be how machines and materials behave that pre-
done to raise the technical understanding of vent full use of the techniques of mill and mill
the unit operation of size reduction to that of circuit simulation.
the other (perhaps fundamentally simpler) unit The mechanisms of the slowing down of size
operations such as heat transfer, distillation, reduction that is observed as fines accumulate
absorption, etc. The mechanical stressing con- remain to be investigated in detail, and this
ditions inside mills are complex, and the frac- branch of investigation will undoubtedly in-
ture and disintegration of natural materials is volve the nature of the cohesive interaction
a complex phenomenon. It must be empha- between particles, dry and in dense slurries,
sized that for size reduction we are concerned and the effect of grinding additives on these
not only with the conditions at which fracture forces.
occurs but also the size distribution of the set The better utilization of many ores, fuels,
of fragments resulting from the fracture. and other materials in the future may involve
The conversion of electrical energy via me- requirements of mechanical reduction to ul-
chanical action to surface energy of fracture is trafine sizes. This represents a branch of inves-
thermodynamically very inefficient. However, tigation that has come to the fore but that
based on the industrial requirements of cost, poses many problems in theory, experimental
throughput, wear, and reliability of operation, technique, and engineering design.
it is difficult to see how to improve existing
devices substantially or how to invent new
ones with much greater efficiency. The mate- REFERENCES
rial in this chapter has been limited to the
powder technology relevant to crushers and 1. A. Nadai, Theory of Flow and Fracture of Solids,
McGraw Hill, New York, p. 89 (1950). See also
mills that are in commercial operation with Developments in Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 1, edited
proven benefits for particular applications. Re- by G. G. Shell, Applied Science Publishers, London
search on different methods of breakage and (1979).
632 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
2. A. A. Griffith, "Phenomena of Rupture and Flow New Grinding System and its Applications." Proc.
in Solids," Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 221A:163 14th IMPC, Toronto (1982).
(1920). 17. L. G. Austin, "A Review Introduction to the De-
3. A. A. Griffith, "The Theory of Rupture," Proc. scription of Grinding as a Rate Process," Powder
First Int. Conf. for Applied Mechanics, Delft (1924). Technol. 5:1-17 (1971/72).
4. G. R. Irwin, Fracture Dynamics: Fracturing of 18. L. G. Austin, R. R. Klimpel, and P. T. Luckie, The
Metals, American Society of Metals (1948); Orowan, Process Engineering of Size Reduction: Ball Milling,
E., "Fracture and Strength of Solids," Reports of AIME, New York, 561 p (1984).
Progress in Physics, Physical Society, London, 72:185 19. K. Reid, "A Solution to the Batch Grinding Equa-
(1949). tion," Chem. Eng. Set 20:953 (1965).
5. R. P. von Rittinger, Lehrbuch der Aufbere- 20. T. Trimarchi and L. G. Austin, "A Ball Mill Circuit
itungskunde, Ernst v. Korn., Berlin (1857), quoted Simulator in Object-Oriented Programming," avail-
in many surveys of grinding theory. able from the Mineral Processing Section, Depart-
6. H. E. Rose, private communication (1964). ment of Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania
7. I. J. Lin and S. Nadir, "Review of the Phase Trans- State University, University Park, PA 16802.
formations and Synthesis of Inorganic Solids by 21. R. S. C. Rogers and R. P. Gardner, "Use of a
Mechanical Treatment," Mat. Set Eng. 39:193-209 Finite-stage Transport Concept for Analyzing
(1979). Residence Time Distributions of Continuous Pro-
8. J. S. Benjamin, "Mechanical Alloying," Set Am. cesses," AIChE J. 25:229 (1979).
234:41-48 (May 1976). See also: C. Suryanarajan, 22. F. C. Bond, "Crushing and Grinding Calculations,"
Bibliography on Mechanical Alloying and Milling, Brit. Chem. Eng. 6:378 (1965).
Cambridge Interscience Publ., 380 pp. (1995). 23. C. A. Rowland, Jr. and M. M. Kjos, "Rod and Ball
9. N. H. Macmillan, "Chemisorption Induced Varia- Mills," in Mineral Processing Plant Design, edited by
tions in the Plasticity and Fracture of Non-metals," A. L. Mular and R. B. Bhappu, AIME, New York,
in Surface Effects in Crystal Plasticity, Nordhoff, pp. 239-278 (1978).
Leyden, p. 629 (1977). 24. L. G. Austin and J. W. Perez, "A Note on Limiting
10. A. R. C. Westwood and J. J. Mills, "Application of Size Distributions from Closed Circuit Mills,"
Chemo-mechanical Effects to Fracture-dependent Powder Technol. 76:291-293 (1977).
Industrial Processes," ibid., p. 835. 25. L. G. Austin and P. Bagga, "An Analysis of Fine
11. L. G. Austin, C. A. Barahona, and J. M. Menacho, Dry Grinding in Ball Mills," Powder Technol
"Fast and Slow Chipping Fracture and Abrasion 25:83-90(1981).
in Autogenous Grinding," Powder Technol. 26. L. G. Austin, M. Yekeler, and R. Hogg, "The
46(l):81-87 (1986). Kinetics of Ultrafine Dry Grinding in a Laboratory
12. L. G. Austin, N. P. Weymont, C. A. Barahona, and Tumbling Ball Mill," Proceedings of Second World
K. Suryanarayana, "An Improved Simulation Model Congress Particle Technology, Kyoto, Japan, p
for Semi-Autogenous Grinding," Powder Technol. 405-413 (September 1990).
47(3):265-283 (1986). 27. L. G. Austin, M. Yekeler, T. F. Dumm, and R.
13. L. G. Austin, C. A. Barahona, and J. M. Menacho, Hogg, "Kinetics and Shape Factors of Ultrafine
"Investigations of Autogenous and Semi-Autoge- Grinding in a Laboratory Tumbling Ball Mill,"
nous Grinding in Tumbling Mills," preprinted for Particle Particle Syst. Character. 7:242-247 (1990).
World Congress Particle Technology, Nuremburg, 28. A. M. Gaudin, Principles of Mineral Dressing,
Federal Republic of Germany, April 1986; Powder McGraw-Hill, New York, p 41-43 (1939).
Technol 57:283-294 (1987). 29. L. G. Austin, D. R. Van Orden, and J. W. Perez,
14. L. G. Austin and S. Tangsriponkul, "A More Gen- "A Preliminary Analysis of Smooth Roll Crushers,"
eral Treatment of Abrasion-Chipping Processes Int. J. Miner. Proc. 6:321-336 (1980).
Applicable to FAG/SAG Milling," Particle Particle 30. L. G. Austin and J. D. McClung, "Size Reduction
Syst. Character. 77:345-350 (1994). of Coal," in AIME Handbook, Coal Preparation,
15. A. A. Bradley, P. S. Lloyd, D. A. White, and P. W. Harvey Mudd Series, edited by J. Leonard, p
Willows, "High-Speed Centrifugal Milling and Its 189-219 (1991).
Potential in the Milling Industry," S. Afr. Mechan. 31. L. G. Austin, K. Shoji, D. R. Van Orden, B.
Eng. 22:129-134 (1972). McWilliams, and J. W. Perez, "Breakage Parame-
16. A. L. Hinde and F. B. Verardi, Studies on Design ters of Some Materials in Smooth Roll Crushers,"
of Centrifugal Mill Grinding Circuits." Proc. 3rd Powder Technol. 25:245-251 (1981).
IF AC Symposium, Automation in Mining, Mineral 32. F. Kick, Dinger Polytech. J. 247:1 (1883); 250:141
and Metal Processing, Montreal, Canada, p 283-294 (1883).
(Aug., 1980). See also: L. P. Kitschen and P. J. 33. W. J. Whiten, "Simulation of Crushing Plants with
Lloyd, "The Centrifugal Mill: Experience with a Models Developed Using Multiple Spline Regres-
SIZE REDUCTION OF SOLIDS CRUSHING AND GRINDING EQUIPMENT 633
sion," /. S. Afr. Inst. Mining Metal 72:257-264 nia State University, University Park, PA 16802,
(1972). submitted for publication.
34. W. J. Whiten, "Application of Computer Methods 48. L. G. Austin, J. Shah, J. Wang, E. Gallagher, and
in Mineral Industries," Proc. 10th Intl. Mining Pro- P. T. Luckie, "An Analysis of Ball-and-Race
cessing Congress; ibid. 73:317-323 (1973). Milling: Part I, The Hardgrove Mill," Powder
35. A. Kumar, "An Investigation of a General Mathe- Technol. 29:263-275 (1981).
matical Model for Predicting the Product Distribu- 49. L. G. Austin, P. T. Luckie, and K. Shoji, "An
tion from a Roll Crusher and a Cone Crusher." M. Analysis of Ball-and-Race Milling: Part II, The
S. Thesis in Mineral Processing. The Pennsylvania Babcock E-17 Mill," Powder Technol. 33:113-125
State University, University Park, PA 16802 (1986). (1982).
36. V. Singhal, "An Investigation of the Applicability 50. L. G. Austin, P. T. Luckie, and K. Shoji, "An
of a Crusher Model to Jaw Crushing" M.S. Thesis Analysis of Ball-and-Race Milling: Part III, Scale-
in Mineral Processing, The Pennsylvania State Uni- up to Industrial Mills," Powder Technol. 33:127-134
versity, University Park, PA 16802 (1985). (1982).
37. F. Concha, R. Santelices, and L. G. Austin, "Opti- 51. K. Schonert, "Energetische Aspekte des Zerklein-
mization of the Ball Charge in a Tumbling Mill," erns sproder Stoffe," Zement-Kalk-Gips, 32(0:1-9
XVI International Mining Processing Congress, (1979).
Stockholm (June 1988). 52. F. Fischer-Helwig, "Current State of Roller Press
38. C. Tangsathitkulchai and L. G. Austin, "The Effect Design," KHD Symposium '92 "Modern Roller
of Slurry Density on Breakage Parameters of Press Technology," KHD Humboldt-Wedag AG,
Quartz, Coal and Copper Ore in a Laboratory Ball Cologne, p 73-79 (1992).
Mill," Powder Technol 42:281-296 (1985). 53. H. Kellerwessel, "High-Pressure Particle-Bed
39. C. Tangsathitkulchai and L. G. Austin, "Slurry Comminution: Principles, Application, Testing and
Scale-up, Details of Equipment Design," KHD
Density Effects on Ball Milling in a Laboratory
Humboldt-Wedag AG Paper, Cologne, 51 p (1993).
Ball Mill," Powder Technol. 59(4):285-293 (1989).
54. S. Strasser, "Current State of Roller Press Tech-
40. R. C. Klimpel, L. G. Austin, and R. Hogg, "The
nology," KHD Symposium '92 "Modern Roller
Mass Transport of Slurry and Solid in a Laboratory
Press Technology," KHD Humboldt-Wedag AG,
Overflow Ball Mill," Miner. Metal. Proc. (5:73-78
Cologne, p 11-21 (1992).
(1989).
55. The Horomill, Objectif 93/9 A2B2, FCB, Division
41. R. C. Klimpel and L. G. Austin, "An Investigation
Cimenterie, Groupe Fives Lille, Lille, France.
of Wet Grinding in a Laboratory Overflow Ball
56. E. A. J. Gandolfi, G. Papachristodoulou, and O.
Mill," Miner. Metal. Proc. 6(0:7-14 (1988).
Trass, "Preparation of Coal-Slurry Fuels with the
42. L. G. Austin, W. Hilton, and B. Hall, "Mill Power Szego Mill," Powder Technol. 40:269-282 (1984).
for Conical (Hardinge) Type Ball Mills," Miner.
57. E. A. J. Gandolfi, V. R. Koka, and O. Trass, "Fine
Eng. 5(2):183-192 (1992).
Grinding Applications with the Szego Mill," in Proc.
43. J. J. Cilliers, L. G. Austin, P. Leger, and A. Deneys, 12th Powder & Bulk Solids Conference / Exhibition,
"A Method of Investigating Rod Motion in a Labo- Rosemount, IL, p 448-457 (1987).
ratory Rod Mill," Miner. Eng. 7:533-549 (1994).
58. O. Trass and E. A. J. Gandolfi, "Fine Grinding of
44. L. G. Austin, J. M. Menacho, and F. Pearcy, "A Mica in the Szego Mill," Powder Technol.
General Model for Semi-Autogenous and Autoge- <50(3):273-279 (1990).
nous Milling," Proc. 20th Int. Symp. on the Applica- 59. O. Trass and R. Gravelsins, "Fine Grinding of
tion of Mathematics and Computers in the Mineral Wood Chips and Wood Wastes with the Szego
Industries, edited by R. P. King and I. J. Barker, Mill," in Proc. 6th Bioenergy Seminar, Vancouver,
Mintek, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2:107-126 B.C., February 1987, p 198-204 (1988).
(October 1987). 60. R. Gravelsins and O. Trass, "Wet Grinding of
45. L. G. Austin, "State of the Art in Modeling and Wood with the Szego Mill," in Proc. 7th Cdn.
Design of Autogenous and SAG Mills," in Chal- Bioenergy R & D Seminar, edited by E. N. Hogan,
lenges in Mineral Processing, edited by K. V. S. Ottawa, Ontario, p 281-286 (April 1989).
Sastry and M. C. Fuerstenau, Society of Mining 61. T. Molder and O. Trass, "Grinding of Waste Paper
Engineering, Inc., Littleton, CO, p 173-193 (1989). and Rice Hulls with the Szego Mill for Use as
46. L. G. Austin, "A Mill Power Equation for SAG Plastics Fillers," Int. J. Miner. Proc. (in press).
Mills," Miner. Metal. Proc. 7(0:57-62 (1990). 62. O. Trass, E. A. J. Gandolfi, and E. Daugulis,
47. L. G. Austin, "The Theory of Roller-Race Mills," "Development of an Integrated Fine-Grinding,
available from the Mineral Processing Section, De- Hydrolysis, Ethanol Fermentation Process," in Pro-
partment of Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylva- ceedings, "Energy from Biomass and Wastes XIV"
634 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Conference, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, 16 p Parameters in Grinding Operations using a Direct
(Jan./Feb. 1990). Search Method," Int. J. Miner. Proc. 23:137-150
63. O. Trass, E. Edusei, and E. A. J. Gandolfi, "Wet (1988).
Grinding of Coal and Limestone with the Szego 73. O. Trass and G. L. Papachristodoulou, "Dynamic
Mill at High Solids Concentrations," in 14th Intl. Modelling of Wet Grinding in the Szego Mill," i n
Conf. on Coal Slurry Technology, Clearwater, FL, Proceedings, 2nd World Congress Particle Technol-
April 24-27, 1989; also Proc. 15th Conf., p ogy, Kyoto, Japan, Vol. II, p 471-179 (1990). See
A115-128 (1990). also: G. L. Papachristodoulou, "The Dynamic
64. V. R. Koka, G. Papachristodoulou, and O. Trass, Modelling of the Szego Mill in Wet Grinding Oper-
"Particle Shapes Produced by Comminution in the ations," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Toronto (1982).
Szego Mill," Particle Particle Syst. Character. 74. J. Hint, "Fundamentals of the Manufacture of Sili-
22:158-165 (1995). calcite Products," Gosstroiizdat, Leningrad, 601 p
65. O. Trass and O. Bajor, "Modified Oil Agglomera- (in Russian) (1962).
tion Process for Coal Beneficiation. II. Simultane- 75. P. M. M. Vervoorn and L. G. Austin, "The Analy-
ous Grinding and Oil Agglomeration," Can. J. sis of Repeated Breakage Events as an Equivalent
Chem. Eng. 66:286-290 (1988). Rate Process," Powder Technol. 63:141-147 (1990).
66. O. Trass, P. D. Campbell, V. R. Koka, and E. R. 76. A. Tymanok, "Grinding by Collision. Disintegrator
Vasquez, "Modified Oil Agglomeration Process for and its Use in Technology: Review of Principles
Coal Beneficiation. IV. Pilot Plant Demonstration and Recent Results," Internal Report, Tallinn
of the Simultaneous Grinding-Agglomeration Pro- Technical University, Estonia, 8 p (1993).
cess," Can. J. Chem. Eng. 72:113-118 (1994).
77. H. Uuemois, H. Kangur, and I. Veerus, "Wear
67. C. E. Capes and R. G. Germain, "Selective Oil
in the High-Speed Impact Mills," in Proc. 8th
Agglomeration in Fine Coal Beneficiation," in
European Symposium on Comminution, Stockholm,
"Physical Cleaning of Coal, Present and Developing
Sweden, p 513-524 (May 1994).
Methods," edited by Y. A Lin, Marcell-Dekker,
New York, p 293-359 (1982). 78. J. Hint, "Uber der Wirkungsgrad der Mechanis-
chen Aktivierung. Eininge Ergebnisse der Ak-
68. L. L. Diosady, L. J. Rubin, and O. Trass, "Solvent
tivierung von Feststoffen mittels grosser Mechanis-
Grinding and Extraction of Rapeseed," Proc. 6th
cher Energien," Aufbereitungstechnik (1971).
World Rapeseed Congress, Paris, France, p
1460-1465 (May 1983). 79. J. Hint, "About the Fourth Component of Technol-
69. O. Trass and E. R. Vasquez, "Liquifaction of Coal ogy," Valgus, Tallinn, Estonia, p 66-72 (in
with Simultaneous Grinding," in Proc. 15th Intl. Russian) (1979).
Conf. on Coal Slurry Technology, Clearwater, FL, p 80. B. Kipnis and L. Vanaselja, "Uber die Anvendung
337-349 (1990). von Desintegratoren in Technologie der Mechano-
70. O. Trass and T. Lustvee, "Preparation of Alu- aktivierung und Mechanochemie," Intl. Fachtagung
minum Pastes with the Szego Mill," Pacific Region "Forstchritte in Theorie und Praxis der Aufbereitung-
Meeting, Fine Particle Society, Honolulu, Hawaii stechnik," Freiberg, Germany, p 155-160 (1989).
(August 1983). 81. J. M. Boyes, "High-Intensity Centrifugal
71. V. R. Koka and O. Trass, "Determination of Milling—A Practical Solution," Int. I. Miner. Proc.
Breakage Parameters and Modelling of Coal 22:413-430 (1988).
Breakage in the Szego Mill," Powder Technol. 82. D. I. Hoyer and J. M. Boyes, "The High-Intensity
57(2):201-214 (1987). Nutating Mill—A Batch Ball Milling Simulator,"
72. V. R. Koka and O. Trass, "Estimation of Breakage Miner. Eng. 3:35-51.
13
Sedimentation
Wu Chen and Keith J. Scott1
CONTENTS
SUPERSTRUCTURE
y
PLAN
Figure 13.1. Cross-sectional view and plan of a thickener. The tank may be constructed of steel or concrete. The
rake lifts vertically if it encounters an unusual resistance.
termed the overflow. Solids removal is nor- while usually achieving a high degree of clarity
mally achieved by continuous raking of the in the overflow.
thickened sediment toward the center (or op- Other solids/liquid separation techniques,
posite end) of the tank, from where it is however, need to be considered as an alterna-
pumped out as the underflow stream. tive, or addition to, gravity sedimentation if:
The relative simplicity of both the process
and the mechanical equipment involved makes 1. The solids stream must have a low moisture
gravity sedimentation the least costly of the content.
available solids/liquid separation tech- 2. The loss of 10% to 15% of the liquid in the
niques.2'3 feed to the underflow is not acceptable.
The process has the capability of treating high 3. The cost of the required floor space is
water flow rates with relatively little hardware1 excessive or space is not available.
SEDIMENTATION 637
operating clarifler. The larger tank, the secondary clarifier, represents one of the final
drinking water from purified sewage in the Standard Water Reclamation Plant, a pilot
. (Courtesy of National Institute for Water Research, SCIR.)
an empty thickener at a Transvaal gold mine. Such tanks handle up to 15,000 tons/day of
e times as much water.
638 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
4. The process must be carried out under high proportion of liquid in the underflow can
pressure. be tolerated. On the other hand, in thickening,
the minimum quantity of liquid in the under-
Table 13.1 shows the advantages of various flow is the main objective and the presence of
solids/liquid separation methods. up to a few percent of suspended solids in the
Combinations of techniques may be used to overflow (often harmlessly recirculated) is of
improve the effectiveness of separation, such secondary concern. The distinction is there-
as a vacuum filter immediately following a fore in the end result rather than the process;
thickener to dewater or wash the thickener in thickening, the solids concentration in the
underflow. In selecting a separation process it feed stream is increased by sedimentation
is essential, therefore, to consider wider as- while in clarification the solids are removed by
pects than just the pros and cons of individual this process.
techniques. Some guidelines are available in Each of the two functions can be optimized
the literature for selecting equipment2'5"7 but and controlled separately. The turbidity of a
these should be supplemented by sufficient clarification tank overflow is related to slowly
knowledge in this field. Discussions with settling fine solids which may be flocculated to
specialists or equipment suppliers can help form larger faster settling units. The control of
in formulating likely solutions for a given overflow clarity is therefore affected by the
problem. selection of flocculant, its dosage, and by
control of the volumetric feed rate.
Underflow density of a thickener depends
13.1.1 Objectives in Gravity
on the height of sediment in the tank, the
Sedimentation
degree of flocculation in the suspension (floc-
Sedimentation is distinguished into two pri- culated material tends to incorporate more
mary functions. The first is clarification, in liquid than dispersed particles), and on the
which absence of solids in the liquid overflow underflow pumping rate. Because flocculation
is the essential requirement and a relatively and feed rate affect both the overflow clarity
Table 13.1. A Qualitative Comparative Guide to the Particular Advantages of Various Solids/Liquid
Separation Techniques.
RATIO OF
SOLIDS / LIQUID THROUGHPUT CLARITY MOISTURE EASE OF OVERALL COST
SEPARATION TO FLOOR OF CONTENT OF WASHING CAPITAL PLUS
TECHNIQUE AREA LIQUID SOLID STREAM SOLIDS OPERATING
Sedimentation
Gravity Low Good High Require repeat Low"
operations
Centrifugal High Good to Medium Possible High
excellent
Cyclone Very high Very poor High Require repeat Low
operations
Filtration High Good Low Easy High*
Screening High Very Poor Medium Easy Medium
Drying Medium — Extremely low — High
a
The operation cost of vacuum filters in the S.A. gold mining industry ( ~ 75 million tons/yr) is six to eight times
the cost of gravity thickening.4
SEDIMENTATION 639
and the underflow density it is seldom possible ever. The complicating factors that arise in
to optimize both clarification and thickening real situations, dealt with more fully in subse-
simultaneously.8 quent sections, are:
velocity. The drag reduces the acceleration, significant, the flow is called transitional. These
and finally the value of the drag force becomes limiting values for the particle Re are orders
equal to the original driving force (G F — BF) of magnitude lower than for flow in pipes in
and there are no further unopposed forces which the fluid streamlines are constrained by
acting on the particle, it continues to travel at the boundary walls.
a constant rate called its terminal settling ve-
locity, u^. We may then write: 13.2.1.2 Laminar Flow
^ D = FXPs - PO§ 13
( -D The analytical solution for the magnitude of
the drag on a single sphere, settling under
This equation evaluates the magnitude of the
streamlined flow conditions in an unbounded
drag force for any size particle but does not
liquid, is given by Stokes9 as:
relate it to its unknown settling velocity.
This relationship has been formulated for a FD = (13.3)
sphere in an infinite fluid9 for slow flows but
its general solution depends on the type and where u^ = terminal velocity of the sphere in
magnitude of flow around the particle as char- an infinite fluid in streamlined flow.
acterized by the dimensionless entity known as Even for this simplified condition, however,
the Reynolds number. Eq. (13.3) is only a close approximation and,
for greater accuracy, additional terms have
13.2.1.1 Fluid Flow Around a Particle and the been found to be necessary. Proudman and
Reynolds Number Pearson10 for example, advocate the equation:
Table 13.2. Values of a and b for Calculating Re from J = C D Re 2 in Any Flow Regime.
SHAPE FACTOR Kp
SHAPE CALCULATED, dp/dA EXPERIMENTAL RESULT16
Sphere 1.0 1.0
Cube-octahedron 0.92 0.96-0.98
Octahedron 0.92 0.93-0.95
Cube 0.90 0.92-0.94
Tetrahedron 0.82 0.82-0.86
SEDIMENTATION 645
This technique supplies information on the the data are scattered but average out at about
settling velocity, uns, of any particle of un- 0.8; for Re > 2000 the shape factor is steady
known shape that when inserted into Eq. (13.8) at 0.47, while in the transition region the fac-
gives the exact equivalent Stokes' diameter, tor shows a steady decrease with increasing
dns. This is the diameter of a sphere of settling Re.
velocity identical to that of the nonspherical The shape factor for a given nonspherical
particle. It combines both the "true diameter" particle is therefore not even a constant for
of the particle and its shape correction factor that particle but dependent also on the pre-
into a single term. For the transitional and vailing conditions.
turbulent flow regimes such direct observation Measurements of settling velocity of nonspher-
is the only means of determining the settling ical particles are therefore simpler and of more
velocities of nonspherical particles.15 Investi- use than prediction of these velocities from inde-
gations of settling of such particles have there- pendent size and shape determinations.
fore been mainly experimental.16'20'21 Most
particles encountered in industrial practice are
far from spherical to such an extent that not 13.2.3 Settling in the Presence
only the overall shape plays a role but also the of Other Particles
microsurface topography. Many correlations have been presented to
The experimental observations of Richards describe the effect of higher solids concentra-
and Locke21 on the terminal settling velocities tions on the settling rate of uniformly dis-
of various sized quartz particles wns, obtained persed particles.23 Two effects have been ob-
by screening, may be used to determine the served. One is that some particles may loosely
shape factor for this irregular material. The associate into a group, separated from each
results are plotted in Figure 13.5. other by several diameters, and act as an en-
It can be seen that the shape factor depends tity descending at a higher rate than that
on the size dp. Relating the shape factor to corresponding to the expected terminal veloc-
the corresponding Reynolds number Re < 1, ity of the individual particles. Such "clusters"
are often transient and their occurrence has
been observed24"26 predominantly at low par-
ticle concentrations. Other particles in the
PARTICLE REYNOLDS NUMBER
0,01 0,1 I 10 tOO 1000 10 000 same suspension remain single and may even
show negative settling rates when being car-
ried upward by the return flow from the rapidly
descending clusters. Tory and Pickard27 pre-
sent a stochastic model that accounts for these
wide variations in settling rate. They noted
that in spite of variations of settling velocity
between particles, the mean settling velocity as
shown by their overall rate of descent re-
mained remarkably constant.
The second effect is that as concentration
increases each particle is subjected to in-
creased drag owing to the higher volume of
0,01 OpZ 0,05 0,1 0,2 0,5 I 2 5 10 20 return flow fluid displaced by the sedimenting
d - PARTICLE SIZE, mm particles. Alternatively, the ideal fluid flow
Figure 13.5. Variation of shape factor of quartz with around each particle is disturbed by the pres-
particle size and Re. ence of its neighbors.
646 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
13.2.3.1 Suspension of Uniform Particles For streamlined flow, which has been shown
to be the most common in thickening practice
With closely sized particles uniformly dis-
and hindering settling, n becomes indepen-
tributed in a settling cylinder, a visible inter-
dent of Re and was determined experimen-
face between suspension and liquid forms at
tally28 to be
commencement of settling even at low concen-
trations because of the constant means de-
n = 4.65 + 19.5dp/D (13.15)
scent rate of each particle. In effect this inter-
face is the one that exists between suspension
and hence a second constant for a given sys-
and air before commencement of sedimenta-
tem. An exact value of n in the range 4.65 to 5
tion. It is usually hazy, however, because parti-
is, however, seldom critical and, as shown later,
cles are never exactly identical. At higher con-
a value of n = 4.7 is found to give a satisfac-
centrations this interface becomes increasingly
tory correlation for a large number of real
well defined and sharp, forming even for parti-
suspensions even where dp is unknown, that
cles with a considerable range of sizes (see
is, when an exact value of n cannot be calcu-
later). As such suspensions separate when di-
lated from Eq. (13.15). A similar compromise
lute, because of the wide variation of settling
value of n = 4.7 (n between 4.65 and 4.78)
velocities present, the formation of a distinct
was arrived at also by Watanabe.29
interface at higher concentrations indicates
Although Eq. (13.14) was derived empiri-
that interference between particles is such that
cally, various authors 15 ' 30 ' 31 have shown its
particles of all sizes descend jointly, that is,
general validity on theoretical grounds. The
they are in hindered settling.
hindrance factor term is a simple one15 that
permits its modification to deal with sedimen-
Richardson and Zaki Equation. The settling tation of irregularly shaped particles and parti-
velocity of the interface, us, was noted by cle aggregates which will be discussed later.
Richardson and Zaki 28 to be related to the Alternative hindering settling equations are
velocity of a single particle w^, and the con- much more complicated.23 In some the con-
centration (f)s, by: centration term appears in various forms up to
five times in one equation rather than once as
= ujl - (13.14) in Eq. (13.14).
where
Experimental Verification of the Richardson
us =mean settling rate of particles and Zaki Equation. As (1 - <£s) is a fraction
(particle-supernatant interface) in a and n a positive number, Eq. (13.14) indicates
container in the presence of many a decrease in particle settling rate with in-
others creasing volume fraction of solids.
Moo = terminal velocity of a single repre- Figure 13.6 compares the experimentally ob-
sentative particle, that is, ws when served values of us for two suspensions of
4>s = 0, under otherwise similar con- glass spheres with predicted values based on
ditions. It is a constant for a given Eq. (13.14). The value of u^ in this equation
solid-liquid system and equivalent to was calculated from Eq. (13.8) and n calcu-
uw in Eq. (13.31) lated from Eq. (13.15). The agreement can be
(f>s = volume fraction of particles (dimen- seen to be good. For an uncharacterized sus-
sionless) = C/ps pension for which dp and hence the constants
C =mass concentration of particles, for MM and n are not known, it should be possible
example, kg/m 3 to estimate them from Eq. (13.14) by means of
n = a constant = f[dp/D, Re] a plot of In ws versus ln(l - </>s) and using the
u^ =the hindrance factor = (1 - </>s)n. intercept and slope of the best fitting straight
SEDIMENTATION 647
0,8
ent materials with various shapes and densi-
u0 (mm/t) ties. Although such particles tend to segregate
GLASS d
n
BEAOS CALCULATED BEST FIT when dilute, at normal thickener feed concen-
FROM d TO DATA
tration, mutual retardation of the particles in
X 63,6 4,70 3,53(«) 3,54
a batch test causes hindered of "zone-
0 26,2 4,66 0,S0(«) 0,49
settling"34 with a uniform particle settling
velocity regardless of size. It is therefore less
reliable to calculate u^ from Eq. (13.8) and,
for reasons that are discussed in the next
section, use is made of an alternative form of
Eq. (13.14):
X DATA OF SHANNON •« Ol (REF 3 2 )
0 DE JAGER J.PJ. (REF 4 )
A/n ul/n _ l/n .(
=
(13.16)
X
fixed water. Thus, if a quartz suspension at
AS FOR PREVIOUS FIG
SPHERES 0
MEAN VALUE OBTAINED FROM
<£s = 0.2 settles according to Eq. (13.17) as if it
379 DATA POINTS EXTRACTED
FROM 17 PUBLISHED PAPERS experienced the same drag as a suspension of
\ AND THEIR 9 5 % CONFIDENCE
LIMITS-REF.23 spheres at <£s = 0.5, its effective total solids
ANGULAR 0
QUARTZ
PARTICLES A
d :26^m
HATTON.R. REF4 volume must in fact be equal to 0.5, with the
d =2O M m
extra volume being made up of stagnant water
than moves with the particle.
Because the stagnant water behaves as if
solid, the lines for quartz in Figure 13.7 re-
main straight but because of the unknown
quantity of water, they are of unknown slope.
If we call the slope &v, Eq. (13.17) can be
rewritten
0.213
(13.18)
0,4 0,6
or
-SOLIDS VOLUME FRACTION 4.7
= w j l - ky(/)s) (13.19)
Figure 13.7. Settling velocity of spherical and angular
particles plotted according to Eq. (13.17). Comparing with Eq. (13.14) it can be seen
that the original concentration term <£s is re-
placed by kv(f)s, which now represents the
more rapidly with increasing concentration
effective solids volume fraction. For spheres,
than predicted by Eq. (13.17). The spheres
where there is no stagnant liquid, ky = 1, while
reach a hindrance factor us/ux = 0.0385 at
for the two quartz suspensions kv-~ 2.5 with
4>s = 0.5 while this same retardation is experi-
the finer sample carrying relatively more
enced by quartz particles at a concentration as
water, that is, having a slightly higher value
low as 0.2. As the retardation in settling veloc-
of Jfcv.
ity of a particle in hindered settling is due to
Correlation of the settling data for quartz
the interference offered to its ideal return
according to Eq. (13.14), that is, ky = 1 and n
fluid flow pattern by the presence of its neigh-
variable, gives values of n ranging from 11.8 to
bors, it must be concluded from hydraulic sim-
14.6 depending on $ s . The value of n is there-
ilarity considerations that quartz particles pre-
fore not only much higher than expected
sent a greater effective blockage to the return
from theory30 (n lies between 1 and 8) but
flow than can be expected from their volume.
more seriously is not a constant for a given
A unit volume of quartz must in fact have the
system. Many such correlations have been at-
retardation effect of 0.5/0.2 = 2.5 volumes of
tempted,35"40 with values of the exponent as
an equivalent sphere. The plausible inference
high as 466.7, but as shown by Capes,41'42
is that such angular particles carry with them
these are reduced to expected levels if due
attached water because of their roughness14'15
allowance is made for the fixed water associ-
and this stagnant water behaves as if the vol-
ated with particle agglomeration or irregular
ume of the particle were effectively increased.
shape.
The net solids concentration is therefore
greater than the volume of dry solids present.
By assuming the effective solids fraction for 13.2.4 Aggregated Suspensions
any degree of retardation to be similar to the Natural aggregation is frequently present in
volume fraction of spheres at the same retar- particle suspensions,1'43 especially at higher
dation, we can calculate the proportion of concentrations such as in thickener feeds,
SEDIMENTATION 649
where the mutual proximity of the particles Dilute Suspensions. When the suspension is
causes them to adhere and settle together as dilute the aggregates (floes) are formed inde-
clumps rather than as single particles. This pendent of each other—they are widely spaced
increase in "particle" size results in faster in the intervening liquid and descend through
settling, and in thickening the effect is often it as individual entities. After agitation ceases
exploited. In clarification, the solids concen- (t = 0) the floe formation time is fast46 com-
tration in the liquid is much lower, a natural pared to the time over which sedimentation is
aggregation is largely absent. Artificial observed in a batch test. For instance, in the
flocculation is therefore always required. presence of a coagulant, the silky appearance
It can be brought about by reducing the mutu- of dispersed micaceous clays noted during stir-
ally repellent charges on the particles by means ring disappears within seconds after agitation
of electrolytes (coagulation) or by bridging is stopped. Dilute suspensions of floes there-
particles by the simultaneous adsorption of fore show a constant interface descent rate
polymers. from zero time (curve A1 in Figure 13.8).
In all cases, aggregates are produced, each
consisting of a large number of varying size
primary solid particles, associated together into Intermediate Concentrations. At higher
a single relatively large sedimentation unit or concentrations, the particles have a better
floe. Such a floe includes not only this loosely chance of forming larger floes. At the start of
held solids structure but also the interstitial a batch settling test, that is, after the cessation
stagnant water.15 Floes have a density lower of agitation, the suspension appears to have an
than the solid particles, due to this water, but "induction" period (curve Bv Figure 13.8)
have a greatly increased diameter so that their during which the relatively low initial sedimen-
settling rates are several orders of magnitude tation rate u{ increases with time either grad-
higher than those of the original individual ually,44 or in discrete steps45"51 and subse-
particles. No distinction is made here between quently reaches a higher constant rate, us.
the terms floes and aggregates or in their The maximum steady value is accepted as the
method of production, as only the sedimenta- settling rate in a static batch test.43'52"54 Two
tion behavior of the final aggregates is of phases in this acceleration process are shown
concern at this stage. in Figure 13.9A to C.
This rate is higher than would be expected
13.2.4.1 Types of Settling Behavior from extrapolation of sedimentation data in
in Aggregated Suspensions the dilute rate (Fig. 13.10), indicating that the
Previous sections dealt with discrete individual mode of sedimentation is now different.58 The
particles as the primary sedimentation units. higher settling rates are attained not only by
Resuspension of these unaggregated pulps in a the formation of larger floes but also by the
batch test to prepare a uniform suspension reduction of resistance to relative movement
usually does not alter the size, shape, or set- of floes and liquid. An anisotropic structure in
tling characteristics of these units from test to the suspension with liquid channels of low
test. In flocculated suspensions, however, the flow resistance in an upward direction is
sedimentation units (aggregates) are freshly formed during the induction period. A similar
formed only after agitation ceases. The shape argument was used to explain the accelerated
of the resultant sedimentation curve (height of settling of intermediate concentration suspen-
interface H versus time t) depends on solids sions in the presence of particles of density
concentration,44'45 that is, on the number of lower than,59 equal to,60 or greater than61 the
primary particles present and their mutual density of the fluid.
proximity when agitation is stopped and the At intermediate concentrations the floes
shearing force is removed. must be closer together than in dilute suspen-
650 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
QUIESCENT
STIRRING
^STIRRING
LESLIE MINE ORE
4>s = 0 , 2 8
' LESLIE MINE ORE * ^
PYROPHYLUTE <f>s =0,015 I ^ s =0,15 QUIESCENT [STANDER,J.W.-REF^
kv4>s = O,2 ! /cv4>s-O,55
[REF 47]
I [STANDER.J.W.-REF4]
20 0
i
t,
. 100 200
t-TIME, min t - TIME, min t-TIME, min
Figure 13.8. Mode of settling in aggregated suspensions depends on solids concentration and presence of mild
agitation.
sions. Their probability of touching or bridging the primary particles.64 Some channeling may
by particle growth is therefore much higher occur and often a few very large channel open-
and this three-dimensional interaction be- ings (volcanoes) are observed at the interface.
tween solids is likely to be involved in the Settling curves such as those shown in
formation of the channel structure with flow Figure 13.8 A1 to Cx were obtained66 also for
channels being developed between the floes.44 sedimentation of the coal particles in oil, that
It is therefore not surprising that the induc- is, a nonaqueous system, indicating their
tion period increases with concentration.121 In general nature.
the intermediate concentration range the max-
imum steady settling rates us decrease with Slow Agitation in Aggregated Suspensions.
concentration, but to a lesser extent than for The effect of very mild stirring (0.1 to 2 rpm)
pulps in the dilute range (Fig. 13.10). The depends on the concentration regime present.
decrease is not unexpected being at higher floe In dilute suspensions the formation and the
concentrations less voidage between them is subsequent sedimentation of the floes is nei-
available for channel flow and fewer and ther aided nor hindered and settling rates are
somewhat narrower channels may be formed. therefore little affected (curve Ax and A2,
Fig. 13.8). In intermediate suspensions, hori-
Concentrated Suspensions. The solid parti- zontal shear hinders the formation of short-
cles are in a compression zone. The suspen- circuit flow channels and materially decreases
sion does not attain any degree of "mobility" the maximum settling rate attained47'62 (curve
but subsides at a sluggish and ever decreasing B2 rather than Bx).
rate. When agitation is stopped the particles In concentrated slurries, mild mechanical
are closer together and are able to form a disturbance promotes the shearing of the
three-dimensional structure like a packed bed. particle-particle links. Under quiescent condi-
The lower layers can be further compacted by tions the three-dimensional structure that
the weight of solids from above. The particles forms after cessation of agitation tends to
collapse inwardly toward each other and con- resist collapse because of friction at the points
sequently liquid is expressed from these layers. of particle contact and the support from the
This liquid moves upward through the bed and base and the walls. The mass of solid above
because of the tight packing, mainly between may not be sufficient to overcome the strength
SEDIMENTATION 651
MAXIMUM SETTLING
\ RATE ATTAINED AT
115 min
2
or
T 20 min 75 min
x
<
\ U = 0,036 IMI/I
o
u
x \
= 0,0485
X
kv<£s = 0,45
i i 1 1 1
100 200
t-TIME, min
(a)
(c)
47
Figure 13.9. (A) Intermediate setting in a desanded mine pulp showing the height of the pulp interface when
photographs in B and C were taken. (B) Commencement of the break-up of the initially gelled mass; t = 20 min.
(C) Agglomerated structure beginning to appear; t = 75 min.
652 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
\V-
ten as:
213
= u° (l - (13.20)
where
uF = terminal settling velocity of one repre-
sentative floe
kv<f)s =volume fraction of floes
kv = volume of floe per unit volume of con-
: \
-
tained solid.
1,0 V^ 1 I 1 1 1
MATERIAL SYMBOL AUTHOR(S) REFERENCE
0,8 -
• v « FERRIC HYDROXIDE
PYROPHYLLITE
Y
0
A
RUDOLFS ft LACY
BRETTON
SCOTT
68
55
57
FLOCCULATED GLASS
SPHERES NO. 1 0 STEINOUR 69
>^ KAOLIN
CALCIUM CARBONATE
t
A
GAUDIN a
FUERSTENAU
TORY
70
71
DILUTE PULPS ^ ^ ^ ^ - ^ ^ L
0,6
-A
INTERMEDIATE PULPS
• ^
0,2
EQUATION ( I 4 r \ .
kc = 0,55
i i i i i 1 i i i NI i i i
0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4
/CV<£S-FLOC VOLUME CONCENTRATION
Figure 13.11. Dimensionless maximum interface sedimentation rates; data of Figure 13.10 and other sources
plotted on normalized coordinates.
To demonstrate the general applicability of dilute range settles faster than expected from
this plot, other aggregated suspensions have a suspension of floes assumed to consist of
been included. For all suspensions in the di- individual rigid spheres. This onset of interme-
lute range, where the floes behave as separate diate settling behavior is observed at ky(f)s
entities, there is a straight line of slope = - 1 values from about 0.35 onward (Fig. 13.11).
as expected, up to a characteristic value of The onset would be expected to be related to
&v(/>s, followed by increasing positive deviation the size and shape of the floes and the inter-
from Eq. (13.20). This marks the onset of particle and interfloc forces, which all play a
channel flow and an increased permeability of role in the formation of a structure in the
the suspension as a whole. flocculated suspension. The settling rate is
For a specific slurry the point of departure better determined by direct measurement.
from the straight line indicates the upper lim-
iting concentration of its dilute range. Similar 13.2.5 Measuring Settling Rates
materials, for example, activated sludges (Fig. As discussed earlier, the Richardson and Zaki
13.11) or red mud,58 show similar limiting con- type equations correlate experimental data
centrations, that is, kw<f)s at the point of depar- fairly well to a certain extent. A real world
ture from Eq. (13.20) does not differ signifi- slurry contains a variety of particles with dif-
cantly for the same material even though it ferent shapes, sizes, and densities. The uF in
may be derived from different sources. the Richardson and Zaki equation cannot be
calculated directly but must be determined by
Intermediate Concentrations. The slurry in- actual settling tests (as in Fig. 13.10). As dis-
terface at concentrations higher than for the cussed earlier the settling rate deviates from
654 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
the equation as the concentration becomes than the observed velocity. It is given by
thicker and thicker. It is obvious that an actual
settling test is still essential in studying sedi- = U
s - W
L =
mentation phenomena.
Sedimentation phenomena are usually stud- (13.23)
ied by observing the behavior of suspensions The relative velocity is larger than the abso-
placed in cylinders (frequently with a volume lute velocity (ws, the velocity relative to the
of 1 to 2 liters). Sedimentation in a cylinder wall of settling chamber, that is, the velocity
consists of descent of particles and rise of measured during the settling test). As c£s was
sediment from the bottom. Two typical sedi- essentially zero for the sedimentation of a
mentation curves are shown in Figure 13.12 single particle, the Stoke's velocity requires no
for a slow settling clay (attapulgite) and a fast correction.
settling microbarite (principally BaSO4 used In Figure 13.13 the various stages involved
for weighting purposes in drilling muds). The in a batch sedimentation of dilute to moder-
height of the descending interfaces along AB ately concentrated suspension in a cylinder are
and AC and the rise of the sediment along OB illustrated. Along AB, the rate of sedimenta-
and OD are shown. The slopes of the lines tion is constant and this rate is taken as the
AB and AC yield the settling velocities rela- settling velocity at this initial concentration.
tive to the container walls. For microbarite, From B to C, known as the first falling rate
ws = (420 - 70)/500 = 0.7 mm/s and for period, the slope decreases, indicating that the
attapulgite, line AC yields us = 0.032mm/s. concentration is increasing. Simultaneously,
As the solids settle, liquid is displaced up- the sediment is rising from the bottom as
ward. The downward flux ws(/>s equals the shown by the L versus t curve. When the
upward liquid flux (1 - </>s)«L and upper descending boundary meets the ascend-
ing sediment at the compression point C, the
ws<£s + (1 - 0s)wL - 0 (13.21)
compression period (also called the second
The velocity of the liquid is given by falling rate period) begins. Further decrease in
height is effected solely by flow of liquid out of
= - - 7 - us = •M, (13.22) the compaction zone because of the weight of
the solid particles. When the final structure
The velocity wsr of the solids relative to the carries the entire weight of the sediment,
liquid is the most significant quantity rather liquid flow ceases.
For thickener design (to be discussed later),
the relationship between solid settling flux and
concentration is required. A series of batch
, A CONSTANT
f RATE PERIOD N vs 1 CLEAR
VB .FIRST FALLING
C O N S T J \ f RATE PERIOD M vs 1
CONSTANT
.SECOND FALLING
RATE PERIOD """
MICROBARITE <fe = 0.0305
VARIABLE
—L
MICROBARITE200J 400 \ 600 ^ 8 0 0 1000
ATTAPULGITE 5000 10000 15000 20000
0 TIME, s TIME
Figure 13.12. The sedimentation of microbarite and Figure 13.13. The various stages of sedimentation are
attapulgite. The initial slurry heights are 420 mm for illustrated. Conditions in the cylinder at a time corre-
microbarite and 405 mm for attapulgite. sponding to height H are shown.
SEDIMENTATION 655
settling tests at different concentrations lead zone mode. Fine, dispersed particles with di-
to a relationship between usr and </>s as shown ameters less than 0.1 micron will diffuse out of
in Figure 13.14. Particles tend to settle inde- the descending slurry-liquid interface into the
pendently in dilute slurries, and consequently, supernatant region.
there is no unique settling velocity for such In Figure 13.14A, the relative sedimentation
slurries. As concentration of the slurry 4>s in- curve is shown as terminating at a value of
creases and settling of large particles is im- ^s = eso> where the particles enter into physi-
peded by the presence of small particles, a cal contact and form a cake. The velocity of
point is reached were all particles presumably the cake surface is no longer a unique func-
have identical velocities and settle as a "zone." tion of the slurry concentration. It depends on
Ultimately, as the concentration continues to the rate at which liquid is squeezed out of the
increase, a point is reached where the solids cake by the weight of the cake. Nevertheless,
form a cake capable of transmitting stresses many investigators have mathematically
through points of contact. The solids then treated the compression zone in the same
enter into the matrix. As a crude approxima- manner as the first falling-rate period. Ulti-
tion the null stress solid concentration es0 mately as shown in Figure 13.12 by the point
marks the beginning of the cake zone. marked t = °o, the sediment reaches a point at
When uniform particles settle, a distinct which there is no more compaction. At that
interface is present even for dilute slurries; point, the solid velocities are everywhere zero.
and the distinction between zone and dilute Very few reliable data involving sedimentation
settling disappears. The extrapolated velocity velocities at concentrations near the cake re-
corresponds to the Stokes velocity. Although gion have appeared in the literature. Data are
there is not theoretical Stokes velocity when different to obtain and difficult to interpret.
slurries with particles having a range of sizes
are involved, an extrapolation to point A as
13.2.5.1 Kynch Theory
shown in Figure 13.14A is employed to pro-
duce a pseudo-Stoke's velocity that can be Kynch132 (1952) made an important improve-
used in empirical correlations. ment in the sedimentation theory. Instead of
In the zone settling region, it is generally performing a series of batch tests to obtain the
assumed that the relative settling velocity is a flux-concentration relation, Kynch developed
unique function of concentration. If the size a means to achieve that by a single batch
range does not include large, dense particles sedimentation test.
or submicron particles with high diffusion co- The first falling rate period as shown in
efficients, settling will be predominantly in the Figure 13.13 is the result of action that takes
A B
Figure 13.14. Relative settling velocities and relative flux as a function of concentration.
656 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Kynch ignored the sediment at the bottom Although wall effects in full-scale equip-
of the settling chamber. Therefore, he argued ment may be safely ignored, design of such
that the constant in Eq. (13.26) is zero and all equipment is often based on settling rates
the characteristics emanate from the origin of observed in small laboratory glassware, for
Figure 13.15. Tiller124 took into account the which corrections may therefore sometimes be
effect of the sediment rising from the bottom, required. In practice this correction is, how-
revised Kynch's argument, and suggested that ever, usually neglected as the consequent
the characteristics come from the surface of error is both small and conservative.
the sediment. Fitch125 considered the charac-
teristic as a kind of concentration discontinu-
ity that emanates either from the origin or 13.3 THICKENING
from the cake surface depending on the initial
concentration of the suspension and the shape Gravity thickening provides a means for eco-
of the flux curve. He states that the surface of nomically removing a large fraction of the
the sediment was also a concentration discon- liquid in a slurry. The process is shown
tinuity propagating upward. At the moment schematically in Figure 13.16 and the equip-
the characteristic leaves the cake surface, these ment used in Figures 13.1 and 13.3. In thick-
two discontinuities should have the same ve- ener technology, a slurry, sludge, pulp, or mud
locity. Therefore, a characteristic should rise all describe a suspension of solid particles in a
tangentially from the cake surface. liquid. Schematically clarifiers and thickeners
appear to be identical, and there is no sharp
13.2.6 The Effect of Container Walls line between the two. In general, clarification
When a particle sediments in a closed column involves suspensions in the dilute ppm
rather than in an infinite liquid, it displaces its (mg/liter) range whereas thickening tends to
volume of liquid from a lower to higher level treat more concentrated slurries in the 1%
and the wall interferes with the ideal liquid and above range. However, it needs to be
flow pattern. This results in an additional drag noted that the meaning of "dilute" or "con-
on the particle and a reduction in the free centrated" varies from industry to industry.
settling velocity ux by a factor W, which de- For instance, the feed to a thickener used in
creases with increasing ratio dp/D, where D mineral industries could be 5% by volume
is the diameter of the container. The retarda- which could be equal or higher than the con-
tion effect may be expressed as follows: centration of a cake produced in municipal
waste water applications. Care must be exer-
uw = u00-W (13.31) cised in interpretation of concentration limits
and many expressions for W have been
proposed.1
According to Francis22
EXCESS
1 ~0A75(d/D)]~4 OILUTE
FEED -
UQUIO
W= (13.32) SLURRY
1 - (d/D) \
for streamlined flow, while Garside and Al-
Dinbouni23 give a simpler equation: W =
[1 + 235(d/D)]~\ applicable for Reynolds
numbers between 3 and 1200.
For a particle of dp = 200 ^m, settling in a
one-liter graduate cylinder (D ~ 60 mm) or in THICKENED SLURRY
UNDERFLOW PUMP
a 25 m diameter tank, the calculated settling VOLUMETRIC RATE 0 m S /h
CONCENTRATION C u k g / m *
velocities, ww, are 99.3% and 99.998% respec- Figure 13.16. Schematic view of continuous thickening
tively of its velocity in an unbounded fluid. process.
658 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
suggested as typical for feed and outputs of the symbols used in this text is listed in Table
solids-liquid separation processes. 13.5. For the most part in the industry, con-
Recovery and further processing of solids centrations are given in mass/unit volume
generally following thickening. Consequently, (kg/m 3 or lb/ft 3 ). They are represented by
the concentration of the underflow is critical the letter C, which is generally employed by
to subsequent operations. The density of the authors writing on free-settling theory. The
underflow from a clarifler is of less impor- same letter C has been used for both the
tance. As less solids are involved, the mechani- suspension and the sediment. The new trend
cal equipment for clarifiers is light compared in the solids-liquid separation field is to use
to that for thickeners in which large volumes volume fractions that provide true concentra-
of dense materials generally require heavy tion comparisons among different processes. It
raking systems. was also found advantageous to use different
In idealized free settling theory, the settling symbols for the free-settling (</>s) and compres-
rate is considered to be a unique function of sion zones (e s ).
slurry concentration. Design methods based
on this principle apply to cases when no sedi- 13.3.2 Thickening in the Free Settling
ments are present, and the underflow is simply Region
a suspension with a higher concentration than Most of the existing design methods for con-
the feed. When higher underflow concentra- tinuous gravity thickeners fall into this cate-
tions are desired, sediments subject to com- gory. The methodology provides a means of
pressive effects due to the unbuoyed weight of determining the area requirements of thicken-
the solids are required. In the sediment, parti- ers. The settling velocities and fluxes are
cles enter into contact, and the solid velocity is required.
no longer a unique function of concentration.
The liquid and solid fluxes are determined 13.3.2.1 Design Procedures
through the use of the Darcy-Shirato126 equa-
tions relating the relative velocity of the solids The Coe and Clevenger Method. Coe and
to the liquid, pressure gradient, and the Clevenger52 were the first authors to establish
permeability. a rational method for the sizing of thickeners.
These two distinct mechanisms of thicken- They studied the settling of metallurgical pulps
ing process are discussed separately in this and correlated batch sedimentation phenom-
text. ena with the design of continuous thickeners.
In a continuous thickener, the settling flux
13.3.1 Nomenclature is taken relative to the bulk flow of the slurry.
Different nomenclatures used in this field have The slurry as a whole is also moving downward
been a source of confusion. A comparison of owing to continuous volumetric draw-off at
VOLUME CONCENTRATION
MASS CONCENTRATION:
SUSPENSION OR SEDIMENT SUSPENSION SEDIMENT
Variable concentration
Feed
Underflow
Critical concentration C crit
Settling velocity
Solid flux (Cws) G
Solid flux at critical
concentration
SEDIMENTATION 659
the base. If the underflow pumping rate is Q from the one representing the feed to the
m 3 /h and the area of cylindrical section of the thickened underflow. All intermediate concen-
thickener is A m2 then the bulk slurry velocity trations will therefore exist even if only as
is Q/A m / h and the solids flux due to under- transients. The maximum solids throughput of
flow pumping alone, called the underflow flux, a thickener is governed by the concentration
is (Q/A)C. The total flux G T , the solids flux layer that has the lowest solids flux. The mini-
relative to the walls, is the sum of the settling mum value Gmin is then selected for designing
flux and the underflow flux, that is, the cross-sectional area for the thickener.
C, lb/ft 3 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60
us, ft/h 6.13 4.13 2.66 1.65 1.10 0.65 0.40 0.26
2
G T , lb/ft • h 73.6 82.6 79.8 70.7 66.0 78.0 120.0 00
660 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The solid flux G T is calculated according to both summer (80°F) and winter (40°F) oper-
Eq. (13.35): ation.
The up flow velocity of water is
GT = ^ - £ ) = 73.6 lb/ft 2 • h 58,333/1000/24/3600 = 0.000675 ft/s =
0.000206 m/s. Using Stoke's settling law
The minimum value of G T is 66 lb/ft 2 • h [Eq. (13.8)] us = d2(ps - p L )g/18^, for
at C = 30 lb/ft 3 . This represents the choke summer
points where the thickener is expected to
operate. The total area required can then 0.5
be calculated
\
TYWCAL RANGE OF
MnLpUK.^C
CLARIFIER FEED
I CONCENTRATIONS
^ ^ | SETTUNG FLUX « « C ^
1
1
1
c
crtt Cu
C -CONCENTRATION
Figure 13.17. Underflow and settling fluxes may be summed graphically to give the total flux (Hassett method).
is (by definition) Ccrit and its total flux (the The Yoshioka Method. In 1957, Prof. N.
minimum value of G T ) is Yoshioka of Kyoto University developed a
procedure that has been looked on with favor
Gmin = ( l ^ + Q/A)Ccrk (13.36) by authors writing on thickening. The Hassett
method suffers from the need to plot a sepa-
where L7crit = settling velocity at Ccrit. Material
rate curve for each underflow rate. In the
balance [Eq. (13.34)] gives
Yoshioka procedure, only one graph is needed.
For illustration, Figure 13.17 is replotted in
r =® (13.37) 13.18. A line is drawn through point P (C u on
the abscissa) at an angle of which the tangent
The underflow flux line (Q/A)G reaches the is —Q/A. Congruency considerations dictate
value Gmin at the concentration C = Cu (Fig. that this line intercepts the ordinate at the
13.17). value of Gmin. The equation for this line is
Determination of Gmin according to Has-
sett's construction requires the drawing of a
total flux curve for each value selected for the (13.38)
pumping rate Q and gives Cu only after Gmin y4
is determined. Although it has the advantage
of clearly illustrating the minimum value of which at Ccrit attains the value Gmin —
G T , it is cumbersome as Cu is normally the QCCTit/A. At this concentration the equation
primary thickening objective. for the settling flux, which is usC = G T -
662 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
QC/A [Eq. (13.33)], also attains the value usC curve. Thus Gmin is obtained from the
Gmin - QCcrit/A. Since G T reaches its mini- intercept with the ordinate and the corre-
mum at M where C = C"ci-it
n sponding pumping rate Q, found from the
slope of the tangent line.
dGT d(usC) Q
03.39)
aC aC Example 13.2. Rework Example 13.1 with
Thus, d(usC)/dt = -Q/A at C = Ccrit. The the Yoshioka method.
line drawn from Gmin to P therefore coincides
with the settling flux curve at Ccrit and forms a b. Determine the unit area and the total area.
tangent to this curve at N.
Yoshioka et al.72 proposed determining Gmin The same batch settling data in Example
more directly than via the total flux curve by 13.2 are used to calculate batch settling flux
starting from Cu and drawing a tangent to the and plotted in Figure 13.19.
C, lb/ft 3 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60
£/, ft/h 6.13 4.13 2.66 1.65 1.10 0.65 0.40 0.26
2
UC, lb/ft • h 61.3 62.0 53.2 41.3 33.0 26.0 20.0 15.6
The Gmin determined graphically is 66 tion correlates the initial slurry height and
lb/ft 2 • h at C = 30 lb/ft 3 , which is the concentration in a batch test to the continuous
same as obtained by the Coe and Clevenger thickener underflow concentration Cu and its
method. equivalent batch test solids height is
FLUX 6
Cent
C -CONCENTRATION
u
TIME
TIME
Ca ) Hu > Hc % -b ,) ..
Hu, <. H
.. c
Figure 13.20. Locating underflow time in the Talmage and Fitch method.
13.3.3.1 Model for Continuous Thickener uid is squeezed upward. At the surface of the
sediment, all the solids are accepted. A por-
The model is based on an idealized flat-
tion of the liquid is rejected and flows upward
bottomed, steady-state thickener. In Figure
and out from the overflow. A material balance
13.21, the various regions are listed as over-
of the flow in the sediment compression
flow, feed-transition, thickening, and dis-
zone is
charge. The increasing volume fraction of
solids from es0 to esu is shown. Both solid and <?F<£SF = 4s = 4su = €sUs = *sBWsB (13.42)
liquid fluxes are constant at any point x above It needs to be noted that qs is equivalent to
the bottom of a thickener. Both solid and G T used in Eq. (13.33) for the Coe and
liquid have downward (positive) velocities, with Clevenger method. The flux of solids (qs) is
the solids flowing down more rapidly. No liq- also called the "superficial solid velocity." The
first term in Eq. (13.42) gives the solids flux
from the feed. The second and third terms
simply reaffirm that the flux qs at an arbitrary
OVERFLOW point equals the flux in the underflow of the
thickener. The last two items provide the same
FEED information with respect to the product of
TRANSITION volume fraction of solids and the local true
80 average velocity (ws,wsB). The pressure drop
LIQUID in a continuous thickener can be expressed by
the Darcy-Shirato equation as:
DISCHARGE U
The underflow concentration is given by €su = For a continuous thickener operated under
steady-state conditions, the solidosity at the
tfsuAtfsu + 4u> = <!*(<!* + iX s o <1 c a n b e ex-
bottom of the thickener is assumed to be the
pressed as:
same as the underflow solids concentration.
This also implies that the velocity of the solids
(13.46) equals the velocity of the liquid at the bottom.
To start the solution, selected values of esu
and qs are substituted into Eqs. (13.47) and
Substituting Eq. (13.46) into Eqs. (13.43) and
(13.48). At the sediment surface ps = 0. At the
(13.45) and eliminating q yields
bottom ps must equal a value that corre-
sponds to esu. Equations (13.47) and (13.48)
can be solved numerically as long as constitu-
tive relations such as Eq. (13.49) are available.
X
1 i 1
Equations (13.47) and (13.48) were solved for
kaolin flat D (a type of clay). Figure 13.23
shows that at a given underflow concentration
dx esu, increasing qs results in higher values of L.
t 1 It can also be noted that the plots are charac-
terized by two asymptotes. The horizontal
asymptote corresponds to a long detention
time in which the Darcy term in Eq. (13.48) is
Figure 13.22. Force balance. negligible. A thickener operating far into this
666 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
region would be oversized. The vertical asymp- verted 10 traditional multideck thickeners to
tote represents the maximum flow rate that is deep thickeners.
possible with the required underflow concen-
tration. Physically, the vertical asymptote cor-
responds to a condition in which the unbuoyed 13.4 CLARIFICATION
weight of the sediment is balanced by the
Darcian drag. Therefore, no compressive pres- As implied in the name, the purpose of clari-
sure is available to thicken the solids and an fication is to remove turbidity or suspended
infinite height of sediment is required to ob- solids from a murky liquid and render it crys-
tain the given underflow concentration. Oper- tal clear. It is used in a wide variety of indus-
ation should lie in a range in which flux varies tries, applied to raw materials, intermediates,
from 25% to 75% of the limiting value of the and products and, increasingly in recent years,
flux. to waste streams.
The treatment of raw water supplied; clari-
13.3.3.4 Application of Deep Thickener fication of solutions in the sugar, metal, and
inorganic chemical industries; removal of fine
Deep thickener technology was developed and catalyst particles from petroleum intermedi-
exploited in Alcan alumina plants.131 The sig- ates; polishing of beer in racking tanks after
nificantly higher underflow concentration is addition of finings; and the disposal of indus-
the most significant advantage over conven- trial waste water are but a few examples of the
tional thickeners. It was reported that they can use of sedimentation for the commercial-scale
achieve underflow concentration from 90% to clarification of liquids.
95% of that obtained with rotary vacuum fil-
Sedimentation is, however, not the only
ters. In addition, it had the advantages of
means of achieving this, 5 ' 6 ' 74 and for a fuller
lower capital and maintenance costs, lower
coverage of clarification, the chapters dealing
area requirement, increased recovery of valu-
with filtration methods should also be con-
able chemicals, and even the production ca-
sulted.
pacity. Table 13.6 shows the performance com-
Clarification by gravity sedimentation is car-
parisons of a deep cone thickener with the
ried out in circular tanks similar to that shown
conventional thickeners. As a result, Alcan
in Figure 13.2, but of lighter construction than
had installed 20 new deep thickeners and con-
those shown in Figures 13.1 and 13.3, and also
in rectangular tanks.75 In the treatment of
10 potable water, long rectangular basins are con-
sidered to be hydraulically more stable, with
' TIME. DAYS less short-circuiting between feed and over-
flow points, especially in larger plants.76 In
1.0 flocculated sewage treatment in the Toronto
LU area,77 a long, rectangular horizontal-flow set-
X tling tank was stated to be "much better" than
z a circular tank even when based on the same
LU 0.1 overflow rate and detention time.
5 In the food industry, the relatively pro-
LU
CO longed residence time in normal gravity set-
0.01 tling tanks sometimes leads to fermentation
-8 -6
10 10 10 and deterioration. The processing time and
SOLID UNDERFLOW RATE, the liquid inventory may both be reduced,
q su , m3/m2/s however, by the use of centrifugal clarifiers. In
Figure 13.23. Height versus solid underflow rate at these the gravitational force, g, is increased to
constant underflow concentration for kaolin flat D. 1000 to 10,000 times with a corresponding
SEDIMENTATION 667
CONVENTIONAL
THICKENER DEEP THICKENER
Diameter 120 ft 40ft
Height 15-20 ft 40-60 ft
Underflow concentration 30-35 wt% 45-55 wt%
Overflow clarity < 200 mg/liter < 100 mg/liter
Flocculant dosage 20-40 g/ton 50-80 g/ton
Upward velocity 0.5 m/h 3 m/h
Solids loading 1 to 2 mt solids/m2 day 10-15 mt solids/m2-day
Capital costs very high 2-4 times lower
From Ref. 131
increase in the settling velocity of the solids. As a consequence, the incoming feed, which
Examples are the treatment of olive oil to may differ both in density and temperature
avoid rancidity and the separation of yeast from the contents of the tank, can readily
cells from beer to cause a rapid termination of upset the ideal flow pattern. The mode of feed
their growth not possible in normal gravity entry and overflow removal is therefore more
sedimentation.120 Detailed discussion of cen- critical than in thickeners76'78 and model stud-
trifugal sedimentation5 is, however, beyond the ies should be used to investigate the hydraulic
scope of this chapter. effects of novel designs79 including the effects
Clarification of gold-bearing solutions in of baffles, weirs, and distributor plates.80
Southern Africa is traditionally done by pre- In thickening, the solids settle by hindering
coat filtration. A full-scale test133 has shown, settling with an interface between suspension
however, that a prior gravity sedimentation and liquid so that size segregation of fines is
step can reduce the overall cost of clarification minimal. Because of the lower solids concen-
to 60% that of filtration alone. This specific tration in clarifiers the floes descend indepen-
example confirms that the relative lower cost dently, with the larger particles or floes reach-
of gravity sedimentation in general, indicated ing the sludge level faster than the slower
in Table 13.1, applies also to clarification. settling fine material. If it were not for this
range of settling rates, the normal settling flux
13.4.1 Comparison of Clarifiers curve (Figs. 13.17 and 13.18) could be used in
and Thickeners design. Instead, a different flux curve would be
required for each species of particle size and
The concentration of solids in feed to clarifiers particle concentration present. However, as
ranges from 0.1 to 10 kg/m 3 which is between the maximum solids throughput is not of
20 and 1000 times more dilute than for thick- primary importance in clarifiers, a different
eners. As the main purpose of clarification is approach is used in design.
the removal of the solid matter from the liq- More details of the conditions necessary for
uid, the concentration at which these solids the separation of various sizes and densities of
(usually waste) are rejected from the clarifier particles in a mixed suspension are given by
is of reduced importance. The solids are usu- Masliyah.123
ally finer than in thickener feeds and require
flocculation for efficient settling. In a fully
loaded thickener, the deep layers of sediment- 13.4.2 Pretreatment for Sedimentation
ing and compacting solids are a prominent Effective clarification often depends on floc-
feature of its depth-concentration profile culating agents for success. Even when sedi-
whereas in clarifiers the major volume of the mentation is feasible without such an aid,1
tank is occupied by relatively quiescent liquid. pretreatment can result in both a reduction of
668 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
the size of tanks required and an increased ent mechanisms, coagulation is a reversible
clarity of the product. Pretreatment also ap- process whereas flocculation is not.
plied to thickener feed when throughputs have The combined use, first of an electrolyte to
to be increased but this is considered to be a reduce repulsive charge, followed by a reduced
more expensive remedy than installing addi- quantity of the relatively more expensive poly-
tional tanks for the long term.73'79 mer, often leads to a less costly pretreatment
Flocculants are additives that cause sus- process than the use of either alone. There are
pended solids to agglomerate into floes which of course restrictions in selecting flocculants
act like single large particles and therefore for potable water and foodstuffs. Less efficient
settle more rapidly than their smaller compo- but edible natural products such as starches
nents. Floe formation is brought about by co- and gums find a useful application here.
agulation, by capture in hydrous precipitate, or The quantity of flocculant normally re-
by the formation of polymer bridges between quired to cause efficient flocculation is only a
particles. small fraction of that which can be adsorbed
Coagulation occurs when the mutual elec- on the relatively large solid surface available,
trostatic repulsive forces between particles are and polymer flocculant molecules are usually
sufficiently reduced, by the addition of ions of quickly and completely removed from solution.
opposite sign, to permit the London-van der Contamination of the clarified liquid with
Waals attractive forces to cause aggregation of residual free flocculants is therefore usually
the particles. This requires either a pH change absent but not impossible and could lead to
or the addition of preferably polyvalent ions or problems at another point in the circuit1 or in
a combination of these actions. Lime and alum the application of the product. A bigger prob-
are common coagulation additives. lem at the flocculant addition stage is to en-
At a suitable pH, alum addition will lead to sure that the limited quantity of flocculant is
the formation of a hydrous aluminum hydrox- equally distributed between all the particles in
ide precipitate in which particles may be cap- the suspension.
tured. Although the principles of flocculation are
Polymer flocculation, whether by natural or reasonably well understood, selection and ap-
synthetic neutral polymers or polyelectrolytes, plication of the best flocculant for a particular
may be considered82 to take place in two suspension is still an art. 1 ' 5 ' 83 ' 84 Thus nega-
stages: tively charged solids may be flocculated by
cationic flocculants as expected but it is also
possible that better results may be obtained
1. adsorption of the polymer onto a particle
with an anionic polymer after addition of a
surface, attributed to hydrogen bonding or
divalent cation.82 Determination of the best
ion adsorption, and
conditions and selecting the best product from
2. flocculation of the particles either as a a range of similar type flocculants is therefore
direct result of the London-van der Waals based on results of laboratory batch tests on
attractive forces or due to physical polymer the liquid to be clarified.87 Such tests, if prop-
bridges formed between the particles. erly carried out, can indicate not only the
chemicals to add, the required amounts and
These bridges may be formed by the two ends the order of their addition, but also the degree
of one polymer molecule being attracted to of stirring, method of application, and the wait
two different particles,83 or by the "loops" of period required either before the next addi-
polymer chains on one particle being attracted tion or the commencement of sedimentation,
to the loops of another.82 Polymer flocculation that is, the point in time at which the floccu-
is extremely sensitive to the molecular weight lated suspension should be admitted to the
of the polymer used.84 Because of the differ- clarifier.
SEDIMENTATION 669
600 m 3 / h = 0.187 m / h * A m2
QUARTZ PARTICLES SUSPENDED
IN TURBID LIQUOR
A = 3200 m2
and diameter of circular tank = 64 m.
(2) Clarification of a liquid after flocculation
99,99 99,9 99 90 50 10 I 0,1 0,01
CUMULATIVE MASS PERCENTAGE OF PARTICLES SETTLING GREATER THAN INDICATED VELOCITY Assuming that 64 m diameter tank is too
Figure 13.24. Settling velocity distribution of sus- large for the site, what steps can be taken to
pended quartz particles. reduce it? Flocculant tests in the laboratory
indicated good settling behavior of the solids
in the feed after addition of 5 mg/liter of
carried over. The proportion of feed particles
ferric chloride coagulant followed by 0.2
appearing in the overflow can be determined
mg/liter of a polyacrylamide flocculant.
from Figure 13.24 for any given overflow rate
For sizing the clarifier a 10-liter sample of
and their actual concentration then depends
the pretreated turbid gold solution was then
on the total quantity of solids in the feed. The
gently added to a transparent settling tube
settler area is governed by the maximum al-
~ 65 mm diameter and 2 to 3 m deep. Provi-
lowable overflow rate.
sion was made for periodically sampling the
When the "particles" to be settled are floes
liquid at known depths either by lowering a
or agglomerates of the originally dispersed
siphon tube or through suitably spaced side
fine solids, their size characterization is not
ports.2'92
simple. It is best to directly measure in the
At time zero, the tube was immediately
laboratory the essential parameter, settling
filled, the contents were sampled at the top,
velocity distribution. This is illustrated in the
middle, and near the bottom to determine the
examples below.
original (feed) suspended solids concentration
and check on even solids distribution. When
13.4.5.1 Two Examples of Estimating
the liquid started to clear, the time was noted
Clarifier Areas
and samples taken at all levels from top to
(1) A liquid containing dispersed solids bottom in that order, and analyzed for sus-
A pregnant gold solution, obtained by ro- pended solids. The sampling was repeated af-
tary vacuum filtration of cyanide-leached ore, ter four or five similar periods until all
contains 550 mg/liter of 1 to 30 /xm quartz samples indicated a suspended solids con-
fines and requires clarification to a limiting centration below the desired limit. Results of a
concentration of 20 mg/liter. What size sedi- typical test are shown in Table 13.7.
mentation tank is required for a flow of 600 Sampling at H m below the surface after
m 3 /h? t h static settling is exactly equivalent to
The solids to be removed are (550 - 20) sampling the overflow liquid from a contin-
mg/liter or 96.4% of the mass of incoming uous clarifier operating at an upflow velocity
solids. As only solids that settle faster than the qF/A = H/t. It can be seen from the results,
upward velocity of the overflow can be col- as is to be expected, that the suspended solids
lected, the maximum overflow rate must be (SS) at any level decreases with time and at
low enough to collect this percentage of the any time increases with depth. These data
incoming solids. From Figure 13.24, based on provide the maximum permissible upflow ve-
Table 13.7. Suspended Solids Values at Various Depths at Different Times.
FROM 0 5 10 15 20 25
SURFACE ss SS "8 SS "8 SS M8 SS u8 SS
(m) (mg/liter) (m/h) (mg/liter) (m/h) (mg/liter) (m/h) (mg/liter) (m/h) (mg/liter) (m/h) (mg/liter)
locity for any desired suspended solid in the which represents a narrower tank but much
overflow. By interpolating the SS data after 5 deeper. This apparent wide choice of possibili-
min settling, it may be estimated that for a ties is, however, limited by considering the
clarifier product containing no more than 20 standard sizes available as settling tanks of
mg/liter of suspended solids, the upflow must this diameter normally come with a standard
not exceed 4.8 m/h. For a volumetric through- depth of ~ 2.5 m, and therefore us * tB = 2.5
put qF = 600 m 3 /h this means a tank of diam- m. The products us * tu for various times taken
eter =• 12.6 m. from Table 13.7 are shown in Table 13.8.
If the exercise is repeated with the 15 min From the final column the required value of
results, however, the diameter is found unex- 2.5 m occurs at about 19 min; therefore:
pectedly to decrease to 10.8 m. This could not
fD = 19/60 = 0.315 h
occur unless there were a change in the nature
of the settling solids with time. For the various us = 2.5/0.315 = 7.9 m / h
times shown in Table 13.7 it can be seen, and
however, that the SS value for a fixed upflow D = 9.8 m
rate, say us = 6 m/h, decreases steadily with
time from 30 mg/liter at 5 min to 7 mg/liter In actual practice a converted 10 m diame-
at 25 min. Therefore, both upflow rate and ter pachuca tank was used133 for this duty, in
detention time are important in clarifier de- this case probably by reversing the procedure
sign. (Note: This aspect of detention time is and adding the necessary quantity of floccu-
quite different from the idea that it may be lant to suit the size tank available. As for
required to achieve maximum sludge thicken- thickeners, the calculated value of D is
ing.)90 Particles or floes continue to grow dur- rounded up to the next largest standard diam-
ing settling, either as a result of faster settling eter tank manufactured and this has the dou-
units overtaking and coalescing with slower ble advantage of further lowering the upflow
ones or due to velocity gradients in the fluid.143 velocity and increasing the detention time,
In a cylindrical tank of diameter D the which is always useful for contingencies.
detention time t0 = irD2H/4qF while the up-
flow rate is the detention time t0 4qF/irD2.
Therefore the dimensions of the tank are 13.5 NONCONVENTIONAL
SEDIMENTATION PROCESSES
AND EQUIPMENT
D=
7TUC
ventional design is not ideal for special condi- FLOOR : SETTLING AREA RATIO = — •
2. Entrainment of solids in the rapidly rising Willis103 reviews the practical design factors
liquid stream due to internal mixing97 giv- for tubular settlers including important points
ing rise to an increased overflow turbidity such as sludge collection, how to specify over-
3. Accumulation of solids on the plates. flow rate, and presents various shapes of tube
that may be used. Much of it applies also to
These shortcomings, which are not always seri- conventional plate settlers but tubes are con-
ous, have been recognized by various manu- sidered to overcome the hydraulic instability
facturers and the following modified designs of "wide horizontal plates."
are available commercially: An alternative view,97'104 that lamella set-
tlers offer the advantage of rapid sedimenta-
1. Corrugated plates to avoid a continuous tion or additional clarifier capacity because of
curtain of descending solids, and guard gut- the decreased vertical fall height, can lead to
ters to separate the flow of these solids confusion between a reduced throughput time
from the incoming feed and a real increase in total solids throughput.
2. Feeding the plates from the side to avoid Only the former applies here as solids
feeding and discharging solids at the same throughput is governed by available area and
point not settling height.
3. Feeding from the top with overflow return
pipes extending to clear water zones near
13.5.2 Upflow Solids Contact
the base
4. Stacking set of inclined plates, one above In contrast to the lamella settler, which in-
the other, each inclined in opposite direc- creases sedimentation "efficiency" by provid-
tions to present a vertically zigzag profile ing a multiplicity of settling planes, the upflow
for which settling solids should present the principle operates by improving the actual sed-
minimum disturbance to the clarified liquid imentation characteristics of the feed. It is
5. Continuous raking or low-frequency vibra- confined to flocculated suspensions or metal
tors to assist both removal of solids from hydroxide precipitates in which the freshly
the plates and promote their compaction formed loosely knit, voluminous floes settle
6. Use of flexible textile materials or rubber slowly owing to their smaller initial mean size,
for the "plates" to permit periodic dis- and their greater fragility, or their decreased
lodgement of solids or cleaning. density differential compared to compact
agglomerates.
The lamella settler has been successfully Such floes may, however, mature with time
used in many fields; in coal preparation resulting in larger, stable, denser, fast settling
plants98'99 for removal of fine mill scale from units, and when these aged floes contact freshly
hot rolling mill wastes for reuse of the water100 formed material the settling characteristics of
and also for separating metal hydroxides, fly the latter are promoted.80 The upflow princi-
ash, nickel, catalyst fines, cement dust, clarifi- ple exploits this phenomenon by adding the
cation of phosphoric acid, lime kiln scrubber freshly flocculated feed, not into a normal
water and paint booth water curtain.100 feedwell above a body of clear liquid, but
The tubular settler101'103 and the rotating below the pulp interface of a bed of aged floes.
spiral thickener104 operate on the same general These floes are thereby kept in a state of
principle of providing increased settling area fluidization, and feed rates of up to 35 times
per unit of floor area. In the latter, a "Swiss higher than for conventional units are claimed.
roll" provides a number of flow channels be- This is possible if the matured floes have a
tween curved walls through which the slurry settling rate 35 times faster than freshly formed
flows and concentrates while the unit is slowly floes. This represents a special case of the
rotated. benefits of detention time except that in this
SEDIMENTATION 675
23. J. Garside and M. R. Al-Dibouni, "Velocity Theories of Hindered Settling," Powder Technol.
Voidage Relationships for Fluidization and Sedi- 73:123-132 (1976); 27:147-152 (1977).
mentation in Solid-Liquid Systems," Ind. Eng. 39. G. B. Wallis, "A Simplified One-Dimensional
Chem. Proc. Des. Dev. 26:206-214 (1977). Representation of Two-Component Vertical Flow
24. B. H. Kaye and R. P. Boardman, "Cluster Forma- and Its Applications to Batch Sedimentation," in
tion in Dilute Suspensions," in Proc. Symp. Inter- Proc. Symp. Interaction Between Fluids and Parti-
action Between Fluids and Particles, Inst. Chem. cles, London, Institute of Chemical Engineers,
Engr. A17-21 (1962). pp. 9-16 (1963).
25. R. Johne, "Einfluss der Konzentration einer 40. L. A. Adorj'an, "Determination of Thickener Di-
monodispersen Suspension auf die Sinkge- mensions from Sediment Compression and Per-
schwindigkeit ihrer Teilchen," Chemie Ing Tech. meability Test Results, Trans. Inst. Min. Metal. C,
35:428-430 (1966). S5:C157-163 (1976).
26. B. Koglin, "Dynamic Equilibrium of Settling Ve- 41. C. E. Capes, "Particle Agglomeration and the
locity Distribution in Dilute Suspensions of Spher- Value of the Exponent n in the Richardson-Zaki
ical Irregularly Shaped Particles," in Proceedings Equation," Powder Technol. 20:303-306 (1974).
of the Conference on Particle Technology, IIT Re- 42. A. E. Fouda and C. E. Capes, "Hydrodynamic
search Institute of Chicago, pp. 266-271, August Particle Volume and Fluidized Bed Expansion,"
21-24 (1973). Can. J. Chem. Eng. 55:386-391 (1977).
27. E. M. Tory and D. K. Pickard, "A Three- 43. L.-G. Eklund and A. Jernqvist, "Experimental
Parameter Markov Model for Sedimentation," Study of the Dynamics of a Vertical Continuous
Can. J. Chem. Eng. 55:655-665 (1977). Thickener-I," Chem. Eng. Sci. 30:597-605 (1975).
28. J. F. Richardson and W. N. Zaki, "Sedimentation 44. A. S. Michaels and J. C. Bolger, "Settling Rates
and Fluidization: Part 1," Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. and Sediment Volumes of Flocculated Kaolin Sus-
32:35-53 (1954).
pensions," Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam. 2:2433 (1962).
29. H. Watanabe, "Voidage Function in Particulate
45. E. K. Obiakor and R. L. Whitmore, "Settling
Fluid Systems," Powder Technol. 18:211-225
Phenomena in Flocculated Suspensions," Rheol.
(1978).
Acta 6:353-359 (1967).
30. A. D. Maude and R. L. Whitmore, "A General-
46. P. G. Cooper, J. G. Rayner, and S. K. Nicol,
ized Theory of Sedimentation," Br. J. Appl. Phys.
"Flow Equation for Coagulated Suspensions,"
9:477-482 (1958).
/. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. I, 74:785-794 (1978).
31. W. C. Thacker and J. W. Lavelle, "Stability of
47. K. J. Scott, "Theory of Thickening: Factors Af-
Settling of Suspended Sediments," Phys. Fluids
fecting Settling Rate of Solids in Flocculated
27:291-292 (1978).
Pulps," Trans. Instn. Min. Metal 77:C85-97 (1968);
32. P. T. Shannon, E. Stroupe, and E. M. Tory, "Batch
75:C116-119, 244-245 (1969).
and Continuous Thickening. Basic Theory. Solids
48. K. J. Scott, "Thickening of Calcium Carbonate
Flux for Rigid Spheres," Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam.
2:203-211 (1963). Slurries. Comparison of Data with Results for
Rigid Spheres," Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam.
33. K. J. Scott and W. G. B. Mandersloot, "The Mean
7:484-490 (1968).
Particle Size in Hindered Settling of Multisized
Particles," Powder Technol 24:99-101 (1979). 49. K. J. Scott, "The Water Content of Floes," /. S.
34. B. Fitch, "Sedimentation Process Fundamentals," Afr. Inst. Min. Metal. 65:357-367 (1965).
Trans. AIME 223:129-137 (1962). 50. C. C. Harris, P. Somasundaran, and R. R. Jensen,
35. J. P. Mogan, R. W. Taylor, and F. L. Booth, "The "Sedimentation of Compressible Materials: Anal-
Value of the Exponent n in the Richardson and ysis of Batch Sedimentation Curve," Powder Tech-
Zaki Equation, for Fine Solids Fluidized with nol. 22:75-84 (1975).
Gases Under Pressure," Powder Technol. 4:286- 51. P. A. Vesilind, "Evaluation of Activated Sludge
289 (1970/71). Thickening Theories," /. San. Eng. Div. Proc.
36. D. K. Vohra, "Sedimentation in a Viscous Sus- ASCE 94:SA1, 185-191 (1968).
pending Medium," Inst. Eng. (India) I. Chem. Eng. 52. H. S. Coe and G. H. Clevenger, "Methods for
57:97-100 (1977). Determining the Capacities of Slime-Settling
37. A. K. Korol'kov, M. N. Kell, and A. A. Vasil'eva, Tanks," Trans. AIME 55:356-384 (1916).
"Dependence of the Rate of the Hindered 53. B. Fitch, "Batch Tests Predict Thickener Perfor-
Settling of Grains on Their Specific Surface," mance," Chem. Eng. 7S(19):83-88 (August 23,
Obogashch. Rud 25:24-26 (1970). (Russ.) [Chem. 1971).
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682 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
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14
Filtration of Solids from
Liquid Streams
Larry Avery
CONTENTS
14.1.6 The Four Basic Components the mechanism of the particle collection as
regards the specific media. In the first case, as
Important considerations of the four basic
components are given in the following sub- shown in Figure 14.2, the particles are re-
sections. tained from the suspension exactly on the face
of the medium as the particles approach the
Liquid. The liquid contains the suspended medium at right angles. The principle is that
particles, and is called the feed, suspension, the pores or openings in that medium are
or slurry. The types of particles—the size char- smaller than the particles contacting it, thus
acteristics, the density, the settling rate, preventing them from passing through. The
the shape, softness, quantity, and chemical medium must be physically and mechanically
nature—and the viscosity of the liquid deter- strong enough to resist any pressure deforma-
mine the filterability of the feed or slurry. tion preventing the pores from enlarging. The
particles must be rigid or firm enough so as
Medium. The medium is the porous material not to compress or squeeze through the open-
for collection of the particles. It determines ings. If all these conditions are met, we would
the efficiency of the filtration, the mechanism have complete or absolute retention of the
involved, and the suitable operation of the
particles. With metal screens, perforated met-
filter itself.
als, porous ceramics, and some membrane fil-
Solids. Mostly, it is desirable for the solids ters, this condition can approach reality. In
to have as low a residual moisture content as many cases it does not have to be perfect
possible, and to be free from the mother liquor; because the filtrate can be recirculated and
hence the need to wash the filter cake. trapped by the solids already built up on the
medium. This cannot be done, however, in
Filtrate, or Effluent. A high degree of clarity critical microbe filtrations of pharmaceutical
or purity is required for liquid products. products where a single pass must be complete
Wastewater streams should be low in TSS to what is called a log-reduction value of 7,
(total suspended solids). which indicates that there were 10 microbes
Filters can operate in either a batch or a found in the filtrate for a filtration efficiency
continuous mode. Most batch filters operate of 0.9999999 (seven nines).
on a small scale. However, some batch filter
This same surface filter medium is also the
presses, for example, can handle solids loads
desired type for cake filtrations, where the
up to 300 ft3 per batch or about 9 tons de-
solids built up to 1-in. thickness or more based
pending on the density of the wet cake. Con-
tinuous belt or rotary vacuum filters can pro- on the type of filter. Media with a smooth slick
cess up to 120 tons per day, again depending surface and a pore size in the 1 to 10 micron
on the percent solids in the feed stream, and
the density of the solids. Of course, batch
filters can be operated in multiple parallel SUSPENDED SOLIDS
stages to produce essentially a continuous
production output. I i 1 1 1 I i
filtration. They refer to the filter medium and Figure 14.2. Surface filtration sketch.
686 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
range will accomplish this. Over time, there the longer the cartridge life and lower related
will be some penetration of the medium known filtration costs.
as progressive plugging, but yet these filter
cloths can last for hundreds of filtration cycles 14.2.3 Pore Blocking
before they have to be replaced.
Another mechanism closely related to the
above is pore blocking and particle bridging of
14.2.2 Depth Filtration the pores. The first is undesirable because it
stops the flow. It occurs most often with rela-
The other basic separation mechanism is tively small particles, high viscosity, and low
known as depth filtration, and as the name solids concentration.
implies, the solids are captured under the sur- Particle bridging results from particles col-
face, and within the depth of the filter medium. lecting around the pore openings, and gradu-
This concept is shown in Figure 14.3. This can ally closing over the opening. An increase in
apply to membrane media that may be only 50 the suspension's particle concentration favors
microns thick or fabrics and filter sheets that this mechanism. Once this occurs, cake filtra-
can be as much as 0.125-in. thick. This is not tion can take place.
to say that very large particles may all collect
on the surface so that it performs like a sur-
face medium. This can happen with string 14.3 FILTRATION THEORY
wound filter cartridges, for example, which are
layered to provide a porosity gradient from the Filtration has long been considered more of a
outside feed side to the internal core for practical art still being developed than as an
filtrate discharge. engineering science. Likewise, the theory of
The advantage of depth filters is that they filtration operations has itself been the contin-
can trap particles smaller than the average uing subject of much study in the academic
pore size in the medium. This is done by field. Many of the basic approaches for the
electrostatic forces, molecular forces, direct last 75 years have been most important in
impingement on fibers, and attachment to the developing fundamental theoretical relation-
sidewalls of the interstices within the medium. ships. The real beginning was the work of
This entrapment of particles within the depth Darcy on capillary and pressure relationships
leads to an important property of filter car- in 1856.
tridges called dirt-load capacity. Even though His work was recently translated not with-
cartridges are used for feed streams of under out some difficulty from the French to English
0.1% solids, the higher the dirt-load capacity, by J. B. Crump and critiqued by Tiller as
related to our current theory.43
The equations expressing relationships be-
tween filtration variables have been applied to
SKETCH FOR DEPTH FILTRATION certain designs of equipment, but mostly they
SLURRY are helpful in interpreting pilot and laboratory
tests and determining the specific cake resis-
tance which is unique to each slurry. This
specific cake resistance is affected by the basic
factors plus the porosity and the specific sur-
face of the particles in the suspension to be
"I "I T'J 1" 1" 1 filtered.
CLEAR FILTRATE The fundamental theory begins with the
Figure 14.3. Depth filtration sketch. basic Darcy equation relating the flow rate Q
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 687
of viscosity /x through a bed of thickness L may increase where cake builds on tubular or
and area A and driving force p: rotary drum surfaces. The viscosity stays con-
AAp stant if the temperature is likewise constant
Q =K (14.1) and the liquid is Newtonian.
The specific cake resistance a should be
where K is a constant referred to as the constant for incompressible cakes, but could
permeability of the filter bed. This equation is vary slightly because of possible cake consoli-
often written in the form dation or feed approach velocity. However,
most cakes are compressible, so the specific
(14.2) cake resistance changes with Apc. Then the
Q=
average specific cake resistance aav should
replace a in Eq. (14.5). It can be determined
where R is called the medium resistance and
by
is equal to L/K.
If the suspension were a clean liquid, the APc d(Apc)
parameters in Eq. (14.1) would be constant, (14.6)
Apc
and the relationship between the flow and the
pressure drop would produce a cumulative fil- if the function a = f(Apc) is known from test
trate volume that would increase linearly with data. If not, an experimental empirical rela-
time. When the suspension contains particles, tionship can be used over a limited pressure
the resultant cake formation takes up more range:
pressure so the flow decreases with time.
With cake forming, there are two resis- a = ao(Apc)n (14.7)
tances to flow, the cake and the filter medium
as per the following equation: where a0 is the resistance at unit applied Ap
and n is a compressibility index (equal to zero
AAp for incompressible substance).
Q= (14.3)
Rc) Using Eq. (14.7), the average cake resist-
ance aav can be shown to be:
This assumes the filter medium resistance to
be constant, which in practice is not always = (l -n)ao(Apc)n (14.8)
precisely true because of particle impingement
on the medium surface, and also progressive The mass of cake deposited per unit area w is
plugging of the media. Assuming the cake (if a function of time in batch filtrations, and it
incompressible) is proportional to the amount can be related to the cumulative volume V in
of cake deposited, it follows that time t by
Rc = aw (14.4) wA = cV (14.9)
where w is the mass of cake deposited per unit where c is the concentration of solids in the
area and a is the specific cake resistance. suspension.
Substituting Eq. (14.4) in (14.3) gives From the above initial analysis, basic equa-
ApA tions for filtration operations for incompress-
Q = — ^ (14.5) ible cakes using constant pressure and con-
stant rate filtrations have been developed.
This relates the flow rate Q to the pressure From pilot tests, the specific cake resistance
drop Ap, the mass of cake deposited w, and can be determined. Likewise, equations for
other parameters, some of which can be as- compressible cake filtrations and relationships
sumed to be constant. However, Ap may be between the specific cake resistance and
constant or variable with time. The face area porosity and specific surface of the particles
688 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
have been made known. These are expressed 8. Should not have loose fibers that shed into
as the classic Kozeny-Carman equation. the cake or liquid being filtered.
The above is only a very basic outline of 9. Should be capable of being fabricated,
simple theory as based on an excellent presen- sewed, fused, or adaptable to other types
tation by L. Svarvosky on filtration fundamen- of converting operations.
tals in his recent book. All of the basic equa- 10. Should have an economic service life.
tions mentioned above are included in detail
in Ref. 44. Not all the above will be found in a single
As research workers explore troublesome medium so that certain compromises will have
assumptions in the classic theory, new con- to be made regarding cost, medium life, and
siderations are presented. Work by Tiller, performance.
Wakeman, Rushton, Willis, and others is
adding to the field. Studies on formulas for 14.4.1 Types of Filter Media
constant pressure filtration and compaction of
filter cakes were presented at the recent The most common types of media are woven
American Filtration meeting in Hershey, PA.4 fabrics, papers, and felts. Yarn types for woven
media are shown in Fig. 14.4. Physical and
chemical characteristics of the most frequently
14.4 FILTER MEDIA used fibers are shown in Table 14.1. In recent
years, there has been an increasing interest in
nonwoven textiles and also membranes, lami-
Filter media are available in many different
nates, finemesh woven metal wire, and
forms, and being the essential element of a
photoetched metals.
filter, they should have as many of the follow-
ing characteristics as possible. These pertain Also considered as media are screens, wedge
mostly to woven fabrics, but can apply to some wire, see Figure 14.5 grids, sand, perforated
nonwovens such as felt as well. They: steel plates, porous ceramic, see Fig. 14.6 plas-
tic, and carbon sheets and tubes. Thus, it can
be seen that some media are flexible, some
1. Should have particle retention suitable for
rigid, and some even granular. Pore size and
the application, generally no more that
porosity can vary considerably. Selecting the
actually required because of increased
right filter fabric was covered by Clark.45
cost.
2. Should have low flow resistance.
3. Should be resistant to chemical degra-
dation and any subsequent cleaning
chemicals.
4. Should have enough physical strength to
adapt to the type of filter equipment used
and avoid problems from creasing.
5. Should not change form, stretch, or shrink
during filtration or be susceptible to bacte-
rial growth.
6. Should offer resistance to the maximum
temperature of liquid to be filtered or
subsequent washing or steam cleaning of
media.
7. For cake filtration, should have a smooth
and slick surface to facilitate unaided re- Figure 14.4. Yarn types. (Zurich Bolting Cloth Mfg.
lease of the filter cake. Co. Ltd.)
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 689
Table 14.1. Typical Characteristics for Common Fibers Used for Filter Cloths for Liquid Filtration.
Temperatures are Approximate. Resistances Depend on Strength and Temperature of Acid or Alkali.
MAXIMUM
OPERATING
TEMPERATURE ACID ALKALI WET HEAT FLEX AND
FIBER °F °C RESISTANCE RESISTANCE RESISTANCE ABRASION
Acrylic 275 135 Excellent Fair Good Good
Aramid 400 205 Fair Good Excellent Very Good
Cotton 210 99 Poor Good Fair Good
Nylon 250 121 Fair Very Good Good Excellent
Polyester 284 140 Good Fair Good Very Good
Polypropylene 200 94 Excellent Excellent Fair Very Good
60|im
thickness
SEM image shows cross-section of support and membrane layers that make up a 0.2 micron PI9-40 element.
cloths than filter presses; and belt filters use other major use is on continuous horizontal
heavy-duty, 22 to 25 oz/yd 2 rugged synthetic plate filters for coolants in the metal roll-
woven cloths. Many clarifying filter presses use ing industry and D & I can manufacturing
filter paper and sheets. Cartridges and filter operations.
bags are also used widely for clarifying filtra- In a study comparing pleated nonwoven me-
tions. Once a medium has been established in dia in a filter cartridge against a conventional
practice, and there is a change in the process, wound cartridge design, it was found that the
or if a problem develops, such as insufficient nonwoven media had a greater efficiency in
particle retention, improvements can be made particle removal than the wound yarn design.65
by gradually selecting a similar filter medium The media used was a polyester material,
for test on a pilot scale. Then the new medium Other materials are the cellulose, rayon, and
can be tried on plant equipment, usually with nylon used in early nonwovens. More recently,
good results. aramids such as Nomex and Kevlar and
Where an untried application develops, the fluorocarbons such as Teflon are being used.
selection has to be made with a more critical
look at all the desired characteristics. Here,
lab tests will be required to determine a final 14.5 MEMBRANES
choice.
Filtration and separation media characteris- A most important field of liquid filtration is
tics along with advantages and typical uses are the one that benefits from membrane filters.
shown in Table 14.2.47 These are very thin microporous polymeric
film sheet media from 10 to 100 microns thick.
The range of separations is shown in Figure
14.4.3 Nonwoven Media
14.7. The four basic types of membrane
A newer type of media showing increasing use processes are:
is the nonwoven or bonded material. It has a
web structure of entangled fibers made by a 1. Reverse osmosis (RO), with an osmotic
mechanical, thermal, or chemical bonding pro- pressure driving force separating a solvent,
cess. The filtering properties of these media usually water, from a dissolved monovalent
are controlled, such as strength and uniformity salt
of fiber orientation. A recent article explains 2. Nanofiltration (NF), which rejects divalent
the advantages and applications of the four salt, sugars, and disassociated acids
basic technologies for bonding nonwoven webs, 3. Ultrafiltration (UF), which separates or
which are chemical, ultrasonic, needle punch- fractionates dissolved molecules by molecu-
ing, and adhesive melt.48 The various types are lar weight and size
designated by the method of formation such as 4. Microfiltration (MF), which is actually
card webs, air laid, wet formed, spunbonded, particle removal of very fine or colloidal
and melt blown. This nonwoven technology is particles.
explained by Shoemaker.49 In addition, bond-
ing mechanisms are given by Pangrazi.48 There is some overlapping of the separation
Major uses for nonwovens are for mem- range, and since we are concerned only with
brane supports and cartridge filters, especially particle filtration, we will discuss MF and the
for swimming pool water and other liquid fil- related range of UF. From their limited initial
trations. Advantages are pleatability, resis- use 50 years ago in removing microorganisms
tance to damage, good retention values, and in drinking water, they have had rapid growth
flow rates. In roll form from 18 in. to 45 in. to sales of over $900 million annually. They
widths, they are widely used in filtering ma- meet critical applications in gas, liquid, and
chine tool coolants in deep bed filters. An- solvent separations. Major uses are in desali-
Table 14.2. Filtration and Separation Media Characteristics.
Filter aid 1-2 2-7* 8-10 Same Inexpensive, excellent filter Disposal, mostly limited Precoat for large volume
cake base. to pressure filtration. pressure filtration e.g
leaf pressure filters.
Glass 1-2 2-8 4-8 Same to — High temperature, chemical Limited media processing Baghouse filtration,
compatibility, low stretch, capabilities, yarn laboratory filters,
low cost. weakness. HEPA filters.
Membranes 6-9 9-10 1-2 Narrow pore size High cost, low flow rates. Pharmaceuticals,
distribution below Somewhat hard to semiconductors, medical
one micron, many process. devices, ultrapure
polymer choices. water.
Metal 3-8 4-9 3-10 Same to - Reusable, high temperature, Expensive, high cleaning Vibratory sifting, aerospace,
diverse properties, costs. polymer filters, reusable
narrow pore applications.
size distribution.
Table 14.2. Filtration and Separation Media Characteristics. Continued
RELATIVE GENERAL RELATIVE CURRENT
MEDIA EFFICIENCY MEDIA MARKET
COST RATINGS PERMEABILITY PENETRATION
TYPE RANGE RANGE RANGE TREND AND USE ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE COMMON USE
Nonwoven 1-3 1-8* 4-8 ++ Low cost, dirt holding Random pores, particle Chemical, medical, water,
fabrics capability, diverse unloading, fiber baghouse filters,
constructions. migration strainer bags.
disposal of media.
Paper 1-2 1-6 4-8 Dirt holding capabilities, Fiber release possible, Automotive, laboratory,
diverse polymers, poor wet strength, air, and general
moldable. particle unloading, process industries.
disposal of media.
Porous 3-7 4-8 2-5 Same Dirt holding capabilities, Restricted to rigid Medical, battery vents,
plastics diverse polymers, forms, limited uses. water.
moldable.
Precision 4-7 7-9 4-10 High flow with minimal Especially expensive at Dewatering, medical,
woven resistance, precision lower size pore ratings aerospace, automotive,
synthetic pores, wide choice. (5-30 micron). process filtration
screen including belts.
fabrics
Woven 3-5 2-6 2-7 Same High wet/dry strength. Lower flow rates, Filter presses, RO
fabrics Lower cost. Dirt random size pores, channel separators,
holding capabilities. particle unloading. vacuum belts
Wide choice.
nation, fluid sterilization, and waste water ceramic application is for large discs in a
treatment, such as separating emulsified oily rotary vacuum disc filter used in the min-
wastes. Microfiltration uses include removal of ing industry. These filters can have several
suspended particles from effluent waters, clari- hundred square feet of filter area.
fication of fruit juices and vinegars, and har- Membrane filters can be designed with flat
vesting bacterial cells. sheets in a plate and frame support. Car-
Cellulose esters were first used for making tridges are made in a spiral wound or pleated
microfiltration membranes, but now various membrane configuration. Hollow fiber mem-
polymers including nylon, polyvinyl chloride branes are in a tubular design.
(PVC), polypropylene, polysulfones, and poly- Flat sheet media or pleated cartridges have
tetrafluorethylene (PTFE) are used. The latter a special application in the pharmaceutical
can be made by stretching a thin sheet of the industry for the purpose of sterilization of
polymer carefully and bonding it to a porous certain liquid batch products. The membrane
substrate.50 See Fig. 14.8. The membrane film media and its holder or housing must be steril-
can be from 100 to 250 microns thick. Other ized, and tested for integrity. Since it is critical
membrane preparation methods are track- that no microbes or contaminants pass through
etching and phase inversion casting. Details of the filter assembly, the pores in the membrane
these processes are given by Porter.51 must not be larger than the microbes or parti-
Most of these membranes have physical and cles to be retained. To verify this, a bubble
temperature limitations and may be subject to point test must be done. The apparatus for
chemical and solvent attack. Recently ceramic performing this test is described by ASTM
membranes have become commercially avail- F136. The factors involved are absolute filtra-
able. Originally developed by the French nu- tion, average size pore, and filtration effi-
clear industry, and now declassified, they are ciency. The variables and interpretation of this
being used as tubular membrane filters with subject are discussed in detail by Johnston.52
the membrane surface on the inside. Reten- One aspect of membrane filtration, and dif-
tion values down to less than 0.2 micron are ferent from sterilizing nitrations, is that the
available as shown in Figure 14.6. Another flow patterns are not at right angles to the
694 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
1000X
Figure 14.8. Illustration of stretched polymer membrane media at 1000 X magnification. Courtesy
W. G. Gore and Associates.
membrane, see Fig. 14.9, but tangent to the membrane filtration, it is essential that the
media, which is called crossflow filtration. (See crossflow be of sufficient velocity to offset a
Fig. 14.10.) This concept has been used in phenomenon known as "concentration polar-
conventional cake filtration as a means to limit ization" in which the solute builds up on the
cake growth and increase output. However, in surface of the membrane in concentrations
CONVENTIONAL FILTER
MEMBRANE FILTER
Concentrate
Feed or
Retentate
mbrane
y y y
Permeate Flow
much higher than in the bulk flow of the feed cle sizes determines the grade and the practi-
stream. There are ways of overcoming this cal application. Flow rates of different grades
problem, and, among others, Van den Berg are shown in Figure 14.11. Diatomite filtration
and Smolden developed mathematical models systems can remove particles under 1 micron
to study it. They concluded that besides cross- and at flow rates of from 0.2 to 2.0 gal/min/ft 2
flow filtration, reducing scaling of membranes, on rotary vacuum filters.56 This type of use is
chemical treatment of the membrane surface, called precoat filtration; a 5- or 6-in. layer of
using corrugated membranes, and using ap- filter aid is formed on the filter drum, and is
propriate pretreatment methods to increase gradually scraped off with a sharp knife edge
the mass transfer coefficient are helpful.53 along with a thin layer of the filtered solids.
In the field of biological membrane separa- Precoat can also be used on sheet media and
tions, Gyure discusses in qualitative terms the filter cloths as a porous layer, and also serves
many practical considerations in using cross- to facilitate cake removal from the medium.
flow filtration. Continuous versus batch sys- Another common method of using filter aids,
tems are compared and methods for effective called admix or body-feed, is to add them to
cleaning of membranes are given.54 the suspension being filtered. The amount and
grade used can be determined empirically, but
generally it must be equal to or more than the
14.6 FILTER AIDS weight of the suspended solids, and it can
exceed this by up to 10%. If this optimum
Filter aids are loose powders, such as diatoma- amount is not maintained, it is apparent that
ceous earth (DE) and expanded perlite, that the formed filter cake will plug to end the
are used to facilitate and improve the filtration cycle.
of difficult to filter products, such as gels, Although filter aids are inert, and up to
hydroxides, and very fine particles. Their rigid- 95% silica, they do have impurities such as
ity and high porosity make them suitable for iron, copper, etc. and the possible effect on
this purpose. They are added to the slurry, the filtrate should be considered in their selec-
thus forming a more permeable filter cake. tion. Also, the amount of filter cake produced
Occurring as natural minerals, they are pro- is greater, and this could add to disposal costs.
cessed into about 10 different grades with The permeability of diatomite filter aids is
ranges of particle sizes from 40 microns down specified in Darcies, which is defined at unity
to under 2 microns. The distribution of parti- if a liquid material passes 1 cc/cm 2 per sec-
696 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
/
Levels Off At 280 Gallons
/
r
y
y r
v
/I • H •OB
ss
««• Jelit }53 5 -
r Celite 503
SSI
/ **>
***
. Celite 501
t
mm • i
mm » I-Hyflo buper-Cel
***
• — mm • Celite 512
i I Stand ard 3r-C
Iter Cel /Celite 500
- i i i i
No Filter Aid
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10
Hours Elapsed Time
ond through a layer of 1 cm thick, the viscosity 14.7 STAGES OF THE FILTER CYCLE
being 1 cp and the pressure drop 1 atm.
14.7.1 Pretreatment
Another material used as a filter aid is
cellulose fiber. Besides serving as a filter aid, Before the filtration actually starts, the condi-
particularly over screens on pressure leaf fil- tion of the slurry can be modified to a certain
ters, it is combustible in case the filter cake extent for the purpose of making the separa-
has to be incinerated for disposal or product tion easier by increasing the size of the parti-
recovery. cles to be filtered out. Larger particles settle
A recent addition to filter aid materials is faster, and also make more porous and less
rice hull ash (RHA), which is from 92% to resistant filter cakes. Both chemical and physi-
97% amorphous silica dioxide. These calcined cal methods can be used.
curved rigid particles have a porosity that Pretreatment, also called conditioning in
makes them suitable for body feed filtrations. water treatment, is done in several ways. For
Examples and filtration characteristics are clarifying operations, with cartridge filters, for
described by Reiber.57 example, the use of a coarser filter before the
Major uses of diatomite filter aids include final filter is a common approach. Choices as
food and chemical processing, brewing, phar- to the relative retention values need to be
maceutical, metalworking, and electric power determined by tests for the most economical
industries. Recently, they have been used more results.
in the municipal water treatment field and In the case of cake filtration the most fre-
also for clarifying drinking water supplies. quent method used is to thicken the solids
More than 170 plants using DE have been content in the slurry. This has a great effect
installed since 1949. They are also effective in on the performance of cake filters. It affects
controlling the waterborne disease giardiasis.58 the capacity and cake resistance. For example,
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 697
for the same cycle time, if the concentration is electrokinetic force that controls this process
increased by a factor of four, the production is called the zeta potential.
capacity is doubled. Or alternately, filtration
area can be cut in half for the same capacity.44 14.7.2 Filtration
Physical pretreatment can include heating After the pretreatment step, the slurry is fed
the slurry to lower the viscosity and improve to the filter by gravity, pressure pumps, or
the flow rate. It may be cooled to chill and vacuum sources. For pressure filters, slurries
solidify waxes, for example, so they will filter are usually fed by diaphragm pumps. They are
out. Other physical means are ultrasonic and easy to control by compressed air, and when
mechanical vibrations, magnetic treatment, the filter is loaded with filter cake, they reach
and ionizing radiation. maximum pressure and stop. Gear pumps are
By far, the most frequently used methods often used for small clarifying filters. Higher
are addition of chemicals to coagulate or pressure progressive-cavity pumps are used
flocculate the particles by changing the parti- for sludge filtering up to 225 psi. Pumps
cle charges. This is particularly helpful in fil- frequently are automatically controlled to
tering colloidal suspensions, usually consid- increase pressure gradually as the cake
ered as containing particles from 0.001 to 1.0 resistance increases.
microns in size. Natural electrolytes such as
alum, lime, ferrous sulfate, and ferric chloride 14.7.3 Cake Washing
decrease the surface charge and are called For cake products, such as pigments, the
coagulants. mother liquor must be removed. Formerly
Flocculants can be either natural or syn- simple displacement washes were used that
thetic chemicals, which cause dispersed parti- were inefficient owing to large volumes of
cles to form relatively stable aggregates of wash fluid required. Also cracks were formed
particles. These settle and filter more easily. in the filter cake, causing bypassing of wash
Higher molecular weight long-chain organic liquids. Recently, the membrane or diaphragm
chemicals called polyelectrolytes are widely filter press has prevented this problem by
used in this process. They are available com- squeezing the filter cake before single- or
mercially in liquid, powder, or emulsion forms, multiple-wash cycles.
and also anionic nonionic and cationic types. Washing on continuous belt or vacuum fil-
The science of selecting them has been highly ters is done by spray washes over the collected
developed.59 Some modern filters such as belt solids either in a single pass or in a counter-
pressure filters for sewage sludge filtrations current mode. Multiple washes are possible
would not be cost effective without the use of where needed and are effective.
suitable polyelectrolytes.
Although there has been some confusion 14.7.4 Solids Discharge
about the terms coagulation and flocculation, In small polish and clarifying filters, the col-
they are better thought of in terms of func- lected contamination is disposed of with the
tion. A good explanation is given by the publi- spent cartridge or filled filter bag. If haz-
cation by Zeta-Meter, Inc.60 Coagulation takes ardous, the volume of either can require com-
place when the energy barrier between parti- pacting to save space and reduce disposal costs.
cles is lowered so that the net interaction is In filter presses, cakes are removed manu-
always attractive. This is also referred to as ally in small units. Larger filters have plate
destabilization. Flocculation refers to the suc- shifting devices that separate the plates, per-
cessful collisions that occur when the destabi- mitting the solids to fall into a receptacle
lized particles come together and form ag- below the filter. Conveyors can also be used
glomerates and then visible floe masses. The under the filter to transfer the cakes to dis-
698 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
posal containers, or to a downstream process industry. Many conferences have been held
such as a dryer. Rotary and belt continuous both in North America and in Europe and
filters discharge over a roll or from a scraper. more than 1000 articles have been presented.
It is encouraging to note that many younger
14.7.5 Drying of Filter Cake engineers are becoming more active in the
Drying of filter cake in filter presses can be field, especially in research and development
done by compressing the cake to remove mois- programs, many funded by the U.S. Depart-
ture, in many cases up to 75%. If additional ment of Energy, the National Science Founda-
drying is needed, air can be blown through the tion, and the U.S. Environmental Protection
filter cake through the wash plates in the Agency.
press. On rotary vacuum filters, air or dry The research covers many areas such as
steam can be used for drying. Some filters also cake compressibility, expression of solids, per-
have compression mechanisms on the top side meability studies, and recently an entire con-
of the filter drum. ference was devoted to the pore and porosity
upon which all relationships in filtration ulti-
14.7.6 Downstream Drying mately depend. This was the Hershey Con-
ference held in May 1991. The proceedings
A number of different cake dryers are avail-
were not published but some papers were
able for waste sludge drying. Typical are coun-
summarized.3
tercurrent hot gas dryers, and paddle or heated
blade type dryers. Product dryers utilize con- Having been able to survey most all of the
ventional spray drying equipment suitable for work done, I will be selective and subjective
the crystals or solids collected. Resultant while trying not to omit any important papers.
fine-dried powders are then packaged as Of course, the development of new theories to
completed product. add to the already extensive literature contin-
ues. From the Pore Conference, Tiller gave a
tutorial on the parameters of pipes and pores.
14.8 LITERATURE AND INFORMATION A mathematical analogy was used in which
REVIEW pipe flow equations for friction factors and
Reynolds numbers are modified for flow in
At the time the first edition of this handbook porous media. Hypothetical pores are ana-
was published, there was a paucity of informa- lyzed showing how the void ratio times the
tion in the general field of liquid filtration. specific surface relates to a channel in a porous
There is a journal called Filtration and Separa- bed. Permeability and equivalent pore diame-
tion started in 1964, and the Filtration Society ter are shown as a function of the fractional
was organized in England the following year. distance in both moderately compactable cakes
4
A series of Filtech conferences began in 1967 and also highly compressible ones.
and have continued. Even so, at the time, Another study tried to resolve theoretical
concerned filtration engineers and academe and experimental problems relating filtrate
were calling for more basic teaching and volume to time in constant-pressure filtrations.
courses in filtration and separation. Problems arise in interpreting theoretical
However, in the last 10 years, a great deal derivation and experimental techniques such
more information has been published and as nonuniform cake deposition, variable slurry
many conferences were held. The new Ameri- concentration, degradation of floes, and clog-
can Filtration and Separations Society pub- ging of cake and supporting media due to
lishes the Fluid/Particle Separation Journal de- migrating fine particles. Reviewed are basic
voted to all phases of the subject. Pioneered planar filtration theory, simplified equations
by Dr. Frank Tiller of the University of for constant pressure filtration, parabolic data
5
Houston, it has gained wide acceptance in our analysis, and determining instantaneous rates.
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 699
One of the important areas of cake filtra- Tiller also presented two papers, one relat-
tion is the compression or expression of filter ing to relative liquid removal in filtration and
cakes by mechanical means after the filtration expression detailing experimental techniques,11
part of the cycle is completed. Prof. M. Shirato and the other concerning improved formulas
from Nagoya University in Japan has done for constant pressure filtration and com-
much work in this field. One of his recent paction of filter cakes.12 Dick et al. wrote
research reports focussed on compression fil- about how capillary forces are related in com-
ters using hydraulic expression with a perfo- pressible filter cake filtrations.13
rated membrane.6 He has recently retired, but Because rating of filter cartridges is a timely
his successor, Prof. Murase, is continuing the and sometimes controversial subject, many ar-
work. He recently explored the problem of the ticles have been written on it. Johnston says
filter cake expression being stopped before the micron rating of a membrane or filter
reaching equilibrium state, causing the cake cartridge can frequently be misleading to the
stress to decrease as the material relaxes. The user. Because filtration is not a pure sieving
study analyzes this condition. It was found that process, its efficiency can be affected by
the cake stress does not depend on either the medium thickness, the nature of the fluid,
constant pressure or constant rate filtration.7 and the fluid flow rate. He emphasizes that
Willis looked at the mechanics of non- no single factor can characterize a filter med-
ium—at least five are necessary: porosity, per-
Newtonian fluids on nonstationary particles to
meability, thickness, material of construction,
determine the applicability of Darcy's law.
and whether or not pores on one face are
They identified the physical significance and
larger than on the opposite face.14
the limitations of this law under these circum-
Many studies on cartridge filters address
stances.8
filter test methods rather than theory because
Willis and Chase considered multiphase
critical applications depend on filtrate or prod-
processes in filtration. They proposed a gen-
uct analysis with emphasis on final particle
eral strategy for developing a fundamental
count. Williams wrote on testing performance
framework and a systematic approach for eval-
of spool-wound cartridges.15 Verdegan et al.
uating any multiphase porous media process.
covered recent advances in oil filter test meth-
Concepts of scale, analogy, and averaging,
ods for cartridge filters.16 The effects of tem-
along with the characteristics of basic princi- perature and volume on filter integrity tests
ples and scientific analysis are used.9 were studied by Scheer et al.17 Another study,
One of the most interesting pursuits of Prof. by Bentley and Lloyd,18 concerned interpreta-
Frank Tiller, who at this writing is 76 years tion of ratings of cartridge filters.
old, is a historical review of papers on filtra- Chiang wrote on the interfacial phenomena
tion theory that were presented at technical in fluid-particle separation. This article gives
meetings some 50 to 75 years ago. These early a complete and detailed study of the most
filtration researchers frequently raised perti- important area of surface-interface relations.
nent questions that could not be answered at The degree and rate of separation are influ-
that time because of lack of instruments to enced by this behavior. The four basic selected
make as precise determinations as we have points covered are: surface of solid particles,
now. However, Tiller reviews and comments fluid-solid particle interface, application of in-
on their questions and provides current theory terfacial surface tensions, and experimental
in explanation of these early investigations. techniques and instruments.19
This is a very valuable contribution for new New filter media were the subjects of many
students of filtration and even experienced articles. Gregor updated media selection re-
engineers involved in filtration process sulting from more demanding environmental
development.10 regulations. Finer filter media and specialized
700 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
media are also covered in this article along Reducing levels of impure chemicals that cause
with options, cost, advantages, and efficiencies yield losses can be controlled by submicron
of existing and new media.20 Mayer explains filtration along with molecular sieve drying
the use of spun-bonded polyolefin nonwovens and fractional distillation as a high-purity sol-
for micro-filtration.21 vent reprocessor. The hazardous waste result-
Bergmann details a new growing market of ing is minimized to about 3% of the original
filter media for blood and medical applica- volume.29 A new membrane process called
tions.22 New uses of new nonwoven filters nanofiltration is expected to widen the use of
made by the melt blown process are presented membranes in liquid-phase separations in the
by Manns. This new method produces mi- chemical process industries. An article com-
crofine fibrous webs with fibers as fine as 1 to pares properties and performance characteris-
10 microns in diameter. The material is made tics of commercially available NF mem-
directly from thermoplastic resins and has a branes.92 A current review of membrane
number of uses such as media for pleated separation technologies for wastewater treat-
cartridges.23 ment is presented by Cartwright and includes
Membrane filters, one of the fastest growing options and comparisons for selecting the best
segments of the entire separation spectrum, method.95
recently estimated in Ref. 97 at 10% per year Pretreatment of slurries by chemical poly-
and reaching $2 billion per year in 1996, was electroytes is essential in many filtrations, and
the subject of many articles. In fact, the an- selecting the proper chemical is a task that
nual membrane conference has had its tenth frequently has to be done by testing. A good
meeting. Membrane fouling in RO systems overview of the use of polymers and inorganic
was discussed by Kronmiller; use of high- coagulants is presented by Mangravite.31
purity water for the semiconductor industry Scheiner discusses the removal of toxic metals
was described by Parekh; crossflow filtration in from waste water by testing 21 different floc-
food applications such as fruit juices was culents. The testing procedures determined the
evaluated by Short; and pervaporation future optimum flocculating agents used to achieve
markets were outlined by Bartels.24 allowable levels of cadmium and lead where
The market for microfiltration membranes hydroxide treatment did not work.30
for environmental purposes was covered by Probably more articles and papers were de-
Cartwright for system design in pollution con- voted to equipment design, performance, and
trol with emphasis on the crossflow applications than anything else. We will men-
technique.25 An article by Duran explained a tion only a few that are new or cover impor-
new water treatment technology involving tant improvements in existing equipment. Fil-
nanofiltration membranes in a spiral-wound tration has been combined recently with dry-
configuration that function at 75 to 130 psi. ing and other processing operations. An inter-
This method replaces conventional lime treat- esting review of this area, in which filtration is
ment.26 In the food industry, a method of used with as many as 16 different processes
using BASIC computer programs to solve relating to heat and mass transfer operations,
problems of the effects of transmembrane was made by Yelshin. Robotic principles, au-
pressure on orange juice concentration was tomation, and a unique concept of using rota-
described by Toledo.27 The development of a tional machines and conveyor systems in the
special asymmetric membrane for hazardous filtration process is presented.32
waste removal in waste water in the electron- A new type of water screen filter is de-
ics industry was discussed by Sternberg.28 Also scribed that is self-cleaning by using a pres-
in the microelectronics field, where liquid pu- sure senser to activate a back-flushing action.
rity is critical, a method of point-of-use treat- No shut-down is required and particles can be
ment of chemical baths was given by Carr. removed down to the 10 to 15 micron range. It
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 701
can be used for any water that needs to be celeration. Selection data and applications are
cleaned or recycled. Individual units can also given.40
handle up to 5000 gal/min. 33 Ekberg describes a vacuum disc filter, long
Continuous belt and belt filter presses con- used in the minerals field, that uses a new
tinue to increase in usage as manufacturers sintered alumina disc medium with average
make improvements. Besides mineral and pore sizes of 1.5 to 2.0 microns. See Figure
chemical processes, many applications are in 14.35. When the pores in the medium are
waste water treatment. Schonstein discusses a filled with liquid, they prevent air passage in
vacuum belt press for paper dewatering use.34 the vacuum cake drying part of the filter cycle
Mau shows how a vertical automatic pressure because of the pressures created in the pores
filter equipped with horizontal filter plates with due to capillary action. Thus the filter discs
squeeze diaphragms can improve sludge filtra- are easier to back-flush, and do not require
tion.35 Deutsch explains the operation, fea- filter cloths.41
tures available, and options for selecting belt An entirely different type of filter is the
filter presses.36 tube press, which was invented 20 years ago
In waste water treatment, centrifuges have a for clay filtrations. It has recently been im-
unique advantage over other conventional fil- proved, with larger filter modules. It is now
ters in that they are enclosed, odor-free, safe, being used in the mining, chemical, and other
and require only minimum labor. One draw- fields as surveyed by Johns.42
back, that of lower solids output, has been
addressed by manufacturers and considerable 14.9 TYPES AND DESCRIPTION OF
improvements made. Leung describes a high LIQUID FILTER EQUIPMENT
solids decanter centrifuge that gives cake solids
above 30% in dewatering mixed primary/sec- Starting with batch equipment, then continu-
ondary sludge.37 Albertson also writes about ous, the various types of current filters in use
improved designs for high cake solids and also will be described. Emphasis will be on most
use of centrifuges for mechanical dewatering recent developments in design and application
processes in general.38'39 Morgenthaler as- while still considering the older types, many of
sesses decanter centrifuges for environmental which are still widely used in industry. Param-
applications using feed rate, polymer addition, eters such as cake washing capabilities, driving
and concentration and the suspended solids in forces, settling rates, types of discharge, and
the feed, cake, and effluent. Equations are cake compression will be added where they
given for calculating polymer consumption, re- relate to the particular filter.
covery of suspended solid particles, and deter-
mining the specific gravity based on density 14.9.1 Batch Filters
and weight percents.93 De Loggio reviews re- 14.9.1.1 Filter Presses
cent design innovations in centrifuges for the
The filter press is the most common type of
chemical process industries. For example, new
pressure batch filter and the oldest, originating
vertical decanter models can handle process in the early 19th century. Its development into
streams up to 700° F and 150 psig. A good a modern efficient, versatile, and flexible filter
selection table of different types of centrifuges has kept pace with technological improve-
is presented.94 ments. As shown in Figure 14.12, it is a series
West discusses the disc-bowl centrifuge in- of plates and frames, or recessed plates
cluding centrifugal settlers, solid-bowl nozzle mounted on side bars and supported by a
types, and conventional nozzle types. He also suitable structure. The plates are held to-
explains sigma theory in regard to the rela- gether during filtration by hydraulic or me-
tionship between geometry and centrifugal ac- chanical pressure. The slurry is fed into a
702 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
tate and automate the cake discharge. If nec- maximum operating pressures may be 50 psi.
essary, all of the functions of the press cycle A typical unit is shown in Figure 14.14.
can be controlled by programmable computer
systems including feed flow rate, mass solids in 14.9.1.3 Membrane Filter Presses
the feed, closing and operating pressures,
change of feed pump pressures during the Also called diaphragm presses, membrane fil-
filter cycle, opening to discharge the filter cake, ter presses (Fig. 14.15) utilize a special plate
and closing the filter to start another cycle. with an impermeable flexible drainage area on
Typical flow rates are from 0.1 to 1.0 gal/min the filter surface of the filter plate (Fig. 14.16).
per ft2 of filter area. Cake solids content This is separated from the body of the plate,
usually range from 25% to 40% depending and can be inflated by air or water after the
on pressures and nature of the solids being end of the cake-forming part of the filter press
filtered out. cycle. This compresses or squeezes the cake to
remove more liquid. This is the most impor-
tant development of the filter press in the last
14.9.1.2 Sheet Filter Presses
decade. The improvement in the performance
Sheet filter presses are so called because they is shown in Figure 14.17. A diagram showing
use cellulose filter sheets of about 0.125 in. operation of the membrane filter press is
thick. Frequently they contain a charged pow- shown in Figure 14.18. Generally, solids con-
der to effect an attraction for submicron parti- tent of up to 75% may be achieved with sav-
cles. These are depth media and are used in ings of downstream drying and sludge cake
beverage, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, plating disposal costs. Examples are given by Mayer61
solution, electric discharge machining (EDM), for the waste disposal area as compared to
and transformer oil filtrations. The filters are rotary vacuum filters and centrifuges, and by
of stainless steel structural construction, and Avery for the food and chemical industry.62
Figure 14.14. Sheet filter presses installed in a beverage plant. (Seitz Werke)
704 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 14.15. Membrane filter press showing overhead manifold and compressed air connections to membrane
filter plates. (Avery Filter Co.)
Automation may also be applied to the cy- sugar, and chemical industries. Good washing
cle times; the squeeze function including time of filter cakes is made easier because the
and pressure; blowdown, wash, and discharge cakes are in a horizontal position, thus permit-
actions; and cooling or heating the filter plates. ting the wash liquid to uniformly flow through
Membrane plates are polypropylene, but some the filter cake. The wash water is readily re-
have steel bodies and replaceable neoprene moved by the squeeze action of the mem-
diaphragms. brane, and a second wash can be done if
needed.
14.9.1.4 Vertical Automatic Pressure Filter
14.9.1.5 Batch Filters Using Closed
This filter has a plate stack similar to a filter
Pressure Vessels
press except it is in a vertical position as
shown in Figure 14.19. The plates are horizon- These filters have in common a closed tank or
tal, with a membrane on the upper side of the housing containing the filter leaves, plates,
plate only. This limits the capacity of the filter, bags, tubes, or cartridges. Pressures usually do
but it can have areas up to 11 m2. Cake not exceed 100 psi and the size can range from
volumes per cycle can be up to 30 ft3. Because single-element cartridge filters to large hori-
of short 10- to 25-min cycles, the overall out- zontal tank leaf filters of up to 3000 ft2 in
put can be large. The filter cloth is a continu- filter area. The vessels can be made from
ous belt passing in between the plates, and stainless steel or other suitable materials in-
capable of being washed after every filter cycle cluding plastic for smaller sizes.
(Fig. 14.20). The cake is removed from the
3 in. diameter discharge rollers by knife 14.9.1.5.1 Pressure Leaf Filters. Pressure
scrapers. The filters are automatically oper- leaf filters can be vertical or horizontal tank
ated and are used extensively in the mining, designs, the latter capable of larger areas. A
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 705
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90100
- Filtration »»| |<4- Squeezing
Conventional filtration
Diaphragm Squeezed
Into Empty Chamber
Figure 14.18. Membrane filter press operation with new empty chamber membrane filter plate. (Avery Filter Co.,
Inc.)
fine stainless wire cloth over it. They may also catalyst and bleaching earths from edible oils
be fitted with filter cloth. Once the filter cycle and fatty acids. Units are available of up to a
is complete, and the solids are on the plates, 1000 ft2 area. Feed with medium to slow
the feed is stopped, and the stack of plates is settling rates are typical.
rotated at speeds up to 300 rpm to dislodge
the filter cake. It can be done dry, or sluiced 14.9.1.5.4 Single Plate Pressure Nutsche
with a liquid. A different design is used for Filters. Single plate pressure nutsche filters
each type of discharge. can have diameters up to 15 ft, areas of 135
The closed filter vessel is safe in a haz- ft2, and with a 12 in. thick filter cake, a volume
ardous environment and protects workers of 135 ft3. In some cases, filter cakes can be
when they are filtering toxic chemicals. In thicker, giving more cake capacity. These fil-
addition, product purity is maintained and au- ters serve the need for filtrations that can
tomation improves production and reduces isolate the final product to maintain purity and
labor costs. Typical uses include recovery of avoid toxic exposure to the environment. Such
previous metal catalyst, gold precipitate recov- needs are prevalent in the chemical and phar-
ery, separation of antibiotics, and removal of maceutical industries. Thus there are several
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 707
between them for organic material removal, tests showed that pleated cartridges, after cake
special decolorizing, or finer filtering. formation begins, achieve 98 + % efficiency
Although some cartridges are interchange- equal to about 1 micron performance regard-
able with other manufacturers' housings, there less of the medium.
are no current standards that relate ratings Other investigators have attempted to clar-
and performance among different suppliers in ify time-dependent variations in cartridge per-
the chemical and related industries. On the- formance. Juhasz questioned Beta, Beta Prime,
other hand, critical hydraulic filter systems and Epsilon rating procedures and suggests
have standards set by ASME and the API. that three components of downstream level
Much work has been done on comparing contamination should be considered, namely,
different cartridges. For example, Sandstedt instantaneous efficiency, unloading, and
and Weisenberger65 report on the confusion leakage.66
about micron ratings, saying there is frequent
failure to specify the level of efficiency as part 14.9.1.5.7 Bag Filters. The concept here is
of the performance rating, that there is no a sewn filter bag of fabric, felt, or mesh, of a
acceptance of a single, standard test procedure specific retention value that is made to fit into
to predict performance in many applications, a filter housing with proper seals to prevent
and that the difference between clarification bypassing of the liquid to be filtered. Typically,
and classification is often overlooked. Their a No. 1 standard filter bag size has 2.5 ft2 of
710 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Typvft
Completely dosed filter with
automatic extraction, for recovery
of the residue dry
Figure 14.26. Pressure nutsche filter 0.6 m 2 for phar-
maceutical pilot plant. Filter is open to show single
plate which supports the filter medium (Rosenmund,
Inc.).
Figure 14.25. Horizontal plate filter with centrifugal
cake discharge feature. (Steri-Tech, Inc. Funda)
capacity of a standard filter cartridge. This
2 means fewer changeovers and lower disposal
filter area, and a No. 2 bag has 5 ft . Filter
costs. This is an advantage over cartridges
bags and housings are shown in Figure 14.31.
because, for equal filter areas, the disposal
Generally, the percent solids in the feed stream
value is less for bags than for cartridges.
are low, but may be as much as 1%, which is
Generally, bag filters offer higher flow rates
much greater than for cartridge filters. Multi-
with lower pressure drops. Cartridges with
ple bag units are available and flow rates can
depth or extended surface area offer greater
reach 1000 gal/min. The original idea was
reliability and efficiency of particle removal.
developed by Wrotnowski, who found that the
felt media did an excellent job of classifying
14.9.2 Vacuum Filters
paints and inks.67 Subsequent developments
have made the bag filter a popular clarifying Using a vacuum as the driving force for filtra-
filter. New and more retentive materials have tion is common in rotary vacuum filters which
increased the acceptance of this filter. An ap- have the advantage of continuous cake dis-
proach to increase the filter area and keep a charge. Forces up to 0.8 bar can be enough to
small size was reported by Johnson,68 using produce improved filtration rates. Vacuum
multiple layers with bypass openings. This de- sources are simple, and the filters from small
sign of filter bag has five times the filter area nutsches to large-scale equipment have been
of a standard bag, and 15 times the dirt load well developed since the first rotary vacuum
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 711
TOP VENT
DOME
DRAIN
"WEDGE WIRE'
ELEMENTS
( ! | Filter Cake/Underflow
influent liquid to the filter bowl. As the solids data indicate initial optimum conditions. Plant
collect on the precoat, an advancing knife runs can then be observed to see if test results
shaves off as little as 0.001 in. of solids for are effective. The angle and the desired rate
each revolution of the filter drum. Filtering of knife advance can often be determined only
factors are given by Smith69 as: by trial and observation.
Figure 14.31. Bag and cartridge filters. (Commercial Filter Div. Parker-Hannifin Corp.)
Figure 14.34. Complete precoat filtration system. (Arthur Basso, Ref. 56)
vacuum pans underneath the filter cloth with 14.9.3 Continuous Compression
no rubber supporting belt. The vacuum boxes Belt Filter
move forward intermittently as the vacuum is
applied as the cloth and pan move together. Originally developed in Germany in the 1960s
This type is generally of lighter weight con- for dewatering pulps in the paper and food
struction than the first design, and is used industries, the continuous compression belt
more on chemical, pharmaceuticals, and food filter quickly became adaptable for waste
products. Widths can be up to 2 meters and sludges. It was called a sewage sludge concen-
lengths to 40 meters. trator, although the common name now is a
Figure 14.35. Vacuum disc filter with ceramic filter discs. (Outokumpu Mintec USA Inc.)
716 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
belt filter press. A typical unit is shown in chanical plows or rollers may be used here
Figure 14.36. It is a heavy-duty mechanical to assist in the drainage.
machine that dewaters sludges that have been 2. The wedge or low-pressure zone. The sludge
properly conditioned with polymers. There are flows onto a carrying filter belt, becoming
various methods to do this, one of which is sandwiched between this and another over
shown in Figure 14.37. This shows a modern filter belt. By converging they apply gradual
controlled system that tends to optimize the increases in pressure to the sludge.
polymer-to-sludge ratio to reduce polymer 3. The dewatering continues as the two belts
costs. A study of compressible sludge proper- enter into a high-pressure or shear zone
ties in belt presses was done by Wells.71 around pressure rolls. These high shear
The process in this filter takes place in forces maximize the cake dryness. From
three steps:
here, the dewatered cake is continuously
removed by a doctor blade on a discharge
1. Gravity settling, in which the free water roller. The general configuration of the
drains from the treated sludge. Some me- press is shown in Figure 14.38.
Figure 14.37. Typical polymer control systems for belt filter presses. (Andritz Ruthner, Inc.)
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 717
-FLOCCULATION/DISTRIBUTION BOX
BELT WASH HOUSING GRAVITY SECTION
BELT WASH
HOUSING
Figure 14.39. Belt presses installed in a muncipal sewage treatment plant. (Enviroquip. Inc.)
718 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
It too benefits from the use of polymeric treat- cessed, and solvent cake washing performed in
ment chemicals to agglomerate the particles to pharmaceutical operations, dewaxing paraffin
be separated from the liquid. A schematic of a from oil-water mixtures, or removing extrac-
typical unit is shown in Figure 14.40. The tion agents from food processes. A sketch is
screw is an extruder type with a tapered center shown in Figure 14.41. Sizes are available from
shaft that compresses the product gradually as 0.12 to 7.68 m2.
it moves toward the discharge end. Feed can
be as low as 0.5% dry solids, and depending on
14.9.5.2 KDF Filter
feed composition, the solids discharged can
range from 15% to 70% dry solids content. Another continuous pressure filter is the KDF
Throughput can reach 2 tons of dry solids per from Amafilter (Fig. 14.42) in Holland. Its
hour in the largest unit available. design is a horizontal tank in which filter axles
are mounted on a rotating main shaft, each
with a particular number of elements at-
14.9.5 Continuous Pressure Filters
tached. Both the elements and the main shaft
Along with continuous vacuum and belt filters, rotate, using constant air pressure at 6 bar to
there are several continuous pressure filters effect the filtration. The air pressure gradient
that are quite unique in design, providing spe- provides the driving force and is also used for
cial applications that make their relatively high displacement dewatering of the cake. A chain
cost acceptable. type conveyor is used for cake discharge. With
50 m2 of filter area, it can produce filter cakes
of very low moisture content at capacities up
14.9.5.1 BHS Fest Filter
to 1750 kg/m 3 per hour. Developed in the
The first of these is the BHS Fest filter, devel- early 1980s, the principles are detailed by
oped in Germany in the late 1930s. It is an Kleizen and Dosoudil.74 Applications have
entirely enclosed low-pressure (up to 50 psi) been for coal fines, cement slurries, and coal
rotary drum filter in which the slurry is fed flotation concentrates.
into a filter chamber which is a segmented
part of the drum. Subsequent chambers com-
14.9.5.3 Ingersoll-Rand Filter
plete the filtration, wash the cake, then dry it
and prepare for discharge. In this self- The Ingersoll-Rand continuous pressure filter
contained environment protected unit, toxic, is a third commercial device of this category as
hazardous, or solvent materials can be pro- shown in Figure 14.43. It is used not only for
FEED
A D U S T ABLE INLET HOPPER ~x I
PRESSURE CONE
CAKE DISCHARGE
FILTRATE OUTLET
Figure 14.40. Schematic of a typical screw press. (Bepex Corp.)
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 719
14.10 CENTRIFUGES
14.10.1 Use of Centrifuges
The use of centrifuges for liquid-particle sep-
Figure 14.41. BHS Fest continuous pressure filter.
(Komline-Sanderson) aration is widespread in the chemical, food
processing, mining, and pharmaceutical indus-
tries. More recently, they are being used more
in pollution control, especially in municipal
filtering, but also as a slurry thickener. It uti- waste water treatment plants. They utilize the
lizes the concept of limiting the growth of the strong G-forces caused by high-speed rotation
filter cake by rotating filter cloth covered discs up to 10,000 rpm. In general, the power needed
adjacent to stationary filter plates on a hori- is proportional to the square of the operating
zontal shaft inside a horizontal vessel. The speed, and the maintenance may even relate
cake thickness may be reduced to 1.0 mm with to the cube of the speed. Larger machines
3 mm clearance. This feature added remark- with higher capacities running at slower speeds
able flexibility to this continuous filter. High can thus show power and maintenance sav-
pressure in the range of 300 psi and thin cakes ings; whereas smaller machines with lower ca-
combine to produce high filter rates.75 pacity can effect higher G-forces for separat-
This filter is also called an Artisan dynamic ing more difficult-to-separate materials. Parti-
filter, a rotary filter press,76 a crossflow filter cle separations can range from 50 to 1000
with rotating elements,77 and an axial filter, micron sizes for perforated basket types, and
developed at Oak Ridge National from 0.5 to 10 microns for disc types. Some
Laboratory.78 An ultrafiltration module has decanter solid bowl models are capable of
also been described based on this principle.79 separating particles from 1 micron up to 1/4
The filter offers automated, continuous op- in. in size. Flow capacities can be up
eration, compact design, a totally enclosed sys- to 1000 gal/min with solids loading up to
tem, clear filtrates, and low operating costs. 100 tons/h.
Wash
Discs Conveyor
Feed
HYDRAULIC
UNLOADER
MECHANISM
PATENTED
CENTER SLUNG®
SUSPENSION
FEED
CONE
CARTRIDGE TYPE
BEARING ASSEMBLY
FULLY ISOLATED
ENCLOSED BELT
TUNNEL
called solid bowl, screen bowl, decanters, and the cloth, there is no manual operation, and
disc machines. the centrifuge is not opened during discharge.
Solids can be loaded into a suitable container
14.10.2.1 Filtering Centrifuges without being exposed to the environment.
The machine comes in four sizes from drum
Filtering centrifuges, also called basket cen- diameters of 300 to 1000 mm. Throughputs
trifuges, are commonly used in batch feed vary from 100 to 300 kg/h. Up to 90 psig gas
mode in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical pressure can also be added to the bowl, main-
industries for filtering and washing organic taining liquid head and increasing filtration
crystals, inorganic salts, and fine particles. They rates.
are available in sizes up to 40 ft3 cake capac-
ity, and with top or bottom drive. They can be
14.10.2.2 Solid Bowl Centrifuges
automated and solids can be removed mechan-
ically by plow or peeler devices. Stainless steel The increasing use of solid bowl decanter cen-
sanitary and vapor-tight designs are available. trifuges in waste water treatment plants is due
A new design offers ASME code for 35 psi to their good solids dewatering capability of up
steam for sterilization. A recent innovation to 35% cake solids for a mixed feed of primary
has the basket mounted in a horizontal posi- and secondary sludge. They operate continu-
tion with the filter cloth fastened at both ends ously, and because of their enclosed operation,
of a movable drum. At the end of the filtering reduce or eliminate odor problems. They tend
cycle, the drum insert moves axially and hy- to be favored for very large scale plants. For
draulically into a discharge chamber, carefully example, at the second largest municipal waste
turning the filter cloth inside out so that the water dewatering facility in the United States,
solids are then on the outside of the cloth, and seven of these high-solids centrifuges have
can be discharged by the continuing rotation been installed. They are dewatering 350 dry
of the drum. No residual product remains on tons per day. The centrifuges were chosen
722 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
over filter presses and belt filters in the selec- where d is the particle diameter in meters, ^
tion process described by Lipke.80 is in (kg/m • s), Ap is the difference in density
At another large municipal plant in Los between the particle and fluid, g is the gravi-
Angeles, the sludge dewatering process has tation constant (9.81) m/s 2 , and the ratio G/g
been optimized each year to reduce operating is defined by the equation
cost and yield dryer cakes. The three process
variables changed were solids retention time, G/g = Cl2bRb/g (14.12)
hydraulic loading rate, and polymer injection where fl| is the rotation speed of the bowl in
rate. How this was done is explained by radians per second and Rb *is the bowl radius
Zschach.81 in meters. This ratio measures the centrifugal
However, a smaller unit recently introduced acceleration developed in units of gravity. The
is a modular centrifuge especially designed for required rate from Eq. (14.10) can be equated
treatment plants processing up to 5 MGD. with the available rate from Eq. (14.11) and
The unit is compact and can also serve to rearranged to give
thicken and dewater waste streams separately
by being converted from one mode to the Q = 2Vs(lg)(nlRaw/g)(LA/h) (14.13)
other in minutes.82
where Ks(lg) is the settling velocity (Stokes
Norton discusses applications of decanter
velocity) and Rav is the average radius of the
centrifuges in the oil drilling industry to re-
bowl and the pool. This equation shows that
cover barites and control viscosity in drilling
the throughput Q increases with the Stokes
fluids. Recent design changes permit increases
settling velocity, the intensity of centrifugation
in clarification, solids retention time, and
G/g, and the surface area for settling. This
general performance.83
approach to sedimentation centrifuging is from
Bershad et al.84
14.10.2.3 Sizing Sedimentation Centrifuges
Further analysis of batch filtering cen-
The key factors for sizing sedimentation cen- trifuges is given in this chapter considering the
trifuges is the minimum required settling rate following mechanisms of compaction of the
for the solids material if it is not to leave with solids cake:
the overflow. This can be expressed by the
equation: • Centrifugal force acting on the solids (minus
the effect of buoyancy)
^s(req.) = (h/2)/t = \{h/L)(Q/A) (14.10) • Viscous drag on the solids due to liquid flow
• Resistance mechanisms due to the solids
where h/2 is the distance that an average
stress developed as the cake deforms
particle must travel radially while settling, t is
• An arching effect due to the radial
the residence time, L is the distance between
geometry.
the feed inlet and the overflow, Q is the
volumetric throughput, and A is the cross-
For a compressible cake, both permeability
sectional area of the annulus, the liquid pool
and porosity of the cake are functions of the
adjacent to the bowl wall. This suggests that
solids stresses, These can be measured in the
the required settling rate for the average par-
laboratory by using a hydraulic press85 or a
ticle is the throughput divided by the settling
compression-permeability cell.86
surface area, a very familiar result in sedimen-
tation. To determine the rate available, by
14.10.2.4 High-Capacity Oscillating and
using Stokes' law, the settling velocity Vs can
Tumbler Centrifuges
be obtained from the equation
High-capacity oscillating and tumbler cen-
Vs = (14.11) trifuges (up to 250 t / h solids) have relative
FILTRATION OF SOLIDS FROM LIQUID STREAMS 723
low clarity of overflow. They are used on polishing and solids contaminant removing fil-
rapidly filtered products such as fire-coal, ore, ters, most often small batch quantities which
sand, and coarse salts. To improve their opera- are best done with cartridge and bag filters.
tion, an increase in the residence time would Where laboratory facilities are available,
be beneficial. A recent article explored the much information can be gained by simple
concept of using a step drum in a tumbler Buchner funnel and vacuum leaf tests. The
centrifuge. It was demonstrated that this leads basic lab test for coagulation clarification is
to much greater improvement over conical the jar test, which permits testing a water or
basket machines. The drum should be de- waste water with various coagulant chemicals.
signed with at least three steps for best The CST (capillary suction time) test is used
results.87 to evaluate filter ability of waste sewage sludge.
All these are described in detail with proce-
dures in several texts, the most exacting of
14.11 FILTER EQUIPMENT SELECTION which is Purchas.91 Methods using test results
for scaling filters up to production size are also
With such a wide choice of many various kinds given.
of filtration equipment, it would at first appear Pilot plant and in-plant test are more com-
that choosing the optimum for the specific plete and often more decisive than lab tests.
application would be confusing and frustrat- In my estimation, the optimum program in-
ing. This is not usually the case, however. volves a test filter placed in the production
Many guidelines exist for the initial category plant and set up to filter a side stream from
of choice, and then more specific and well- the existing process. This eliminates any possi-
defined parameters exist for narrowing the ble variations in the liquid slurry that can be
choice to a very few appropriate filters. In fact caused by shipping to a test facility, time fac-
a recent article uses a best and worst choice of tors, or chemical changes in the material. If
factors related on a scale from - 2 to +2, with the product has not yet been made in produc-
the final best choice indicated. There are, tion, the pilot plant approach is desired. One
however, some warnings on borderline cases.88 advantage of the pilot plant is that the test
More recently, a complete software pro- runs can be made on a 24-h basis, giving more
gram has been developed based upon the positive test data than laboratory testing.
above system, but with the added input of After all the above have been done, a care-
practical or heuristic values so that the out- ful evaluation of last minute considerations
come becomes a real workable basis for mak- must be made. Not yet mentioned, but obvi-
ing a very good first selection.89 ously of major concern, is the relative cost of
The study of particle settling rates has been capital equipment and installation, of multiple
the classic approach to initial filter selection. choices if such exists. In some demanding and
A number of tables and guides have been critical choices I have seen a very high price a
published using this technique. A review of secondary factor. In the final analysis, the ulti-
the most important guides was made by mate desired quality of the final product is
Mayer.90 decisive.
The magnitude of the planned operation
easily eliminates many small and batch filters
and indicates continuous belt and rotary vac-
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pp. 183-195, W. Sussex, England (1991). 62. Q. D. Avery, "Membrane Filter Presses," in
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75. A. Bagdasarian and F. M. Tiller, "Operational Fea- 88. M. Ernst, R. M. Talcott, H. C. Romans, and
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(1953). cross, GA (see pg. 700 of this document).
15
Cyclones
David Lelth and Donna Lee Jones
CONTENTS
15.1 INTRODUCTION high dust loadings, and can handle large gas
flows. Although standard cyclone designs are
A cyclone is a device without moving parts inefficient for collecting particles smaller than
that spins a gas stream to remove entrained about 5 microns, high-efficiency cyclones used
particles by centrifugal force. Cyclones are alone or in series can collect particles between
simple and inexpensive to make, relatively 2 and 5 microns. The standard design cyclones
economical to operate, and are adaptable to a are probably the most frequently used dust
wide range of operating conditions. Cyclones collectors in industry.
have been used throughout industry since the The first published efforts to predict cyclone
1880s for the removal of dust from gases.1 By performance did not appear until about 1930.
the turn of the 20th century, they were used to Extensive studies of the gas flow pattern in
collect sawdust and shavings in woodworking cyclones made during the 1940s led to the
shops. Ten years later, cyclones began to con- development of many models for predicting
trol dust from cement kilns. Shortly thereafter, cyclone pressure drop and dust collection ef-
they were first used to remove fly ash from ficiency; efforts at modeling cyclone perfor-
flue gas. mance have continued to the present. Al-
Cyclones can be made to withstand extreme though our knowledge of what goes on inside
temperatures and pressures, can accommodate a cyclone has increased over the years, the
727
728 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
15.2 PERFORMANCE
CHARACTERISTICS
15.2.1 Types
Over the years, many different types of cy-
clones have been built. However, the
"reverse-flow," or cone-under-cylinder design
shown in Figure 15.1, is the type used most
often for industrial gas cleaning. In this de- Figure 15.2. Cyclone entries. (^4) Tangential; (B) swirl
sign, aerosol enters the cyclone at the cylinder vane; (C) half scroll; (D) full scroll.
top, where the shape of the entry causes the
gas to spin. Tangential, scroll, and swirl vane
axis, and from here up, out the gas exit duct.
entries have been used as shown in Figure
Collected dust descends the cyclone walls to
15.2; tangential entries are most common. Af-
the dust outlet at the bottom of the cone,
ter entering the cyclone, the gas forms a vor-
primarily due to the downward component of
tex with a high tangential velocity which gives
the gas velocity at the cyclone wall rather than
particles entrained in the gas a high centrifu-
due to gravity.
gal force, throwing them to the cyclone wall
Figure 15.3 shows a "straight-through" cy-
for collection. Below the bottom of the gas
clone. Here, dusty gas enters at one end while
exit duct, the spinning gas gradually migrates
cleaned gas and separated dust exit separately
inward, to a "central core" along the cyclone
at the opposite end. Again, the entry shape
causes the inlet gas to spin. Swirl vane entries
are used most often on straight-through cy-
clones. Within the cyclone, centrifugal force
pushes particles to the wall. Cleaned gas leaves
from a central exit duct while separated parti-
cles flow out with a small amount of purge gas
through the annular dust discharge. The re-
mainder of this chapter is devoted to the
INLET reverse-flow cyclone, as it is the type used by
far the most often for industrial dust control.
Particle collection theory for straight-
through cyclones3 is not as well developed as
that for conventional reverse-flow cyclones.
GAS
INLET OUTLET
DUST
SWIRL OUTLET
VANES
Figure 15.3. Straight-through cyclone.
that might differ in size. Several sets of dimen- The high-efficiency and general-purpose stan-
sion ratios, or "standard designs," are given in dard designs have tangential gas entries
Table 15.1. whereas the high-throughput designs have
A comparison of the designs in Table 15.1 scroll entries. High efficiency can be traded
reveals that cyclone shape varies with recom- against high throughput for cyclones operating
mended duty. A high-efficiency cyclone has a at the same pressure drop.
smaller inlet area (a/D and b/D) and exit Because cyclone design changes with rec-
area (De/D) than does a high-throughput cy- ommended duty, no single optimum cyclone
clone. Gas outlet length (S/D) is less in the design exists that will work best for all possible
high-efficiency designs, probably because inlet applications. Design of a cyclone appropriate
height (a/D) is less. Outlet length should be for a particular task involves compromises
greater than inlet height to be sure that a among a number of cyclones, throughput per
stable vortex is formed within the cyclone body. cyclone, pressure drop and efficiency.
RECOMMENDED
SOURCE DUTY D a/D b/D De/D S/D h/D H/D B/D AH Q/D2 (m/h)
Stairmand 4 High-efficiency 1 0.5 0.2 0.5 0.5 1.5 4.0 0.375 6.4 5500
Swift5 High-efficiency 1 0.44 0.21 0.4 0.5 1.4 3.9 0.4 9.2 4940
Lapple 6 ' 7 General-purpose 1 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.625 2.0 4.0 0.25 8.0 6860
Swift5 General-purpose 1 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.6 1.75 3.75 0.4 7.6 6680
Stairmand 4 High-throughput 0 1 0.75 0.375 0.75 0.875 1.5 4.0 0.375 7.2 16,500
Swift5 High-throughput 0 1 0.8 0.35 0.75 0.85 1.7 3.7 0.4 7.0 12,500
a
Scroll type gas entry used.
A properly designed cyclone can process housed together and operating in parallel,
effectively dusts in very high concentrations, sometimes called multiclones, are frequently
and in practice loadings of over 2000 g/m 3 connected to the same dust bin without valves
(1000 gr/ft 3 ) have been accommodated.4 Cy- on the dust discharge of each unit. Unequal
clones have the fortunate ability simultane- inlet pressure distribution across the inlet and
ously to increase efficiency8"11 and decrease exhaust manifolds may cause gas to flow out
pressure drop12"14 with an increase in dust the exit duct of some cyclones, through the
loading. This may come about due to the dust bin, then up and out through the dust exit
increased number of particles that move radi- and gas exit of other units. This flow pattern
ally outward through the cyclone vortex when will adversely affect the performance of the
dust loading increases. This movement might cyclone system. The performance of multi-
hinder the formation of the vortex and thereby clones is almost never as good as that of each
decrease pressure drop. Despite vortex sup- small cyclone operating individually. However,
pression, efficiency might increase owing to multiclone performance should be better than
the increased opportunity for larger particles that of a single large-diameter cyclone operat-
to strike and collect smaller particles while ing at the same pressure drop and handling
they move toward the cyclone wall. the same gas flowrate as the manifolded de-
Cyclones are available in many sizes, and sign. The small-diameter cyclone, manifolded
can be made from materials able to withstand design does offer the advantage of compact
extreme operating conditions. They are com- installation.
mercially available in sizes to process 50 to Industrial processes use cyclones for un-
50,000 m 3 /h. Although smaller diameter units loading material from process gas streams, and
generally are more efficient,4'15'16 a manifold for controlling particulate emissions to the
must be used to connect many small cyclones atmosphere. The dry product collected in a
together to process a large gas flow. Refrac- cyclone can often be recycled to the plant for
tory lined cyclones have been operated at tem- further processing. Among the processes using
peratures of 1000°C, while other units have cyclones are coal driers, grain elevators, grain
run at pressures of several hundred atmo- driers and milling operations, sawmills and
spheres.17 However, special materials of con- wood-working shops, asphalt plant rotary rock
struction chosen to allow operation under ex- driers, and detergent manufacturing processes.
treme conditions may not always have good Teams of cyclones operating in series are used
resistance to erosion of the cyclone walls by under high temperature and pressure condi-
collected dust. Sticky, hygroscopic dusts may tions to collect catalyst dust from catalytic
not discharge readily through the dust outlet18 cracking units at oil refineries and to collect
and these dusts may be better suited to collec- fly ash generated from coal combustion in a
tion in a scrubber. Small-diameter cyclones pressurized fluidized bed.
CYCLONES 731
0.1
0.05 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 1.0 2 3
CYCLONE DIAMETER, METERS
Figure 15.5. Vortex exponent n as a function of cyclone diameter and gas temperature, according to Eqs. (15.2)
and (15.3).
Iozia (Jones) and Leith26 found that the but is limited by the size of the core diameter
core diameter can be estimated from the cy- relative to the dust outlet diameter.26 Figure
clone inlet and outlet dimensions. The core 15.6 presents their anemometer measurements
length is calculated from geometry using the of tangential velocity at different positions in a
core diameter and other cyclone dimensions, reverse-flow cyclone with tangential entry.26
15.3.1.2 Vertical and Radial Gas Velocity self-consistent, as radial velocity must be
greater near the central core from conserva-
In general, the gas within the cyclone flows
tion of mass principles. Radial gas velocity is
downward near the cyclone wall and upward
the most difficult velocity component to mea-
near the cyclone axis; these vertical velocities,
sure experimentally. Still, knowledge of this
both downward and upward, are much less
component is essential for determining parti-
than tangential gas velocities. The radial posi-
cle collection efficiency through the "static
tion at which vertical velocity changes from
particle" approach described below. Lack of
down to up is relatively closer to the cyclone
data on this point has led to unproven specu-
wall at the top of the unit than at the base of
lation on the variability of the radial velocity
the cone. At all vertical locations, the velocity
which is used to explain the inadequacies of
changeover point appears to be outside the
this efficiency theory. Figure 15.8 shows ter
central core. However, once within the core
Linden's measurements of radial gas velocity
the upward gas velocity increases substantially.
at different vertical positions in a cyclone.22
Figure 15.7 shows measurements of vertical
gas velocity made by ter Linden at different
15.3.1.3 Pressure Distribution
positions in a reverse-flow cyclone with scroll
entry.22 The total pressure at any point in a cyclone is
The radial component of gas velocity has the sum of the static pressure and velocity
not been measured as extensively as have the pressure at that point. Total pressure slowly
tangential and vertical components. Data show decreases from a maximum value at the cy-
that inward radial velocity is low, constant with clone wall to a minimum value near the cy-
radial position, and approximately equal at all clone axis. With the high tangential gas veloci-
vertical positions within the cyclone below the ties present in a cyclone, velocity pressures
gas outlet duct. However, these data are not can be so high that static pressure becomes
negative relative to the atmosphere. The static
GAS
OUTLET
GAS
OUTLET
INLET INLET
L
\ 7
VELOCITY VELOCITY
M/SEC M/SEC
DUST DUST
OUTLET OUTLET
Figure 15.7. Vertical gas velocities in a reverse-flow Figure 15.8. Radial gas velocities in a reverse-flow
cyclone. cyclone.
734 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
pressure within the central core can be nega- First23 showed that after the gas has en-
tive, even when the cyclone is installed on the tered the cyclone and makes one full revolu-
discharge side of a fan. The zone of negative tion, it is not entirely displaced downward by
static pressure can extend from the core gas entering subsequently. Some older gas is
through the dust outlet and if a suitable valve forced toward the cyclone axis in an inward
is not used at the dust outlet, into the dust spiral, a phenomenon First calls "lapping." As
collection bin. If no valve or a leaky valve is the newer gas squeezes the older gas toward
fitted and the dust collection bin is not air- the cyclone axis, the tangential velocity of the
tight, dusty air from the bin will be drawn into older gas increases through conservation of
the central core, up and out of the cyclone. momentum.
For this reason the cyclone dust hopper should
always be airtight, ter Linden's measurements 15.3.2 Pressure Drop
of static and total pressure22 in a cyclone are Factors13 that contribute to cyclone pressure
shown in Figure 15.9. drop, static pressure differential across the
cyclone, include:
15.3.1.4 Overall Gas Flow Pattern
1. Gas expansion as it enters the cyclone
As gas enters the cyclone, it forms a vortex in 2. Formation of the vortex
the annulus above the gas outlet duct. Below 3. Wall friction
the gas outlet, spinning gas gradually migrates 4. Regain of the rotational kinetic energy as
into the central core. Near the cyclone walls, pressure energy.
gas flows downward, whereas gas closer to and
within the central core flows upward toward The first three factors are probably the most
the gas outlet duct. At the narrow end of the important. Controversy exists over the impor-
cyclone, all the gas flows into the central core. tance of wall friction on pressure drop, as
Iinoya14 has shown that sand glued onto the
cyclone walls, increasing wall roughness, actu-
ally decreases the pressure drop. If this is
GAS correct, then energy consumption due to vor-
OUTLET
tex formation plays a greater role in pressure
INLET drop than does wall friction. First 23 also found
that wall friction makes an insignificant contri-
bution to overall pressure drop.
Devices such as an inlet vane, an extension
of the inner wall of the tangential gas entry
within the cyclone body up to a position close
to the gas exit duct, and a cross baffle in the
gas outlet duct will lower pressure drop. How-
ever, these devices probably suppress vortex
,0 formation,1'18'27 and so decrease efficiency as
well as pressure drop. Because a cyclone is a
ho device for vortex generation, it is not logical to
PRESSURE — STATIC put attachments within it that inhibit vortex
CM WATER — TOTAL
formation. Cyclones can be designed for low
pressure drop without resorting to internal
OUTLET attachments that may impair efficiency.
Figure 15.9. Static and total pressures in a reverse-flow Many investigators have developed expres-
cyclone. sions to predict pressure drop; some are em-
CYCLONES 735
pirical, some theoretical, and most a mixture collected by the cyclone. Experience in dealing
of both. Despite the complexity of some pres- with cyclones has shown that collection effi-
sure drop relationships, no single expression ciency increases with:
has been developed that will give a reliable
estimate of pressure drop for all cyclones 1. Increasing particle diameter and density
operating under all conditions. 2. Increasing gas inlet velocity
Cyclone pressure loss is expressed most 3. Decreasing cyclone diameter
conveniently as a number of inlet velocity 4. Increasing cyclone length
heads, AH. Velocity heads can be converted 5. Drawing some of the gas from the cyclone
to loss in pressure units, AP, by Eq. (15.4): through the dust exit duct
AP = AH(\pGvf) (15.4) 6. Wetting the cyclone walls
The number of inlet velocity heads, AH, will
be constant for any cyclone design although A plot of collection efficiency against parti-
the pressure loss, AP, varies with different cle diameter is called a fractional efficiency
operating conditions. Pressure drop for a cy- curve or grade efficiency curve. A typical frac-
clone can best be established by determining tional efficiency curve for a cyclone is shown
AH experimentally for a particular cyclone in Figure 15.10. Fractional efficiency rises
design. The static pressure loss, AP, for geo- rapidly at first, then flattens out and ap-
metrically similar cyclones can then be found proaches unity for very large particles.
from Eq. (15.4) for different operating condi- Particles are separated from the gas stream
tions. Values of AH are listed in Table 15.1 in a cyclone by spinning to the cyclone wall
for the standard design cyclones listed there. through centrifugal force. Figure 15.11 shows
Many analytical expressions for determining the forces acting on a particle rotating with
AH from cyclone geometry have been pre- tangential velocity ut at radial position r. The
sented in the literature. Several are listed in particle moves radially outward with velocity
Table 15.2. One review30 found that the uT. The tangential velocity of the gas and that
Barth,25 Stairmand,29 and Shepherd and of the particle will be assumed equal, ut = uv
Lapple28 equations work better than those This is probably a reasonable assumption for
by Alexander24 and First.23 The Barth and small particles, for which efficiency is most
Stairmand approaches are complex and re- difficult to determine.
quire knowledge of all cyclone dimensions. The centrifugal force, Fc, acting on the
The Shepherd and Lapple approach, Eq. (15.5), particle is given in Eq. (15.18):
is simpler to use, and while it does not include
all cyclone dimensions it nevertheless gives
results about as good as those produced by the F = (15.18)
6r
more complex calculation methods.
ab The drag force, Fd, acting on the particle as it
AH =16—T (15.5)
moves rapidly outward can be given by Stokes'
Values of cyclone pressure drop calculated law; for larger particles with higher radial ve-
from theory may give results in error by 50% locities Stokes' law becomes a progressively
or more. There is currently no alternative to poorer approximation.
experimental testing when cyclone pressure
drop must be known accurately. Fd = ur - vT) (15.19)
15.3.3 Efficiency
Equation (15.1), which describes gas tangential
Collection efficiency, rj, is defined as that frac- velocity as a function of radial position, gives
tion of particles of a certain size that are tangential velocity at position r as a function
736 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 15.2. Equations for Predicting Pressure Loss at Number of Inlet Velocity Heads, AH.
ab 24
First 23 AH = 1/3
(15.6)
(h(H-h)\
2
[ D )
Alexander 24 (15.7)
14
n = 0.67 D^ at 283 K (15.2)
i _ (M* (15.3)
2 \T2)
(15.8)
J2(D-b) \ / 4ab
Stairmand 29 AH = 1 + 2cf>2\ - 1 +2 2r (15.9)
\ De / \ irDe
De De 4G*s
2(D-b) ab
(15.10)
2G*A
ab
2 2
A = —(D - De ) + irDh + irDeS
4 1/2
TT
B)\(H-hr + (15.11)
G* = 0.005 (15.12)
/ AabB \
Barth 25 AH= r e (15.13)
\ irDe2 )
De
1 4, 2/3
- l ) + 4Ad~ (15.14)
- 2d(H - S)(X/De)r
irDe(D - b)
6= (15.15)
4aba* + 2(H - S)(D - b)irk
1.2b
„.-!-_ (15.16)
A = 0.02 (15.17)
of cyclone wall radius, rw, and the tangential describes the tangential velocity near the wall
velocity at the wall, v^. with little error. The sum of the centrifugal
and drag forces acting on the particle will
Vtrn = constant = v ^ (15.1) equal its mass times its acceleration.
1 i 1 | 1 1 1
1.0 —
|oB
UJ
o /
it 0.6
UJ
~ /
<0.4
o " /
o /
<0.2 —
a:
u. iI
A i 1 i 1 1 1 | 1 1
10 20 30 40
PARTICLE DIAMETER, MICROMETERS
Figure 15.10. Typical cyclone fractional efficiency curve.
Simplifying and making the substitutions ur The relative importance of each term will
dr/dt and vt = vtwr^f/rn yields Eq. (15.21): change with each cyclone design and particle
diameter. It is unlikely that any approximation
d2r 18/x, dr will yield good results for all applications.
'dt1 The theoretical efficiency of a cyclone can
be characterized in terms of a "critical parti-
cle" diameter, d100. The critical particle is that
Equation (15.21) describes radial particle which, according to theory, is collected with
motion within a vortex and underlies many 100% efficiency. Since collection efficiency in-
approaches used to calculate cyclone collec- creases gradually with increasing particle
tion efficiency. Unfortunately, Eq. (15.21) has diameter and approaches 100% only as a
not been solved analytically. Approximate so- limit, the critical particle is not observed
lutions can be found by postulating various experimentally.
flow conditions within the cyclone, allowing A more easily verified theoretical construct
deletion of some terms in the equation. All is the "cut diameter" or d50, the particle size
these approximations are open to criticism. that is collected with 50% efficiency. Calcula-
tions of critical or cut diameter can be used to
generate the cyclone fractional efficiency curve
shown in Figure 15.10.
For particles of the critical diameter, the in- Core length, used in Eq. (15.26), depends on
ward drag force caused by the inrushing gas the value of the core diameter dc.
will just balance the outward centrifugal force
caused by their rapid rotation about the cy- -0.25
clone axis. These "static particles" will theo- dr = 0.52£»| —j
retically remain suspended at the edge of the
central core. Larger particles should spin out •De^1-53
to the cyclone wall and become collected, and (15.28)
smaller particles should flow past the static
particles into the central core and out the
cyclone. As they are stationary, the critical When dc > B, the core intercepts the cyclone
particles will have no radial acceleration or walls and the core length is calculated from
velocity (d2r/dt2 = dr/dt = 0). From Eq. geometry.
(15.1), v^r2n = ^maxrccTre> which when sub-
stituted into Eq. (15.21) yields the critical zc = (H - S) - ((H - h)/(D/B - 1))
particle diameter.
X«dc/B)-1) (15.29)
1/2
Table 15.3. Equations Derived from Eq. (15.20) for Predicting Coiiection Characteristics.
ASSUMPTIONS
STATIC PARTICLE d2r dr
APPROACH '"core «W RESULTANT EQUATION
~dS It
1/2
Stairmand4 0 De/4
90/*
(15.24)
ab De
Iozia (Jones) 26 1/2
ASSUMPTIONS
TIMED FLIGHT d2r
APPROACH n t RESULTANT EQUATION
1/2
20
D TTDN
Rosin et al. 0 0 b 0 (15.32)
2 v{
1/2
D - De
Lapple and Shepherd- 0 0 - j - 0 (15.33)
1/2
Davies33 0 0
De
1
H
—
V;
-(fj (15.34)
De\
i*f
D - b TTDN ( De
Lapple 6 0 0 — — 0 (15.35)
2 v{ ID J
34 1/(2 + 2)
Leith and Licht 0 0 0 n depends on T) = 1 - exp(-2(C L i/O " ) (15.36)
geometry and
throughput
position at r{ and just reach the cyclone wall t, is sometimes defined in terms of an empiri-
in time t. cal "number of turns," N, that the gas stream
1/2 makes within the cyclone. The value for TV
2n + 2
reportedly varies from 0.3 to 10, with a mean
value of about 5.31 Table 15.3 gives several
(15.31)
sets of assumptions for rv n, and t along with
the resultant equations for either critical or
cut diameter. In the timed flight approach,
Investigators have made assumptions about particles the size of the cut diameter theoreti-
the initial particle radial position, r{, and the cally enter the cyclone at the midpoint of
value for vortex exponent, n. Residence time, gas entry.
740 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
15.3.3.3 The Fractional Efficiency Curve dimensionless geometry parameter, C^, that
depends on inlet dimensions:
Critical particle diameter is useful only as a
rough estimator of cyclone efficiency. For Cp = ab/D2 (15.38)
more precise work, as when estimating overall
cyclone efficiency on a dust with a range of ln^ = 0.62 - 0.87mW50-cm)
particle sizes, the entire fractional efficiency + 5.21 In C«
curve is necessary. Lapple6 and Barth25 have
developed generalized plots of efficiency ver- + 1.05(lnCfl) (15.39)
sus a dimensionless particle parameter.
Efficiency data from the literature36 were
Lapple's parameter is defined as particle di-
used to compare the prediction of efficiency
ameter over the cut diameter calculated from
using Eqs. (15.25) and (15.37) through (15.39)
Eq. (15.35). This plot is given in Figure 15.12
against other theories. 17 ' 25 ' 34 ' 37 Equations
and is valid for cyclones of the Lapple design
(15.25) and (15.39) were found to predict
listed in Table 15.1. No figures for cyclones of
efficiency significantly better than the other
other design are available.
theories.35
Iozia (Jones) and Leith26'35 developed an
Leith and Licht34 combined an approximate
equation to predict fractional efficiency from
solution to Eq. (15.21) with the assumption
the dimensionless particle parameter of cut
that uncollected dust is remixed within the
diameter calculated from Eq. (15.25) over par-
cyclone gas stream due to gas stream turbu-
ticle diameter. The fractional efficiency curve
lence. The assumptions they made for solving
is defined by using the particle parameter in a
Eq. (15.21) are listed in Table 15.3. The resul-
"logistic" equation.
tant equation predicts the fractional efficiency
1 curve:
(15.37)
(d50/df 2rt + 2)
) (15.36)
The logistic slope parameter, /3, is estimated Here, the vortex exponent, n, can be calcu-
from cut diameter (in centimeters) and a lated from Eq. (15.2) and (15.3), or found from
I I I I I I II
0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0 2 3 5 7 10
a
50
Figure 15.12. Fractional efficiency versus d/d50 for Lapple design cyclone.
CYCLONES 741
Figure 15.5. The influence of particle and gas the theories discussed here may not apply to
properties are combined into I/J, a dimension- smaller cyclones. For these small cyclones, al-
less inertia parameter or Stokes' number: ternative collection efficiency expressions may
2 be more appropriate.39"42
d pvv{(n
(15.40) Although theoretical calculations of critical
particle diameter and fractional efficiency are
useful, they, like theoretical pressure drop cal-
The effect of cyclone geometry is consolidated
culations, may predict performance substan-
in C L , a dimensionless geometry parameter.
tially in error from that experienced in the
The geometry parameter depends only on the
field. All efficiency theories discussed have
cyclone dimension ratios, and is independent
been for tangential entry, reverse-flow cy-
of size
clones as shown in Figure 15.1. Their applica-
bility is unknown to other cyclone designs,
r ^ ( 2 ( 1 (De\2\(S °\ such as those with either scroll or swirl vane
entries, or to straight-through cyclones of the
1 / S + zc - h type in Figure 15.2. The best way to determine
cyclone fractional efficiency characteristics is
D
to test the cyclone in the laboratory or in a
De\2zc S pilot test program.
(15.41) Once an experimental fractional efficiency
~D ~ ~D
curve has been developed for a cyclone oper-
Core length, zc, is found from an equation ating under known conditions, the fractional
developed by Alexander:24 efficiency curve can be determined for a cy-
2\V3
clone of the same design under different oper-
D2 ating conditions by adjusting the efficiency
ze-23De\- (15.42)
curve of the test cyclone. According to one
theory,34 two cyclones will have the same ef-
The diameter of the core, dc, can be deter- ficiency when their Stokes numbers are the
mined from Eq. (15.43). same. If the test cyclone has known efficiency
/ S + zc - h \ on particles of size dv a similar cyclone will
dc = D-(D-B)i R_h (15.43) have the same efficiency on particles d2,
where:
Equation (15.36) implies that a cyclone with 1/2
a high value of geometry parameter, C L , D
2
should have a higher efficiency than a unit = dA^^ — -^\ (15.44)
Ql Pp2 Ml E
with a low value of C L for particles of all sizes
and for all operating conditions. The efficiency This analysis assumes that the diameters of
capabilities of alternative cyclone designs can the two cyclones are close enough that the
be evaluated by comparing their values of C L value of the vortex exponent, n, does not
in the same way that pressure drop require- change appreciably. The fractional efficiency
ments are evaluated by comparing values of curve for the similar cyclone can be con-
AH. Equation (15.36) was tested against ex- structed from the curve for the tested cyclone
perimental data from the literature38 and was by picking a series of coordinates from the
found to predict the data reasonably well. experimentally derived efficiency curve and
The equations discussed in Table 15.3 may calculating the analogous coordinates for the
be useful for determining the efficiency of similar cyclone from Eq. (15.44).
industrial-sized cyclones, a few meters or less The accuracy of this procedure decreases as
in diameter. The gas flow assumptions used in each of the ratios in Eq. (15.44), Qx/Q2, etc.,
742 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
departs more and more from unity. The proce- cyclone inlet velocity above which saltation
dure is especially suspect when predicting the occurs, vis, is:
performance of cyclones with much greater
diameter and throughput than the test model.
Also, when adapting results based on an ex-
perimental dust to a different dust, particle
SI units (m, kg, s) must be used in this equa-
shape may change as well as density. Never-
tion. Cyclone efficiency increases with inlet
theless, a fractional efficiency curve calculated
velocity up to about 1.25 vis; further increases
using this procedure is strongly preferred over
in inlet velocity cause a decrease in efficiency
one determined strictly from theory.
as saltation and reentrainment of collected
dust become more important.
15.3.4 Other Variables Affecting
Stairmand4 showed that the overall effi-
Performance
ciency of a well-designed cyclone increases
Although cyclone performance theories ex- from its normal value of 92% to an increased
press the effect of many variables on cyclone value of 93.6% when about 10% of the gas
performance, several variables known to in- flow is drawn through the dust outlet. A simi-
fluence pressure drop and efficiency are not lar "base purge" increased the efficiency of a
considered. poorer cyclone design from 89.1% to 92.2%.
Increasing inlet dust concentration, ci9 si- Stairmand believes this efficiency increase is
multaneously increases collection efficiency due to a reduced reentrainment of separated
and decreases pressure drop. Briggs quantified dust in the dust outlet region. The disadvan-
the influence of dust loading on pressure drop. tages of this practice are that it requires the
use of otherwise unnecessary auxiliary fans
clean and ducts to draw off the purge, and that if the
1/2
(15.45) purge is recycled to the cyclone inlet, the
0.0086(ci)
cyclone must be sized to handle the purge air
Here, ct has the dimensions of grams per as well as the process air. In practice, base
cubic meter. The effect on efficiency of chang- purge is seldom used.
ing inlet loading from c{1 to c i2 can be found11 Stairmand4 also reported that efficiency in-
from: creases from a normal value of 92% to 93.7%
for the well-designed cyclone and 89.1% to
100 - 0.182 93.2% for the poorer design when these cy-
(15.46) clones operate with wetted walls. The wetted
100 -
walls may reduce reentrainment of collected
dust throughout the cyclone. Disadvantages of
Presumably the values of efficiency and con-
this practice are that water piping is required
centration in Eq. (15.46) are for poly disperse
and that the collected dust is in a slurry.
dusts and the relationship applies to overall
dust concentration and efficiency rather than
15.3.5 Overall Efficiency on
to values for any one particle size.
Polydisperse Dusts
If the tangential velocity of the gas near the
cyclone wall is too high, saltation will occur; Industrial dusts contain particles of many sizes.
particles will bounce along the cyclone wall To calculate the overall cyclone collection ef-
and not be separated effectively from the gas ficiency, T7overaii, on such a dust one must mul-
stream. Kalen and Zenz 43 have examined this tiply efficiency for each particle size by the
phenomenon, and its implications for cyclone fraction of particles in the dust that are of that
design are discussed by Koch and Lict.44 An size. The sum of these products is the overall
empirical equation (15.47), which gives the fractional efficiency for the cyclone. Table 15.4
CYCLONES 743
Table 15.4. Overall Collection Efficiency Calculation Using Numerical Integration of Eq. (15.48).
(5)
(1) (2) (3) (4) FRACTIONAL
SIZE RANGE MEAN SIZE FRACTION IN EFFICIENCY ON EFFICIENCY
(MICROMETERS) (MICROMETERS) RANGE MEAN SIZE COLUMNS (3) X (4)
0-2 1 0.10 0.03 0.00
2-5 3.5 0.10 0.38 0.04
5-10 7.5 0.10 0.81 0.08
10-20 15 0.15 0.96 0.14
20-30 25 0.10 0.99 0.10
30-40 35 0.10 1.00 0.10
40-60 50 0.15 1.00 0.15
60-76 68 0.10 1.00 0.10
76-104 90 0.07 1.00 0.07
104-150 127 0.03 1.00 0.03
Total 1.00 0.81
illustrates this process for the cyclone whose Here, nd is the efficiency on particles of a
fractional efficiency curve is shown in Figure certain size, d, and dG is the fraction of all
15.10. The dust size distribution is plotted in particles of that size in the dust. The overall
Figure 15.13. Equation (15.48) is the formal efficiency for this cyclone on this dust is found
mathematical statement of this process. to be about 85%.
O verall (15.48)
To design a cyclone or any collection device, clone. This is because collection efficiency de-
the inlet dust concentration and size distribu- creases with increasing cyclone diameter and
tion must be known. Although preliminary es- also because of possible problems with space
timates of expected dust properties are avail- or headroom requirements for very large
able from the literature,45"47 this information cyclones.
should always be obtained by stack sampling A fractional efficiency curve for the selected
when possible. Of course, when designing con- design can be determined by one of the meth-
trol equipment for a plant that has yet not ods discussed above. The overall collection
been constructed, stack testing is impossible efficiency for the selected cyclone design, inlet
and in this case the design will have to be dust size distribution and concentration to be
based on data obtained from similar plants in processed, and outlet dust concentration
conjunction with the design plans for the desired can then be determined from the
process to be controlled. methods describe previously.
Design criteria such as gas flow rate, tem- A cyclone can be custom designed to per-
perature, and particle density—material den- form a specific dust collection job.48 This
sity, not apparent or bulk density—special approach will give a cyclone with a greater
conditions of corrosivity, particle abrasiveness, collection efficiency, smaller size, or lower
and fluctuations in gas flow should be noted. pressure drop than a cyclone with a standard
These data requirements are summarized in design. The "optimized" cyclone design proce-
Table 15.5. All the data necessary for design dure requires trial and error calculations that
of a cyclone system can be obtained from a are better suited for a microcomputer or pro-
stack test performed on the gas stream to grammable calculator than by hand.
be cleaned. First, determine a preliminary cyclone di-
ameter from Eq. (15.49):
15.4.2 Cyclone Specification
n
p ^cyclone '
Usually cyclones are not custom designed. Dm = Pp ^ (15.49)
Rather an accepted standard design is se- 275
lected, such as one listed in Table 15.1 or a Particle density and flow must be in units of
manufacturer's proprietary design. Cyclone di- m-kg-h in this equation. If the diameter cal-
ameter can be determined from gas flowrate culated from Eq. (15.49) is greater than 2 m,
Q, using the value for Q/D2 tabulated for then the flow should be divided to accommo-
each standard design given in Table 15.1. Once date at least two cyclones from the start. In
diameter is known the remaining seven dimen- most situations, two or more cyclones should
sions can be determined from the dimension be used to allow flexibility in operation and
ratios of the standard design selected. For maintenance, and to avoid a system shutdown
volumetric gas flows larger than about 20,000 if one cyclone becomes plugged.
m 3 /h it is often better to use several smaller The flow going to each cyclone is calculated
cyclones in parallel rather than one large cy- by Eq. (15.50):
£ system
Table 15.5. Data Necessary for Cyclone Design. 'cyclone (15.50)
Particle size distribution
Inlet dust loading (g/m3) Next, pick a target value for outlet concen-
Particle density (kg/m3)
Gas flowrate (m 3 /h) tration or overall cyclone efficiency, which is
Gas temperature (°C) determined by Eq. (15.51):
Special conditions of corrosivity, abrasiveness,
fluctuations in gas flow, etc. c0 = - T?overall) (15.51)
CYCLONES 745
Using the design parameters in Table 15.6 Eq. (15.48) These calculations were shown
calculate the overall cyclone collection effi- previously in Table 15.4.
ciency of the dust stream with three different Plot the K values against the predicted
cyclone designs that correspond to design pa- overall efficiency. From the line joining the
rameter K values of 1.5, 3, and 4.4. The cy- three points, determine the closest K value
clone diameter calculated from Eq. (15.49) from Table 15.6 that corresponds to the target
and the cyclone flow calculated from Eq. efficiency. The design in Table 15.6 that corre-
(15.50) are needed in the efficiency calcula- sponds to this K value is the optimized cy-
tions. The highest efficiency cyclone design clone design. At this point the cyclone design
will correspond to K equal to 1.5 and the is fixed.
lowest efficiency cyclone design will corre- The pressure drop for the system will be
spond to K equal to 4.4. The overall efficiency determined from the number of cyclones and
for collection of polydisperse dust is found flow going to each cyclone. The cyclone pres-
from the fractional efficiency curve generated sure drop is calculated from Eq. (15.4) using
using Eq. (15.37) and numerical integration of the AH values from Table 15.6 and the inlet
DESIGN
PARAMETER
K a/D b/D De/D H/D h/D S/D B/D AH
1.5 0.16 0.30 0.26 6 1.5 0.16 0.26 11.4
1.6 0.18 0.30 0.28 6 1.5 0.18 0.28 11.0
1.7 0.20 0.30 0.30 6 1.5 0.20 0.30 10.7
1.8 0.22 0.30 0.31 6 1.5 0.22 0.31 11.0
.1.9 0.25 0.30 0.32 6 1.5 0.25 0.32 11.7
2.0 0.27 0.30 0.33 6 1.5 0.27 0.33 11.9
2.1 0.29 0.30 0.34 6 1.5 0.29 0.34 12.0
2.2 0.31 0.30 0.35 6 1.5 0.31 0.35 12.1
2.3 0.34 0.30 0.36 6 1.5 0.34 0.36 12.6
2.4 0.38 0.30 0.37 6 1L.5 0.38 0.37 13.3
2.5 0.40 0.30 0.38 6 ]L.5 0.40 0.38 13.3
2.6 0.43 0.30 0.39 6 ]L.5 0.43 0.39 13.6
2.7 0.48 0.30 0.41 6 )L.5 0.48 0.41 13.7
2.8 0.51 0.28 0.42 6 1L.5 0.51 0.42 12.7
2.9 0.54 0.26 0.43 6 ]L.5 0.54 0.43 12.1
3.0 0.57 0.25 0.44 6 L.5 0.57 0.44 11.8
3.1 0.60 0.25 0.44 6 L.5 0.60 0.44 12.4
3.2 0.63 0.25 0.45 6 L.5 0.63 0.45 12.4
3.3 0.66 0.25 0.46 6 L.5 0.66 0.46 12.5
3.4 0.69 0.25 0.47 6 •L.5 0.69 0.47 12.5
3.5 0.73 0.25 0.48 6 L.5 0.73 0.48 12.7
3.6 0.76 0.25 0.48 6 1.5 0.76 0.48 13.2
3.7 0.79 0.25 0.49 6 1.5 0.79 0.49 13.2
3.8 0.82 0.25 0.50 6 1.5 0.82 0.50 13.1
3.9 0.85 0.25 0.50 6 1.5 0.85 0.50 13.6
4.0 0.89 0.25 0.51 6 1.5 0.89 0.51 13.7
4.1 0.93 0.25 0.51 6 1.5 0.93 0.51 14.3
4.2 0.96 0.25 0.52 6 1.5 0.96 0.52 14.2
4.3 0.99 0.25 0.52 6 1,5 0.99 0.52 14.6
4.4 1.00 0.25 0.52 6 1.5 1.00 0.52 14.8
746 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
velocity of the cyclone with flow equal to Since the cyclone diameter calculated with Eq.
Gcycione calculated from Eq. (15.50). If the (15.52) and a flow of 40,000 m 3 /h is greater
calculated pressure drop is too high, then the than 2 m, two cyclones should be used in the
number of cyclones should be increased in Eq. preliminary design calculations. The flow to
(15.50) until an acceptable pressure drop is each cyclone then, calculated from Eq. (15.50),
obtained. As discussed earlier, pressure drop is 40,000 divided by 2 or 20,000 m 3 /h.
calculated from theory can be considerably The other dimensions of the cyclone can be
higher or lower than actual. The limitations of calculated from the dimension ratios given in
the system being designed should be consid- Table 15.1 and are given in Table 15.7. Inlet
ered before a final decision is made. gas velocity will be found from Eq. (15.53).
Once the number of cyclones is fixed, the
design diameter of the cyclone is calculated (20,000 m 3 /h)(l h/3600 s)
V: =
from Eq. (15.49) with Q equal to <2cycione- (0.95m)(0.38m)
In some cases, no cyclone system will pro-
= 15.3 m / s (15.53)
vide adequate collection efficiency or suitable
pressure drop; in this case, teams of cyclones The pressure loss for the system can be
in series or alternate control devices should be calculated from LH for the Stairmand design
considered. from Table 15.1 and Equation (15.4).
Next, the value for d50 is calculated from Eq. Cyclone efficiency can now be found for
(15.25). the Stairmand design using Eq. (15.37) for
particles of any size, d.
d50 = {[9(20,000 m 3 /h)(l h/3600 s)
1
X (2.17 X 10" 5 kg/m • S)]/TT(6.68 m) (15.63)
1.93
1 + [(5.9 X 10~6 m)/d]
X (2500 kg/m 3 )(24.2 m/s)2}1/2
(15.59) The relationship between particle diameter
and collection efficiency for the Stairmand de-
*50 = 5.9 X 10~6 m
sign given by Eq. (15.37) is plotted in Figure
The value for the logistic slope parameter 15.14. The overall efficiency for this cyclone
is calculated from Eqs. (15.38) and (15.39). on particles with the distribution given in Fig-
ure 15.13 is determined through calculations
Cp = (0.95 m)(0.38 m)/(1.91 m) shown previously in Table 15.4. Overall effi-
(15.60) ciency was found to be 81% for this design;
Cp = 0.1 outlet dust concentration found with Eq.
(15.51) then will be 9.4 g/m 3 . Although this
In p = 0.62 - 0.871n(5.9 X 10~4 cm)
concentration meets the minimum require-
+ 5.211n(0.1) + 1.05(ln0.1)2 ( 15 - 61 > ments, it is higher than the target efficiency.
Therefore, the number of cyclones is in-
In p = 0.659 creased until the target efficiency is reached.
P = 1.93 (15.62) The calculations performed above for the
748 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
<
o
o
0.2 0-6
Log d/d50
Figure 15.14. Fractional efficiency versus d/d50 for Stairmand design cyclone.
two-cyclone system are repeated for a three- 15.13 and the two-cyclone system. The method
and four-cyclone system. The four-cyclone sys- to calculate overall collection efficiency for
tem reaches the goal of 8 g/m 3 and 84% this system is analogous to the calculations
control. The results of the calculations for a shown in Eqs. (15.53) through (15.63) for the
four-cyclone system are also shown in Table Stairmand design.
15.7. The four-cyclone system also meets the From the plot in Figure 15.15 a K value of
design objective in terms of pressure drop. 3.4 is found that corresponds closest to 84%
collection efficiency, the target efficiency of
15.4.3.2 Example Using Customized Design the system. The optimized design dimensions
As in the standard procedure, the system will corresponding to this K value and cyclone
initially consist of two cyclones operating in diameter calculated from Eq. (15.49) are shown
parallel. The diameter of each cyclone is found in Table 15.7.
with Eq. (15.49) and cyclone flow calculated The pressure drop for the optimized design
with Eq. (15.50). is calculated from a A # value of 12.5 given in
Table 15.6 for the optimized design (K = 3.4)
1/3 using Eq. (15.4). Since the efficiency and pres-
[(2500 kg/m 3 )(20,000 m 3 /h)]
sure drop of the optimized design meet the
275 design objectives, only two cyclones will be
(15.64) necessary.
= 1.34 m
0.95
0.94
0.93
0.92
0.91
0.9
0.89
\
0.88
0.87
0.86
0.85
0:84
0.83
0.82
0.S1
0.8
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Design Parameter, K
Figure 15.15. Design parameter, K, versus collection efficiency for example design problem.
When small cyclones, less than 300 mm or It is essential that air not be allowed to leak
so in diameter, are used wall erosion may pose into the cyclone through the dust outlet. Leak-
a serious problem8 if the dust is abrasive. age at this point can keep the cyclone from
Larger dust particles strike the cyclone wall discharging dust to the dust bin, and if suffi-
more forcefully and have more effect than ciently severe, can lower collection efficiency
smaller particles. Abrasion can be especially to zero.1 Leakage through the dust exit can
troublesome around welded seams, and occurs even occur with the cyclone on the pressure
whether the seams are horizontal or vertical. side of a fan owing to the low static pressure
The seam itself may not be as susceptible as in the cyclone central core, although the prob-
the cyclone wall around the seam, which may lem is more pronounced if the cyclone is on
have been softened through annealing during the suction side. When possible, cyclones are
the welding process.8 To minimize the effect mounted on the upstream or suction side of a
of wall erosion, several steps can be taken. fan to minimize wear of the fan impeller from
Often, commercially available small-diameter the dust in an uncleaned gas stream.
cyclones are cast rather than fabricated from If the cyclone operates on the effluent from
sheet metal. Casting eliminates the problem a batch process, the unit is often directly con-
with erosion around weldments, and may pro- nected to a dust bin below the dust exit with-
vide a thicker wall. Replacement wear plates out an intervening valve. When using this ar-
are sometimes installed on the cyclone wall rangement, it is essential that the dust bin be
opposite to the tangential gas inlet. When emptied before it fills and blocks the cyclone
installing a wear plate, it is important that the dust exit. In this case, the gas flowing to the
plate be fitted to maintain a smooth interior cyclone must be diverted before the dust bin
wall. Failure to maintain a smooth wall will can be emptied. The dust bin must be airtight
hasten the erosion of the wear plate or the to prevent leakage from the bin entering the
wall around the edges of the plate, and may cyclone dust exit.
also adversely affect cyclone efficiency. Wear A better solution to dust exit sealing is
plates and entire cyclone interior walls have through use of a valve between the exit and
been rubber coated to reduce erosion. dust bin. The valve must allow for the continu-
750 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
ous discharge of collected dust, but not permit b Gas entry width
backflow of air. A valved dust discharge ar- B Dust outlet diameter
rangement is essential for a continuous pro- Cj Inlet dust concentration
cess as it allows the collection bin to be emp- c0 Outlet dust concentration
tied at any time. Rotary values are often used 8 Cl Cyclone geometry parameter, Iozia
when the negative pressure at the dust exit is (Jones) and Leith
less than about 1 kPa (100 mm of water CL Cyclone geometry parameter, Leith
column). and Licht
Cyclone gas inlet velocities are frequently of Cp Logistic cyclone geometry parame-
the order of 15 m / s while duct velocities are ter
usually lower than this. To minimize pressure d Particle diameter
drop through the cyclone system it is impor- dc Diameter of cyclone core
tant to provide a good transition between the d50 Cut particle diameter, theoretically
inlet ductwork and the cyclone inlet. collected with 50% efficiency
Attempts have been made to regain some of d50-cm Cut diameter, in centimeters
the rotational energy in the outlet gas stream d100 Critical particle diameter, theoreti-
by modifying the shape of the gas outlet. A cally collected with 100% efficiency
thorough review of these devices is provided D Cyclone cylinder diameter
by Stern et al.18 Reverse scrolls mounted above Dm Cyclone cylinder diameter, meters
the gas outlet duct, and curved or straight De Gas outlet diameter
vanes within the gas outlet duct have been
/ Factor in Eq. (15.8)
used. These devices usually provide a reduc-
Fc Centrifugal force acting on particle
tion in pressure drop in the 10% range, but
Fd Drag force acting on particle
despite careful design, collection efficiency
g Acceleration of gravity, 9.81 m / s 2
may be adversely affected. Pressure recovery
G Dust cumulative size distribution
devices are not generally used.
G* Friction factor, 0.005
Build-up of collected dust on the cyclone
h Cyclone cylinder height
walls can be a problem, especially where soft
small-diameter, hygroscopic particles are col- H Cyclone overall height
lected. When build-up occurs, it can some- K Optimum design parameter
times be scoured out by feeding some large- n Vortex exponent
diameter, hard particles as an abrasive. Wall N Number of turns gas makes within
deposition of hygroscopic dusts is aggravated cyclone
by condensation of moisture from the gas Nc Number of cyclones
stream on the cyclone walls, when the cyclone Q Volumetric gas flowrate
F l o w oin
is mounted outdoors in winter. If the problem Gcycione g g t o o n e cyclone
occurs only on start-up, preheating the cyclone Goveraii Total flow of the system
by either warming the inlet gas stream or r Radial distance from cyclone axis
running gas through without dust may help. r core Radial distance from cyclone axis to
Cyclones whose inlet walls are smooth and edge of central core
that operate at inlet velocities in excess of r{ Radial distance from cyclone axis to
15 m / s will be less prone to wall build-up. innermost particle at entry
rw Radial distance from cyclone axis to
cyclone wall, D/2
S Gas outlet height
LIST OF SYMBOLS
t Time
a Gas entry height T Absolute temperature, K
A Inside surface area of cyclone u Particle velocity
CYCLONES 751
Radial component of particle veloc- 5. P. Swift, Steam and Heating Engineer 38:453 (1969).
ity dr/dt 6. C. Lapple, Chem. Eng. 55:144 (1951).
Tangential component of particle 7. R. H. Perry and C. H. Chilton, Chemical Engineer''s
Handbook, 5th edit., McGraw-Hill, New York
velocity (1973).
Gas velocity 8. H. J. van Ebbenhorst Tengbergen, De Ingenieur.
Gas inlet velocity, Q/ab 77th Year of Publication, Wl (1965).
Gas inlet velocity above which salta- 9. H. J. van Ebbbenhorst Tengbergen, Staub 25:44
tion occurs (1965).
10. W. A. Baxter, in Source Control by Centrifugal Force
Maximum gas tangential velocity
and Gravity. K. J. Caplan, in Air Pollution, Vol. 3,
Radial component of gas velocity 2nd edit., edited by A. C. Stern, Academic, New
Tangential component of gas veloc- York (1968).
ity 11. L. C. Whiton, Chem. Met. Eng. 39:150 (1932).
Gas tangential velocity at cyclone 12. L. W. Briggs, Trans. Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. 42:511
outer wall (1946).
13. C. B. Shepherd and C. E. Lapple, Ind. Eng. Chem.
Length of the core
31:912 (1939).
Factor in Eq. (15.16) 14. K. Iinoya, Mem. Fac. Eng. Nagoya Univ. 5 (Sept.
Logistic slope parameter 1953).
Loss factor 15. E. Anderson, Chem. Met. Eng. 40:525 (1933).
Vd Fractional collection efficiency of 16. M. A. Lissman, Chem. Met. Eng. 37:630 (1930).
particles of one size, d 17. C. E. Lapple, Amer. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. Quart. 11:40
Overall collection efficiency for (1950).
Coverall
18. A. C. Stern, K. J. Caplan, and P. D. Bush, Cyclone
polydisperse dust Dust Collectors, American Petroleum Institute, New
AH Pressure drop expressed as number York (1956).
of inlet velocity heads 19. M. Seillan, Chal Ind. 10:233 (1929).
AP Pressure drop expressed as static 20. P. Rosin, E. Rammler, and E. Intelmann, V.D.I.
pressure head (Ver. Deut. Ing.) Z. 76:433 (1932).
21. F. Procket, Glasers Ann. 107:43 (1930).
Ratio of maximum tangential gas
22. A. J. ter Linden, Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. (London)
velocity to gas velocity in gas outlet, 160:233 (1949).
see Eq. (15.15) 23. M. W. First, Sc.D. thesis. Harvard University,
Friction factor, 0.02 Boston (1950).
Gas viscosity 24. R. McK. Alexander, Proc. Australas, Inst. Mining
Gas density Met. N.S. 152-153:203 (1949).
PG
Particle density 25. W. Barth, Brennst.-Waerme-Kraft 8:1 (1956).
26. D. L. Iozia (Jones) and D. Leith, Aerosol Sci. Tech-
Ratio of maximum tangential gas
nol 10:491 (1989).
velocity to velocity within gas entry 27. K. J. Caplan, in Air Pollution, Vol. 4, 3rd edit.,
Inertia parameter edited by A. C. Stern, Academic Press, New York
(1977).
28. C. B. Shepherd and C. E. Lapple, Ing. Eng. Chem.
32:1246 (1940).
REFERENCES 29. C. J. Stairmand, Engineering (London) 168:409
(1949).
1. R. Jackson, Mechanical Equipment for Removing 30. D. Leith and D. Mehta, Atmos. Environ. 7:527
Grit and Dust from Gases, Cheney and Sons, (1973).
Banbury, England (1963). 31. S. K. Friedlander, L. Silverman, P. Drinker, and
2. W. Barth, Staub 21:382 (1961). M. W. First, Handbook on Air Cleaning. U.S.A.
3. J. I. T. Stenhouse and M. Trow, in Proceedings of E.C., AECD-3361, NYO-1572, Washington (1952).
Second World Filtration Congress, 1 Katharine St., 32. C. E. Lapple and C. B. Shepherd, Ind. Eng. Chem.
Croydon CR9 1LB, England (1979). 32:605 (1940).
4. C. J. Stairmand, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. 29:356 33. C. N. Davies, Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. (London)
(1951). 10:185 (1952).
752 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
34. D. Leith and W. Licht, A.I.Ch.E. Symposium Scr. 43. B. Kalen and F. A. Zenz, A.I.Ch.E. Symposium Ser.
68:196 (1972). 70(137):388 (1974).
35. D. L. Iozia (Jones) and D. Leith, Aerosol Sc. and 44. W. Koch and W. Licht, Chem. Eng. 84:&0 (Nov. 4,
Technol 72:598 (1990). 1977).
36. J. A. Dirgo and D. Leith, Filtration Separation 45. Midwest Research Institute. Handbook of Emis-
22:119 (1985). sions, Effluents and Control Practices for Stationary
37. P. W. Dietz, Assoc. Ind. Chem. Eng. J. 27:288 (1981). Paniculate Pollution Sources. NAPCA contract CPA
38. N. A. Fuchs, The Mechanics of Aerosols, Pergamon, 22-69-104, NTIS Publication No. PB 203-522,
New York (1964). Springfield, VA (1970).
39. T. Chan and M. Lippman, Environ. Sci. Technol.
46. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Compila-
11:317 (1977).
tion of Air Pollution Emission Factors, 2nd edit.,
40. W. Licht, T. Chan, and M. Lippman, Environ. Sci.
Publication No. AP 42 (April 1973).
Technol. 11:1021 (1977).
41. W. B. Smith, D. L. Iozia, and D. B. Harris, 47. J. A. Danielson, Air Pollution Engineering Manual,
/. Aerosol Sci. 14:402 (1983). 2nd edit., EPA. Publication No. AP 40 (May 1973).
42. W. B. Smith, R. R. Wilson, D. B. Harris, Environ. 48. D. L. Iozia (Jones) and D. Leith, Filtration Separa-
Sci. Technol. 13 (1979). tion 24:212 (1989).
16
The Electrostatic Precipitator:
Application and Concepts
Jacob Katz
CONTENTS
rather there is a need for practical concepts handle. Some typical industrial processes that
and field information to be clearly identified have successfully employed the precipitator in-
and distributed. clude:
For that reason, this chapter attempts to
provide a brief description for some of the key PRINCIPAL MATERIAL
areas of precipitation without regard for de- PROCESSES COLLECTED
tailed theory. It actually consists of excerpts Utility Fly ash (SiO 2 , A1 2 O 3 ,
from the book The Art of Electrostatic Precipi- Fe 2 O 3 )
tation written for the practitioner. The bibliog- Industrial boiler houses Fly ash
Oxygen steelmaking Iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 )
raphy at the end of this chapter also includes furnaces
sources of literature that can be used to Cement kilns Calcium oxide, silicon
upgrade the theoretical knowledge of the oxide
precipitator. Pulp and paper Sodium sulfate
16.1.3 Applications
The use of precipitators has been applied in
all the basic as well as some exotic industries
over the years. Collection of particulate mat-
ter in a dry-type precipitator with flue gas
temperatures between 250 to 700°F has been
the most popular application. However, spe-
cific process characteristics will usually deter-
mine the design and type of precipitator uti-
lized. There are process situations where the 1 Precipitator showing 12 Bus Sections with 6 Power Supplies
either F-W or Double Half-Wave.
effectiveness of the electrical collector is ques- Figure 16.1. Typical precipitator arrangements showing
tionable because the material is difficult to terminology and method of applying power supplies.
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 755
Precipitator. A single precipitator is an ar- the function of ionizing the gas and creating
rangement of collecting surfaces and discharge the electric field.
electrodes contained within an independent
housing. Collecting Surface Rapper. A device for im-
parting vibration or shock to the collecting
Bus Section. The smallest portion of surface to dislodge the deposited particulate.
the precipitator that can be independently
deenergized. Aspect Ratio. The length of the precipitator
divided by its height.
High-Voltage Power Supply. The power
supply unit to produce the high voltage re- 16.1.5 Basic Concepts of Precipitation
quired for precipitation, consisting of a trans-
Probably the best way to gain an insight into
former-rectifier combination and assorted
the process of precipitation is to study a rela-
controls. Numerous bus sections can be ener-
tionship generally known as the Deutsch-
gized by one power supply.
Anderson equation. This equation and adapta-
tions of it are well covered in several books.1'2
Field. A field of a precipitator is an arrange-
It describes the factors involved in the collec-
ment of bus sections in the direction of gas
tion efficiency of the precipitator as shown in
flow that is energized by one or more power
its simplest form:
supplies situated laterally across the gas flow.
Collection efficiency
Collecting Surfaces. The individually ground A y
1- e-( /W
components that make up the collecting sys-
where
tem and that collectively provide the total area
of the precipitator for the deposition of partic- A = effective collecting electrode area of the
ulate. precipitator (m2)
V = gas flow rate through the precipitator
Collecting Surface Area. The total flat pro- (acm/s)
jected area of collecting surface exposed to W = migration velocity (m/s).
the electrostatic field (effective length X
effective height X number of sides). This equation has been used extensively in
the above form in past years. Unfortunately,
Effective Height. Total height of collecting while the relationship is scientifically valid,
surface measured from top to bottom. there are a number of operating parameters
that can cause the exponent to be in error by
Effective Width. Total number of gas pas- as much as a factor of two or more. It is well
sages multiplied by the center to center spac- to remember that the basic D-A equation can
ing of the collecting surfaces. (Disregard shape be used as an indicator or tool, but has limita-
of collection surface.) tions more often than not unless equated with
some practical and empirical considerations by
Effective Cross-Sectional Area. Effective the designer. Values used can either be in the
width times effective height. English or metric systems.
The exponent term W, known as the migra-
Gas Passage. Formed by two adjacent rows tion velocity, actually represents the speed of
of collecting surfaces. movement of the particle toward the collector
surface under the influence of an electrical
Discharge Electrode. The component that is field. While we would consider it more an
installed in the high-voltage system to provide indicator than actual velocity, it does have a
756 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
finite value that can be used for comparison that small changes can produce substantial
purposes. This migration velocity is comprised changes in power, and hence in the efficiency
of: of the collector. This is especially true at the
lower levels of power input. It is therefore
ITTO important to understand the factors that
where affect the electrical characteristics of the pre-
cipitator.
a = particle radius, microns
Eo = strength of field in which particles are 16.1.6 Main Factors Affecting Electrical
charged, statvolts/cm (represented by Characteristics
the peak voltage)
Ep = strength of field in which particles are Optimum power input to the precipitator
collected, statvolts/cm (normally the varies among processes and even changes on a
field close to the collecting plates) minute to minute basis for certain applica-
6 = viscosity of frictional resistance coeffi- tions. There are seven basic factors that
cient of the gas. directly affect the electrical characteristics.
These are:
High levels of voltage and useful corona
power in the precipitator, all other conditions 1. Design of power supply
being equal, are synonymous with high collec- 2. Physical design of precipitator
tion efficiencies. Figure 16.2 shows a typical 3. Design of electrode system
performance curve of the effect on efficiency 4. Characteristics of gas stream
by changes in the peak voltage of a precipita- 5. Effect of process changes
tor. This simple curve can represent only one 6. Characteristics of particulate
situation because each precipitator will have 7. Maintenance factors.
its own characteristic curve based on many
factors. The important point to remember is The power supply must be matched cor-
rectly for the precipitator section or service
expected, or several difficulties can arise:
100
The average precipitator can be sensitive to often less critical than other factors. This com-
process changes in the following ways: ment is especially true with the larger designs
that exist today. Even with the 1.8 m / s
1. Changes to gas temperature (effect on (6 ft/s) or more velocity designs, it is often the
density) quality of gas that weighs most importantly.
2. Changes in gas pressure (effect on density) Whether or not the relationship of higher
3. Changes in gas flow rate gas flow rate to reduced efficiency becomes
4. Changes in gaseous composition critical is dependent in large part on the char-
5. Changes in particulate chemical character- acteristics of the particle. Certainly, large
istics porous particles such as combustible grit found
6. Changes in particulate concentration or in fly ash applications will be sensitive to in-
loading creased velocities. On the other hand, fine-
7. Changes in the size distribution of the sized particulate matter that tends to agglom-
particulate erate in the deposited layer of the collecting
8. Changes in the electrical conducting char- surface will resist easy reentrainment into the
acteristics of the particulate. gas stream. With low levels of power input and
low aspect ratios, high gas flow rates can often
It is difficult to separate the effect of one be observed in reduced performances of the
process change on another. If the rate of pro- precipitator.
cess change is rapid, the readings can change
almost instantaneously. On the other hand, 16.2.2 Gas Flow Distribution
rapid changes of temperature may not be seen
Gas distribution problems are of concern from
readily on the meters because of the heat sink
the standpoint of velocity, temperature, and
effect of the precipitator. Some changes in the
concentration of material as well as particle
process will cause large variations of voltage-
size. If one area of precipitation has become
current readings, while others will cause subtle
worse in recent years, it is in gas distribution.
effects.
The trend toward larger collectors has meant
The size distribution of the particulate mat-
greater difficulty in transferring the gas leav-
ter can have a bearing on electrical readings.
ing the inlet nozzle to an acceptable pattern at
For example, iron oxide fume from a basic
the face of the precipitator. Granted optimum
oxygen vessel contains a predominance of sub-
gas distribution is not as critical in the larger
micron particles that will react like a space-
units with all fields serviceable, but the margin
charge in a vacuum tube. This can actually
can be quickly lost with outages of equipment.
impede the flow of precipitator current and
Probably one fallacy in gas distribution is
thereby elevate the voltage potential across
placing too much emphasis on the results of
the space. This condition can become serious
model studies. The model cannot foresee the
enough to completely nullify the precipitator
fallout of material during periods of reduced
process depending on the electrode geometry
operation that will often distort the actual flow
and the concentration level of the submicron
pattern.
particles.
16.2.3 Gas Temperature
16.2 FACTORS AND EFFECTS The level of gas temperature in the precipita-
tor opens up many areas of interest, especially
16.2.1 Gas Flow Rate
the effect on the viscosity of the gas stream.
While the true measurement of the gas flow But the major effects of temperature lie in the
rate commands an important place in specifi- modification of the electrical characteristics
cations and performance tests, in practice, it is and the reactions of the particles as they de-
758 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
posit on surfaces. The effect on metal corro- 16.2.4 Rappers and Reentrainment
sion by changes in flue gas temperature must
also be considered. Nowhere in the original Deutsch-Anderson
equation is an allowance made for the losses
Practically all of the particulate matter han-
that occur in transferring the collected mate-
dled in precipitators will go through a wide
rial from electrode to hoppers. The interplay
spectrum of electrical characteristics for the
between the electrical forces holding the ma-
temperature range of 200 to 750°F. Much of
terial on the collecting surface and the rapping
this has to do with condensation effects and
device attempting to remove it provides a real
surface leakage at the lower range and con- challenge for effective precipitation. But this
ductivity changes in the bulk material at the challenge does not merit the priority some
higher temperatures. The true effects at any people have placed on high rapping forces.
given temperature will depend on the mois- This statement is valid as long as the rapper
ture level and chemical composition of the mechanism is sufficient to impart at least 10 to
particles. Of greater interest would be whether 25 Gs to the support structure holding a group
the precipitator is operating in critical temper- of collector plates. With many process condi-
ature zones for that particulate material. For tions, even a substandard rapper system will
example: not effect performance adversely. But when
the build-up on the collecting surface reaches
over 1.9 cm (f in.) it is prudent to assess
1. High sulfur coal for pulverized coal-fired whether the rapper system is sufficient. Great
precipitators would be critical in the 250 to emphasis should be placed on the reliability of
280°F zone. the rapper and control circuitry components.
2. Lower sulfur coal for this same precipitator This has become more important as collection
might find its most critical zone between efficiency levels have increased.
310 to 360°F. The effect of rapping on precipitator perfor-
3. Cement precipitators might find its most mance is whether puffing losses are observed
critical range in the 350 to 400°F. or measured since this can denote a significant
reentrainment of material from the collector
surfaces caused by the rapper operation. While
A variation in electrical readings may occur the reentrainment puff is usually a mechanical
with as little as 10 to 15°F movements in the occurrence, the operation of the rapping de-
process gases. In some fly ash installations a vice can sometimes effect the electrical char-
15°F change has meant a three to fourfold acteristics at the same time, thus aggravating
increase in emissions. the magnitude of the problem. The vibration
The ability to change flue gas temperatures of the high voltage frames could produce an
from critical zones is as important to success- electrical disturbance dependent on the struc-
ful precipitator performance as any other de- tural integrity of the discharge electrode
sign feature. As with variations in gas flow, system.
short-term variations in flue gas temperature
should be controlled in order to minimize
losses from the collector. In fact, it is usually 16.2.5 Power Supply Characteristics
better to operate at a less than optimum uni- As precipitators have grown in size so have the
form temperature rather than experience vari- power supplies grown in kva ratings. This trend
ations. The heat sink effect of the internal to larger transformer-rectifier capacities has
structure will tend to mask effects of the tem- introduced some difficulties in stability, and
perature cycle if it is less than 10 minutes in yes, even in the performance of the precipita-
duration. tor if a gross mismatch occurs between the
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 759
size of the power supply and the field to be How the material is handled on the job site
energized. can be important to prevent a tendency to
It is well to understand a basic concept of distort long electrode elements. Weather pro-
precipitation that each field of any installation tection is of primary concern if long storage
will only effectively absorb the amount of time is required.
power that the existing gas, dust, and internal There are advantages for the user to assign
structure integrity allows. Therefore, the ac- an inspector during the actual erection phase.
tual voltage-current requirements of a precipi- Cross-checks of the actual erection procedures
tator field may be drastically different than are important.
shown by the full load rating of the power
supply. 16.2.8 Personnel Assignment
16.2.6 Operation and Maintenance Just who to assign to the precipitator system
Factors should be given much thought. The value of
the initial check-out and contacts with the
Many success stories of the high collection manufacturer can be lost if the user represen-
performance of precipitators are well docu- tative is moved to another assignment.
mented. But to many users, a constant battle A person who can be assigned long term to
is waged to maintain these performance levels. oversee the precipitator system and monitor
A major reason for this situation lies in the the process as to how it affects the collector is
basic design of components for the overall probably the best investment a company can
system that produces sensitivity for break- make. Recent years have shown the advantage
downs. A concerted effort must be made by of close supervision for the large precipitator
the user to understand all the inputs to the installations.
potential problems of maintenance.
Obviously, it is exceedingly difficult to pre-
dict where some of the maintenance troubles
16.3 RESISTIVITY
may occur, but there are eight key areas that
can be emphasized: 16.3.1 Introduction
Much emphasis has already been placed on
1. Raw material and operation forecasts—
the fact that effective precipitation coincides
original design
with the occurrence of optimum amounts of
2. Design concepts
electrical power input in the corona process.
3. Construction phase
While power input is sometimes limited by
4. Initial check and training
structure or individual component defects, the
5. Personnel assignment
performance of limited power installations oc-
6. Control of process
curs under conditions of excessive-electrical
7. Record keeping
resistivity of the collected material, usually
8. The actual maintenance program.
expressed in ohm-centimeters.
All finely divided particles that are gener-
16.2.7 Construction Phase
ated in the basic industrial processes have
The best precipitator design can be adversely critical temperature zones that can affect the
affected in the fabricating and erection phases. electrical operation of the precipitator. The
Just how the quality of welding is controlled, chemical composition of the bulk of dust parti-
or the shaping of the component is finally cles contain common constituents even if the
accomplished in the shop, could have a signif- make-up varies somewhat in weight fractions.
icant effect on the final operating characteris- Given similar gas conditions, it might be hard
tics of the precipitator. to differentiate electrically whether it was fly
760 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
ash, cement dust, or iron oxide being handled Second, the current limit is observed more
in the collector. Of course, that is a simplistic often. Adjusting the conduction angle of the
statement because in practice there are an secondary current to approximately 86% by
infinite number of process conditions where the correct application of linear reactors will
differences in raw material can alter the elec- generally produce a match of the primary and
trical characteristics of the particles. secondary currents. As the conduction angle
Fortunately, high moisture contents in the decreases from 86%, the primary current will
flue gas stream (such as found in wet process trend toward higher readings relative to the
cement applications or other applications secondary current reading. The rated sec-
where spray water is used to cool the gases) ondary current will sometimes be achieved
will usually nullify the subtle chemical particle before the primary current limit if conduction
composition and provide ample power inputs. angles rise past the 86% point when higher
You can call water vapor a primary condition- levels of impedance are applied in the primary
ing agent that will control resistivity problems circuit.
if the quantity of water used is effectively This brings us to the third limit, which is a
matched to the gas temperature levels of the spark-over between the discharge electrode
flue gas entering the collector. and collecting surface. When this occurs, the
When moisture levels in the flue gas are power supply voltage must be reduced to keep
low^-usually below 10% by volume—the the breakdowns within a reasonable level. This
chemical make-up of the particle becomes a level could range from a nominal 150
dominant factor in controlling electrical char- sparks/min for the inlet field to the occasional
acteristics. spark for the outlet field.
The classification of this characteristic of However, the designer predicated his pre-
the particle is simply related to its ability to cipitator performance on a power parameter
conduct or resist the passage of electric cur- that now may not be attained because of the
rent. This ability is not critical for the individ- limitation imposed by spark-over. Basically,
ual particle as it drifts in the gas stream, but precipitation spark-over can occur by one of
becomes important after it deposits on the two mechanisms:
collecting surface.
One of several power input limits can occur: 1. The impressed voltage is greater than the
spacing and the physical contour or conditions
between electrode surfaces will allow, regard-
1. The voltage limit of the T-R set can be
less of the characteristic of the particulate
reached before any other limitation.
matter. This condition is often observed with
2. Either the primary or secondary winding
electrode misalignment where one or more of
current limit could be reached.
the discharge electrodes has moved too close
3. Or spark-over can occur within the field
to the collecting surface.
limiting the available power from the T-R
Another important factor that can cause
set.
premature breakdowns is the presence of se-
vere discontinuities on the collector surface
These three limits should be well understood. opposite the corona-emitting zones of the dis-
First, the voltage limit is rarely observed on charge electrode. This type of breakdown tends
normal precipitator applications, but it can to provide a greater electrical disturbance
occur with an appreciable mismatch of the compared to the spark-over caused by high
T-R set to the load requirement. That is, it resistivity.
can occur when a large capacity of supply is 2. Spark-over caused by high resistivity lev-
connected to a small surface area field and is els is the most common reason for low power
combined with high concentrations of finer inputs to the precipitator. The resistance of
sized particles. the layer of collected material on the collect-
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 761
ing surface is the prime reason spark-over will lower power level. Once the dust resistivity
occur. This layer will develop a voltage drop reaches a critical point, its deposition on a
based on three factors: the resistivity value X sharp edge, or for that matter any kind of
the layer thickness X the current density. If discontinuity on the collecting surface, will
the voltage drop is greater than the dust layer cause a localized electrical stress build-up
can withstand, then breakdown within the layer point that will draw the spark. This is why
occurs. uniformity of alignment and elimination of all
This phenomenon is not unlike the break- internal irregularities becomes more impor-
down of a capacitor. Reduction of the layer tant as the resistivity moves up from the
resistivity can be achieved by a number of moderate range.
methods including flue gas additives and pro- It is difficult to specify various resistivity
cess modifications. Sufficient reduction of the levels as denoting good or bad operation. The
layer thickness is often difficult to obtain be- poor physical design of the precipitator com-
cause as resistivity increases, so does the ponents from a high-voltage standpoint can
tenacity of the particles to stick together and alter spark-over levels. It is advantageous to
adhere to the collecting surface. group resistivity into three basic zones; low,
The third component of the voltage drop is moderate, and high. The moderate range
the current density. This means that the would generally encompass a resistivity from
amount of corona current attempting to pass 109 to 1011 ohm-cm and is considered the best
through the dust layer must be reduced if zone for effective precipitation. A finer group-
either the resistivity value or layer thickness ing might show the following:
increases. Otherwise, spark-over can occur. For COMMENTS RESISTIVITY RANGE
example, 0.43 ma/m 2 (40 ma/1000 ft 2 ) may 4 7
10 to 10 ohm-cm Usually high conductive
occur with a material resistivity of 1010 ohm- material—hard to
cm. But if the actual resistivity was 10 n ohm- retain— low-voltage
cm the current density might have to decrease fields present.
to 0.27 ma/m 2 (25 ma/1000 ft2) to keep 108 to 109 ohm-cm Sensitive stage where
lack of resistive
spark-over at a reasonable level. In other
characteristics can
words, the higher the resistivity level, the lower sometimes hurt—
the current density must be to keep the pre- especially in
cipitation process functional. It is not uncom- fly ash cases.
mon to see current densities below 0.054 1010 to 10 11 ohm-cm Appears to be the best
range to shoot for—
ma/m 2 (5 ma/1000 ft2) on certain fly ash should show some spark-
applications. over in precipitator.
1012 to 1013 ohm-cm Range usually associated
with low sulfur coals—
16.3.2 Effects of Resistivity on reduced power in all
Power Levels fields can exist.
Over 1013 ohm-cm Not commonly observed in
What this means in a practical sense is that an basic industries with
infinite number of voltage and current read- normal moisture
contents. Can produce
ings can occur in the precipitator that will not severe electrical
in any way match the name-plate data of the disturbances.
T-R sets. The important thing to remember is
that higher resistivity conditions will decrease The description of spark-over can be de-
power inputs because of the spark-over limita- fined as an electrical breakdown through an
tion. Superimposed on a resistivity problem is isolated gas path between the negative and
the possible condition of the internal structure positive electrodes. The case of the threshold
causing the spark-over to occur at a much resistive spark-over where the discharge
762 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
streamers occur from the deposited dust layer primary voltmeter, a current may indicate 750
is considered the start of back corona. This ma with low resistivity, 400 ma in the moder-
situation is not unlike that which occurs in ate range, or 150 ma in a higher resistivity
atmospheric lightning when positive streamers range. In this example, the 400 ma condition
from earth actually draw the localized stroke would probably provide the better collection
from the negatively charged clouds. But in the performance on a higher velocity precipitator.
case of very high resistivity, a severe back- It is always advantageous to work toward
corona condition can occur characterized by higher voltage gradients and take whatever
greatly reduced voltage and high current den- corona current results. The only exceptions
sities without spark-over. would be current suppression caused by dis-
When low resistivity exists with low-voltage charge electrode build-up or excessive space
conditions, it is difficult to achieve high collec- charge caused by high concentration levels of
tion because of dust reentrainment losses. fine-sized particles.
Power consumption is high because of the One important concept is that each process
high current flow through the dust layer caused will produce a particulate matter whose resis-
by a practically nil electrical resistance. Inter- tivity will usually decrease rapidly on the low
nal inspections usually show collecting sur- temperature side of a peak, while decreasing
faces devoid of any buildup. During this low at a lesser rate on the high temperature side.
resistivity, it will be difficult to achieve the Figure 16.3 shows a typical plot of resistivity
guaranteed efficiency at even half the design obtained by laboratory analysis for dust enter-
gas velocity. ing a cement precipitator. A typical fly ash
Moderate resistivity will allow dust particles from an eastern bituminous coal source with
to bond together in the dust layer by forming a
charged dipole relationship not unlike those
found in a magnet. The opposite polarities
provide good adhesiveness at the tangent con-
tact points of adjacent particles and even aid
in holding these particles together as they \
<
1010
probably accounted for most of the troubles effect of the hoppers. The detector should
experienced. Regardless of the gas and dust recognize this effect and be placed a little
characteristics, the ability to keep the wall lower at the center of the wall or a little
surface temperature of the lower hopper no higher near the corners.
less than 250°F is most important.
16.4.7 Outage Clean-Down of Electrodes
16.4.5 Air Inleakage into Hoppers
If good shut-down procedures are followed on
Entry of outside air into any part of the hop- most installations, the degree of build-up on
per system is considered poor practice. Aside electrode surfaces will usually require no fur-
from the effect on performance, excessive air ther cleaning during the outage. That does not
can cool down the inside wall surfaces, or mean than 6 to 10 mm (\ to f in.) mounds of
condense moisture in some of the high water- deposit will not exist, but the build-up will be
vapor installations. Unfortunately, most of the spotty with most of the surface holding less
screw conveyor installations coupled with than 3-6 mm Q to \ in.) thick mounds. There
process precipitators are conducive to this are exceptions, especially caused with high-re-
condition. sistivity materials or other operating charac-
teristics.
Whether any manual cleaning is imple-
16.4.6 Level Detectors
mented during the outage depends on several
While it is always better to place time and factors. If it is an annual outage with certain
money in the prevention of hopper difficulties, planned work on the electrode system, then a
the detection of build-ups by some method is water wash of the unit might be considered. It
desirable in most applications. These devices is not recommended to use this type of clean-
can utilize gamma radiation, sound, capaci- ing unless it is necessary to perform major
tance, pressure differential, temperature, or work on the system. Depending on the time
even paddle-wheel methodology for the detec- of year and thoroughness of the washing,
tion of excessive build-up. Any method that some rusting and corrosion pockets can be
does not require components within the accelerated.
hopper appears the most desirable.
Several comments: Use detectors as mainte-
16.4.8 Important Troubleshooting
nance tools rather than to identify full hop-
Approaches
pers. For example, if an automatic batch cycle
allows a maximum 90 cm (3 ft) of build-up in Because of the high-voltage danger, familiarity
the inlet hoppers, it is well to locate the detec- with all the safety aspects of the system cannot
tors no more than 150 cm (5 ft) above the apex be overstressed. Even portions of equipment
flange. The object is to alert the operator inside each control cabinet will be at a 480 V
before a major hopper fill-up exists, yet mini- potential, so care must be taken in any mea-
mize frequent detector alarms. A rule of thumb surement procedure. The manufacturer's man-
would allow the lapsed time from normal dust ual should be well studied for guidelines in the
height to alarm level to equal the same length handling of certain control difficulties.
of time it takes the dust to rise from the apex If any troubles occur initially with control
to the normal height. Remember that the circuit components, fuses, or any other low
pyramid design allows for a greater volume of voltage trouble source, correct these problems
material to accumulate in each foot of hopper post-haste, since the high-voltage portion of
height. One problem arises in the uneven the precipitator tends to supply enough poten-
build-up that occurs by the slope and corner tial difficulties of its own.
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 765
16.4.9 Normal Versus Abnormal readings will generally tell a story of normal
Power Characteristics precipitator performance as well as abnormal
An understanding of the electrical readings of conditions. A sound knowledge of the effective
the precipitator must be a starting point in voltage-current characteristics can allow one
coping with this collector. It was already to judge emissions on reproducible process
stressed that the name-plate electrical values operations almost as well as actual stack tests.
will not be observed on many fields of the The primary winding voltage and current
precipitator, so the patterns of meter readings readings should provide valid reflections on
become an important tool of evaluation. what is occurring in the secondary circuit of
The key word is "uniformity" of patterns of the high-voltage transformer. However, the
each precipitator because gross power values presence of secondary as well as primary me-
used to compare one unit to another some- ters does provide added monitor capability. In
times provide questionable evaluation results. all difficulties within the precipitator, the two
It is recommended that comparison of the voltmeters and the two ammeters will work in
voltage to current flow value of each field be unison for specific characteristics. That is,
ascertained under normal conditions as well as when the primary voltage is low, the secondary
process variations. voltage should also be low, while the amme-
By now, you should well understand that the ters could both be showing relatively high
control panel readings are a reflection of ev- values (see Fig. 16.4).
erything that is occurring in the precipitator. Probably 80% to 90% of the problems that
The magnitude as well as the trends of the occur in precipitators will tend to reduce volt-
Date
Tirr eof
Re; ding Set
No.
Load
Gas
Temp.
V 1
A
^^ Plot of Current
250 0.2
X"" ^x
200 0.1
300 0.6
—*^.
B
-X-*.
250 0.4 -X-
x- -X-.
200 0.2
180 0.2
Figure 16.4. Suggestion for a daily plot of voltage and current to help detect start of troubles.
766 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
ages and raise currents at the same time. current patterns between fields and adja-
These problems are usually associated with a cent cells.
multitude of difficulties with electrode failure, 6. Effects of resistivity can completely nulify
dust build-ups in hoppers, and electrical leak- the effects of the space charge on the inlet
age over insulator surfaces. to outlet patterns.
As each field of a multifield precipitator
does its work, the reduction of suspended par-
ticulate matter in the flue gas will alter the 16.4.10 Reentrainment
voltage-current relationship from inlet to out- Some additional comments in the area of
let. This phenomenon is best observed in the reentrainment of material are warranted. The
moderate resistivity range. A change in the effects of resistivity on reentrainment have
resistivity of the material in each field can already been mentioned, but the subject is
alter the patterns, but the slope of the pattern
much more complex. How far the material
is mostly space charge oriented. For example:
moves out into the gas system, where it rede-
PRI. SEC. SPARKS/ posits in relation to its original position, and
VOLTS MA MIN whether it changed its physical character are
but some of the unknown factors in the reen-
Inlet 360 400 50 trainment syndrome.
Center 330 550 20
A common description of the dust layer
Outlet 300 750 occ.
sliding down the collecting surface does not
usually occur. The shock or tremor imparted
In other words, for identically sized fields, we
by the rapper appears to more often dislodge
are generally looking for a stepped decrease in
voltage and stepped increase in current from some percentage of material from its resting
inlet to outlet. Some key concepts in meter place. If the particles have had a chance to
observations include: agglomerate, the adverse effects of reentrain-
ment are minimized. It is when the particles
1. Patterns in voltage and current readings bounce back into the gas stream in the same
from inlet to outlet should form some type condition as they were collected that troubles
of recognizable pattern unless internal begin to mount. This is where proper resistiv-
defects cloud the issue. ity and the timing between raps can play an
2. The high-resistivity range can produce a important part in this interesting phase of
relatively low flat voltage and current pat- precipitation.
tern, but only in the very high resistivity Some key concepts include:
zones (1012 and above). Generally you 1. Always use the internal inspection and
should see an increasing pattern of current other visual means to help ascertain the lowest
flow in the direction of gas flow. rapping intensity possibly commensurate with
3. The moderate range of resistivity would other performance observations.
show the greatest magnitude of change from 2. Always attempt to match the rapping to
inlet to outlet. the dust characteristics or resistivity. For ex-
4. As the resistivity becomes low enough so ample, a low resistivity requires soft rapping,
that all sparkover ceases from this cause, the moderate range requires a harder blow,
the voltage and current readings tend to and the high-resistivity zone means real trou-
flatten out again from inlet to outlet, but at ble. Remember that hard rapping with high-
a much higher power level. resistivity materials usually exhibits limited
5. It is only in the moderate to high resistivity success and changing the resistivity is usually
ranges that internal electrode defects will a much better way to achieve a satisfactory
show major distortions in the voltage- performance.
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 767
3. Do not feel that the inlet field must be than 1.8 m / s (6 ft/s) through the precipi-
overrapped because it handles the bulk of tator.
material. Be aware that puffs out of the stack 3. Reentrainment dust losses above 50% of
or other signs of reentrainment are not unique the total ESP emission losses.
to the outlet fields. Actually, the material col- 4. Low-resistivity characteristics are apparent
lected in the inlet field of some precipitators is with an absence of spark-over.
often easier to dislodge, and excessive carry- 5. High-resistivity characteristics are apparent
over adds to the reentrainment potential of with less than an average of 0.11 ma/m 2
the following fields. (10 ma/1000 ft2) of collecting surface.
4. Rapping loss is not usually uniform across
the precipitator, even discounting the effects Field observations have pointed out a number
of resistivity gradients. When reentrainment of concepts:
losses are observed, investigations into possi- 1. The gas flow vectors in a dynamic system
ble problems with gas distribution is highly will tend to keep going in the direction pointed,
recommended. until striking another obstruction. This con-
5. When reentrainment losses are severe, cept is fundamental to the understanding of
lengthening the time between raps on the col- why some installations have problems.
lecting surfaces in the direction of inlet to 2. The velocity of the gases entering an
outlet is usually recommended. As a first ad- expansion plenum will determine the final pat-
justment it might be advisable to double the terns at the face of the precipitator. If there is
rap time on succeeding fields. For example, if a poor vector pattern at the entry of the
the inlet field rapped every 5 min, then the nozzle, then higher flow rates will usually ag-
second field would be rapped every 10 min, gravate the distribution by the time the gases
the third field every 20 min, and so on. reach the precipitator.
6. The more the power characteristics are 3. The 40% to 50% open area diffuser
improved, the better the chance for reentrain- plates will provide little correction of a poor
ment losses to diminish. Rappers should al- gas pattern if the pressure drop across the
ways operate across one field before the cycle plate is less than 13 mm (0.5 in.) H 2 O. How-
moves on to the next field. As discussed in the ever, these plates will reduce the rolling action
text, excessive dust disturbances on the col- of the gas, and most of the kinetic energy will
lected layer can lead to adverse electrical field be transferred into smaller jets. Generally, be-
activity in certain cases. Allowing the surface low the 3.0 to 4.6 m / s (10 to 15 ft/s) range,
contour to smooth out slightly between raps only minimal benefits will accrue in the gas
can relieve localized stress points and reduce spreading effects of the low pressure drop
the spark-over potential. Usually 5 to 10 min diffuser.
time duration is needed to observe this 4. With a 40% to 50% open area diffuser
phenomenon where it will occur. plate, which is commonly used, any gas vectors
striking the plate at 45° or more from the
16.4.11 Gas Distribution perpendicular will have a sizeable fraction of
Whether gas distribution is effecting the pre- that gas flow slide across the plate.
cipitator performance adversely can be related 5. Any flue expansion with more than about
to many factors. Efforts are usually worthwhile an 8° slope will generally have some separa-
in exploring improvements in the gas distribu- tion of gas from the surface. The common
tion pattern if one or more of the following practice of 30 to 45° plenum expansions tends
conditions exist: to present distribution problems for that rea-
son.
1. Aspect ratios of 1.0 or less. 6. Any process whose flue gases contain
2. Average calculated gas velocity of more particles over 30 microns in diameter could
768 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
get into distribution troubles by the settling of of gas conditioning. Water addition to many
dust in the expansion plenum. This condition process gas streams is often part of the opera-
becomes worse during long periods of reduced tion. Water forms part of the raw material in
process operation with its attendent low gas some cases, or in others, is primarily used to
velocities. control gas temperature levels at the discharge
of the process. Fuel supplies another source of
moisture. As previously discussed, moisture
16.5 GAS CONDITIONING contents over 20% by volume tend to nullify
resistivity problems depending on the gas tem-
The preferred method to improve the perfor- perature range at the precipitator. The use of
mance of existing precipitators involves the steam is much less utilized because of the cost
use of higher power inputs. Poor resistivity factor, but it is useful on a short-term basis
levels can be overcome by the modification of where water may present condensation
the flue gas characteristics. The term gas con- problems.
ditioning normally refers to the various meth- The use of chemical additives offers a sec-
ods used for injection of chemical constituents ondary approach if the time factor or eco-
into the flue gas stream, primarily to help alter nomics dictates that any modification of the
resistivity levels in the precipitator. This term process is not a satisfactory route. Fly ash
should include any method, whether or not it collection has been the greatest area of imple-
is inherent in the process or supplied from an mentation for this method in recent years.
external source. There are a number of companies and tech-
niques available in the gas conditioning field
16.5.1 Concepts and success has been achieved on difficult
installations.
The process should be first explored to deter-
mine if inherent changes in operation equip-
ment can modify resistivity levels. Some of 16.6 DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE
these techniques include: CONCEPTS
1. Substitute, blend, or prepare some of the The simple Deutsch equation is a valid way to
bad actors in the raw materials or fuel in a understand how the various critical inputs can
manner conducive to precipitation. This affect the performance of the precipitator. As
may require some modification of the mentioned earlier, the exponent can be low, as
handling equipment. much as a factor of two, because of a number
2. More efforts on the maintenance of mois- of problems that the designer did not foresee.
ture levels in the flue gas is important. Just Excessive reentrainment and poor gas distri-
the elimination of inleakage air will have bution were two of the prime reasons for the
this net effect. disparity between the theoretical and actual
3. Awareness of the temperature effect on results.
resistivity must be uppermost for any pro- Recent designs have taken the migration
cess change. Even the elimination of high exponent to another \ power or less to correct
to low gas temperature zones may help for previous problem areas and provide addi-
moderate a poor performance to one that is tional margin for the fine-sized particles exist-
acceptable. ing in the latter fields of the precipitator.
What this means is that a doubling of physical
Probably the use of additional moisture in precipitator is indicated compared to what was
the flue gas by way of water sprays or steam considered a standard design of the early
injection can be considered a primary method 1970s. Whether this is warranted is based on
THE ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR: APPLICATION AND CONCEPTS 769
two factors: whether or not good design con- remove from the flue gas stream. Although
cepts are applied and, second, the confidence there is some validity to this concept, too
of the user that he can exercise some control much is made of this point in the practical
over the process gas and dust characteristics. application of the precipitator. It is difficult to
In retrospect, the design of 8 to 12 years ago analyze effectively because the particle size,
could meet its guarantees if conditions were shape, and chemical make-up interact in many
optimized. Designs of 40% to 50% greater diverse ways.
surface area over those of the past now appear Each basic industry tends to produce partic-
quite reasonable if you weigh all the factors of ulate matter from some form of a grinding,
today's environment. This still means carefully combustion, or condensation process. Nor-
addressing the process characteristics and ap- mally, the discrete larger particle of material
plying a commitment to proper operating and found in a flue gas will be more irregular in
maintenance techniques. shape and will be more chemically associated
Each precipitator field should be considered to that of the process raw material. Particles
a separate collector unit, and for that matter, formed by condensation in the process tend to
each gas passage of a field must perform well be submicrometer in size and more spherical
to attain the best bottom line of the overall in shape, while often deviating from the chem-
system. For high collection efficiencies to be ical characteristics of the larger particle found
achieved, the inlet field must perform near in the gas stream of the same process.
design levels usually in the nominal 80% range. The effect of the particle size on the electri-
Theoretically, that means about 80% of the cal precipitation can be identified in a number
particulate matter would deposit in the front of ways:
hopper. This is why the inlet field looms im-
portant in any upgrading program. 1. The larger the particle the more electrical
I would stress a few points: charge can be accumulated on its surface,
1. Each succeeding field works on the resid- and this condition provides an increased
ual of the preceding field, but the potential velocity of the particle toward the collector
collection efficiency tends to decrease in the surfaces of the precipitator.
direction of flow. Part of the reason is that 2. Electrical precipitation probably performs
collection values are harder to achieve as the the least on a particle size about one-half
magnitude of particles decrease. micron in diameter. Collection of particle
2. Another reason is that the particles that sizes less than one-half micron improves
are left in the gas stream in the latter half of with benefits of Brownian motion in the
the precipitator are more difficult to collect vicinity of the collection site, while the
since they usually consist of the finer sized larger sized particles benefit from the
segment. Unless current densities above 0.22 greater levels of charging.
ma/m 2 (20 ma/1000 ft2) are observed in these 3. However, it appears that a large number of
latter fields, their collection efficiencies can the smaller particles tends to adhere to the
deviate substantially from design. larger particles, so that it is difficult to
separate the practical effect of the sizing
segments on the overall efficiency of
16.7 EFFECT OF PARTICLE SIZE collection.
4. A population of particles that is more ho-
The effect of the particle size on precipitation mogeneous in sizing will often make the
is seen in the component relationship that deposited layer of material on the collector
represents the migration velocity of the surfaces more difficult to dislodge by rap-
Deutsch equation. This exponent indicates that ping forces. As a rule, the larger particles of
the smaller sized particle is more difficult to material, because of the effect of greater
770 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
porosity in the layer, will allow for easier 2. M. Robinson, "Electrostatic Precipitation," in Air
removal by the mapping mechanism. Pollution Control I, edited by W. Strauss, Wiley-
Interscience, New York, NY (1971).
5. Both size and chemical segregation of parti- 3. J. D. Cobine, Gaseous Conductors, Dover Publica-
cles will tend to occur throughout the length tions, New York, NY (1958).
of the precipitator. The outlet electrical
fields will often contain a greater percent- Operation and Maintenance
age of the finer sized particles as well as the
J. Katz, The Art of Electrostatic Precipitation, Scholium
more chemically active material, such as International Inc. Port Washington, NY (3rd print-
condensed alkali and acidic ingredients. ing 1989).
Gabriel I. Tardos
CONTENTS
17.1.1 INTRODUCTION 771
17.1.2 TOTAL BED EFFICIENCY 772
17.1.3 COLLECTION MECHANISMS IN DEEP-BED FILTRATION 773
17.1.4 EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION 776
17.1.5 CONCLUDING REMARKS 778
REFERENCES 780
fill the interstices of the granular bed starting where L/2a is the number of collector layers
with the contact points between granules with- in the filter, e is the relative void volume, and
out drastically altering the geometry of the E is the so-called single collector efficiency.
filter or the pressure drop through the bed. The quantity E is defined as the ratio of the
The filtration in this case is overwhelmingly number of all airborne (dust) particles cap-
influenced by the size of dust particles and by tured by a single collector in the bed to the
the thickness of the granular filter in the di- total number of dust particles flowing toward
rection of the flow. it in a circular tube of cross-sectional area
The theoretical calculations presented in ira2. The implicit assumption in Eq. (17.1.4) is
this section pertain only to the case of deep- that all collectors act as if they were indepen-
bed (noncake) filtration in granular packed, dent within the filter as shown in Figure 17.1.1
moving, or fluidized beds. In these cases dust and hence experience similar filtration phe-
is collected either inside the filter or distinct nomena. Equation (17.1.4) can be used in a
collectors or particles deposit on each other predictive way provided the single collector
without significantly altering the geometry of efficiency E can be calculated from first
the filter as dust collection proceeds. The pres- principles.
sure drop in the filter, A/?/L, under these A somewhat different but in principle
conditions can be calculated from the well- equivalent way of computing the total bed
known Ergun correlation,1'2 which in dimen- efficiency is to use the concept of the unit cell
sionless form is given as: efficiency, e, so that:
/ 0 [ e 3 / ( l - £)] = 180(1 - e ) / R e 0 + 1.8 v=l-[l-e]
n
(17.1.5)
(17.1.1)
The quantity e is defined as the ratio of the
The actual pressure drop per unit thickness of number of airborne dust captured by a collec-
filter is then evaluated from the equation: tor (granule) to the total number of dust parti-
Ap/L=foPU2/2a (17.1.2) cles flowing toward it in a square duct of
cross-sectional area, I2, where the length / is
where the Reynolds number is expressed as
given by:
Re 0 = 2aUop/fjL, L is the thickness of the
filter in the direction of the flow, a is some /= 2[TT/6(1 ~ e)]1/3a (17.1.6)
average granule radius, and Uo is the superfi-
The quantity n is the number of layers of unit
cial gas velocity in the filter.
cells in the filter, n = L/l. Comparing Eqs.
(17.1.4), (17.1.5), and (17.1.6), the ratio of the
17.1.2 TOTAL BED EFFICIENCY
V = 1 - "inAout (17.1.3)
Extensive studies of deep-bed filtration in both
granular and fabric filters have revealed that
the total efficiency is an exponential function
of the filter thickness and this can be ex- = {b/a) z
single collector and the unit cell efficiencies is impact and stick to the collector. The forces
given by: that are most frequently associated with filtra-
2/3
tion in granular beds are inertia, diffusion,
e/E = 1.2(1 - e) (17.1.7) gravity, and electrical effects. While inertial
Whereas the definition of the single collec- and gravitational forces are characteristic of
tor efficiency is somewhat arbitrary and its large particles of the order of microns and
value can exceed unity in some cases (this may tens of microns, diffusion becomes important
be difficult to justify on purely mechanistic only for very fine particles in the submicron
grounds) the unit cell efficiency has a clear range;4 electrical forces, if present, are effec-
physical meaning. For a detailed discussion of tive in the whole range of particle sizes. For
the different efficiencies and their definitions, relatively small particles and in the absence of
the reader is directed to the exhaustive mono- electrostatics, the so-called interception effect
graph on granular filtration by Tien.3 The becomes important. This is a purely geometric
remainder of this section is dedicated to ways "mechanism" and is due to the finite size of
of calculating the single collector efficiency E the dust particles, that is, even if the particles
which hence allows the prediction of the total follow the fluid stream lines exactly some
efficiency, rj. stream lines will approach the collector to a
distance smaller than the radius, rp, of the
dust particle, as can be seen in Figure 17.1.1,
17.1.3 COLLECTION MECHANISMS IN thereby causing deposition.
DEEP-BED FILTRATION Table 17.1.1 presents a summary of the im-
portant mechanisms that cause deposition in a
Collection of small airborne dust by granules granular bed; each of the mechanisms is gov-
(collectors) in a packed or fluidized bed is due erned by a characteristic dimensionless num-
to external forces that cause the dust to devi- ber that is defined in the second column of the
ate from the fluid stream lines and thereby to table. Because electrical effects are caused by
CHARACTERISTIC
DIMENSIONLESS
MECHANISM NUMBER EQUATION REMARKS
3 2
Interception Rp = rp/a ER= 1.5g (e)R p Re o < 1
Interception ER ^ O/e)Rp Re0 < 30
parameter Geometric effect6
Diffusion Pe = 2aU0/DB ED = 4g(e)Pe 2 / 3 Re0 < lb
Peclet number ED = 4.52/UPe) 1 / 2 Re0 < 30
Gravity Ga = ag/Ui EG = GaSt Independent of flow to
Galileo number a first approximation
Inertia St = 2CPpUor^/9fjLa Ex = 2St'3-9 St' = St[l + 1.75 Re 0 /
Stokes number (4.34~ 6 + St'3-9) 150(1 - e)]c
0.1 < St' < 0.03
a combination of charges present on the parti- tive by using the expressions in Table 17.1.1, in
cle, the collector, or both, the characteristic reality a combination of effects almost always
electrical number Ke is given separately in exists. A general practice in this case is to add
Table 17.1.2. Table 17.1.3 is a summary of the predicted values for each individual mech-
expressions for the correction factor g(e) that anism by using the equation:
appears in the equations describing intercep-
tional and diffusional efficiencies, while Table E = 1 - (1 - £ R )(1 - £ D )(1 - EG)
17.1.4 contains theoretical and experimental X(l -E.Kl -£el) (17.1.8)
relations to calculate the efficiency due to
inertial effects. As seen in Table 17.1.1, the which, if all efficiencies are small compared to
Reynolds number Re 0 = 2aU0/v enters ex- unity, simply becomes:
plicitly only in the expression of the inertial E1 Ee{ (17.1.9)
E s ER
disposition; one has to note, however, that
expressions for interception and diffusion are The assumption behind Eq. (17.1.8) is that
different for low and high Reynolds number different mechanisms act independently; this
flows as shown in Table 17.1.1. was demonstrated to be true for the case of
Although it is quite simple to predict filtra- diffusion, interception, and inertia;24 intercep-
tion efficiencies if only one mechanism is ac- tion and gravity; and interception, diffusion,
Table 17.1.2. Electrical Forces Between Particles and Characteristic Parameters, Ke.
AUTHOR RANGE
5 5/3 1 3 5 3 2 1 3
Pfeffer {2[1 - (1 - 6> ]/[2 - 3(1 - 6) / + 3(1 - e) / - 2(1 - e) ]} / Re0 < 0.01
Pe > 1000
6
Tardos et al. {e/[2 - e - (9/5X1 - e) 1 / 3 - (1/5X1 - e) 2 ]} 1/3 Re0 < 0.01
Pe > 1000
Sirkar7'8 {[2 + 1.5(1 - e) + 1.5[8(1 - e) - 3(1 - e)2]^2]/e[2 - 3(1 - e)]}1/3 Re0 < 1
£ > 0.33
Pe > 1000
Tardos et al.9 1.31/c 0.3 < e < 0.7
Re0 < 0.01
Pe > 1000
Tan et al.10 1.1/6 Re0 < 1
0.35 < e < 0.7
Wilson and Geankoplis11 1.09/e Re0 < 10
0.35 < e < 0.7
Thoenes and Kramers12 1.448/6 Re0 < 10
e = 0.746
Karabellas et al.13 1.19/6 Re0 < 10
e = 0.26
Sorensen and Stewart14 1.104/e e = 0.476
1.17/6 6 = 0.26
gravity, and weak electric effects.25 Strong has to be mentioned. It was observed by many
electric effects due to Coulombic attraction researchers that at relatively high gas veloci-
and strong external electric fields (see Table ties or large particle sizes, while inertial ef-
17.1.1) cannot be combined with inertial ef- fects ensure that dust particles collide with
fects and have to be considered separately.26"28 collectors following their tortuous way through
To complete the picture of collection of the filter, the dust is in fact not collected and
small airborne dust by a granule (collector) in instead bounces off on contact and is, in the
a granular bed, the phenomenon of bounce-off end, not retained by the filter. This behavior
Table 17.1.4. Empirical Correlations for Single-Sphere Efficiency Due to Inertial Effects.
AUTHOR RANGE
15 1 13
Paretsky 2 X St - St < 0.01
Meisen and Mathur16 0.00075 + 2.6 X St St < 0.01
Doganoglu17 2.89 X St dc < 100 micron
0.0583 X Re X St dc < 600 micron
Thambimuthu et al.18 105 X St3 0.001 < St < 0.01
Schmidt et al.19 3.75 X St St < 0.05
Goren10 1270 X St9/4 0.001 < St < 0.02
Pendse and Tiena21 (1 + 0.04 ReXSt]
D'Ottavio and Gorenc21 St3j|5/(1.67 + st3^5 0.33 < e < 0.38
Gal, Tardos and Pfeffer (1985)*23 2St'39/(4.3 X 10"6 + St'3-9) 0.01 < St' < 0.02
a
Interception neglected.
fe
St' = St[l + 1.75Reo/15O(l - e)].
c
Steff = /(Re,e)St.
/(Re, e) = (1 - /* 5/3 )/(l - 1.5/*1/3 + 1.5/z5/3 - h2) + 1.14Re£/2/<-2/3 where h = 1 - e.
776 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
results in a reduced efficiency at particle Stokes are performed at different gas flow rates and
numbers larger than about St > 0.01. Tien3 at different electric fields if electric effects are
introduces the coefficient of adhesion proba- present.
bility T given by Figures 17.1.3 and 17.1.4 show measured28'29
and calculated filter efficiencies using the
T = 0.00318 St~ 1248 (17.1.10) equations give in Table 17.1.1. The dust parti-
cles used in these experiments are of the latex
to account for this effect. For practical calcu- aerosol type, which are commonly used in
lations, the efficiency E obtained from Eq. industry to test filters as mentioned previously.
(17.1.8) has to be multiplied by the factor T if Figure 17.1.3 shows filtration efficiencies, E, as
the Stokes number exceeds the value St = 0.01 a function of gas superficial velocity in a sand
even if the deposition is overwhelmingly in- bed of grain average size of 450 fim. The
fluenced by electrostatic effects. calculated values are for large Reynolds num-
bers (upper line in the figure) and very low
Reynolds numbers (viscous flow) using the
equations of Table 17.1.1 for diffusion, inter-
17.1.4 EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION ception, gravity, and inertia. The experimental
values of the Reynolds number are depicted
A schematic representation of the experimen- with arrows on the lower side of the figure. As
tal apparatus to test a granular bed filter is seen, the data follow the calculations as ex-
depicted in Figure 17.1.2, a schematic of the pected: for Reynolds numbers below about
test section is also shown. In the case of an Re 0 = 3, the data fit viscous flow calculations
electrically enhanced filter, a wire mesh elec- well, whereas for values of the Reynolds num-
trode is added to the top of the bed where the ber of the order of Re 0 = 30 and higher, the
electric field is applied and a radioactive measured data follow the calculations for po-
source, used to neutralize the generated
tential flow. One can clearly see the effect of
aerosols (dust particles), is followed by a parti-
bounce-off at superficial gas velocities larger
cle charger (not shown in the figure). The
than about 2 m/s. One has to note here that
complexity of the set-up is required by the
the data presented above are an exceedingly
need to very carefully control the dusty gas
exaggerated case in which the limits of the
flow, the particle and granule electric charge
theoretical calculations are being checked.
(or lack of it), and the granule-wall interac-
Granular filters are usually operated at gas
tion in the bed. Additional problems are also
velocities of the order of 2 to 30 cm/s, where
generated by the sensitivity of the particle
counter (Royco counter in the figure). Filtra- it is clearly seen that calculated values fall
tion experiments usually require the genera- quite close to the measured ones.
tion of a dilute stream of test aerosols (usually Figure 17.1.4 shows results for an electri-
latex particles of known size) which are subse- cally enhanced filter operated with an external
quently passed through the filter at known electric field. The shape of the efficiency curves
flow rate and the concentration in and out of (total efficiencies 77 in this case) are typical of
the bed is carefully measured. These experi- granular filters: efficiencies are high for small
ments are repeated with a whole range of dust particles below 0.1 fim and large dust
specially manufactured test dusts or aerosols particles above 1 jam in diameter and are
of different sizes and sometimes composition lower between these two limits. Increasing the
and electrical properties. To control electric applied electric field results in a significant
charges, the test particles are first neutralized improvement in efficiency even at the high
and then electrically charged to the appropri- gas velocity of Uo = 0.5 m / s as shown in
ate level before entering the bed. Experiments the figure.
COMI EXCESS
DISCHARGE
TEST
SECTION
MICRO-
MANOMETER
- 9 . 5 mm
VACUUM
ROTAMETER PUMP
VACUUM
GAUGE
Figure 17.1.2. Schematic of experimental apparatus. (Copyright Academic Press, Inc. Journal of Celloid and Interface Science, Vol. 71, No. 3, October (1979).
(Reproduced with permission.)
778 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
100
0 90 /
' a = 15 x 10*3m
2
L = 5 0 x 10* m
1
Uo = 0 5 ms*
0 80 -
E
0 70 - • = 0 6 kV/cm
Eo = 1 0 kV/cm
Eo = 2.0 kV/cm
0 60 --
0 50
0 1 10 100
PARTICLE DIAMETER (/urn)
Figure 17.1.4. Comparison of model predictions with theory (Uo = 0.5 ms" 1 , 2a = 3 mm, L = 5 cm).
GRANULAR BED FILTE
LIST OF SYMBOLS
Greek letters
Bed porosity
Dust particle density
Gas viscosity
v = Gas kinematic viscosity
V Total filtration efficiency
P Gas density
y Adhesion probability coefficient defined in Eq. (17.1.9)
780 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Frederick A. Zenz
CONTENTS
time and performance efficiency of such tur- tages for dry collection to avoid the handling
bines can justifiably be increased by reducing of slurries from wet scrubbers. With cyclones
the particulate content of the feed gas stream not likely to meet the standards, with electro-
via a reasonable cost filter. As an example, static precipitators representing high installa-
some typical particulate loading specifications tion and maintenance costs, and with bag
are summarized in Table 17.2.1. Electrostatic houses at 2 to 10 CFM/ft 2 representing large
precipitators, scrubbers, and fabric filters have installations requiring considerable space, the
been successfully used for removing particu- potential of a 40 to 100 CFM/ft 2 high-ef-
lates from exhaust gases at moderate levels of ficiency, low-maintenance, granular bed filter
temperature and pressure but not under high is an inevitable attraction even in conventional
temperature (e.g., 1000° to 2000°F) and pres- electrical utility applications.
sure conditions. Lowering the temperature and Other than power recovery and meeting
pressure of the turbine inlet gas stream for the emission standards there exist a host of indus-
purpose of facilitating particle removal by us- trial applications in which a "sand" medium
ing proven techniques would result in large would offer considerable process advantage
losses of energy. The increased prospective over a fabric. Condensibles in a gas stream can
utilization of combined cycle gas/steam tur- cause severe bag failures, particularly in sys-
bine/electrical generating systems, coal gasi- tems carrying cement kiln and similar calcined
fication, fluidized bed combustion, and syn- effluents, which can solidify on the bags. Sand
thetic gaseous fuels has intensified the interest media can be effectively dried and even washed
in granular bed filters. Unfortunately the ef- in situ, and light accretions removed by the
fect on turbine blades appears to be a function grinding action of the media. Where collected
of the physical properties of the impinging particulates can represent a fire hazard as in
particles. In catalytic cracking of petroleum the collection of carbon black, cellulosic solids,
fractions, carryover silica-alumina catalyst fines and similar materials, a noncombustible filter
remaining in the exhaust gases after passing medium would have immeasurable advantage.
through three stages of cyclones have shown In the popular literature are found such
power recovery turbine blade erosion to a terms as "gravel bed filters," "panel bed fil-
degree necessitating reblading only at 5-year ters," "expandable bed filters," "moving bed
intervals.1 The severity with coal combustion filters," "sand filters," "loose-surface filters,"
or gasification fines is reportedly far greater. "porous bed filters," "MB filters," and a host
Other than the incentives of power recovery of others all of which pertain to versions of
the increasingly stringent EPA emissions stan- what are generically referred to as granular
dards in the U.S.A. create definitive advan- bed filters.
All potential commercializations of the con- In the late 1940s the Pall Corporation (now
cept rest on four basic interrelated factors: Pall Trinity Corp.) supplied such porous metal
in tubular form with the suggestion that their
1. Collection efficiency application would be analogous to a cloth bag
2. Cleaning or regeneration capability filter in which the cloth is replaced by a rigid
3. Capacity thin bed of sintered metal particles.2 As illus-
4. Competitive cost. trated in Figure 17.2.1, in normal operation
valve 1 would be open, allowing dusty inlet gas
Their practicality lies simply in the opera- to flow through the elements, depositing a
tional details of their technology which might filter cake on their outer upstream surfaces
best be illustrated by a relatively chronological and leaving through the exhaust plenum. When
review of the principal attempts at commercial the cake has grown to a thickness exhibiting
development over the past 30 years and the high pressure drop, valve 1 is closed, valve 2 is
status of such work today. opened, and a short, high-pressure pulse of air
is admitted in reverse flow through the porous
elements to dislodge the filter cake which falls
17.2.3 POROUS SINTERED to the bottom of the containing vessel, to be
GRANULE BEDS eventually withdrawn through valve 3. In con-
tinuous use, the valves operate on a timed
Particle filtration via porous membranes rests cycle and the containing vessel is provided
primarily on the formation of a filter cake, with a multiplicity of porous elements and
removable by a reverse flow of fluid when the separate plenums for localized reverse
resistance of the cake (or the pressure drop) cleaning.
exceeds any desired level. The porous mem- There are a number of inherent disadvan-
brane may take the form of a bed of particles tages to this form of filter. In order to obtain
or for that matter a mat of fibers such as is the structural strength, the granules making up
case with cloth bag filters. The thinner the the porous element must be small in size to
membrane the lower the overall resistance
with or without a filter cake and hence by
analogy to the near monolayer of fibers in a Clean gas Compressed air
cloth collector one could construct a thin bed
or sheet of granules by sintering a shallow
layer of metallic granules in a high tempera-
ture furnace. Such sheets of sintered metal
granules in various forms are sold commer- Dusty gas
cially for filtration purposes. Their principal
application is in liquid systems, such as the
maintenance of dirt-free fuel lines in aircraft
engines. They have had limited application in
the recovery of carryover from fluid bed reac-
tors and similar fine-particle processing, but
are not broadly acceptable. Their commercial-
ization stemmed from the work of Dr. David
Pall whose interest in the early 1940s lay in
the development of a gaseous diffusion barrier
for isotope separation in connection with the
Manhattan District project during World
War II. Figure 17.2.1. Porous sintered granule filter.
784 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
present sufficient bonding surfaces. This re- hopefully carried downward with the gravel,
sults in high-pressure drop or low gas capacity was trapped within its interstices, as illustrated
despite the only approximately | in. wall thick- in Figure 17.2.2.
ness of the elements. Simultaneously, the Four units, each of 17,000 CFM air capacity
thin-wall tubes are very subject to cracking as and consisting of two cells each, were installed
a result of repeated thermal shocks between in a plant to collect asbestos rock dust from a
normal high-temperature operation and rela- stream of flue gas coming from a direct-fired
tively colder reverse-flow cleaning blasts. In dryer in which the rock was dried prior to
addition, over extended operation, the submi- milling. The dust was 100% finer than 100-
cron fines penetrate the interstices of the ele- mesh and 60% finer than 10 jam. The concen-
ments. These fines become trapped and are tration entering the collector was approxi-
unable to be blown out with the reverse clean- mately 6 grains/ft 3 and that leaving about 0.2
ing blast. Thus, these elements build up a grains/ft.3
residual pressure drop that further limits their Dorfan's filter circumvented the thermal
capacity. They are not recommended where shock failure of Pall's sintered beds by avoid-
only very fine particles are to be collected; ing reverse-flow cleaning and instead circulat-
they operate most satisfactorily in handling ing the bed granules, plus collected dust,
streams containing sufficient coarse particles, through a vibrating screen. However, this con-
in effect, to build up their own precoat. Such sequently required continual replenishment of
instances are rare, since where they occur the the bed and hence an enormous and costly
particle loading is usually so high that the cost gravel circulation system. In order to provide
of the elements is prohibitive even if they were reasonable gas throughput capacity, the bed
never to fail by thermal shock. granules had to be relatively large so as not to
be blown off the retaining louvers; in practice
"gravel" of plus \ to minus \\ in. was recom-
17.2.4 CONTINUOUS MOVING-BED
FILTERS
mended. The commensurately large size of the dling equipment would again make industrial
bed interstices resulted in lower collection application impractical.
efficiency, and required staging beds in series,
as shown in Figure 17.2.2, to achieve reason-
able overall collection efficiencies. Such stag- 17.2.5 INTERMITTENT MOVING-BED
ing only added to the enormity of the required FILTERS
gravel circulation. Basically, micron-size parti-
cle collection efficiencies of the order of In the late 1950s it occurred to A. M. Squires
99 + % could never be attained with such a (presently associated with the Chemical Engi-
moving bed system because intergranule neering Department at the Virginia Polytech-
movement in a downflowing mass physically nic Institute) that the Dorfan filter could be
dislodges collected particles and makes them made far more efficient by using a finer
subject to reentrainment. medium and arresting the bed motion during a
Simultaneous with Dorfan's development a filtration period, after which an accumulated
similar device was reported in the Russian cake of filtered fines would be removed by
literature by Zhitkevich7 for the removal of moving just the dusty sand. The desirable ar-
peat dust from air by passing it through a rangement illustrated in Figure 17.2.3 would
vertical moving bed of pieces of peat of 5 mm circumvent the fouling action of unremovable
in diameter. The rate of downward movement penetrated fines (as experienced with Pall type
of the bed was controlled by the speed of a filters) and hopefully lessen the burden of
screw conveyor removing the dusty peat at the circulating the immense quantities of sand as-
base of the unit in much the same fashion as sociated with continuously moving beds (as
rotary valves (not shown in Figure 17.2.2) exemplified by Dorfan type units).
at the bottom of each louvered column in
Dorfan's arrangement. It is not known to what
Sand conveying
degree Zhitkevich's device found industrial ' system
application.
In 1954 Egleson et al.8 published informa- .? Compressed
tion on pilot tests of a downwardly flowing V air y
In the arrangement pictured in Figure 17.2.3 flyash from a Consolidated Edison power plant
the dusty gas passes through a thin bed of as the redispersed dust, are given in Table
stationary sand held between a panel of lou- 17.2.2.
vers and a fine-mesh screen. The filtered fines The simplicity of the laboratory unit of
build up a cake on the exposed bed surfaces Figure 17.2.4 appeared sufficiently attractive
and to some extent penetrate the interstices. to warrant its purchase in 1960 by the Fuller
When the resistance of the cake has reached Company (of Catasauqua, PA, a subsidiary of
an undesirable level, the clean gas outlet valve General American Transportation). After fil-
1 is closed and a short pulse of compressed air ing their patent 9 in Squires' name and spend-
is blasted in reverse flow through the sand bed ing 3 years in an attempt to build equally
by opening valve 2. In continuous use, the successful test models in their own laborato-
valves operate on a timed cycle and the con- ries, Fuller abandoned the commercial devel-
taining vessel is provided with a multiplicity of opment of Squires' filter and currently main-
panels exhausting to a partitioned plenum, tain solely a nonexclusive interest in the
permitting localized reverse flow cleaning of original patent. Fuller's decision to halt their
individual panels. development was based on (1) an inability to
The backwash pulse is sufficient to physi- restrict the amount of sand lost on each clean-
cally lift the sand beds as a mass, with mini- ing cycle to levels commensurate with econom-
mum interparticle movement, so that a surface ical recirculation costs, (2) the realization that
layer of sand between each pair of louvers is the cost of steel and support structures was far
physically ejected from the panel and falls to greater than Squires' original estimates, and
the bottom of the filter vessel along with the (3) that at 10 CFM/ft 2 the capacity was not
collected filter cake. The expelled sand is im-
competitive with bag filters and hence a lim-
mediately replaced by downward movement of
ited market would possibly exist only in a few
fresh sand from the overhead hoppers. This
very high-temperature applications. At the
only intermittent downward movement, cou-
time of its purchase by Fuller the LS filter was
pled with a fine size of "gravel," permits high-
considered a potential competitor of electro-
efficiency collection and avoids the build-up of
static precipitators for power plant flyash
resistance due to penetrating submicron fines
because these are expelled along with the sur- collection.
face layer of their surrounding sand. Incom- In view of subsequent developments it is
plete removal of the sand containing pene- interesting to note that during the early period
trated fines would lead to their eventual of laboratory development of the LS filter it
accumulation near the bottom of the panel, by was suggested that the circulation of sand
gravity flow, after repeated cleaning cycles, could be entirely avoided by installing a retain-
causing a gas flow maldistribution and exces- ing screen on the clean side of the panel, thus
sive pressure drop. In order to minimize pene- trapping the sand in a number of superim-
tration and hence minimize sand circulation, posed beds that could be cleaned by a reverse
the gas throughput was limited to approxi- fluidizing flow of gas to elutriate out the col-
mately 10 to 12 ACFM/ft 2 of exposed bed lected fines. Squires reasoned that this would
surface. not permit high filtration efficiency because
Referred to as the "Loose-Surface" or LS the mixing action accompanying fluidization
filter, several models were built and tested in would result in backmixing of collected fines
the period of 1959 to 1961 at the laboratories so that eventually the sand bed would be dusty
of F. A. Zenz then in Roslyn Harbor, NY. throughout and therefore some amount of col-
Figure 17.2.4 illustrates the largest of these. lected dust would find its way into the clean
Typical experimental results using hand-sieved side of the filter. Exploration of this sugges-
bank sand as the filter medium, and bagged tion was therefore not carried further.
GRANULAR BED FILTERS 787
Air discharge
Bag filters
Bypass air
Bicycle pump
Fluid bed puff back air
flyash compressor
dispenser
3-1/2" I.D.
Bed drain
Puffed back
flyash filter
Sand cake drain
Upon joining the faculty of City College in anew at the U.S. Bureau of Mines.13'14 In this
1966 Squires obtained substantial financial instance the test apparatus, designed by Com-
support from EPA and similar government bustion Power Corporation (CPC), utilized
agencies to essentially repeat the LS develop- downward moving beds of sand grains. The
ment with, in some instances, minor modifica- CPC design comprises essentially the panel
tions in bed depth or louver configuration.10"12 form of the Dorfan filter rotated into a cylin-
Inspired by Squires' modification, the prin- drical arrangement and operated with inter-
ciples of the Dorfan filter was investigated mittent media downflow. With the expectation
Table 17.2.2. Typical Loose Surface, Panel Bed Filter, Test Results.
that the CPC filter would live up to the claims levels of cost that encounter a severe sales
of its developers on economically competitive resistance. Weyerhauser has reportedly been
grounds, the management of Weyerhauser disenchanted with their own installations and
Industries purchased all the outstanding stock further development is presently only mini-
of Combustion Power Corporation and in- mally supported with U.S. Department of
stalled such filters on a number of their own Energy (DOE) funds.
bark boilers. Unfortunately such complete in-
stallations were found to require the following
component steps illustrated in Figure 17.2.5: 17.2.6 FLUIDIZED BED FILTERS
1. Sieving of the collected fines from the bed It should be obvious from the foregoing expe-
media riences with crossflow moving beds that high-
2. Conveyance of the media to a superim- efficiency collection is not possible unless the
posed vessel downwardly moving "wall" is very thick (e.g.,
3. Elutriation of residual fines from the media representing a deep bed). The rubbing action
by fluidization of intergranule movement and the continu-
4. Recovery of the elutriated fines in a "small" ously changing interstitial configurations allow
bag filter entrapped dust particles to be blown by the
5. Redistribution of the granular media to the gas stream to deeper and deeper penetrations
filter annulus. of the filter bed. Therefore very deep beds are
required to achieve only reasonable collection
A complete installation therefore takes on efficiencies. It would, therefore, be expected
many undesirable and costly complexities quite that gas fluidized beds would similarly yield
apart from the otherwise simple principle. In relatively low collection efficiencies. This con-
addition to an inadequate overall collection clusion is generally borne out by several such
efficiency (including the periods during media reported investigations.15"17
movement) a complete installation reaches Under U.S. Army Chemical Corps Contract
DA-18-064-CML-2758, a mechanically (vi-
brated) fluidized bed of sand was investigated
Elevator for its possible filtration potential. The point
of this investigation was to determine whether
the poorer efficiency of gas fluidized beds was
solely attributable to intergranule movement
(as in moving bed filters) or significantly af-
fected by the passage of unfiltered gas in the
bubbles rising through the bed. The vibratory
fluidized bed was operated with gas downflow,
Elevator thus avoiding bubble formation and the ac-
companying bypassing of dusty gas. The results
showed insignificant improvement over a bub-
bling fluidized bed, thus leading again to the
conclusion that high filtration efficiency is
compatible only with stationary media.
It is, however, of interest to note that a
shallow moving fluidized bed of raw bauxite
feed has been used to filter the carryover of
Annular gravel bed particulates from the off-gases of electrolytic
Figure 17.2.5. CPC annular bed filter. cells used in the production of aluminum
GRANULAR BED FILTERS 789
the containing vessel again provided with mul- bungsanlagen m.b.H. of Munich, Germany. I n
tiple units cleaned individually in sequence. this version, illustrated in Figure 17.2.7, the
The Berz' MB filter was sold commercially gravel medium is agitated during the cleaning
by Lurgi Apparatebau G.M.bH. of Frankfurt, cycle by the stirring action of a rotating rake
Germany, until about the end of 1969 when it whose fingers are imbedded in the gravel
was abruptly withdrawn from the market. Its medium. Though the long-term mechanical in-
shortcoming lies in the strain imposed on the tegrity of the raking system as well as its
necessary flexing membranes associated with possible introduction of flow paths of lower
the vibrating technique. It is conceivable that efficiency might be objectively questioned, it
at low temperatures where rubber membranes appeared that this filter might receive reason-
and spring-supported bed mounts are feasible, able acceptance in at least the cement indus-
such a filter could operate with a reasonable try. Users, however, were not as completely
life. However, at low temperatures it could satisfied as might be implied in Berz' opti-
never economically compete with the simplic- mistic presentation to the 1972 IEEE cement
ity of bag houses. At high temperatures only industry technical conference held in May,
metal bellows would suffice as the flexing 1972. The cleaning period requires several
membrane, and their life expectancy in the hot minutes and the module undergoing cleaning
and dusty environment is unpractically short. is isolated from the dusty gas by a valve system
Undaunted by their mechanical failure, Berz during the cleaning period. Carrier Corp.
devised an alternate arrangement now mar- (Rexnord Division) installed such filters at over
keted through Gesellshaft fur Entstau- a dozen cement plants;21 however, rake fail-
Clean gas
Low volume
Dusty gas flow to
parallel units
ures began, as anticipated, within about a year, tion dusty gas passes through vertical arrays of
present efforts are concentrating on possible parallel shallow granular beds held within
incorporation of a means of periodically re- metal-walled compartments sealed at top and
moving and replacing the bed medium. bottom by perforated meshes finer in aperture
than the size of the bed granules. The dusty
17.2.8 GRANULAR BED FILTERS
gas enters the beds at relatively high velocities,
PNEUMATICALLY CLEANED
in the range of 40 to 100 CFM/ft 2 of bed
surface area. When flow resistance reaches a
In 1970 the Ducon Co. introduced the "Ex- level requiring the bed to be cleaned, a suffi-
pandable Bed" filter,22"24 in which a number cient momentary reverse flow of compressed
of superimposed beds of sand, trapped be- gas is admitted to fluidize the bed granules, or
tween retaining screens, would be cleaned by a "expand" the bed, and thus by entrainment
reverse flow of fluidizing gas. Its principles are from these agitated beds expel the particles
illustrated in Figure 17.2.8. In normal opera- collected and agglomerated in the bed inter-
1 1
1
Dust laden A 1 "
gas 1A
is
Cleaning cycle
Collected
dust
4
1
:•/v!
4
Fluidized
granules
Purge gas
stices. No loss of sand can occur because any "sand" media lying directly atop the bed sup-
granules that might reach the end of a com- porting grid. This dust might well be blown off
partment cannot escape through the perfo- into the clean side of the filter when it is again
rated retaining mesh. placed in filtering operation and so contribute
The fluidized expansion of the granule bed to a less than 100% filtration efficiency de-
and the accompanying intergranule move- pending on cleaning frequency.
ment, which allows efficient cleaning, are di-
rectly analogous to the action in bag filters.
Upon cyclically reversing the flow of gas, par- 17.2.9 TECHNOLOGICAL STATUS OF
ticulates trapped between the fibers are ex- SYSTEMS UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND
pelled as the cloth flexes or expands. This UNDER COMMERCIALIZATION
movement of the fibers in the expansion of a
bag allows such complete cleaning (depending The technological success and eventual com-
upon the number of flexings during each cycle) mercialization, of any one or more of the
that bags can always be returned to near their many granular bed filter concepts, lies in
original pressure drop characteristics. By suf-
ficient and proper duration of backwash flows, 1. Satisfactory dust collection efficiency
the trapped fines in the beds of Figure 17.2.8 2. Reproducible regeneration or filter media
can also be nearly completely expelled by the cleaning
analogous intergranular bed flexing, bed ex- 3. Competitive total installation cost.
pansion, or bed fluidization. Thus fluidization
affords an economical nonmechanical cleaning Unfortunately these three aspects are rather
mechanism compatible with high-temperature intimately interrelated and in all likelihood
filter operation, requiring no costly recycle only eventual full-scale testing will narrow the
conveying of sand, no complex redistribution field; this becomes partially evident in even
hoppers, no subsequent need to separate col- a cursory review of the major commercial
lected fines from filter element sand, and contenders.
hence no attrition of bed granules which nor- The Fuller-Squires Panel Bed concept though
mally accompanies repeated solids handling abandoned by Fuller has undergone a series of
operations. studies related principally to improvements in
In practice it was discovered that the inter- louver design. There is no doubt that this
mingling of collected fines within the granular concept affords excellent collection efficiency
bed, which inevitably occurs as a result of the and that following each blowback the dusty
fluidized agitation during cleaning, resulted in gas faces a reproducibly cleaned filter bed.
an eventual build-up to an equilibrium fines The questions that remain as yet incompletely
content which then increased the collection answered are whether sieving the dust-laden
efficiency, presumably simply because it pre- sand drawn from the filter will produce suffi-
sented a more tortuous interstitial path for the cient cleaning. Will some residual dust parti-
dusty gas flow. It was also found that the cles cling to the media and escape into the
economic optimum operation lay in high gas cleaned gas stream upon return to the lou-
capacity with minor sacrifice in efficiency. In vers? Would an additional fluidized bed elutri-
this connection it is interesting to note that, in ation column provide sufficient cleaning; how
a paper dealing with the panel bed filter, would this fluidizing gas stream then be
Pfeffer12 reported also observing higher effi- cleaned and what would such additional
ciencies when using dusty as opposed to fresh equipment add to the total cost? How many
sand. However, it is also obvious that following louvers can be uniformly cleansed upon each
a reverse flow cleaning there could exist a blast of blowback gas? What is the investment
small amount of the collected dust adhering to increment for the media circulation and distri-
GRANULAR BED FILTERS 793
bution system and what degree of media attri- tests ranged from 75% to 97%. The feed par-
tion might be anticipated. No tests of the ticulates showed at best about 27% smaller
Fuller-Squires panels have ever been con- than 0.7 /im and 17% larger than 20 fim. The
ducted with continuous media recirculation or loss analysis showed 57% smaller than 0.7 /am
in an industrial environment. and 11% larger than 20 jLtm.
The Combustion Power Corporation Annular Relative to public utility flue gas clean-up
Bed as illustrated in Figure 17.2.5 has under- requirements the above performance figures
gone full scale operation on bark boiler ef- fall far short of the necessary goals. Neverthe-
fluent giving results such as shown in Table less CPC appears interested in promoting their
17.2.3. It is unknown whether the reported filter for such application based on the premise
media efficiencies include periods during which that the Weyerhaeuser unit was not intended
the media were in downward movement or for high efficiency and that a finer size of
only periods when the media were stationary. pebble combined with removal of the coarser
The media pressure drops may also refer to feed solids by tangential feed gas entry into
clean conditions prior to dust buildup. In any the containing vessel shell might yield the
event the media efficiencies are substantially necessary overall efficiency for utility pur-
below the 99 + % levels normally sought in poses.
granular bed filtration. Efficiencies in the 90% CPC's conceptual design for a 1000 MW
range could more effectively be attained with electric utility burning 12,000 tons of coal/day
multiclone centrifugal separators. Reliable cost with 3,300,000 ACFM of 400°F flue gas, would
figures for a complete installation including all consist of three banks of scrubbers each hav-
the elements in Figure 17.2.5 are unavailable. ing eight cylindrical filter vessels and each
CPC's principal development experience vessel containing four annular elements. They
centered around a pilot unit installed at the estimated a pressure drop of 8 to 10 in. of
Snoqualmie, Washington plant of Weyer- water across these filters and in 1974 a turnkey
haeuser Lumber Co. to clean up effluent from installed cost including fans and motors of
a hog mill waste conductor. The pebble bed $2.00 to $2.50 per ACFM. This would involve
filter was in this instance a single downflowing the sieving and circulation of 225 to 450 tons
sand annulus 8f ft O.D. and about 6 ft I.D. of pebbles per hour or as much as 10 times the
with an effective filtering height of 16 ft. The ash rate assuming the flyash loading to the
face velocity and effective inlet area are quoted filters is of the order of 0.2 grains/ft 3 . Higher
by CPC on the basis of the mean diameter of inlet loadings would require proportionately
the annulus and in this instance correspond to higher pebble circulation rates. The concep-
100 to 163 ft/min (or ACFM/ft 2 ) and to 365 tual design is based on recirculating the
ft2, respectively. The pebbles were angular in flyash-freed pebbles pneumatically to the top
shape and ranged from \ to \ in. in average of the filters where the pebbles are collected
diameter. They move downward through the via cyclones and the conveying gas vented
annulus in gravity flow at a bulk velocity of 2 through bag filters. The pebbles are again
to 4 ft/h. The pebble inventory is of the order freed of the collected flyash via screens and
of 40 tons though only about 20 tons are in the elutriation; the latter would involve more bag
region exposed to gas flow. At 35,000 ACFM house area but less screen wear. It was not
gas flow (~ 100 ft/min) with inlet loadings of clear whether the $2 to $2.50/ACFM cost
0.17 to 0.3 grains/dry ft3 and outlet loadings estimate included the solids handling and/or
of 0.053 grains/dry ft3 the pressure drop separation equipment.
across the downflowing pebble bed was of the In terms of a test unit for installation in a
order of 12 in. of water. The unit was operated public utility's flue gas system operating on a
at 300° to 350°F. Collection efficiencies in all slip stream, CPC felt that a 100,000 ACFM
Table 17.2.3. CPC Annular Bed Filter Test Dataa (Power Boiler Effluent—Waste Wood and Fuel Oil Fired).
unit would be the minimum size for obtaining filter material is then fed back into the unit
reliable and scalable data. near the top of the vertical column into what
The Canmet-Prasco Hitec System25'26 repre- is called an elutriation column. The gases to
sents a development very similar to the CPC be cleaned enter at the bottom of this elutria-
design as illustrated in Figure 17.2.9. Initially, tion column and come in contact with the
the packed-bed region is filled with appropri- falling filter material. By controlling the speed
ately sized granular material, as shown by the of these gases, the finer particles of dust still
shaded portion of the drawing. The hot "dirty" in the filter material that were not removed by
gases enter at the location marked " 1 " and are the screen are carried up with the gas and
directed by pipes to pass horizontally through follow the path shown by the arrows marked
the packed bed, which is held in place by "2," leading into the packed bed. After clean-
louvers. As the dust is removed, the pores of ing, the gases are vented to the atmosphere at
the filter material begin to plug up, causing an "4." The granular filter material is too heavy
increase of pressure. When this happens, some to be carried up by the gas stream and thus
filter material drops from a chute onto a con- falls down into the storage area above the
veyor belt at "5," and fresh, properly sized louvers for reuse. In this manner the problem
material moves down the column " 3 " from of the plugging of the filter material has been
above the louvered section to replace it. The overcome.
dirty filter material goes to the top of the unit Tests carried out in CANMET laboratories
in a bucket elevator and is dumped onto an have shown the system to be capable of cap-
inclined screen "6" where most of the dust "7" turing dust particles down to 1 /xm (0.00004
is sifted out for disposal. The remainder of the in.) in diameter at efficiencies of over 99.9%.
Under appropriate operating conditions, the
results obtained on the experimental unit
showed the exhaust gases to contain less than
0.05 grain per ft3. A commercial-size unit ca-
pable of treating 7500 ft3 of "dirty" gas per
minute has been constructed and installed in
Winnipeg on a furnace used to melt cast iron.
This unit is undergoing testing to determine
its operational capabilities and whether it will
meet the Manitoba Government regulations
for pollution abatement devices.
The concurrent sizing of the filtration bed
material by the gas being treated plus the
baffle above the bed, which results in a desired
size gradation across the packed bed, are the
novelties claimed to be essential to the
achievement of the performance goals. Typical
laboratory scale tests with ambient air are
summarized in Table 17.2.4. Subsequent tests
on an Ancast Industries Ltd. cupola in
Winnipeg, Manitoba showed average collec-
tion efficiencies of 99.4% for particles larger
than 25 jiim, 97.3% for particles larger than 1
jLtm, and 50.3% for particles smaller than 1
Figure 17.2.9. The CANMET-Prasco Ltd. Hitec /im. The resulting overall efficiency of 87.9%
System. was insufficient to bring the effluent loading to
796 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 17.2.4. Laboratory Scale Filtration Data for the CANMET-HITEC System.
below the Manitoba Department of the Envi- principle. Little is known of this work other
ronment's limit of 0.25 grains per standard than tests carried out at 85 to 295 CFM pass-
cubic foot. Failure to reach the efficiencies ing through a 10 in. wide X 40 in. high lou-
anticipated from laboratory tests was at- vered panel holding 8 in. thick beds of down-
tributed to poor cupola management which flowing silica sand either 1250 to 2500 /xm or
led to an unusual amount of submicron mate- 2500 to 5000 /xm in diameter. Figure 17.2.10
rial in its effluent. License for fabrication and summarizes results obtained with an oil-fired
sale of the Hitec system has been granted to utility flyash as the test dust.
Prasco Ltd. of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Ducon Fluidizing Reverse Flow filter de-
The Kawasaki louvered bed development is scribed in principle in Figure 17.2.8 has under-
again patterned on the Dorfan moving bed gone several stages of detailed development as
GRANULAR BED FILTERS 797
o 80
N
°N
N v
\ ^ 4 c m /hr
it
N
°F
70
20 cm/h \
Dust diam. wgt.
mic rons \
60 \
0-10 3 \
10-15 9 \
15-20 54 600° F
50 20-?* 20
25 -30 9 \
>,30 5 O
40
Backwash air
manifold
Clean product
gas
Dusty feed
gas
elements; however, this is probably unrealistic cleaning gas; the gaps at the bases of the
since it requires an absolutely zero frictional louvers prevent immediate media replacement
resistance in valves B-l, B-2, etc., as well as in and therefore excessive media blow off. A
the entire dusty gas manifold, and in addition, basic advantage of such granular bed filters, in
ignores the inertia transients. In practice, ele- which the medium is removed and replen-
ment E-2 would be considerably more over- ished, lies in their adaptability to simultane-
loaded. Some reasonable limits must be placed ously act as gaseous adsorbers or chemical
on this overload since it can result in dust reactors as in the RESOX process for flue gas
breakthrough by the force of the high velocity desulfurization and conversion to elemental
interstitial gas circumventing particle impact sulfur.32'33
by heightened particle pick-up. For example, The Melcher Electrofluidized Bed Filter con-
100 ACFM/ft 2 through a bed of 40% voids sisting typically of millimeter sized particles is
amounts to an interstitial velocity a little over stressed by an imposed electric field that ef-
4 ft/s which will exceed the saltation velocity fectively polarizes the particles. They then act
of a variety of particulates depending on their as collection sites for previously charged fine
properties. If the bed interstices were filled to particulates entrained in the dusty fluidizing
some equilibrium content with collected fines, feed gases. The advantages claimed for the
this effective interstitial velocity could easily electrofluidized bed derive from the greatly
reach 8 ft/s and cause reentrainment. The reduced residence time for effective cleaning
permissible overload cannot be specified with- of the gas, realized by virtue of the bed's large
out detailed knowledge of the system charac- collection surface area per unit volume, and
teristics and properties. the ease of handling the bed particles for
The PEMMCO Restricted Circulation Filter removal of the collected fines.35'36
illustrated in Figure 17.2.15 is one 30 of two Collection efficiencies in excess of 98% have
concepts under development designed to mini- been reported37 for submicron asphaltic parti-
mize the filter media losses experienced in the cles in 10 cm deep beds of 2 mm sand. Super-
Fuller-Squires type of unit or to permit clean- ficial velocities ranged from 1.5 to 2 m / s with
ing,31 without any reverse flowing gas. Only bed pressure drops typically about 12 cm of
the shallow layers facing the dusty gas in Fig- water. Electrical energization required less
ure 17.2.15 are blown off by the reverse flow than 80 W/1000 CFM. Though these condi-
tions are a vast improvement over even multi-
staged38 nonelectrified fluidized beds they still
Gaps or targe perforations
allowing passage of filter medium
fall short of such typical fixed bed results as
illustrated in Figure 17.2.12 despite their sub-
Spill pan V stantially greater face velocity.
louver
The application of an electrical potential
gradient to a bed of ceramic beads for filtra-
tion of petroleum fluid catalytic cracking frac-
tionator liquid bottoms has been reported39 as
achieving exit solids contents as low as 0.01%
by weight. Offered by Gulf Science & Tech-
nology Co. it again suggests the possibility of
application to fixed bed gas filters though this
Circulated medium concept has been considered beyond the limits
removed on blowback
of economic feasibility.
Alternate louver
details (cross-section) It appears to be the general concensus that
Figure 17.2.15. Design principle of restricted circula- some form of granular bed filter will eventu-
tion granular bed filter-adsorber. ally emerge as a significant industrial tool very
GRANULAR BED FILTERS 801
likely some day supplanting the electrostatic 24. B. Kalen, U.S. Patent No. 3,798,882; filed 9 / 2 8 / 7 1 ;
precipitator. The time will be determined by issued March 26, 1974.
25. R. K. Buhr and E. Darke, CANMET Phys. Met.
economic pressures, developmental details and Res. Labs. Reports MRP/PMRL (CF) 76-4 (R)
further air quality regulations. and 75-10 (FT).
26. R. K. Buhr and R. D. Warda, CANMET Report
MRP/PMRL-75-2 (R) (January 14, 1975).
27. Private communication (1977) Kawasaki Corp.
REFERENCES 28. U.S. Patent No. 4,067,704; filed 10/18/76; issued
January 10, 1978.
29. D. F. Ciliberti, D. L. Keairns, and D. H. Archer,
1. A. P. Krueding, Chem. Eng. Prog. 77(10):56-61
"Particulate Control for Pressurized Fluidized-Bed
(1975).
Combustion Processes," presented at the 5th Inter-
2. D. B. Pall, Ind. Eng. Chem. 45:1197 (1953).
national Conference on Fluidized Bed Combustion
3. G. B. Cramp, Chem. Met. Eng. 30:400-401 (March
(December 13, 1977).
10, 1924).
30. U.S. Patent No. 3,770,388; filed 5 / 2 4 / 7 1 ; issued
4. G. B. Cramp, Blast Furnace Steel Plant, 72:101-103
November 6, 1973.
(February 1924).
31. U.S. Patent No. 3,800,508; filed 10/26/70; issued
5. The Dorfan Impingo Filter, Bull. no. 4, Mechanical
April 2, 1974.
Industries, Inc., 541 Wood Street, Pittsburgh 22,
32. W. F. Bischoff, Jr., and P. Steiner, Chem Eng. pp.
Pa. (1954).
74, 75 (January 6, 1975).
6. M. I. Dorfan, Electric Furnace Steel Proc. 70:41-60
33. G. O. Layman, Environ. Sci. Tech. 9(8):712-713
(1952).
(August, 1975).
7. L. K. Zhitkevich, Trudy Inst. Energ. Akad. Nauk.
34. K. Zahedi and J. R. Melcher, J.A.P.CA. 26:345
Belorus, SSR 7:150-160 (1954).
(1976).
8. G. C. Egleson, H. P. Simons, L. J. Kane, and A. E.
35. J. C. Alexander and J. R. Melcher, IEC Fund.
Sands, Ind. Eng. Chem. 46:1151-1162 (1954).
7<5(3):311-317 (1977).
9. A. M. Squires, U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,775; filed
36. Popular Science, p. 10 (August 1975).
10/16/62, issued January 10, 1967.
37. P. B. Zieve, K. Kahedi, J. R. Melcher, and J. F.
10. L. Paretsky et al., J.A.P.C.A. 27:204-209 (April
Denton; Envir. Sci. Tech. 72(0:96-99 (January
1971).
1978).
11. A. M. Squires and R. Pfeffer, J.A.P.C.A. 20:534-538
38. R. G. Patterson and M. L. Jackson, A.I.Ch.E.
(August 1970).
Symp. Ser. no. 161, vol. 73, pp. 64-73 (1977).
12. K. C. Lee, A. M. Squires, and R. Pfeffer, "Filtra-
39. Gulftronic Separator Systems, Chem. Proc, p. 20,
tion of Fly Ash and Puffback in a Panel Bed Filter,"
(mid-April 1978).
paper No. 25a; 67th annual A.I.Ch.E. meeting,
Washington, D.C. (December 3, 1974).
13. Bureau of Mines, Report of Investigations No. 7276
(July 1969). BIBLIOGRAPHY
14. E.P.R.I. Report 243-1 (November 1974).
15. H. P. Meisner and H. S. Mickley, Ind. Eng. Chem. Including some references to liquid filtration,
47:1238-1242(1949).
where theory or equipment arrangements are
16. J. P. Pilney and E. E. Erickson, J.A.P.C.A.
78(10):64-685 (October 1968). pertinent to granular bed filtration develop-
17. C. H. Black and R. W. Boubel, IEC Proc. Des. Dev. ment.
5(4):573-578 (October 1969).
18. L. L. Knapp and C. C. Cook, U.S. Pat. No. "Backing Germany's Magnesium Bid" (Knapsack-
3,503,184; filed 3 / 7 / 6 8 , issued March 31, 1970. Griesheim Flowing Coke Bed Filter), Chem. Week,
19. A. F. Johnson, U.S. Patent No. 3,470,075; filed pp. 71-72 (June 17, 1961).
2 / 6 / 6 7 , reissued as Re 27, 383, May 30, 1972. "Big Dryer," Chem. Eng. News, p. 131 (October 23,
20. M. Berz and W. Berz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,180; filed 1961).
May 19, 1960; see Staub, 24(10:449-452 (1954). J. S. M. Botterill and E. Aynsley, "The Collection of
21. Rexnord Corp., Environmental Sci. and Tech. Airborne Dusts Parts 1 and 2," Br. Chem. Eng.,
S(7):600-601 (July 1974). 72(10):1593-1598 (October, 1967); ibid., 72(12):
22. Bulletin No. F-9671, The Ducon Co., 147 E. 1899-1903 (December, 1967).
Second Street, Mileola, L.I., N.Y. (1971). "Braided-Wire Tubes Increase Filtering Efficiency,"
23. U.S. Patent No. 3,410,055; filed 10/26/66; issued Chem. Eng., p. 116 (June 20, 1966).
November 12, 1968. Br. Chem. Eng. 75(4):549 (April 1970).
802 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Chem. Eng., pp. 90-91 (September 27, 1965). lar Media, Part I—Some Observations on Particle
Chem. Week, pp. 71-73 (June 17, 1961). Deposition," Chem. Eng. Sci. 20:867-873 (1964).
"Coal Filters for Waste Treatment," Chem. Eng., A. Maroudas and P. Eisenklam, "Part II—A Theory of
p. 122 (March 14, 1966). Clarification," Chem. Eng. Sci. 20:875-888 (1965).
C. N. Cochran, W. C. Sleppy, and W. B. Frank, "Chem- R. E. Pasceri and S. K. Freidlander, "The Efficiency of
istry of Evolution and Recovery of Fumes in Alu- Fibrous Aerosol Filters: Deposition by Diffusion of
minum Smelting," Paper no. A70-22, Metallurgical Particles of Finite Diameter," Can. J. Chem. Eng.
Society of the AIME meeting held February 16-19, 3S(6):212-213 (December 1960).
1970. R. D. Rea, "Plume-Free Stacks Achieved in Sulfuric
J. T. Cookson, "Removal of Submicron Particles in Acid Production," Chem. Proc, pp. 13-14 (January
Packed Beds,'' Environ. Sci. Tech. 4(2):128-134 1971).
(February 1970). "Sand Filter Saves Space," Chem. Eng., p. 112 (Septem-
E. D. Ermenc, Chem. Eng., pp. 87-94 (May 29, 1961). ber 21, 1970).
N. Fuchs and A. Kirsch, "The Effect of Condensation E. W. Schmidt, J. A. Giesche, P. Gelfand, T. W. Lugar,
of a Vapor on the Grains and of Evaporation from and D. A. Furlong, "Filtration Theory for Granular
their Surfaces on the Deposition of Aerosols in Beds," /. A.P.C.A. 25(2):143-146 (1978).
Granular Beds," Chem. Eng. Sci. 20:181-185 (1965). "Simultaneous Sulfur Dioxide and Fly Ash Removal,"
G. Funke, "Pollution and Nuisance Control Activities," Environ. Sci. Tech. 5(0:18-19 (January 1971).
Zement-Kalks-Gips, no. 5, pp. 209-219 (1968). L. Spielman and S. L. Goren, "Model for Predicting
L. Goldman, "Is the Gravel Layer Suitable as an Air Pressure Drop and Filtration Efficiency in Fibrous
Filter," Wasser, Luft Betrieb 6(7):233-236 (May, Media," Environ. Sci. Tech. 2(4):270-287 (April
1962). 1968).
J. P. Herzig, D. M. Le Clerc, and P. Le Goff, "Flow of L. A. Spielman and S. L. Goren, "Capture of Small
Suspensions through Porous Media-Application to Particles by London Forces from Low-Speed Liquid
Deep Filtration," IEC 62(5):8-35 (May 1970). Flows," Environ. Sci. Tech. 4(2):135-140 (February
S. Jackson and S. Calvert, "Entrained Particle Collec- 1970).
tion in Packed Beds," A.I.Ch.E. J. 72(6):1075-1078 D. I. Tardos, N. Abuaf, and C. Gutfinger, "Dust Depo-
(November 1966). sition in Granular Bed Filters: Theories and Experi-
B. Kalen and F. A. Zenz, "Filtering Effluent from a ments," /. A.P.C.A. 2S(4):354-363 (1978).
Cat Cracker," Chem. Eng. Prog. 49:67-71 (June R. M. Werner and L. A. Clarenburg, "Aerosol Filters,"
1973). IEC Proc. Des. Dev. 4(3):288-299 (1965).
Y. V. Krasovitskii and V. A. Zhuzhikov, "Separation of R. L. Zahradnik, J. Anyigbo, R. A. Steinberg, and H. L.
Dust from a Gas Stream by Filtration at Constant Toor, "Simultaneous Removal of Fly Ash and Sul-
Velocity," Khim. Prom., 49(2):49-52 (1963); Trans- fur Dioxide from Gas Streams by a Shaft-Filter-
lated by E. K. Wilip as ANL-Trans-572 (February Sorber," Environ Sci. Tech 4:663 (1970).
1968). F. A. Zenz and H. Krockta, "The Shallow Expandable
W. D. Lovett and F. T. Cuniff, "Air Pollution Control Bed—A Versatile Processing Tool," A.I.Ch.E. Sym.
by Activated Carbon" (Moving Bed Adsorber Ser. 67(116):245-250 (1971).
Panel), Chem. Eng. Prog. 70(5):43-47 (May 1974). F. A. Zenz and H. Krockta, "The Evolution of Granu-
A. Maroudas and P. Eisenklam, "Clarification of Sus- lar Beds for Gas Filtration and Adsorption," Br.
pensions, A Study of Particle Deposition in Granu- Chem. Eng. Proc. Tech. 77(3):224-227 (March 1972).
18
Wet Scrubber Particulate
Collection
Douglas W. Cooper
CONTENTS
both from a gas stream. Usually, the liquid used not only for air pollution control, how-
used is water, occasionally with a surface- ever, but also to recover valuable materials, to
active agent added. The use of scrubbers to cool gas streams, and to add liquid or vapor to
remove gases is not discussed here. gas streams.
A succinct comparison of wet collectors
18.1.2 Control System Options (scrubbers) and dry collectors (cyclones, filters,
The considerations for the selection among electrostatic precipitators) was presented by
the types of air pollution control equipment Strauss2 and is shown in Table 18.1. Economic
are summarized in Figure 18.1. Scrubbers are comparisons are given at the end of this chap-
\ r \
\ •\
FABRIC ELECTROSTATIC WET MECHANICAL AFTER
FILTER PRECIPITATOR COLLECTOR COLLECTOR BURNER
:: :
SELECTED
GAS CLEANING SYSTEM
p: PARTCULATE
MATTER
g: GASEOUS
MATTER DESIRED EMISSION RATE
ter, but as a rough guideline: scrubbers have gas flow, or they may be atomized by the flow.
higher efficiencies and higher costs than cy- Scrubbers using preformed sprays include:
clones, they can be made to have efficiencies spray towers, cyclone spray scrubbers, water-jet
comparable to those for filters and electro- scrubbers, and mechanical scrubbers. Venturi
static precipitators but at higher operating and orifice scrubbers are usually designed to
costs and, generally, lower equipment costs. produce a spray by gas atomization of the
Further information on various air and gas scrubbing liquid. Impingement scrubbers and
cleaning devices is presented in Figure 18.2. sieve plates involve flow into or through a
Figure 18.3 gives approximate collection volume of liquid. Some of these scrubber types
efficiency as a function of particle size (frac- are shown in Figure 18.4. Particles are cap-
tional efficiency) for each of the major collec- tured primarily on liquid-coated surfaces in
tor types. It is useful for qualitative compar-
packed-bed scrubbers, fluidized-bed scrubbers,
isons only, as each of these devices has
and fibrous-bed scrubbers. Many of these dif-
collection efficiency characteristics more com-
ferent types use about the same amount of
plicated than the relationship shown.
power to achieve the same degree of particle
collection. The choice of scrubber type is
18.1.3 Types of Scrubbers therefore dictated by space constraints, the
Scrubbers capture particles on droplets, liquid availability of certain kinds of power (e.g.,
surfaces, or liquid-coated surfaces. The waste heat) and equipment (such as pumps,
droplets may be formed independently of the fans, ducting, piping), and the aspects of the
Advantages Advantages
1. Can collect gases and particles at the same time. 1. Recovery of dry material may give final
2. Recovers soluble material, and the material can be product without further treatment.
pumped to another plant for further treatment. 2. Freedom from corrosion in most cases.
3. High-temperature gases cooled and washed. 3. Less storage capacity required for product.
4. Corrosive gases and mists can be recovered and 4. Combustible filters may be used for
neutralized. radioactive wastes.
5. No fire or explosion hazard if suitable scrubbing 5. Particles greater than 0.05 /xm may be
liquid used (usually water). collected with long equipment life and
6. Plant generally small in size compared to dry high collection efficiency.
collectors such as bag houses or electrostatic
precipitators.
Disadvantages Disadvantages
1. Soluble materials must be recrystalized. 1. Hygroscopic materials may form solid cake and
2. Insoluble materials require settling in filtration be difficult to shake off.
plant. 2. Maintenance of plant and disposal of dry dust
3. Waste liquids require disposal, which may be may be dangerous to operatives.
difficult. 3. High temperatures may limit means of collection.
4. Mists and vapors may be entrained in effluent 4. Limitation of use for corrosive mists for
gas streams. some plants (e.g., bag houses).
5. Washed air will be saturated with liquid vapor 5. Creation of secondary dust problem during
have high humidity and low dew point. disposal of dust.
6. Very small particles (submicrometer sizes) are
difficult to wet, and so will pass through plant.
7. Corrosion problems.
8. Liquid may freeze in cold weather.
806 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
I
AEROSOLS
(dusts — fumes — smokes — mists — fogs)
Industrial
DRY WET Cleanable
Cloth
TYPES OF CONTAMI- Crushing Same as dry Chemical & atm. air flyash all dry
NANTS Grinding Metallurgical oil mist tar powders
fumes H2S04
LOADINGS. 1100 g/m3 .1100 g/m3 .1-100 g/m3 <0.1 g/m3 .1-2 g/m3 .1-20 g/m3
COLLECTION high for high for high for high for high for high for
EFFICIENCY >10 urn > 2 iM >.25 M m >.2S LM > . l Mm >.lMm
Figure 18.2. Characteristics of air and gas cleaning methods and equipment.3
dust/scrubber combination that affect plug- downward. In a spray chamber, the gas flow is
ging, corrosion, and the handling of liquid and generally horizontal and the spray is often in a
solid waste. cross-current orientation. In a cyclone spray
In a spray tower, the particle-laden gas scrubber, a spray is introduced near the cy-
stream flows upward through a spray falling clone entrance. The relative motion of spray
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 807
GAS MIXTURES
(gases — vapors)
COMBUSTION
FILTERS
(incineration)
Ventilation Absolute
<.O1 g/m3 < 0 1 g/m3 <.001 g/m3 ppm to % ppb to % ppb to % ppb to %
extremely
low low high moderate moderate high
high
fair to
good poor poor fair good poor
poor
and particles induced by the cyclones aids capture. A venturi scrubber accelerates the gas
collection of the particles and also of the in a converging channel, introduces a spray
drops containing the captured particulate ma- near the throat section, then decelerates the
terial. Mechanical scrubbers use sprays and gas through a very gradually tapered diverging
moving baffling (fans, etc.) to induce particle section. Orifice scrubbers work in a similar
808 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
99.99 0.01
0.05
0.1
0.2
0.5
1.0
5.0
10.0
20.0
50.0
90.0
95.0
99.0
99.8
99.9
0.01 99.99
0.01 0.1
Partieit diamettr (jim)
fashion, except that the throat is an orifice, an fashion; a great variety of packing materials
abrupt change in duct cross-sectional area, of are employed; often these are designed to
negligible length, followed by an abrupt remove gases as well as particles from the
expansion. flow, for which their relatively large surface-
Impingement scrubbers direct the gas at the to-volume ratios and residence times are
surface of a liquid, causing intimate advantageous.
liquid/particle mixing, using a variety of ge- Pressure drop and collection efficiency
ometries. Tray towers (sieve plates) have a se- equations are given in this chapter for many of
ries of multiply perforated plates arranged these scrubber types. The Scrubber Handbook6
vertically in such a way that water introduced and manufacturer publications provide fuller
at the top of the array flows downward from descriptions.
plate to plate, and the particle-laden gas is Typically, a scrubber system will include not
passed through the plate perforations and only the scrubber but also a demister for re-
through the liquid in essentially cross-current moving the droplets separated in the scrub-
flow at each stage; for the array, the flow is bing process, and a clarifier for concentrating
counter-current. Packed and fluidized beds the solids and removing them from the liquid
may have sprays providing scrubbing liquid effluent. For pollution control, both the demis-
either cocurrently or in a counter-current ter and the clarifier are important. Demisters
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 809
Liquor
Impingment Sieve
inlets
Alternate
Wash inlet
liquor inlets
<Q Dirty gas inlet
Flooded
elbow
Liquor
Tangential inlet
outlet
S~\ Liquor
>/ outlet
OU1
Static
bed
Liquor
inlet
Dirty gas
0 inlet
ir
Lessing ring
0 Dirty gas
inlet
ink Liquor ,—, 0 Q esS
outlet \
Raschig Berl
ring saddle
are covered in this chapter. The removal of if the power consumption were the same.7
solids from liquid streams by filtration is Although this is a useful rule of thumb, it is
covered in Chapter 15. not strictly correct. Testing an orifice scrubber,
a multiple orifice contactor, and a variety of
spray type scrubbers, Semrau et al.8 found for
18.2 POWER CONSUMPTION test aerosols that were primarily submicrome-
18.2.1 Introduction ter, that the various spray scrubbers gave the
same collection efficiency for the same aerosol
The difference in gas pressure at the inlet and at given levels of power consumption, but the
outlet of the scrubber, due to the resistance to orifice scrubber did somewhat better. Calvert9
gas flow of the scrubber, is the pressure drop, also found that at conditions appropriate for
AP (N/m 2 = Pa), the energy consumption per scrubbing submicrometer particles efficiently,
unit volume of air. For scrubbers having ap- power consumption differences among scrub-
preciable collection efficiency for submicron ber types became appreciable. The difference
particulates, the energy costs can outweigh all becomes evident for high-energy scrubbing,
the other costs, so minimizing pressure drop, which is precisely where it is most important.
while maintaining adequate collection effi- As total pressure drop is increased for a ven-
ciency, is important. turi or orifice scrubber, it becomes advanta-
18.2.2 Definition geous, in terms of collection efficiency, to di-
vide the pressure drop equally between two or
Pressure represents potential energy per unit more scrubbers in series rather than concen-
volume, and the product of the pressure drop trate the power consumption in a single-stage
and the volume rate of flow of the gas or scrubber.10'11
liquid represents power consumption. The
metric units for pressure drop are N / m 2 and
for the product of pressure drop and volume 18.2.4 Other Types Of Power
flow rate is (N/m 2 )(m 3 /s) = N-m/s or watts Consumption
(W). Frequently, pressure differences are mea- Besides the power that is used for maintaining
sured by manometers and are given as inches the pressure drop across the scrubber and
of water (in. WC or in. WG); 6.3 in. of water across spray nozzles (where used), power may
pressure drop is equivalent to one horsepower be required in the following:
per 1000 ft 3 /min; 1.0 in. WG is 249 N/m 2 .
The electrical power consumed by a fan mov-
ing the gas through this pressure drop will be 1. Monitoring scrubber performance
the product of the pressure drop and the gas 2. Keeping scrubber elements above freezing
volume flow rate, divided by the fan/motor temperatures
efficiency (typically about 0.6), QAP/E{. The 3. Filtering the scrubbing liquid
pressure drop across spray nozzles, the volume 4. Drawing air to the scrubber and forcing it
flow rate of spray, and the electrical energy through a demister and to a stack
consumed by the pump have the analogous 5. Heating scrubber outlet to decrease or
relationship. As energy costs rise, pressure prevent condensation in stack or plume
drops across fans and pumps become more 6. Electrostatic augmentation, if charged
important as a design consideration. droplet scrubbing is used
7. Rotating a mechanical element within the
18.2.3 Contacting Power
scrubber to enhance droplet disintegration
For many years, some scrubber experts thought and particle capture
that the collection efficiency of any type of 8. Generating steam for subsequent conden-
scrubber would be the same for a given aerosol sation to enhance scrubbing
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 811
9. Cooling the gas in association with con- function of particle aerodynamic diameter, be-
densation scrubbing cause impaction is almost always the predomi-
10. Handling and disposing of the solid and nant collection mechanism for scrubbers, es-
liquid wastes. pecially for particles larger than about 1 fim,
and impaction is a function of the particle
Most of these aspects are discussed at aerodynamic diameter. The particle aerody-
greater length below. namic diameter, dpa, is the diameter of a solid
particle having the density of water that would
have the same terminal settling velocity due to
18.3 COLLECTION EFFICIENCY gravity as does the particle in question. From
Stokes's law (with the Cunningham correction),
18.3.1 Introduction
this means that (1 + 2.5A/d p )p p d£ = (1 +
Scrubbers are designed to achieve adequate 2.5A/d pa )p w d pa . A is the mean free path of
efficiency (or acceptable penetration) at mini- the gas molecules, 0.065 ^m at standard tem-
mum cost, and for high-energy scrubbers perature and pressure; p p is the particle den-
(AP > 3 X 103 N / m 2 or 12 in. WG), this sity, pw is the density of water.
means at nearly the minimum power con- Figure 18.5 gives the aerodynamic diame-
sumption. 12 ters of spherical particles of the densities indi-
cated, as functions of particle physical (geo-
18.3.2 Collection Efficiency metric) diameter.13 For particles for which the
and Penetration Cunningham correction is negligible (dp :»
10 A), the aerodynamic diameter is dpa =
The total mass collection efficiency (often
called "total efficiency") is the difference be-
Generally, rather than using efficiency, one
tween the inlet mass flux (M o ) and the outlet
works with penetration, Pt, 1 minus the frac-
mass flux (M), divided by the inlet mass flux:
Ei = (M o - M)./MOi (18.2)
tion collected. The aerosol aerodynamic diam- 18.3.3 Single Obstacle Efficiency
eter mass size distribution m(dpa) is defined
Formulas for scrubber collection efficiency re-
so that m(dpa) represents the fraction (of the
quire the single collector (obstacle) efficiency,
total mass concentration of the aerosol) hav-
77, which involves a number of physical mecha-
ing aerodynamic diameters between dpa and
nisms. It is defined for a single collector in an
dpa + ddpa. Thus, the distribution is normal-
unbounded stream as:
ized to unity:
flow area cleaned
(18.5)
collector cross-sectional area
f™m(dpa)ddpa =l (18.3)
The calculation of 17 depends in part on the
flow past the collector. Two flow models are
and the fraction (by mass) of particles that will commonly in use: viscous flow and potential
penetrate the scrubber is given by flow. Viscous flow is an appropriate model
when the obstacle Reynolds number is small;
that is, when:
Pt(dpa)m(dpa)ddpa (18.4)
= pG(UG - UC)DC/IJLG (18.6)
Although the motion of the dust particles in
This is sometimes called the "integrated pene- the gas stream often meets this Reynolds
tration" or the "total penetration." The prod- number criterion, the flow around the collec-
uct of the total penetration and the inlet mass tors usually does not. (A flow of air at 0.1 m/s
concentration gives the outlet mass concentra- past a fiber or droplet 100 /urn. in diameter
tion, often the quantity of interest. The out- gives Re c ~ 1.) The model of potential flow is
let particle size distribution becomes derived for Re c :» 1, but even in this regime it
Pt(dpa)m(dpa)/Ft. is appropriate only up to where the flow sepa-
Often it is convenient and sufficiently accu- rates and forms a wake that trails behind the
rate to approximate the size distribution of an obstacle.
aerosol with a log-normal distribution. (This is The single collector efficiency can be calcu-
the same as saying the logarithms of the parti- lated for various collection mechanisms sepa-
cle diameters are distributed normally.) The rately and then combined as though the mech-
two parameters describing a log-normal distri- anisms acted independently.18 It is more
bution are its median (dg), which for a log- accurate and more difficult to solve for the
normal distribution equals its geometric mean, particle trajectories in the appropriate flow
and its geometric standard deviation (o-g). Of field, including the collection forces and mech-
the aerosol mass, 68% is due to particles hav- anisms.19"21
ing diameters between dg/ag and dgcrg; 95%
of the mass is due to particles of diameters 18.3.4 Collection Mechanisms
between dg/ag and dgag. The log-normal
distribution is used in venturi scrubber design When a dust particle strikes the collection
algorithms: Calvert9 presented several figures surface because of its inertia, the collection is
that are convenient to use for scrubber design said to be due to impaction. The impaction
for particles having log-normal size distribu- process can be characterized by the impaction
tions, once the cut diameter (dpc), the diame- parameter, if/:
ter for which E(dpc) = 0.50, is determined. UGC(dae)Pwdi
Others have used the log-normal assumption
for closed-form evaluations of Eq. (18.4) by
approximating the fractional efficiency curve where Dc is the collector diameter and is
as a cumulative log-normal curve.15'17'106 the gas velocity.
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 813
The following expression approximates the than 1, which is rarely the case for dp >
single sphere efficiency for impaction:6 0.1 fim.
Electrostatic forces have been employed to
Vl = j/,2/(*A + 0.35)2 (18.8) augment the collection efficiency of scrubbers.
Impaction is usually the most important col- The case in which the particles and the collec-
lection mechanism for scrubbers, for particles tors are charged (Coulombic interaction) typi-
larger than 0.1 /Am. Figure 18.6 gives the im- cally produces a much greater effect than those
paction efficiency for several collector geome- cases in which either the collectors or the
tries versus the impaction parameter.22 particles are charged, but not both (image
"Interception" occurs when a particle strikes force interactions). The "migration velocity" is
a collector even though the particle center the terminal velocity of a particle at the sur-
would not have. Incorporating it correctly with face of the collector, due to the electrical
other collection mechanisms really means al- forces. For electrostatic interaction to be im-
tering the boundary conditions for the prob- portant, the migration velocity should not be
lem. Define NR as the ratio of (spherical) very much smaller than the product of the
particle radius to (spherical or cylindrical) col- relative velocity and the collection efficiency
lector radius. The incremental efficiency due due to all other mechanisms, r){UG — Uc). Fig-
to "interception" (above that of impaction, if ure 18.7 gives the migration velocities calcu-
operative) is between 2NK and 3iVR for poten- lated by assuming that the particles were
tial flow around a spherical collector and be- charged to saturation in a 10 kV/cm field (or
tween NR and 27VR for potential flow around they are uncharged) and the same field is
a cylinder, for inertialess and highly massive produced by the collectors (or they are un-
particles, respectively.23'107 charged), for particles of the size indicated
Capture by diffusion occurs because of the and a 100-fjim spherical collector.24 Electro-
Brownian motion of the particles. It becomes static collection is intrinsically energy-efficient
appreciable only as the Peclet number (the gas because the collection force can be applied
velocity times the collector diameter divided directly to the particles, rather than indirectly
by the particle diffusivity) becomes much less to the particles through moving the gas.
1.0 10 100
Separation Number, /u
Figure 18.6. Target efficiency of spheres, cylinders, and ribbons. 22
814 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
age due to freezing when the scrubber is low-energy, open-structure scrubbers such as
not in operation. those with preformed sprays or impingement
scrubbers, are often applicable with little risk
A limited survey of scrubber applications of plugging. For fine aerosols, such as from
was carried out by Calvert et al.,6 the results powders made from condensation processes
of which are shown in Table 18.3.27 (It was (including gas-phase reactions), high-energy
noted that the number of sources surveyed scrubbers, such as venturi scrubbers, can be
was small.) The following comments were applied successfully, with attention to the pre-
among those made:27 vention of plugging and reentrainment.
1. Packed bed and fibrous scrubbers were
used in applications requiring the collection of
gases, liquids, and those particles (soluble or 18.5 ATOMIZED SPRAY SCRUBBERS
nonadhering) that tend not to plug. (VENTURI, ORIFICE, IMPINGEMENT)
2. Preformed (hydraulic) sprays were mainly
18.5.1 Introduction
used to capture gases.
3. Mechanically aided scrubbers were rarely Directing a high-velocity flow of gas across a
found. liquid surface forms drops, which can then be
used as collectors of particles in the gas stream.
From this table, it appears that centrifugal A variety of atomizing scrubbers work this
scrubbers were preferred for the coarse dusts way. Three different examples are shown in
(> 10 )u,m) from crushing operations, but for Figure 18.8. In atomizing scrubbers the air
the fine dusts from smelting operations (much flow controls both the droplet size distribution
of it < 1 jLtm), gas-atomized scrubbers were and the ratio of droplet volume to gas volume,
dominant, and hydraulic ("preformed") spray the liquid-to-gas flow ratio ( < 2 L / Q G X but in
scrubbers were of secondary importance. hydraulic spray scrubbers the droplet size dis-
tribution can be changed independently of the
18.4.2 Summary
liquid-to-gas ratio, and in various column-type
For control of coarse aerosols, such as pow- scrubbers, the liquid flow rate can also be
ders formed by disintegration of bulk material, changed without affecting the collector size,
Calcining 6 2 — 13 21 — — 43 — —
(Db (1) (0) (5) (23) (0) (0) (3) (0) (0)
Combustion 17 — — 5 2 2 — 29 — 9
(3) (0) (0) (2) (2) (1) (0) (2) (0) (2)
Crushing 6 — — — — 26 — 14 — 5
(1) (0) (0) (0) (0) (11) (0) (1) (0) (1)
Drying 39 — — 10 18 70 100 — 25 64
(7) (0) (0) (4) (19) (30) (1) (0) (1) (14)
Gas removal 17 72 40 45 9 2 — 14 50 5
(3) (33) (2) (18) (10) (1) (0) (1) (2) (1)
Liquid-mist 0 24 60 7 — — — — — —
recovery (0) (11) (3) (3) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0)
Smelting 17 2 — 20 50 — — — 25 18
(3) (1) (0) (8) (54) (0) (0) (0) (1) (4)
a
Read vertically. Example: 39% of all plate-type scrubbers are used to control discharges from drying processes.
b
Numbers in parenthesis refer to number of operators reporting information to the survey.
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 817
Gas
Gas in
with the energy consumed in accelerating the and water, the expression for atomized droplet
droplets to the gas velocity, some of which Dd of Nukiyama and Tanasawa becomes29 (SI
energy is regained in the expanding section. units):
After reviewing several correlations for pres-
sure drop, Yung et al.28 recommended the 1.5
Dd = 0.0050/t/ G + 0 . 9 2 ( £ L / £ G r D (18.18)
following equation (a misprint has been
corrected): with Dd in m, UG in m/s, and the flows in
m 3 /s. (See Table 18.4.) Equation (18.15a) for
pressure drop compared well with data for
liquid-to-gas ratios of 10~4 to 10~3. It was
QG assumed in deriving the equation that all the
0.5, drops are accelerated in the venturi throat and
X [1 - X2 + (X4 - X2) ] (18.15a)
that none of the momentum thus imparted is
recovered as pressure gain when the drops
where <2L a n d QG are the liquid and gas
decelerate in the diffuser, that there is no
volume flow rates, UG is the gas velocity in the
initial axial component of velocity for the
throat, and X is the dimensionless throat
droplets, that the flow is one-dimensional, in-
length:
compressible, and adiabatic, that at any cross-
section the liquid fraction is small, and that
X=l+ 3LC D1 pG/16DdpL (18.15b)
the new pressure difference of wall friction
minus pressure recovery in the diffuser is neg-
in which L is the length of the throat and C D1 ligible. If the throat length is long enough to
is the drag coefficient for the droplets at the accelerate the droplets to the velocity of the
throat: gas, the term in brackets becomes 0.5 and Eq.
(18.15a) reduces to that presented earlier by
C D = 0.22 + (24/Re T )(l + 0.15 Re^ 6 ) Calvert:30
(18.16)
AP = (18.19)
ReT = PGUGDT/fjiG (18.17)
Calvert's original value for /3 was 1.00,30 but it
DT is the throat diameter and Dd is the diam- has been found that /3 = 0.85 agrees better
eter that characterizes the droplets. For air with experimental data.31
Table 18.4. Droplet Sizes Predicted by Nukiyama-Tanasawa Equation for Various Gas Velocities
for Air and Water
1.5
0.0050/ UG QL/QG 0.92(GL/GG)
3
(m/s) (mm) do- ) (mm) (mm)
A Semrau et ai (1977)
Aerosol "E"
• . I I I i
100 1,000 70,00
Performance Number, N,r*a
Figure 18.10. Transfer units versus performance number for atomizing scrubbers.3
turi, the method of liquid injection, or other and divergence, throat cross-sectional area and
factors. In practice, / and /3 are seldom if ever length, and liquid-to-gas ratio. The angles of
known with certainty; in designing a venturi convergence and divergence are thought not
they are estimated on the basis of past to be critical within the range of conventional
experience. designs (20 to 25° and 5 to 7°). The cross-
Two more venturi scrubber models have sectional area will be determined by the gas
recently appeared in the literature.111'112 The volume flow rate and the desired throat veloc-
results of the first indicated "dispersity of the ity. The throat length criterion has been pro-
droplet size distribution only slightly affects posed as:29
collection efficiency over the operating range
normally encountered."111 The other author 4/3 <CD1LpG/Z)dpL< 2 (18.24)
concluded that polydispersity makes a differ-
ence and that "calculations based on the as- It represents a compromise between increased
sumption that droplets are monodisperse re- particle collection and increased frictional flow
sult in an underestimation of the efficiency,"112 resistance as throat length is increased. The
liquid-to-gas ratio (typically around 10~3) af-
fects both the pressure drop and the collection
18.5.2.3 Optimization of Design
efficiency; in general, increased values of the
The factors to be decided upon in the design ratio Q L / Q G improve collection efficiency at
of the scrubber include: angles of convergence a given pressure drop but also increase the
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 821
2000 kg/m 3 , p G = 1.2 kg/m 3 , and JJLG = Particle relaxation time can be found from:
1.8 X 10 ~5 kg/m • s, respectively. Further, fol-
low Calvert's suggestion that often / = 0.5 and (5 X 10" 7 ) (2000)(1.33)
T =
j3 = 0.85.31 18(1.8 X 10" 5 )
First, determine the number of transfer units 2.1 X 10" 6 s (18.30)
required:
The lowest pressure drop theoretically nec-
essary under these conditions can now be ob-
Ntu = -In Pt= -ln(0.10) = 2.30 (18.28) tained from Eq. (18.21):
1/2
/ / /5410\3/2
/ 0.005 + 2.5 X 10" 5 + 6.69(0.5X2.1 X KT 6 ) ——
1/ \ \ 1000 /
6 = 6 4 m / s (18.34)
V 3.65(0.5X2.1 X KT )
The cross-sectional area of the venturi throat ducting, irrigating the plate so that scrubbing
to provide this gas velocity is: droplets are formed at the aperture. They
operate quite similarly to venturi scrubbers
A = QG/UG = (5 m 3 /s)/(64 m/s)
and are effectively Venturis with zero throat
= 0.078 m2 (18.32) length and 180° angle of convergence and di-
A circular throat 0.32 m in diameter will serve. vergence. The pressure drop is given by Eq.
The liquid flow rate required can now be (18.19) for venturi scrubbers. In their summary
found from Eq. (18.27): of pressure drop and efficiency equations use-
ful for various scrubbers, Yung and Calvert42
_ QGAP _ (5X5410) used the same equations, (18.19) (with /3 =
L
" p L /3f/c?~(l000)(0.85)(64) 2 0.85) and (18.20). Venturi and orifice scrub-
X 7.8 X 10~3 m 3 /s (18.33) bers behave almost identically.8'21
A wetted butterfly valve was tested by Taheri
With the diameter of the venturi throat and et al.43 and found to be an inexpensive vari-
liquid flow rate fixed, the essential design of able orifice scrubber, convenient for use on
the venturi is complete. variable gas flows. Pressure drop and collec-
tion efficiency data were given in their article,
18.5.3 Orifice Scrubbers and although they did not compare the perfor-
Orifice scrubbers are often made by inserting mance with that of other orifice scrubbers, it
a plate with a hole or slit into a vertical run of should be much the same.
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 823
1.0
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.001 0.01
Figure 18.11. Integrated (overall) penetration as a function of cut diameter and particle parameters.13
and droplets. Some units need QL/QG ~ 10 2 pends on the particle size distribution, the gas
to generate drafts of even 250 Pa, however, and liquid flow rates, the particle concentra-
Harris44 analyzed theoretically such a scrub- tions in the gas and in the liquid, and the
ber to predict collecting efficiencies for parti- dimensions of the interstices in the bed, so
cles, vapors, and gases. that there are situations in which such scrub-
Where the pressure for the nozzles can be bers might be employed.
obtained from utilizing waste heat, such scrub-
bers may be economically advantageous.45 One 18.7.2 Packed Beds
ejector was found to have collection efficiency
Packed beds have been used for the separa-
quite similar to a venturi scrubber for the
tion of one gaseous constituent from another
same power consumption.'46
and to a lesser extent for the separation of
particulates from gases. For a collector having
18.6.4 Centrifugal Scrubbers packing with a mean surface-to-volume diame-
By impacting a rotary motion to a gas, a cy- ter Dsv (equal to six times the total solid
clone can remove particles by a mechanism volume of the packing material divided by
similar to impaction. Introducing a spray at total surface area) the Ergun equation holds
the inlet of a cyclone can enhance particle for the pressure drop when operated dry:48
collection by both capturing particles on the
droplets and by preventing reentrainment of 150/xGf/GL(l - ef
2 3
captured particles from the walls. The cyclone, D e
or other centrifugal scrubber, may serve as its
own demister and is resistant to plugging. 1.74pGt/<?(l -e)L
+ • (18.37)
The pressure drop across the cyclone will be
somewhat greater than what it would be with-
out the spray. The penetration is approxi- where e is the volume void fraction (dimen-
mately what would be predicted without the sionless) and L is the length of the bed. This
spray times exp[-3Ql^hr)l/2QGDd\ where h equation is just the sum of the Blake-
is the difference between the inner and outer Kozeny equation for laminar flow plus the
radius of the cyclone.41 Burke-Plummer equation for turbulent flow.
A centrifugal scrubber was tested42 and For Re = pGUGDsw/nG > 103, the first term
found to have collection efficiency equal to is negligible.
that predicted for a venturi scrubber, Eq. The pressure drop for the dry bed will be
(18.20), with / = 0.4, which is within the range less than that for the wet bed, but the calcula-
of performance found for Venturis ( / = 0.25 tions for predicting the latter are beyond our
to 0.50). scope here, for which the reader should con-
sult Ref. 26.
Calvert31 presented this equation for the
penetration of a packed column for particles
18.7 WETTED PACKED BEDS
caught due to inertia:
AND FIBROUS MATS
18.7.1 Introduction Pt = exp[-3.5il/L/eDc] (18.38)
Wetted packed beds and fibrous mats can be where I/J is the impaction parameter (18.7)
advantageously used for the collection of mists, and Dc is the diameter of the collectors mak-
gases, and vapors. They tend to plug, however, ing up the bed. This relationship can also be
.31
when used to capture insoluble particulate written as:
material, so they may not find much use in
powder technology. The tendency to plug de- Pt = (18.39)
826 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
where r\c is the collection efficiency of a single uses. At liquid or gas flow rates that are too
fiber transverse to the flow, and n'c is the high for the design, flooding will occur, marked
collection efficiency of that fiber as part of a by a sharp decrease in liquid throughput and
mat. If the collection is due to impaction, an increase in pressure drop. Avoiding this
then:53 condition is one important goal of the design.
r)'c = Vc[l + a{l - e)} (18.46) If the gas flow becomes too low, liquid can
seep through the perforations, decreasing con-
where a is about 5 to 20. For impaction, the tacting efficacy. Design equations are available
collection efficiency of a single fiber is approx- to prevent either of these malfunctions.26
imately (from fitting data presented by May The pressure drop across the plates is due
and Clifford54): to the resistance to gas flow due to the geo-
T f c = ^ 7 ( * 2 + 0.64) (18.47) metrical arrangement itself, as when dry, and
the added resistance of the flow through the
where i/s is the impaction parameter.
scrubbing liquid. For each of the dry plates,
A wetted fiber filter was tested in the labo-
the gas flow can be apportioned among the
ratory and modeled mathematically in a fash-
holes, and this equation for pressure drop
ion quite similar to the analysis above.49 It
used:13
produced a somewhat higher efficiency than
would be predicted for a venturi scrubber op- AP diy =1.14[0.4(1.25-/ h )
erating at the same pressure drop (about 7.5
kPa), which was attributed in part to the inter- (18.48)
ception mechanism. (The fiber diameters were
approximately 50 ^m and the mat porosity in which fh is the fraction of the plate area
was 0.97.) The model correctly predicted a represented by the holes and UG is the gas
sharp decline in penetration as particle aero- velocity through the holes. The other major
dynamic diameter became greater than 0.5 contribution to pressure drop for each plate
comes from the hydrostatic pressure repre-
sented by the height of the liquid on each
plate (// weir ) as determined by the weir (often
18.8 TRAY TOWERS about 5 cm in height):
Tray towers have one or more perforated plate APWeir = PL««weir <18'49)
trays that are irrigated with water and through The pressure drop across each plate is approx-
which gas travels and is scrubbed. Often a imately APd + AP weir . More exact formulas
series of such plates will be used, with the and more design details are available else-
liquid introduced at the top of the scrubber to where.26
travel from tray to tray via "downcomers" or For hydrophilic (wettable) aerosols, Taheri
by trickling through the holes in the plate (see and Calvert found the following relationship
Fig. 18.4). If the holes have (submerged) baf- for the penetration through a sieve plate
fles or targets connected to them at which the scrubber as a function of particle size:55
jet of gas and liquid are directed, one has an
"impingement plate" scrubber; if there are Pt = exp(-80F 2 (/0 (18.50a)
holes but no impingement targets, one has a
for
"perforated plate."
0.38 < P L < 0.65 (18.50b)
18.8.1 Sieve Plates
where F L is the volume of clear liquid per
A "sieve plate" is a common type of plate volume of froth, m 3 /m 3 , and if/ is an im-
scrubber adapted from gas-liquid contacting paction parameter, Eq. (18.7), based on the
828 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
hole diameter and the velocity of the gas this conclusion: "The operating cost of foam
through the hole. Taheri and Calvert found scrubbing with 99% surfactant recycle is an
that hydrophobic aerosols were collected less order of magnitude higher than that of the
effectively than hydrophilic, and that the addi- most expensive conventional method."59 Fur-
tion of wetting agents lessened collection ef- ther residence times were > 101 s, suggesting
ficiency, by creating a less dense froth.55 substantial construction costs for high-
volume-flow operations.
18.8.2 Impingement Plates
The pressure drop for impingement plates can
18.9 CONDENSATION SCRUBBING
be estimated by the equations given above for
perforated plates. 18.9.1 Theory and Experiment
Impingement plate penetration is predicted
Decades ago, Schauer60 and Lapple and
to be: 31
Kamack61 found that the addition of steam to
the gas to be scrubbed could bring about
Pt = exp( -0.693dla/dlc) (18.51)
marked improvements in scrubber collection
with efficiency. Samrau62 noted anomalously high
collection efficiencies reported for scrubbers
dpc = (18.52)
in which condensation occurred. (An extensive
literature review of the work done before 1973
in which nh is the number of holes per unit
is available in the report by Calvert and co-
area and Dh is the hole diameter; the source
workers.63) Several factors act:
of this design equation noted a lack of reliable
Condensation of water vapor on spray
experimental data to support it. Calvert also
scrubber droplets, caused by the droplets be-
estimated the cut diameters of two-plate and
ing at temperatures below the saturation tem-
three-plate systems as 88% and 83% of the
perature of the gas, can enhance particulate
one plate system.31 Note that increasing the
capture due to diffusiophoresis, the principal
number of trays from one to three often will
component of which is the net flow of water
not greatly increase collection efficiency for
molecules toward the droplets; this is accom-
particles though it may for gases.27
panied by a more subtle force due to the
Equation (18.52) can be used with Figure
concentration gradient of the water molecules.
18.11 to estimate total penetration for aerosols
Diffusiophoresis is accompanied by thermal
with log-normal distributions.
forces tending to oppose it, however.
The diffusiophoresis "flux force" mecha-
18.8.3 Foam Scrubbers
nism was discussed in detail by Waldmann and
The formation of low density foam (F L «c 1) Schmitt. The existence of this mechanism is
from a perforated plate has been the basis of evident from the experimental results of
several foam scrubber designs.56"58 Unlike Lapple and Kamack61 and Semrau et al.65 The
most scrubbers, impaction may not be the latter, for example, noted a large difference in
predominating mechanism. The longer resi- efficiency between wet scrubbers operating
dence times characteristic of such scrubbers with hot versus cold water sprays. They sug-
and the small dimensions of the foam bubbles gested the differences could be caused by
give sedimentation and diffusion more impor- evaporation from the hot water droplets, which
tance than usual, augmented by the intercep- would produce a diffusiophoretic force away
tion effect. An important design problem is from the drop surface and therefore would
the breaking up of the foam and the capture result in reduced efficiency.
of the fine particle-bearing droplets from the Sparks and Pilat66 calculated particle collec-
breaking up. One evaluation made in 1977 had tion efficiencies by droplets, assuming that (1)
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 829
condensation, or (2) evaporation, or (3) nei- not grow until the gas is supersaturated, often
ther, occurred. The collection mechanisms to a multiple of the saturation vapor concen-
studied were inertial impaction and diffusio- tration; this condition is hard to create be-
phoresis. Condensation was shown to enhance, cause soluble condensation nuclei, almost
whereas evaporation was shown to diminish, always present, will compete for the water
the collection by inertial impaction, the effects vapor, making it hard to achieve super satura-
being more pronounced for the smaller tion. Typically, about 75% of the condensing
particles. vapor goes to the cold surfaces of the scrubber
Condensation of water vapor on droplets and 25% of the particles.70 Lancaster and
will also cause a temperature gradient. The Strauss74 concluded that diffusiophoresis was
latent heat of vaporization must be conducted less important than particle growth in conven-
away from the droplet. This may offset the tional scrubbers in which steam is injected.
effects of diffusiophoresis.67 Calvert et al.63 and Calvert and Jhaveri75
Calculations were made for collection by showed that condensation scrubber efficiency
droplets of 100, 500, and 1000 fim diameters is insensitive to particle size. (Therefore, con-
in a spray tower.68 The gas was assumed satu- densation scrubbing would be potentially com-
rated and the droplets were taken to be cooler, petitive with high-energy scrubbers when high
warmer, or at the same temperature of the collection efficiencies for submicron particles
gas, so that particle growth due to condensa- are required.) They found also that condensa-
tion was not a factor. Single droplet collection tion collection increases as the concentration
efficiencies for the condensing case were quite of particles decreases.63'75 The available mois-
insensitive to particle size, the mechanisms ture is shared by fewer particles, which thereby
considered being impaction, diffusion, diffu- grow larger and are collected more easily than
siophoresis, and thermophoresis. The conden- otherwise. Thermophoresis was shown by them
sation/evaporation effects were greater for to be of minor importance compared with
the larger droplets due to the longer mainte- diffusiophoresis and the effect of particle en-
nance of the temperature gradients. largement by condensation.63'75
Whitmore69 found that the fraction of parti- In experiments using hydrophobic oil drop
cles collected due to the flow of water vapor to aerosols with diameters of roughly 2 /xm, Jacko
scrubber surfaces and droplets was approxi- and Holcomb77 determined that the penetra-
mately equal to the fraction of the gas that tion of a multiple-tray sieve plate scrubber
condensed.70 decreased from 0.44 to 0.03 as steam injection
Condensation of water vapor on particles was added; the steam injection ratio, the mass
can lead to enhanced capture due to the of water per mass of dry gas, was 0.43. Lower-
increase in particle aerodynamic diameter. ing the scrubber water temperature from 57°C
Soluble particles will become droplets at to 15°C decreased the penetration from 0.11
humidities greater than their "transition" to 0.05 at an injection ratio of 0.25.
humidities,71 the humidities a solution made
from the bulk material would produce in air in
18.9.2 Application
a closed vessel. (For NaCl, for example, this is
75% relative humidity.) A hydrophilic liquid Humidification of a gas, by addition of steam
such as sulfuric acid does not have a transition for example, consumes energy. The use of
humidity; such a droplet changes size to be in condensation scrubbing, therefore, is more
equilibrium with any ambient humidity. likely to be economically attractive in those
Aerosols made of hygroscopic liquids and applications where waste heat is available. A
solids change their volumes approximately in summary of condensation scrubbing was pre-
proportion to 1/(1 - H), where H is the frac- pared by Calvert and Parker,42 from which
tional humidity.72'73 Hydrophobic particles will Table 18.6 is taken, showing the major indus-
830 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
TO STACK
AIR
FROM
SOURCE
AIR
TO DRAIN OR
LIQUID TREATMENT
Figure 18.12. Conceptual design for a condensation scrubber.42
force due to the interaction between a charged cles assumed to have negligible inertia can be
particle and an uncharged collector and the shown to be: 78 ' 79
mutual repulsion (or attraction) of the aerosol
particles themselves.23 VE = AK (18.56)
The Coulomb force (FQq) exerted on a par-
ticle of charge Qp is: in which K is the ratio of the particle terminal
velocity, calculated for the force as evaluated
F Qq = QpE (18.53) at the surface of the collector, to the velocity
of the free stream (UG, the superficial or mean
in which E is the electrical field created by the
gas velocity). See Table 18.7 for definitions of
collector. The force due to induced polariza-
K for spherical and cylindrical collectors.79
tion in the particle in an inhomogeneous field
The parameter K can be used to sum up
is: 2 3
experimental and theoretical results concern-
ing collection efficiencies for various condi-
(18.54)
477e n tions, as done in Table 18.8.78'79 In Table 18.8
are listed the collector geometry, the force
in which type, its radial dependence (the forms for FOq
2) (18.55) are approximate), the range of K for which
the efficiency expression is correct, and the
for spherical particles, where ep is the dielec- efficiency, rjB. The expression "O(K2/5)"
tric constant of the particle relative to the means that the efficiency is roughly K2/5, with
dielectric constant of a vacuum and Vp is the a correction factor of order unity which will be
volume of the particle. The gradient of homo- somewhat different depending upon the flow
geneous electric fields is zero, so this force field. Calculation of K (Table 18.7) and the
occurs only in inhomogeneous fields. use of the material in Table 18.8 provide a
The collection efficiency (77) of an obstacle simple method for estimating the electrostatic
is defined as the area of the oncoming gas it contribution to collection efficiency for these
cleans divided by the cross-sectional area it cases.
presents to the flow. Where both the particles To increase the effect of electrostatics, one
and the collector are charged, the collection can charge the particles. The saturation charge
efficiency of a collector of any shape for parti- due to charging a particle (dp > 1 ^m) in the
832 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 18.7. Definitions of the Electrical Force Parameter (K) for Spherical Particles. 21 ' 78 ' 79
SPHERE CYCLINDER
C(Qc/L)Qp
Coulombic force (FQq)
12-n-2eorpRclxGUG
C{QJLfrl
Charged-collector image force (FQ0)
Table 18.8. Summary of Experimental, Theoretical Results for Collection Efficiencies for
Electrostatic Interactions and Inertialess Particles. 21 ' 78 ' 79
COLLECTION EFFICIENCY
AT (AERODYNAMIC
POWER USED LIQUID-TO-GAS DIAMETER):
ELECTROSTATIC
SCRUBBER [W/(m 3 /s) RATIO (10 ~3) 0.5 jinn 1.0
University of 0.22 0.8-2.3 0.99 0.97
Washington
APS, Inc. 1.3 1.4 0.96 0.90
TRW, Inc. 0.5-0.7 0.12 0.90 0.85-0.95
namic diameter is about 5 kW/(m 3 /s), much as superficial velocity in the scrubber in-
greater than the power used in these devices.86 creased 50% (from 3 to 5 m/s). As liquid
Compared with electrostatic precipitators of usage is increased, so is droplet entrainment;
similar efficiency, high-efficiency venturi as scrubber energy input is increased, through
scrubbers are typically smaller and less expen- increased pressure drop in the gas or in-
sive in capital costs but use more power and creased spray nozzle pressure, the entrained
have higher operating costs. Electrostatic liquid droplets can be expected to become
scrubbers are likely to show capital and oper- smaller, their mass concentration greater.
ating costs that are between those for scrub- Droplets may contain captured particulate
bers and those for electrostatic precipitators matter; even without captured matter, they dry
and should be judged by their annualized costs to become fine solid particles due to dissolved
rather than by their power consumptions alone. minerals ("hardness") in the water. To prevent
(Cost comparison methodology is treated emission of material due to droplet reentrain-
briefly at the end of this chapter.) Corrosion ment, the scrubber should be followed by a
problems and electrical isolation problems can demister (also called an "entrainment separa-
also be significant. tor" or a "mist eliminator").
The design goals for demisters were summed
up by Bell and Strauss:
18.11 DEMISTERS AND ENTRAINMENT
SEPARATORS In general, mist eliminators should have the follow-
ing characteristics: low cost, ease of manufacture
18.11.1 Introduction and installation, low pressure drop, and high effi-
ciencies over a wide range of superficial gas veloci-
A scrubber uses liquid surfaces to rid the gas ties and mist loadings. The units should be self-
stream of particles. Inevitably, the scrubber draining and self-cleaning, with low operating and
produces droplets containing solid and dis- maintenance charges, able to operate for long peri-
solved material which must be captured before ods without attention.87
the gas is emitted to the atmosphere, either to
meet emissions limits or to prevent damage to Entrainment separator design can be im-
fans, ducting, etc. (Wetted surfaces produce proved by using guidelines recently pub-
droplets due to atomization or to the liquids lished.109'110 For fibrous beds or packed beds,
falling from the surfaces.) The droplet size optimal efficiency at a fixed pressure drop (or
produced will be a function of scrubber type, minimum pressure drop at a fixed efficiency)
geometry, power consumption, and flow veloc- can be obtained by choosing a collector ele-
ity; for example, for a packed bed cross-flow ment size and collector face velocity such that
scrubber, Bell and Strauss87 found the number the impaction parameter is approximately 1
mean droplet size to decrease from 400 to 100 for the droplet size of interest.
834 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
100
10
18.11.7 Summary
As Calvert concluded, "Liquid drainage is
best when the gas flow is horizontal and col- Mist eliminators ("demisters") are needed for
lection surfaces are near vertical; also, with almost all scrubbers. They capture droplets by
836 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 18.10. Operating Characteristics and Efficiencies for Fiber Mist Eliminators. 9192
able to change the nozzles, the flow rates, or and capturing particles is not particularly at-
the pressures than to introduce wetting agents tractive; collection efficiency is not quite as
to the liquid, which will represent added mate- good for such scrubbers as for venturi scrub-
rial expense and perhaps added water pollu- bers at the same power consumption and
tion control costs. problems of corrosion, erosion, and vibration
In some cases, the scrubbing improvement are inherent in such designs.27
noted in scrubbing wettable versus nonwet-
table particles may have been due to hygro-
scropic growth of the former. Experiments 18.13 COSTS
have shown that wettable and nonwettable
particles are caught with equal efficiency by A great many factors contribute to the total
drops (at a given impaction parameter value), cost of a scrubber. Figure 18.14 shows a gener-
except in the rare instances where nonwetting alized cost evaluation scheme.1 The source
particles coat the droplet to the degree that and its operating characteristics will influence
other particles strike them and are not the choice of control type, its capacity, effi-
retained.96 ciency, construction materials, and thus the
costs of control. Handling the collected mate-
18.12.4 Scale-Up rials is costly, though there may be salvage
value. Note that the cost of the control hard-
Even some companies with extensive experi- ware is only a part of the total cost, especially
ence with scrubbers have made it a policy to for high-energy scrubbers.
use pilot scale scrubbers to help design the One approach for cost comparisons of vari-
full-scale scrubber to be used in a particular ous particulate control options is that de-
application.97 Even so, some assumptions must scribed by Edmisten and Bunyard.101 The goal
be made in scaling up the results of such test. is to develop a single cost parameter, here the
Two sets of investigators98'99 found im- total annualized cost, with which to compare
proved performance in larger scrubbers at a different air pollution control devices. This is
given pressure drop, perhaps due to increased quite useful because, for example, electrostatic
turbulence at the higher Reynolds numbers. precipitators have relatively high initial costs
On the other hand, Behie and Beeckmans100 and relatively low operating costs in com-
reviewed many previous investigations and parison to scrubbers of similar collection
concluded there were no appreciable effects efficiency.
due to scaling up a scrubber.
The costs can be divided into three cate-
gories:101
18.12.5 Water Pollution
As water quality standards and water pollu- 1. Capital investment cost. This includes the
tion control requirements become more strin- control hardware cost, the cost of auxiliary
gent, scrubber design must increasingly take equipment and the cost of installation, in-
water treatment into account, influencing wa- cluding initial studies.
ter usage rates, recycling rates, construction 2. Maintenance and operating costs. These are
materials, and additive selection (such as taken on a yearly basis, averaged over the
for pH control). This is well beyond our life of the equipment.
scope, however. 3. Capital charges. These are what it costs to
borrow the money equivalent to the capital
investment, plus taxes and insurance.
18.12.6 Mechanical Aids
The use of wetted fans or other blade-type To convert these various costs into a single
mechanical methods for disintegrating droplets number, the total annualized cost, one sums
838 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Engineering
studies
Site
Type
preparation
Control
Size hardware
Volume
Construction Auxiliary
material equipment
Pollutant Installation
Efficiency
Materials and
Pressure drop supplies
Maintenance
Power and fuel and operation
Benefit
costs
Capital
charges
Figure 18.14. Diagram of a cost evaluation scheme for a pollutant control system.1
the annual capital investment depreciation, the nance and capital charges will be nearly pro-
operating and maintenance costs, and the portional to the capital investment. Table 18.11
capital charges. is based on a survey done as part of the
The usual method of depreciation in such preparation of the Scrubber Handbook6 and
contexts is to assume straight-line deprecia- allows one to make a rough estimate of the
tion: Estimate the life of the equipment, installed cost of a scrubber, based on the
Edmisten and Bunyard101 suggested 15 years, current Marshall and Stevens Index. The fixed
and figure the yearly depreciation as the capi- capital investment is about three times the
tal investment divided by the life expectancy. installed cost.31 Table 18.12 shows the condi-
Thus, the total annualized cost is given by the tions that can affect the installed costs of
sum of capital investment divided by the life- control devices, factors that are reflected in
time plus yearly maintenance and operating the ranges attributed to costs in Table 18.11.
costs and capital charges, Generally, mainte- For more details on conventional control
device costs, see the article by Edmisten and kW per m 3 /s flow rate or horsepower per
Bunyard101 and the articles by Hanf and 1000 actual cubic feet per minute flow rate.
MacDonald102 and by Fraser and Eaton 103 (Note: 1 hp = 0.746 kW; 1000 acfm = 0.472
and Neveril et al.,104 who presented graphs m 3 /s). When the power is given as hydraulic
and equations for estimating the prices for power (pressure drop times volume flow rate),
electrostatic precipitators, venturi scrubbers, a pump/fan/motor efficiency factor must be
fabric filters, incinerators, and absorbers, as used (as a divisor) to convert to actual electri-
well as the costs of auxiliary equipment, duct- cal power; this efficiency factor is generally
work and dampers, and such other costs as about 0.6, whether fans are moving gas or
operating, maintenance, and installation. pumps are moving liquid. The power cost is
Although much of the necessary informa- given by the product of: volume rate of gas
tion on costs will have to be obtained from flow, power consumption per unit flow of gas,
manufacturers for a specific application, one cost per unit of energy, and operating time.
can readily estimate power costs. Power con- Certain forms of power may be nearly free:
sumption figures are often given in terms of the recovery of waste heat is free with regard
840 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
32. H. F. Johnstone, R. B. Field, and M. C. Tassler, 50. J. Happel and H. Brenner, Low Reynolds Number
"Gas Absorption and Aerosol Collection in Ven- Hydrodynamics, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs
turi Scrubber," Ind. Eng. Chem. 46:1602-1608 (1965).
(1954). 51. C. N. Davies, Air Filtration, Academic Press, New
33. S. Calvert, "Venturi and Other Atomizing Scrub- York (1973).
ber Efficiency and Pressure Drop," A.I.Ch.E. J. 52. K. Iinoya and C. Orr, Jr., "Filtration," in Air
76:392-396 (1970). Pollution, edited by A. C. Stern, Academic Press,
34. R. H. Boll, "Particle Collection and Pressure Drop New York (1977).
in Venturi Scrubbers," Ind. Eng. Chem. Fund. 53. C. Y. Chen, "Filtration of Aerosols by Fibrous
72:40-50 (1973). Media," Chem. Rev. 55:595-623 (1955).
35. M. Taheri and C. M. Shieh, "Mathematical Mod- 54. K. R. May and R. Clifford, "The Impaction of
eling of Atomizing Scrubbers," A.I.Ch.E. J. Aerosol Particles on Cylinders, Spheres, Ribbons,
27(0:153-157 (1975). and Discs," Ann. Occup. Hyg. 10:83-95 (1967).
36. K. C. Goel and K. G. T. Hollands, "Optimum 55. M. Teheri and S. Calvert, "Removal of Small
Design of Venturi Scrubbers," Atmos. Environ. Particles from Air by Foam in a Sieve-plate Col-
77:837-845 (1977). umn," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn. 75:240-245 (1968).
37. S. Calvert, D. Lundgren, and D. S. Mehta, "Ven- 56. B. S. Javorsky, "Gas Cleaning with the Foam
turi Scrubber Performance," /. Air Pollut. Control Scrubber," Filtration Separation 9:173 (1972).
Assn. 22:529-532 (1972). 57. B. Javorsky, "Fume Control and Gas Cleaning
38. L. E. Sparks, "SR-52 Programmable Calculator with an Industrial Scale Foam Bed Scrubber,"
Programs for Venturi Scrubbers and Electrostatic Filtration Separation 10:21 (1973).
Precipitators," EPA 600/7-78-026, Office of Re- 58. T. E. Ctvrtnicek, H. H. S. Yu, C. M. Moscowitz,
search and Development, US EPA (March 1978). and G. H. Ramsey, "Fine Particulate Control Us-
39. D. Leith and D. W. Cooper, "Venturi Scrubber ing Foam Scrubbing," in Novel Concepts and Ad-
Optimization," Atmos. Environ. 14:651-664 vanced Technology in Particulate-Gas Separation,
(1980). edited by T. Ariman, University of Notre Dame,
40. F. O. Ekman and H. F. Johnstone, "Collection of Notre Dame, Ind. (1978).
Aerosols in a Venturi Scrubber," Ind. Eng. Chem. 59. G. Ramsey, "Evaluation of Foam Scrubbing as a
43:1358-1370 (1951). Method for Collecting Fine Particulate," EPA-
41. D. M. Muir, C. D. Grant, and Y. Miheisi, "Rela- 600/2-77-197, US EPA (September 1977).
tionship between Collection Efficiency and En- 60. P. J. Schauer, "Removal of Submicron Aerosol
ergy Consumption of Wet Dust Collectors," Filtra- Particles from a Moving Gas Stream," Ind. Eng.
tion Separation 75:332-340 (1978). Chem. 43(9):1532-1538 (July 1951).
42. S. Calvert and R. Parker, "Particulate Control 61. C. E. Lapple and H. J. Kamack, "Performance of
Highlights: Flux Force/Condensation Wet Scrub- Wet Dust Scrubbers," Chem. Eng. Prog. 57:110-
bing," EPA-600/8-78-005c, US EPA (June 1978). 121 (1955).
43. M. Taheri, S. A. Beg, and M. Beizie, "Gas Clean- 62. K. T. Semrau, "Dust Scrubber Design—A Cri-
ing in a Wetted Butterfly Valve," /. Air Pollut. tique on the State of the Art," /. Air Pollut. Contr.
Contr. Assn. 22:794-798 (1972). Assn. 13:581-594 (1963).
44. L. S. Harris, "Fume Scrubbing with the Ejector 63. S. Calvert, J. Goldschmid, D. Leith, and N. C.
Venturi System," Chem. Eng. Prog. 62:55-59 Jhaveri, "Feasibility of Flux Force/Condensation
(1966). Scrubbing for Fine Particulate Collection," APT.
45. H. E. Gardenier, "Submicron Particulate Scrub- Inc., Riverside, CA, EPA-650/5-73-076, US EPA
bing with a Two Phase Jet Scrubber," /. Air Pollut. (1973).
Contr. Assn. 24:954-951 (1974). 64. L. Waldmann and K. H. Schmitt, "Thermophore-
46. D. W. Cooper and D. P. Anderson, "Dynactor sis and Diffusiophoresis of Aerosols," in Aerosol
Scrubber Evaluation," EPA-650/2-74-083a, US Science, edited by C. N. Davies, Academic Press,
EPA (June 1975). New York (1966).
47. S. Calvert, N. C. Jhaveri, and S. Yung, "Fine 65. K. T. Semrau, C. W. Marynowski, K. E. Lunde,
Particle Scrubber Performance Tests," EPA- and C. E. Lapple, "Influence of Power Input on
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48. R. B. Bird, W. E. Stewart, and E. N. Lightfoot, 50:1615-1620 (1958).
Transport Phenomena, Wiley & Sons, New York 66. L. E. Sparks and M. J. Pilat, "Effect of Diffusio-
(1960). phoresis on Particle Collection by Wet Scrubbers,"
49. J. D. Brady, D. W. Cooper, and M. T. Rei, "A Atmos. Environ. 4:651-660 (1970).
Wet Collector of Fine Particles," Chem. Eng. Prog. 67. W. G. N. Slinn and J. M. Hales, "A Re-evaluation
75(8):45-53 (1977). of the Role of Thermophoresis as a Mechanism of
WET SCRUBBER PARTICULATE COLLECTION 843
In- and Below-cloud Scavenging," /. Atmos. Sci. 82. M. J. Pilat, "Collection of Aerosol Particles by
28:1465-1471 (1971). Electrostatic Droplet Spray Scrubbers," /. Air
68. M. J. Pilat and A. Prem, "Effect of Diffusio- Pollut. Contr. Assn 25:176-178 (1975).
phoresis and Thermophoresis on the Overall Par- 83. C. W. Lear, W. F. Krieve, and E. Cohen, "Charged
ticle Collection Efficiency of Spray Droplet Scrub- Droplet Scrubbing for Fine Particle Control,"
bers," /. AirPollut. Contr. Assn. 27:982-988 (1977). /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn. 25:184-189 (1975).
69. P. J. Whitmore, "Diffusiophoretic Particle Collec- 84. S. Calvert, S. C. Yung, H. Barbarika, and R. G.
tion Under Turbulent Conditions," Ph.D. thesis, Patterson, "Evaluation of Four Novel Fine Partic-
University of British Columbia, Canada (1976). ulate Collection Devices," EPA-600/2-78-062, US
70. S. Calvert and R. Parker, "Particulate Control EPA, March (1978).
Highlights: Fine Particle Scrubber Research," 85. M. T. Kearns, "High Intensity Ionization Applied
EPA-600/8-78-005a, US EPA (June 1978). to Venturi Scrubbing," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn.
71. C. Orr, Jr., F. K. Hurd, and W. J. Corbett, "Aero- 29:383-385 (1979).
sol Size and Relative Humidity," /. Coll Sci. 86. D. C. Drehmel, "Advanced Electrostatic Collec-
73:472-482 (1958). tion Concepts," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn.
72. M. Neiburger and M. G. Wurtele, "On the Nature 27:1090-1092 (1977).
and Size of Particles in Haze, Fog and Stratus of 87. C. G. Bell and W. Strauss, "Effectiveness of Ver-
the Los Angeles Region," Chem. Rev. 44:321-335 tical Mist Eliminators in a Cross Flow Scrubber,"
(1949). /. AirPollut. Contr. Assn. 23:961-969 (1973).
73. D. W. Cooper, D. W. Underhill, and M. J. 88. S. Calvert, "Guidelines for Selecting Mist Elimi-
Ellenbecker, "A Critique of the U.S. Standard for nators," Chem. Eng., 109-112 (February 27, 1978).
Industrial Exposure to Sodium Hydroxide 89. D. Leith and D. Mehta, "Cyclone Performance
Aerosols," Am. Indus. Hyg. Assn. J. 40'365-311 and Design," Atmos. Environ. 7:527-549 (1973).
(1979). 90. S. Calvert and R. Parker, "Particulate Control
74. B. W. Lancaster and W. Strauss, "A Study of Highlights: Fine Particle Scrubber Research,"
Stream Injection into Wet Scrubbers," Ind. Eng. EPA-600/8-78-005a, US EPA (June 1978).
Chem. Fund. 70:362-369 (1971). 91. W. Strauss, "Mist Eliminators," in Air Pollution,
75. S. Calvert and N. C. Jhaveri, "Flux Force/Con- edited by A. C. Stern, Academic Press, New York
densation Scrubbing," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn. (1977).
24:941-952 (1974). 92. G. H. Griwatz, J. V. Friel, and J. L. Creehouse,
76. S. Calvert, S. Gandhi, D. L. Harmon, and L. E. Report 71-45, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission,
Sparks, " F F / C Scrubber Demonstration on a Sec- Mine Safety Applications Research Corp., Evans
ondary Metals Recovery Furnace," /. Air Pollut. City, PA (1971).
Contr. Assn. 27:1076-1080 (1977). 93. B. A. Steiner and R. J. Thompson, "Wet Scrub-
77. R. B. Jacko and M. L. Holcomb, "A Parametric bing Experience for Steel Mill Applications,"
Study of Flux Force/Condensation Scrubber for /. AirPollut. Contr. Assn. 27:1069-1075 (1977).
the Removal of Fine Hydrophobic Particles." 94. E. C. Hoxie and G. W. Tuffnell, "A Summary of
Paper 78-17.2 presented at the 71st Annual Meet- INCO Corrosion Tests in Power Plant Flue Gas
ing of the Air Pollution Control Association, Scrubbing Processes," in Resolving Corrosion
Houston, TX (June 1978). Problems in Air Pollution Equipment. National As-
78. D. W. Cooper, "Approximate Equations for Pre- sociation of Corrosion Engrs., Houston, TX (1976).
dicting Electrostatic Particle Collection." in Novel 95. J. S. Busch, W. E. MacMath, and M. S. Lin,
Concepts and Advanced Technology in Particulate - "Design and Cost of High Energy Scrubbers: 1.
Gas Separation, edited by T. Ariman, University of The Basic Scrubber," Pollut. Engrg., pp. 28-32
Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. (1978). (January 1973).
79. K. A. Nielsen, "Written Discussion," in Novel 96. L. D. Stulov, F. I. Murashkevich, and N. A. Fuchs,
Concepts and Advanced Technology in Particulate- "The Efficiency of Collision of Solid Aerosol Par-
Gas Separation, edited by T. Ariman, University of ticles with Water Surfaces," J. Aerosol Sci. 9:1-6
Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. (1978). (1978).
80. S. Oglesby, Jr. and G. B. Nichols, "Electrostatic 97. R. W. Mcllvaine, "When to Pilot and When to
Precipitation," in Air Pollution, edited by A. C. Use Theoretical Predictions of Required Venturi
Stern, Academic Press, New York (1977). Pressure Drop." Paper 77-17.1 presented at the
81. M. J. Pilat, S. A. Jaasund, and L. E. Sparks, 70th Annual Meeting of the Air Pollution Control
"Collection of Aerosol Particles by Electrostatic Association, Toronto, Canada (1977).
Droplet Spray Scrubbers," Env. Sci. Technol. 98. M. Taheri, S. A. Beg, and M. Beizie, "The Effect
4:360-362 (1974). of Scale-up on the Performance of High Energy
844 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Scrubbers," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn. 23:963-966 Assn. 28:829-836, 963-968, 1069-1072,
(1973). 1171-1174, 1253-1256 (1978).
99. N. S. Balakreshnan and G. H. S. Cheng, "Scale-up 105. A. C. Stern, H. C. Wohlers, R. W. Boubel, and
Effect of Venturi Scrubber." Paper 78-17.3 pre- W. P. Lowry, Fundamentals of Air Pollution,
sented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Air Academic Press, New York (1973).
Pollution Control Association, Houston, TX (June 106. D. W. Cooper, "On the Products of Lognormal
1978). and Cumulative Lognormal Particle Size Distribu-
100. S. W. Behie and J. M. Beeckmans, "Effects of tions," /. Aerosol Sci. 23:111-120 (1982).
Water Injection Arrangement on the Perfor- 107. K. W. Lee and J. A. Gieseke, "A Note on the
mance of a Venturi Scrubber," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Approximations of Interceptional Collection Ef-
Assn. 24:943-945 (1974). ficiencies," /. Aerosol Sci. 22:335-341 (1980).
101. N. G. Edmisten and F. L. Bunyard, "A Systematic 108. D. S. F. Atkinson and W. Strauss, "Droplet Size
Procedure for Determining the Cost of Control- and Surface Tension in Venturi Scrubbers," /. Air
ling Particulate Emissions from Industrial Pollut. Contr. Assn. 25:1114-1118 (1978).
Sources," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn. 20:446-452 109. D. W. Cooper, "Filter Beds: Energy-Efficient
(1970). Packing Diameter," /. Air Pollut. Contr. Assn.
102. E. M. Hanf and J. W. MacDonald, "Economic 32:205-208 (1982).
Evaluation of Wet Scrubbers," Chem. Eng. Prog. 110. D. W. Cooper, "Optimizing Filter Fiber
7(3):48-52 (1975). Diameter," Atmos. Environ. 26:1529-1533 (1982).
103. M. D. Fraser and D. R. Eaton, "Cost Models for 111. T. D. Placek and L. K. Peters, "Analysis of Partic-
Venturi Scrubber System." Presented at 68th An- ulate Removal in Venturi Scrubbers—Effect of
nual Meeting of the Air Pollution Control Associ- Operating Variables on Performance," AIChE J.
ation, Boston (1975). 27:984-993 (1981).
104. R. B. Neveril, J. U. Price, and K. L. Engdahl, 112. L. P. Bayvel, "The Effect of the Polydispersity of
"Capital and Operating Costs of Selected Air Pol- Drops on the Efficiency of a Venturi Scrubber,"
lution Control Systems-I.-V." /. Air Pollut. Contr. TransIChemE, 60:31-34 (1982).
19
Fire and Explosion Hazards in
Powder Handling and
Processing
Stanley S. Grossel
CONTENTS
Dust explosions and fires are the principal and heavier than gas molecules and that settle
hazards associated with dust handling systems. out of suspension owing to gravity. The pro-
Other hazards that may occur include: cesses of a dust explosion involve such a high
rate of combustion that individual particles
1. The development of electrostatic charges and agglomerates are either consumed or oxi-
on the conveyed material or system compo- dized. The combustion of carbon present in
nents which might ignite vapors or dusts in organic materials will produce gaseous prod-
associated processes ucts that in themselves take up more space
2. Unexpected electrical shocks from static than the solids of the parent material. In addi-
charges on ungrounded components, caus- tion, an expanding flame front will result from
ing involuntary reaction the ignition of flammable gases produced by
3. In the case of toxic dusts, health hazards the decomposition of the dust. A dust explo-
associated with even small leaks or with sion therefore produces a system requiring
maintenance work on the system. more space owing to expansion of the hot
gaseous products. In industrial plants, the heat
In the following sections we discuss principles released during a dust explosion is likely to
of dust explosions, factors affecting dust explo- exceed the natural rate of cooling and conse-
sions, ignition sources, basic system design quently an explosion would be accompanied
considerations, dust explosion prevention and by significant, and in some cases uncontrolled
protection methods, and application to indus- expansion effects. In an unconfined situation,
trial processes and equipment. a dust explosion would result in mainly local-
ized flames and pressure effects. However, in
confined situations, such as those commonly
19.2 PRINCIPLES OF DUST found in plants handling particulate matter,
EXPLOSIONS the expansion effects are likely to be sufficient
to rupture the plant equipment or piping
19.2.1 Introduction unless they are suppressed or vented.
A dust explosion results when finely divided A number of conditions must be satisfied
combustible matter is dispersed into an atmo- simultaneously for a dust explosion to occur:
sphere containing sufficient oxygen to permit
combustion and a source of ignition of appro- 1. The dust must be combustible.
priate energy is present. Dust explosions have 2. The dust must be a suspension in the atmo-
certain similarities to gas explosions, especially sphere, which must contain sufficient
with regard to the chemical processes in- oxygen to support combustion.
volved, and in cases where the particle size of 3. The dust must have a particle size distribu-
the dust is less than 5 /mm. However, there are tion that will propagate a flame.
significant differences that make dust explo- 4. The dust concentration in the suspension
sions more difficult to achieve. For a dust must be within the explosible range.
explosion to occur, a degree of turbulence 5. The dust suspension must be in contact
must be present, if only to disperse the dust with an ignition source of sufficient energy.
into a suspension. Gas explosions can occur
when the gas is in a quiescent state, the mix- If these conditions are satisfied, the hazard
ture being homogeneous and consisting of from a dust explosion depends on the explosi-
molecular-size particles. The suspensions of bility of the dust, the volume and characteris-
dusts encountered in dust explosions are, how- tics of the vessel or chamber containing the
ever, unlikely to be homogeneous, normally dust suspension, the dispersion and concentra-
containing a range of concentrations of parti- tion of the dust suspension, and the degree of
cles that are many orders of magnitude larger turbulence in the vessel.
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN POWDER HANDLING AND PROCESSING 847
The explosibility of a dust can be deter- subjected, and are needed to calculate vent
mined by tests that are described by Eckhoff4 areas. Experimental data for these two quanti-
and Field.5 ties should be obtained using a 20-liter test
vessel as a minimum size.1 Older data ob-
tained in the Hartmann bomb (U.S. Bureau of
19.2.2 Lower Explosive Limit
Mines) should not be used for sizing deflagra-
Dusts, like gases, have lower and upper explo- tion vents by the methods given in NFPA 68.
sive limits. The lower explosive limits (also Data on P max and (dP/dt)max are available for
called minimum explosive concentration) for many dusts.1'4
many dusts are available in the open technical
literature. They are usually expressed as grams
19.2.5 Minimum Ignition Temperature
per cubic meter or sometimes as grams per
liter. Extensive tables are given in the books The minimum ignition temperature of a dust
by Eckhoff4 and Palmer.6 Data are meager suspension is the lowest temperature at which
for upper explosive limits as they are difficult it will ignite spontaneously and propagate the
to experimentally determine because of prob- flame. It depends on the size and shape of the
lems in achieving adequate suspension of the apparatus used to measure it as well as the
dust during testing. The value of the lower rate of rise in temperature of the dust, the
explosive limit depends on a number of factors particle size, and moisture content of the dust.
such as the composition of the dust, its parti- Therefore, minimum ignition temperatures
cle size distribution, and to some extent, the have to be determined in a standardized type
strength of the ignition source. of apparatus to enable meaningful compar-
isons between dusts.4'5 Minimum ignition tem-
peratures are used to establish a maximum
19.2.3 Oxidant
safe operating temperature for processes such
The oxidant in a dust explosion is normally the as drying. Refer to the books by Field5 and
oxygen in air. However, other oxidants, such as Palmer 6 for data on minimum ignition
the halogens, can also lead to an explosion, temperatures.
and should be considered. There is a limiting
oxygen concentration (LOC), also called maxi-
19.2.6 Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE)
mum safe oxygen concentration (MSOC), be-
low which combustion will not occur. The LOC Minimum ignition energies are measured to
for dusts depends on the composition and provide data on the possibility of ignition of
particle size distribution of the solids. Values dust clouds by electrostatic sparks. Powders
of LOC for most organic chemical dusts lie in that have low ignition energies, for example,
the range of 10 to 16 volume percent. Palmer6 below 15 mJ, are often regarded as particu-
lists LOC data for many dusts, as does larly hazardous because of the possibility of
NFPA 69.2 ignition by operators who have become acci-
dentally charged electrostatically. The MIE of
a dust cloud depends on the dust concentra-
19.2.4 Maximum Explosion Pressure and
tion, particle size, moisture content, etc. The
Maximum Rate of Pressure Rise
lowest value of the MIE is found at a certain
When a dust explosion occurs, two of the optimum mixture. It is this value (at this opti-
factors influencing the security of the explo- mum mixture) that is usually quoted as the
sion are the maximum explosion pressure MIE. Values of MIE for dusts vary from 10 to
(P max ) and the maximum rate of pressure rise hundreds of millijoules. Values of MIE for
(dP/dt)max. These two quantities determine many dusts can be found in the books by
the pressure build-up to which equipment is Eckoff,4 Field,5 and Palmer.6
848 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
primary explosion because the pressure from F generally results in a reduced explosion
the secondary explosion can be transmitted hazard.
throughout a plant building, resulting in struc-
tural collapse. In addition to these pressure 19.3.2 Moisture Content
effects, the flames of a dust explosion can
Many powders contain moisture, the amount
propagate significant distance and spread fire
depending on the presence of moisture from
to areas not in the immediate vicinity of the
the previous processing steps, the hydrophilic
primary explosion.
nature of the powder, and the relative humid-
ity of the surrounding atmosphere. In general,
19.3 FACTORS AFFECTING DUST the presence of moisture is beneficial as it
EXPLOSIONS tends to decrease the explosibility of a dust in
two different, but synergistic ways. First, as the
The following chemical and physical factors moisture content increases, the dust particles
influence the initiation and propagation of a generally become more cohesive and form ag-
dust explosion: chemical reactivity, moisture glomerates that are more difficult to disperse.
content, particle size/specific surface area, Second, any heat applied to a suspension of
dust concentration, oxygen content of oxidizer moist dust will first be used to vaporize the
gas, turbulence, initial temperature of dust moisture (water and solvent) and will there-
clouds, initial pressure of dust clouds, effect of fore not be used in the combustion process.
inert gas or dust, and combustible gas or vapor Moisture in a dust reduces both ignition
mixed with the dust cloud (hybrid mixtures). sensitivity and explosion violence of dust
These are discussed briefly below. For more clouds. Figure 19.1 illustrates the influence of
extensive discussion of these factors, refer to moisture content on the minimum electric
the books by Eckhoff4 and Field.5 spark ignition energy (MIE), and Figure 19.2
shows how the maximum pressure rise is re-
19.3.1 Chemical Reactivity duced with increasing moisture content. The
ignition delay characterizes the state of turbu-
Increasing chemical reactivity of dusts, similar
lence of the dust cloud at the moment of
to gases and vapor, leads to increasing explo-
ignition in the sense that the turbulence inten-
sion severity. Examples of highly reactive pow-
sity decreases as the ignition delay increases.
ders are metals (e.g., Al, Mg, Ti, Zr, etc.) that
However, it is not possible to predict, a priori,
possess very high heats of oxidation. For ex-
a moisture content that would be sufficient to
ample, the maximum reaction temperature of
prevent an explosion from occurring as this
a metal powder explosion may reach well above
varies with other factors as well, such as the
3000 K, whereas the maximum temperature
nature and particle size of the dust. As a
reached in an explosion of an organic powder
general rule, in normal industrial operations a
will usually be 2000 K to 3000 K (about the
dust explosion is probably unlikely to occur if
same as a gas explosion). Also, whereas the
the dust being processed has a moisture con-
maximum pressure reached in an explosion of
tent in excess of 30%.5 The only sure way of
an organic dust is in the range of 7 to 10 bars,
determining the moisture content needed to
some metal dust explosions may generate max-
prevent an explosion is by experimental tests.
imum pressures in excess of 10 bars.
The presence of specific chemical groups in
19.3.3 Particle Size / Specific
organic material can give an indication of the
Surface Area
explosion risk, for example, COOH, OH, NH 2 ,
NO 2 , C = N, O N , and N = N tend to in- One of the most important physical properties
crease the explosion hazard, whereas the in- of a powder that affects dust explosions is the
corporation of the halogens Cl, Br, and particle size distribution. This is illustrated in
850 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
MAXIMUM
RATE OF
PRESSURE
INCREASE,
S 10 2 Bar/sec
10
WHEAT FLOUR, COARSE
-# WHEAT FLOUR, FINE 100, B
i & PUDDING POWDER, COARSE
r A PUDDING POWDER, FINE
I 1 1 1 I I
2 1 6 8 10 12 H 16 5 10 15
WEI6HT-PR0CENT MOISTURE **. WEIGHT PERCENT MOISTURE
Figure 19.1. Effect of moisture content on the minimal Figure 19.2. Effect of moisture content on the explo-
ignition energy (MIE) of two powders. sion severity of some agricultural dusts.
Table 19.1. Relation of Particle Size (Length) to Particle (Specific) Surface Area and Volume
(Particles in the Form of Cubes; Density = 1000 kg/m 3 ).
PARTICLE
PARTICLE SPECIFIC NUMBER OF
PARTICLE SURFACE PARTICLE PARTICLE SURFACE PARTICLES
LENGTH AREA VOLUME MASS AREA PER KG
(Aim) (m 2 ) (m3) (kg) (m 2 /kg) (kg" 1 )
(1 10" 6 m )
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN POWDER HANDLING AND PROCESSING 851
(bar]
10*
OPTICAL
BRIGHTENER
io3
10"
POIY-
> ETHYLENE
19.3.5 Oxygen Content of Oxidizer Gas Figure 19.5. Influence of mean particle diameter on
minimum explosible concentration for three different
As one would expect, both explosion violence dusts in 20-liter USBM vessel.
and ignition sensitivity increase with increas-
ing oxygen concentration, as shown in Figure
852 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
EXPLOSION
RATE
1
/
MIN. IGN
ENERGY
\
V.
1
c
Cjtoich worst case
DUST CONCENTRATION
50
19.7. Furthermore, as shown in this figure, the
explosible dust concentration range was nar-
rowed, in particular on the fuel-rich side, as
the oxygen content decreased. Figure 19.8
shows the influence of oxygen content on the 500 1000 1500
specific place, so that rapid air movement in- Figure 19.10. Influence of initial temperature of dust
duced by turbulence shortens the length of clouds on minimum explosible dust concentration in air
time that particles are present within a given at 1 bar (abs.).
volume; thus the particles have less time avail-
able to be activated, and therefore require minimum ignition energy (MIE) decreases, as
more energy. shown in Figure 19.11. The influence of in-
creasing temperature on Pmax and (dp/dt)max
19.3.7 Initial Temperature of is shown in Figure 19.12.
Dust Clouds 19.3.8 Initial Pressure of Dust Clouds
As the initial temperature of a dust cloud Increasing the initial pressure results in an
increases, the minimum explosible dust con- increase in both P max and (dp/dt)maK as shown
centration (LEL) decreases (see Fig. 19.10). in Figure 19.13. The influence of increasing
Also, as the initial temperature increases, the pressure on minimum explosible concentration
is illustrated in Figure 19.14.
120i 30,000
19.3.9 Effect of Inert Gas on Dust
Maximum Pressure
(Turbulent)
Increasing the concentration of gaseous inerts
100- 25,000
in air decreases the oxygen concentration and
has the effects discussed in Section 19.3.5. The
80- 20,000 9
Maximum Pressure
(Nonturbulent)
•DYEC
60- 15,000*
E
i 103
x
40- 10,000 o S 102
I
20- 5,000 1 10
MAIZE
I STARCH CELLULOSE,
HERBICIDE
LYCOPODIUM
8 10 12 I 10"
Methane, Percent 10 50 100 500 1000
10"
INITIAL TEMPERATURE OF DUST CLOUD [°C]
Figure 19.9. Maximum pressure and rate of pressure
rise for turbulent and nonturbulent methane/air mix- Figure 19.11. Influence of initial temperature of dust
tures in a 1 ft3 closed vessel. cloud on minimum electric spark ignition energy.
854 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
6 -
£ 4
1
2 -
Figure 19.12. Influence of initial temperature of dust cloud on explosion development in 1 m 3 closed vessel.
Bituminous coal dust in air.
200
il^ 1 150
P 100 -
COAL POLYETHYLENE
II 50 _
METHANE
4 8 12
roads where operating people may pass. If room. Vent ducts increase the pressure on the
toxic or other very hazardous materials are discharge side of the vent, owing to frictional
processed in the equipment to be protected, pressure drop, so that the reduced explosion
then venting as a protective measure should pressure in the vessel can increase significantly
not be used. Recoil forces on the vented vessel in comparison to the situation in which there
or equipment may cause failure of supports if is no vent duct.
they are not taken into account. If vessels or The sizing of deflagration vents is based
equipment provided with deflagration vents on research done primarily in Germany,
are located inside a room, vent ducts should Switzerland, and Norway3'4 and is summarized
be installed to discharge the flames, combus- in NFPA 681 and the books by Lunn,12'14
tion products, and pressure to outside of the Bartknecht,3 and Eckhoff.4 The sizing method
858 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
^s s \X\
yVV > s y y
\>Ov ( ^k X\ y y
ss •s ' s <\^>^ fy i>
y V v Si y ^y
\ s^ ^ J
>< s
^ sy \* A • *
v\y>yy
yy
si t X ^/ 5
t
y^
s^ S| y^
y
^s \ ' -jtr
/ / '' y*K
s^ ^^ s _ IS —— - •• ^ A
' y^ / / ' ''yy
Sw' t i \J*y y <' y
NX, s s
SNTO »
y t'.y y r,
SSIvvx * ^ ss \ y ^y
s s s Sv y* >
\y\ 1
<y
^s
sS s ,\ y
y y > *t t*<~yyyy^^
yy y* ^y > £* + '\ 'y'
sX > yy* r t^ / 1 '* t > I
| ^S
V \x/v S '-yy
y^s ~? / '
5 yy_y *y y
ss^^Sy ss^^s?
XV jyjy y
^yy
s y^
X0.1 1 1000
Vessel V o l u m e , m 3
Figure 19.15. Venting nomograph for dusts—P max = 0.1 bar ga.
P
red' ba rga
0.2 s
0.4 s
06 s
\
0.8 s
1.0 s \ Os
\
\
\ k ^
/
Dus1 class St - 1
UUS1 c ass St -2
2.0 >s
V^ y y' 4*<\
\X
/
3_
\\ v \ y yl'*>\
v y *i i
^ v^xyy
\ is V A**
^y
[
y y
s
\
s yy
\ y y /*
X *'' r
^y* y*
4i
\$y <y* y
\ '
s yS
yy
\ ^?y I
\ \ y\
*yyS
\S
1
\
0.1 1 10 1000
'' Vent Area, m 2 Vessel Volume, m 3
Figure 19.16. Venting nomograph for classes of dusts—Pmax = 0.1 bar ga.
860 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
The principles of suppression are shown in The extinguishing subsystem consists of one
Figure 19.17. It is technically feasible to sup- or more high rate discharge (HRD) extin-
press explosions in vessels with volumes up to guishers charged with agent and propellant.
1000 m3.15 Suppression systems are normally Normally dry nitrogen is used to propel the
used only for dust classes St-1 and St-2. It is agent. The propellant overpressure is normally
possible only in some exceptional cases to in the range of 2 to 6 MPa (300 to 900 psig),
suppress dust class St-3 explosions. depending on the supplier. Explosively opened
A deflagration suppression system consists valves, usually 70 to 125 mm in diameter,
of three basic subsystems for (1) detection, (2) ensure rapid agent delivery which is critical to
extinguishment, and (3) control and supervi- effective suppression. One of several types of
sion. Incipient deflagrations are detected using extinguishing agents are employed, usually
pressure detectors, rate of pressure rise, or selected from among the following:
"rate" detectors, or optical flame detectors.
Optical detectors, employing ultraviolet radia- 1. Water
tion sensors, are preferred in unenclosed envi- 2. Dry chemical formulations based on sodium
ronments with nonabsorbing ultraviolet atmo- bicarbonate or monoammonium phosphate
spheres. Examples of such environments are 3. Halon substitutes (halons, which were used
solvent storage and pump rooms and aerosol for many years, are being phased out be-
filling rooms. Pressure detectors are employed cause of their deleterious effect on the
in closed process equipment and particularly ozone layer).
where dusty atmospheres prevail. Rate detec-
tors find use in processes that operate at pres- The extinguishing mechanisms whereby each
sures significantly above or below atmospheric. agent works is a combination of thermal
quenching (100% in the case of water) and
chemical inhibition, a discussion of which is
beyond the scope of this chapter. The selec-
1) OUST CLOUD IGNITES ^SUPPRESSOR
Q ^ ~ EXPLOSION DETECTOR tion of agent is usually based on several con-
siderations such as effectiveness, toxicity,
-DUST IGNITES
product compatibility, residual inerting, and
volatility. The halons are particularly versatile
agents but are now subject to production
2) EXPLOSION DETECTED phase-out owing to their adverse effect on
Q ^ - DETECTOR SENSES
stratospheric ozone. Alternative environmen-
tally safe chemicals are being developed by
-FIREBALL GROWS
several chemical manufacturers but these re-
main to be proven effective in explosion pro-
3) SUPPRESSOR ACTIVATED
tection applications. As such, dry chemical
Q ^•SUPPRESSOR DISCHARGES
INTO VESSEL
agents are more commonly specified in sup-
pression applications.
-FIREBALL CONTINUES
TO GROW
Control of these systems is achieved using
an electronic power supply having battery
4) FIREBALL EXTINGUISHED
back-up power. This unit supervises the sup-
Q y SUPPRESSANT CONCENTRATION
SUFFICIENT TO EXTINGUISH
pression system circuitry to ensure integrity of
EXPLOSION the system and supplies the current to dis-
FIREBALL EXTINGUISHED
charge the explosive actuators employed to
open the HRD extinguishers. Normally the
process being protected by the suppression
Figure 19.17. Principle of suppression. system is automatically shut down on detec-
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN POWDER HANDLING AND PROCESSING 861
298
R' =R
273 +
Figure 19.18. Schematic diagram of an explosion sup- • Automatic fast acting closing valves
pression system. • Suppressant barriers
862 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
SUPPRESSANT BARRIER
EXPLOSION OETECTOfl-,
EXPLOSION ISOLATION VALVE
Table 19.4. Appropriate Means for Preventing and Mitigating Dust Explosions in Chemical
Process Plant.
O
MEANS OF a
EXPLOSION
PREVENTION /
I
MITIGATION
g
u
o
Q
O
o I o
o
o
CRUSHING
PH
O
I s
AND o O
MILLING
EQUIPMENT
u
o
Q
I O
3
o
< Q
OH
X
w
Ball mills X (X) (X) X (X)
Vibratory mills (X) (X) X (X)
Crushers X (X) X (X) (X)
Roll mills X (X)
Screen mills (X) X (X)
Air jet mills (X) X (X)
Pin mills (X) (X) X (X) (X)
Impact mills (X) X (X) (X)
Rotary knife cutters (X) X (X) (X)
Hammer mills (X) (X) X (X) (X)
17
From Nona, 1989.
for example, plate and belt dryers. They can table, elimination of ignition sources by proper
also be designed in dust-tight and gas-tight design is the most commonly used method, but
construction. Two good references on dryer inerting and even venting is frequently used.
safety are the book by Abbott18 and the article
by Gibson et al.19
19.7.4 Conveyors and Dust
Removal Equipment
19.7.3 Powder Mixers
Conveyors for powders and bulk solids are
Powder mixing can be accomplished in both available as mechanical conveyors or pneu-
batch and continuous mixers, which are avail-
matic conveyors.
able in a variety of designs. Among these are
Pneumatic conveying systems normally have
tumbling mixers (V-type and double-cone),
the greatest proclivity for dust explosions and
orbiting screw, U-trough, and fluidized bed.
fires among conveyors, for the following
Those with rotating mixing elements (orbiting
reasons:
screw, U-trough) can cause friction sparks if
the elements come in contact with the wall of
the vessel. Table 19.6 lists protection methods 1. Generation of static electricity by contact
for preventing and mitigating dust explosions between particles themselves and between
in powder mixers. As can be seen from the particles and the pipewall.
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN POWDER HANDLING AND PROCESSING 865
Table 19.5. Appropriate Means for Preventing and Mitigating Dust Explosions in Chemical
Process Plant.
w
u
MEANS OF o
EXPLOSION u
PREVENTION / J
OH
o
w I
MITIGATION X
a
O
POWDER
§
DRYERS §
2. The possibility of dust concentrations within considerations in conveying of bulk solids and
the explosible range at the delivery point powders, including recommendations about
where the dust is separated from the air protective techniques. NFPA 65021 also dis-
(silos, cyclones, bag houses). cusses safety aspects of pneumatic conveying
3. The possibility that heated particles created systems. Dust collectors and cyclones have ex-
during grinding or drying may be carried in perienced fires and explosions in many pro-
a pneumatic transport system and fanned to cesses, and protective techniques must be pro-
a glow by the high air velocity. These can vided for them. Palmer6 pays specific atten-
then cause an ignition in the storage or tion to dust explosions in cyclones and dust
collection system at the end of the pneu- collectors. Factory Mutual Engineering Cor-
matic conveyor. Tramp metal in pneumatic poration (FMEC) also presents information on
systems may also cause frictional heating or protecting dust collectors.22 Venting and sup-
sparks as it is passed through the system. pression are commonly used for dust collector
protection. Also, some manufacturers of cylin-
Mechanical conveyors are less prone to fires drical dust collectors can design them for 50
and explosions than pneumatic conveyors, but psig which will contain a deflagration. Table
they also can experience them if adequate 19.7 lists appropriate techniques for prevent-
design and operational precautions are not ing and mitigating dust explosions in convey-
taken into account. Grossel20 discusses safety ing and dust removal equipment.
866 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Table 19.6. Appropriate Means for Preventing and Mitigating Dust Explosions in Chemical
Process Plant.
MEANS OF
UJ
U
O
I
EXPLOSION u
PREVENTION / X
MITIGATION UJ
O 1
3 o o
B 2
o
u.
POWDER §
MIXERS I CQ O
1
o o
H
B
With mixing tools:
High-speed (X) (X) X (X) (X)
Low-speed (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)
Without mixing tools
Drum mixers (X) (X) X (X)
Tumbling mixers (X) (X) X (X)
Double cone mixers (X) (X) X (X)
Air flow mixers:
Fluidized bed mixers X (X) (X)
Air mixers X (X) (X)
From Noha, 1989.17
Additional protective measures for dust col- alert operating personnel that unfiltered
lectors should include the following: dust may be emitting into the atmosphere.
This is especially important if the dust is
1. Water deluge spray headers on the clean toxic.
side above the bags or cartridges to extin-
guish a fire. The water supply piping to the
19.7.5 General Recommendations
deluge header may be hardpiped if the bag
house is indoors or in a warm climate, or a The discussion in the previous sections and
dry-pipe system should be used if the bag the recommended preventative and mitigating
house is outdoors in a cold climate where methods listed in Tables 19.4, 19.5, 19.6, and
freeze-up may occur. 19.7 should be regarded as only a starting
2. High-temperature sensor and alarm to warn point for further investigation rather than a
of a possible fire inside the bag house. This final answer. The protection technique finally
may be interlocked with an automated block chosen will be the result of detailed analysis of
valve in the water supply piping to the many relevant factors for each specific type of
deluge spray header. equipment. These will include economics, im-
3. Proper grounding of the bag house to dissi- pact of the protective measures on nearby
pate electrostatic charges. equipment and people, and the fact that some
4. A broken bag detector with an alarm to protective measures are not suitable for cer-
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS IN POWDER HANDLING AND PROCESSING 867
Table 19.7. Appropriate Means for Preventing and Mitigating Dust Explosions in Chemical
Process Plant.
MEANS OF
EXPLOSION
PREVENTION/ X
MITIGATION
POWDER/DUST pq
I
CONVEYORS AND PQ
DUST REMOVAL O
EQUIPMENT
B
I
W
tain types of equipment because of their con- 7. P. R. Amyotte and M. J. Pegg, Proceedings of the
26th Annual AIChE Loss Prevention Symposium
struction or design.
(1992).
8. J. Cross, Electrostatics: Principles, Problems, and
Applications, Adam Hilger (IOC Publishing Ltd.),
Bristol, UK (1987).
REFERENCES 9. H. Haase, Electrostatic Hazards: Their Evaluation
and Control, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, West
1. NFPA 68, Venting of Deflagrations, National Fire Germany and New York (1977) (English transla-
Protection Association, Quincy, MA (1994). tion by M. Wald).
2. NFPA 69, Explosion Prevention Systems, National 10. M. Glor, Electrostatic Hazards in Powder Handling,
Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA (1992). John Wiley & Sons, New York (1988).
3. W. Bartknecht, Dust Explosions-Course, Prevention, 11. G. Luttgens and M. Glor, Understanding and Con-
Protection, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, and trolling Static Electricity, Expert Verlag, Ehningen
New York (1989) (English Translation). bei Boblingen, Germany (1989).
4. R. K. Eckhoff, Dust Explosions in the Process Indus- 12. G. Lunn, Dust Explosion Prevention and Protection,
tries, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., Oxford, UK and Part 1—Venting, 2nd edit., Institution of Chemical
Boston, MA (1991). Engineers, Rugby, England (1992).
5. P. Field, Dust Explosions (Handbook of Powder 13. C. Schofield and J. A. Abbott, Guide to Dust Explo-
Technology, Vol, 4), Elsevier, Amsterdam, The sion Prevention and Protection, Part 2—Ignition Pre-
Netherlands (1982). vention, Containment, Inerting, Suppression and Iso-
6. K. N. Palmer, Dust Explosions and Fires, Chapman lation, Institution of Chemical Engineers, Rugby,
Hall, London, UK (1973). UK (1988).
868 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
14. G. A. Lunn, Guide to Dust Explosion Prevention and Dryers: A User Guide, Institution of Chemical Engi-
Protection, Part 3—Venting of Weak Explosions and neers, Rugby, UK (1990).
the Effect of Vent Ducts, Institution of Chemical 19. N. Gibson, D. J. Harper, and R. L. Rogers,
Engineers, Rugby, UK (1988). Plant /Operat. Prog. 4:181-189 (1985).
15. P. E. Moore and W. Bartknecht, Proceedings of 20. S. S. Grossel, / . Loss Prevent. Proc. Indust. i:62-74
the International Loss Prevention Symposium, (April 1988).
Cannes, France (September 1986). 21. NFPA 650, Pneumatic Conveying Systems, National
16. J. A. Noronha, M. T. Merry, and W. C. Reid, Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA (1989).
Plant/Operat. Prog. 7(1) (January 1982).
22. FMEC, Loss Prevention Data Sheet 7-73, Dust
17. K. Noha, VDI—Berichte, No. 701, pp. 681-693
Collectors, Factory Mutual Engineering Corpora-
(1989).
tion, Norwood, MA (1991).
18. J. Abbott (ed.), Prevention of Fires and Explosions in
20
Respirable Dust Hazards
B. H. Kaye
CONTENTS
United States alone it was estimated that over In occupational hygiene studies respirable
500,000 workers and dependents received dust is defined as dust having an aerodynamic
compensations for coal miner's lung (a disease diameter of less than 5 jLtm. The exact value of
also called pneumoconiosis and black lung).3 this limiting upper size varies slightly from one
Good industrial housekeeping in Western country to another. Thus the value is 7 /jun in
industrial countries has reduced a problem of Great Britain. The significance of this upper
dust-initiated diseases to the problems of size limit is that in general dust fineparticles
long-term exposure to low levels of dangerous below this size can reach down into the alveoli
dusts.4'5 In this brief review of dust diseases it of the lung where there are fewer clearance
is not possible to do more than present the mechanisms to defend the lung.3
basic concepts involved in the hazards posed In the early days of occupational hygiene,
by respirable dust and to review some of the when one was concerned with the removal of
more widely spread diseases along with refer- gross amounts of dust, the aerodynamic diam-
ences to further studies of such diseases. eter of a flneparticle was a sufficient measure.
In occupational health and hygiene the term Today, however, as we are concerned with
"respirable dust" has a specific meaning. To more exotic dusts such as fumes from nuclear
understand what is meant by respirable dust reactors and the detailed properties of such
in occupational health and hygiene studies pollutants as diesel exhausts, the aerodynamic
consider the drawing of the lung shown in diameter is only one of several parameters
Figure 20.1.6 that must be measured to adequately charac-
When looking at dust hazards, scientists do terize the relevant properties of a dangerous
not always know the density of the various dust. Thus, in Figure 20.2, three sets of
types of fineparticles present in a dust. For isoaerodynamic diameter dust fineparticles of
this reason many occupational health studies different types, as prepared using the Stober
make use of a parameter known as the aerody- centrifuge, are shown.7'8
namic diameter of a fineparticle. The aerody- In this diagram, circles depicting the aero-
namic diameter is defined as the size of a dynamic diameter of the fineparticles and the
sphere of unit density that would have the Stokes diameter are shown. The Stokes diame-
same falling speed as the dust flneparticle. ter is defined as the diameter of the sphere
having the same density as the fineparticles
that has the same falling speed as the dust
fineparticles. It can be seen that the aerody-
namic and Stokes diameters of the coal
fineparticles are smaller than the physical size
of the dust.9 This is because coal has micro-
pores, making it of lighter density than that of
the nominal material. It can be seen that if the
particles are relatively compact then the dust
particles are almost the same size as the aero-
dynamic size, but as they get more jagged they
are considerably larger than the aerodynamic
size. For such profiles it can be shown that the
fractal dimension, a measure of the rugged-
ness of the structure, is a useful parameter for
Figure 20.1. Respirable dust, in occupational health characterizing the significant parameters of the
and hygiene, refers strictly to particles having an aero- dust fineparticles. The fractal dimensions of
dynamic diameter of 5 /im or less. This is the size that
can penetrate to the alveoli where there are no cilia to
the isoaerodynamic dust particles are shown
clean the dust from the lung. below each profile.10"12 The fineparticles
RESPIRABLE DUST HAZARDS 871
Aerodynamic Stokes
Diameter 1 8 Diameter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
o
0.9|iim 1.09 1.11 1.05 1.17 1.18 1.15 1.12 1.17 0.6|Lim
Thorium Dioxide
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
O « * 4 $
0.4 Jim
1.03 |im 1B03 1.05 1.05 1.19 1.32 1.08 1.32 1.40
1.0 |nm
Figure 20.2. Within groups of isoaerodynamic fineparticles, fineparticles of the same aerodynamic diameter,
increasing physical size within a group appears to accompany increasing fractal dimension. 7 " 9 ' 12
shown in Figure 20.2 are essentially silhou- In the higher parts of the lung, leading to
ettes. If one looks at the actual profile of the the alveoli, there are hairlike organs called
highly rugged thorium dioxide, as depicted in cilia. These cilia, with a whiplike action, move
the original publication, it can be seen to be the dust up into the trachea where they are
very porous. If one were trying to measure the either swallowed, moving into the digestive
burden of adsorbed cancer-causing chemicals system, or they can be spat out of the mouth.
carried by such dust into the lung, the use of One particular type of dust, which is very open
the simplified aerodynamics as a characteristic structured, is diesel exhaust fumes. Thus in
parameter would lead to a gross underesti- Figure 20.3 a set of diesel oil combustion soot
mate of the hazard. Also the surface reactivity products are shown at high magnification.13
of such rugged profiles would be far greater Such fineparticles have very low aerodynamic
than anticipated for the measured aerody- diameter and move with the inflow of breath.
namic diameter. To characterize such haz- However, because of the large, real size they
ardous dusts fully one needs not only the are easily captured on the walls of the tubes
aerodynamic diameter but also the physical feeding the alveoli. There is some indication
size, which would govern the ability of the dust that workers exposed to diesel exhaust fumes
fineparticle to lodge in the wall of the lung. can suffer from cancer of the bladder, which
The fractal dimension of rugged fineparticles would indicate that the diesel exhaust finepar-
would help in the assessment of the hazard ticles are not penetrating the lung but are
burden or reactivity of the fineparticle.12 being expelled into the digestive system by the
872 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Figure 20.3. Soot fineparticles from free-burning diesel fuel are open-structured and fluffy with enormous surface
area capable of carrying large loads of adsorbed carcinogenic combustion chemicals into the body. This type of
dangerous dust has small aerodynamic size but large physical size and is easily captured in the higher regions of
the lung before reaching the alveoli.12'13
cilia and subsequent swallowing of the soot 20.4 the synergistic interaction of cigarette
bearing mucus causes problems in the smoking and the exposure to asbestos dust in
bladder.14 shipyard workers is illustrated.15"17
Although respirable dust is considered the A possible aggravation of the lung by
major candidate for causing lung diseases such cigarette smoking is a contentious issue be-
as pneumoconiosis and silicosis, lung cancer tween the mining industry and the unions at
often starts higher in the lung on the walls of the time of this writing.17'18
the bronchioles and the bronchus. It is thought Many different instruments are used to
that this is due to the fact that factors in some monitor dust levels in the working environ-
individual lifestyles damage the cilia, interfer- ment and it is possible in this chapter only to
ing with the cleaning mechanisms. The subse- give an indication of two or three of the mod-
quent irritation of such sites by the inhaled ern monitoring technologies.3'19"21 The physi-
dust initiates the development of a cancer. For cal design of one of the instruments that splits
example, it is believed that the nicotine in dust to be characterized into respirable and
cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia interfering coarse dust fractions is the dichotomous
with their ability to clear dust from the lungs. sampler shown in Figure 20.5. n ' 19
The interaction of a lifestyle factor with the The fractionation achieved in the dichoto-
physical danger from a respirable dust is de- mous aerosol sampler is based on the principle
scribed as a synergistic interaction. In Figure of impaction used in many different aerosol
RESPIRABLE DUST HAZARDS 873
a) b)
Coarse finparticles
pass through the
virtual surface into
the container
c)
Coarse
fineparticles Hole in a plate
centrifuged into acts as the jet
container
Filter to collect
Fines coarse fraction and
carried allow air flow
away with
airstream
V 4 9 t h of total airflow
Filter to collect
respirable fines
to Pump
Figure 20.5. Impactors are often used to separate coarse fineparticles from a stream of dusty air. (a) A simple jet
impactor deposits coarse fineparticles on a surface by centrifugal action on the airstream. (b) A virtual impactor
addresses some of the problems associated with a simple impactor by using a reservoir of trapped air to capture
coarse fineparticles. (c) The dichotomous sampler allows a small airflow through the collection chamber to prevent
resonance vibration of the virtual surface.
efficiency membrane filter to collect the res- In Figure 20.7 a new system based on an
pirable dust. The personal cyclones used to instrument known as TEOM being used by the
monitor working air in places such as mines Bureau of Mines and other scientists to evalu-
have flow rates and dimensions so that only ate respirable dust is shown. The term TEOM
dust with aerodynamic diameters smaller than stands for Tapered Element Oscillating
5/xm can pass onto the filter. At the end of a Microbalance. The name describes the essen-
working shift the filter is removed and the tial element of Figure 20.7a shown separately
weight of powder deposited recorded.3'20 in Figure 20.7b.
RESPIRABLE DUST HAZARDS 875
Air being
sampled
enters the ""
cyclone at the
outside edge,
tangentially
Top View
Incoming Air
Coarse, larger
than respirable, Fines spiral in to
fineparticles are vortex finder
thrown out to the
side by centrifugal Coarse <^
action and slide fineparticles
down to the grit centrifuged to
pot side
It is interesting to note that the TEOM Because of the way in which it works, the
monitor evolved from space research projects orientation of the device is immaterial; it can
aimed at measuring the mass of dust grains be used upside-down or on its side depending
encountered in the tails of comets. In space on the available space for mounting the de-
one cannot weigh objects because they do not vice. When measuring dust in the work envi-
have weight in the absence of a large gravita- ronment the device is equipped with the
tional field. The TEOM device measures the prestage of a cyclone that removes anything
mass of a fineparticle from the change in the other than respirable dust from the air stream.
oscillating behavior of the equipment as Fineparticles having respirable diameters, that
the dust accumulates on the filter at the top of is, smaller than 5 jxm aerodynamic diameter,
the tapered element shown in Figure 20.7b. are deposited on the filter and after the end of
876 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
i
Respirable dust
a) b) drawn in
Replaceable
filter
Respirable
dust drawn
out the
vortex finder
Dusty
air in
Coarse
dust
centrifuged
out
a shift, the miner brings the TEOM element gave rise to an illness known as pneumoconio-
to a central point where the deposited mass sis, also known as black lung. This caused
from operation during a working shift is mea- emphysema, and in severe cases, lung cancer.
sured. The system is shown in Figure 20.8.21"24 The disease was particularly prevalent among
the hard coal miners of South Wales, where
they mine the very dense coal known as an-
20.2 SPECIFIC RESPIRABLE DUST thracite. It was not always clear where the
HAZARDS IN INDUSTRY health hazard came from. Some workers be-
lieve that it was the presence of silica in the
Historically, one of the major areas of disease coal, or in adjacent seams to where the coal
from industrial dust was in the mining indus- was being mined, that gave rise to the health
try, where deposits of coal dust in the lung hazards. It is hard to realize how working
RESPIRABLE DUST HAZARDS 877
A major dust health hazard is posed by the level of asbestos dust. The main type of as-
handling of asbestos. Unfortunately the term bestos, mined in South Africa, is one of the
asbestos is a generic term referring to various amphibole materials called crocidolite that is
forms of mixed metal-oxide-silicates.33 The known by the popular name of "blue asbestos."
physical appearance and chemical names of Industry used to prefer to use amphibole as-
the two main groups of asbestos compounds bestos for making fireproof pipes and building
are shown in Figure 20.9. There is consider- materials owing to its long straight fibers.
able controversy over what constitutes a safe Chrysotile, which is the main asbestos mined
a)
Amphiboles
Serpentine
Chrysotile
(White Asbestos)
b) Amphiboles Serpentine
Crocidolite Amosite Anthophyllite Chrysotile
Composition Na 2 O Fe 2 O 4 5 5FeO 7MgO 8SiO 2 3MgO 2SiO 2
H2O 8SiO 2 H 2 O
in Canada, has curly fibers, which is preferred Such disturbance to the genetic structure of
for use in the making of fireproof blankets and the cell can either be chemical (giving us the
clothing for industrial workers. Chrysotile is term carcinogenic chemicals) or physical, such
not as dangerous as amphibole asbestos be- as direct damage caused by penetration of a
cause its curliness prevents penetration into long spearlike fiber into the center of the
the lung when inhaled. Also the material is living cell. We have already shown in Figure
more soluble in body fluids than blue 20.4 that deaths of asbestos workers in the
asbestos.34'35 Belfast shipyards can be greatly increased by
Blue asbestos becomes more dangerous as the synergistic effects of cigarette smoking. It
it is handled because the fibers break down to is believed that asbestos fiber damage, when
smaller, more easily respirable sizes. Thus it is cigarette smoke is present, probably arises
least dangerous to the miners and has proven from the fact that carcinogenic chemicals in
to be very dangerous for workers who remove cigarette smoke are adsorbed onto the fibers
fire insulation from old ships that are being and that the chemical hazard is greatly in-
stripped down into useful materials. For the creased by the fact that the adsorption process
same reason there is some controversy as to increases the chemical activity of the adsorbed
whether it is safe to remove asbestos used as chemicals. Thus some chemicals appear to be
fire insulation in buildings. Some people argue 15 times more active when adsorbed onto fibers
that it should simply be sprayed with a sealant of asbestos than when present as a simple
and left in place because it is more dangerous chemical spray. Some scientists, who believe
to actually remove the material.35 that the major problem with asbestos is the
At one time there was a great deal of de- fibrous nature of the dust, urge great caution
bate over the safety of chrysotile asbestos but be taken in replacing asbestos with ceramic
the debate was clouded by the fact that fibers which may cause the same problem.36"40
chrysotile, as mined in Canada, contains a At one time, talcum powder contained as-
small amount of tremolite. Industrial pro- bestos and although it has been removed from
cesses are being developed to remove the modern products, in North America one should
tremolite to increase the safety of asbestos. be aware that sometimes unauthorized impor-
Several diseases are attributed to the in- tation of cosmetic material from the third
halation of asbestos fibers. The simplest is world may result in the individual being ex-
known as white lung in which the lung suffers posed to dangerous levels of asbestos.
from a burden of deposited asbestos fibers Strict industrial procedures for handing as-
that create emphysema and eventually lung bestos fibers have been introduced and the
cancer. The most dangerous disease caused by regulations of various countries should be
inhalation of asbestos fiber is known by the studied for detailed information.
term mesotheloma, which is a cancer of the One of the problems when working with
lining of the lung cavity. It is believed that various types of dust is that changes in indus-
mesotheloma is caused by fibers less than 1.5 trial practice have made previously safe dusts
/jum in diameter and greater than 8 /im in a possible problem. Thus, for many years car-
length. It is believed that such fibers, when penters and furniture workers have worked
they are trapped in the lung, work their way with low-speed tools on natural woods. The
through the lung wall, as they move during the switch to bonded plywoods and chip boards, in
act of breathing, and that they then pierce the which there is synthetic glue, and the working
walls of the cells of the lung lining, damaging of such woods with high-speed tools can cause
the genetic structure of the cell and resulting the chemical breakdown of the glue by means
in the start of a cancer. Cancer in general is a of the heat generated during working pro-
disease caused by malfunctioning of the ge- cesses. The dust in such an environment is
netic information in the nucleus of living cells. potentially carcinogenic because of the glue
880 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
byproducts deposited on the dust. This is a word that has the same meaning as the En-
possible explanation of the fact that recently it glish word dregs. It is the residue, or dregs, of
has been found that there is a high incidence the sugar cane harvest.
of nasal cancer in modern industrial wood- One should always be careful of dust gener-
working environments.41"43 ated in a poorly ventilated atmosphere. Thus
Histoplasmosis is a lung disease caused by recently an industrial disease has been de-
infection with a fungus of the fungal family tected among hairdressers who work with cos-
genohistoplasma. It is marked by the benign metic sprays in a poorly ventilated atmos-
involvement of lymph nodes of the trachea phere. This disease has been given the name
and bronchi. Usually the condition is one of thesarosis. Unless the worker is protected with
emphysema but it can proceed to a dangerous a proper respirator, welding fumes can cause
level. Cases have been known among workers problems.47 Older hazards that are now basi-
who work with musty books in poorly venti- cally controlled are such problems as police
lated secondhand book stores and among officers being subjected to lead poisoning by
people who knock down musty swallows' nests breathing the lead aerosols produced when
in old agricultural buildings. Agricultural firing guns using lead bullets in the confined
workers generally can suffer health problems space of a firing range. Dentists started to
caused by inhaling fungal spores from things suffer from a form of silicosis from the debris
such as moldy hay. Also dusts prevalent in from high-speed drills using in dental work
granaries can cause health problems.44"46 before it was appreciated that it was necessary
Such health hazards are not necessarily con- to wear masks to protect the dental worker
fined to the farm. The writer knows of a case against such problems. Artists are not always
where a player suffered an asthma attack aware of the fact that making such items as
caused by the fungal spores leaving a moldy stained glass windows, which involves the sol-
straw broom when playing the game of curling. dering of lead strips, can also give the workers
In curling, the player vigorously sweeps the ice lead poisoning from the aerosol generated
in the front of the moving stone, known as "a during the act of soldering.
rock," to help the rock go farther. The cloud
of fungal spores released from the moldy
broom during such a game initiated a severe
allergy attack that required hospital treatment.
REFERENCES
Byssinosis is a disease that affects cotton
workers who breathe in many small fragments 1. M. J. Allison, "Paleo-Pathology in Peru," Natural
of the fibers used to make the cotton. The History February 1979, pp. 74-82.
term byssinosis comes from the Hebrew word 2. D. Hunter, The Diseases of Occupations, 6th edit.
Bysisus, meaning fine white linen. It is essen- (1978); first published 1955, Hodder & Stoughton.
tially a disease of textile workers who work See especially Chapter 14, "The Pneumoconioses."
with many different natural fibers. Medical 3. F. P. Perera and A. Karim Ahmed, Respirable Parti-
cles; The Impact of Airborne Fineparticles on Health
experts do not class byssinosis as a true pneu-
and the Environment, Ballinger Publishing Com-
moconiosis because fibrosis of the lung does pany, Cambridge, MA, a subsidiary of Harper &
not occur in this disease. In the textile indus- Row (1979).
try byssinosis is often known as brown lung. 4. H. Gavaghan, "Healthy Miners but Fewer Jobs,"
Bagassocis is another respiratory illness New Scientist, March 15, 1984, p. 22.
caused by inhaling fungal spores and fibrous 5. "Evaluation of Coal Mining Technology," Publica-
tions Officer, The Technical Chain Center, 114
dust produced by storing the waste products of
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 4ES. This article
the sugar cane processing industry. Bagasse is contains information on dust diseases in coal
the name given to the fibrous residue left from miners.
the processing of sugar cane. It is a Spanish 6. Bloor, Science Spectrum.
RESPIRABLE DUST HAZARDS 881
7. Reproduced from B. H. Kaye, A Randomwalk mation Circular, 1986, United States Department
Through Fractal Dimensions. VCH Publishers, of the Interior.
Weinheim, Germany (1989). 22. H. Patashinck and G. Ruppercht, "Microweighing
8. W. Stober and H. Flachsbart, Environ. Sci. Technol. Goes on Line in Real Time," Research and Devel-
3:1280 (1969). opment, Technical Publishing, June 1986.
9. P. Kotrappa, "Shape Factors for Aerosols of Coal, 23. Commercial information available from Ruppercht
Uranium Dioxide in the Respirable Size Range," and Patashinck Inc., 17 Maple Road, P.O. Box 330,
in Assessment of Airborne Particles, edited by Voorheesville, NY 12186.
T. Mercer, E. Morrow and W. Stober, Charles 24. H. Patashnick and G. Rupprecht, "Advances in
C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, Ch. 16 (1973). Microweighing Technology," Reprinted from Am.
10. B. H. Kaye, "The Physical Significance of the Lab., July 1986, pp.
Fractal Structure of Some Respirable Dusts," in 25. G. R. Yourt, "Gravimetric Sampler Assesses Risk
preparation. of Silicosis," Canadian Mining Journal, October
11. For a discussion of the concepts of aerodynamic 1972, pp. 46, 48 and 49.
diameters and Stokes diameter and the design of 26. C. J. Williams and R. E. Hallee, "An Industrial
equipment for measuring aerosol size distribution Hazard—Silica Dust," Am. Lab., pp. 17-27.
in the working environment see B. H. Kaye, Direct 27. H. W. Glindmeyer and Y. H. Hammad, "Contrib-
Characterization of Fineparticles, John Wiley & Sons, uting Factors of Sand Blasters Silicosis: Inadequate
New York (1981). See also Characterizing Powders Respiratory Equipment and Standards," J. Occup.
and Mists, to be published by VCH Publishers in Med. 30(12):911-921 (1988).
Weinheim, Germany. The anticipated publication 28. See M. Hamer, "Fiberglass Linked to Lung Dis-
date is June 1997. ease," New Scientist, October 24, 1992, p. 4.
12. For a discussion of the fractal structure of dust 29. "The Case Against Aluminum," Can. Res., pp.
fineparticles and the techniques used for measuring 32-35, March 1988.
the boundary fractals of respirable dust see B. H. 30. W. Glenn, "Aluminum: Can It Damage the Brain?"
Kaye, A Randomwalk Through Fractal Dimensions, Occup. Health Safety Can. 2(6), 1986.
2nd edit., VCH Publishers, Weinheim (1994). 31. L. Tataryn, "Some Miners Are Dying for a Living,"
13. R. G. Pinnick, T. Fernandez, B. D. Hinds, C. W. Toronto Star, Tuesday, September 18, 1979, p. A10.
Bruce, R. W. Schaefer, and J. D. Pendleton, "Dust 32. P. Raphals, "Study of Miners Heightens Aluminum
Generated by Vehicular Traffic on Unpaved Road- Fears," New Scientist, 18:11 (August 1990).
ways: Sizes and Infrared Extinction Charac- 33. L. McGenty, "A Ban on Asbestos," New Scientist,
teristics," Aerosol Sci. Technol. 9:99-121 (1985). July 14, 1977, pp. 96-97.
14. See newsitem "Cancer Fears for Pastry Cooks," 34. News Story, "An Overblown Asbestos Scare. The
New Scientist, p. 28, June 19, 1986. Dangers Are Minimum in Most Buildings Says a
15. P. C. Elmes, "Health Risks from Inhaled Dusts and New Study," Time, January 29, 1990.
Fibers," R. Soc. Health J., June 1977. 35. J. Zuckerbrot, "Risky Business, Debating the Use
16. P. C. Elmes and Simpson, B. J. Med. 33-174. of Asbestos in Canada," Occup. Health Safety Can.
17. For a discussion of the synergistic effects of smok- 4(5): Number 32-94 (1988).
ing and asbestos fibers see discussion in B. H. 36. Newsitem, "Germans Deem Glass and Ceramic
Kaye, Science and the Detective; Selected Readings in Fibers Carcinogenic," in Chem. Eng., October 1993,
Forensic Science, VCH Publishers, Weinheim, p. 27.
pp. 251-259 (1995). 37. "Asbestos Users Step Up Search for Substitutes,"
18. See article by W. List, "Panel Makes Connection Chem. Eng., October 27, 1986, pp. 18-26.
Between Hardrock Mining and Cancer," Can. 38. R. Burger, "Getting Rid of Asbestos," Chem. Eng.,
Occup. Safety, November/December 1994. June 22, 1987, pp. 167-168 and 170.
19. T. G. Dzubay, R. K. Stevens, and C. M. Peterson, 39. Regulations Respecting Asbestos Made Under the
"X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Environmental Occupational Health and Safety Act revised
Samples in Applications of the Dichotomos Sam- Statutes of Ontario, 1980, Chapter 321, Issued
pler to the Characterization of Ambient Aerosols," August 1982, Ontario Ministry of Labour,
edited by T. Dzubay, Ann Arbor Science Publish- Occupational Health and Safety Division, 400
ers, Ann Arbor, MI (1978). " University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1T7.
20. J. H. Vincent, Aerosol Science for Industrial Hygien- 40. For a review of some of the legal problems posed
ists, Pergamon-Elsevier, Oxford, England, and by asbestos injury lawsuits see the discussion "The
Tarrytown, New York (1995). Synergistic Killers" in B. H. Kaye, Science and the
21. K. L. Williams and R. P. Vincent, "Evaluation of Detective; Selected Readings in Forensic Science,
the TEOM Dust Monitor," Bureau of Mines Infor- pp. 251-259, VCH Publishers, Weinheim (1995).
882 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
41. W. Glenn, "Wood Dust—Tree Bites Man," Occup. 45. See, for example, News Story "Moldy Birds Nests
Health Safety Can. 4(2):18-21 (1988). Give Seven Men Respiratory Disease," Toronto
42. "Carcinogenic Hazard of Wood Dust," Toxicity Star, March 27, 1979.
Review 15, Health and Safety Executive, London, 46. R. Drennon Watson, "Trouble in Store" (A discus-
England, October 1984. sion of problems such as moldy hay hazards), New
43. B. Woods and C. D. Calnan, "Toxic Woods," Br. J. Scientist, April 22, 1976, pp. 170-172.
Dermatol. 1995, Supplement 13, 1976. 47. See "Welding Fumes," W. Glenn, Occup. Health
44. J. Mannon and E. Johnson, "Fungi Down on the Safety Can. 4(6):18-21.
Farm," New Scientist, February 28, 1995, pp. 12-16.
Index
Abrasion/abrasivity, 447, 597 pressure; methods, 249-251, 296-362
Abscissa, 515 (see also incipient bubbling velocity) sintering, 206
Activated sludge, thickening, 657 spray drying, 365-369
Active processes, 576-583 (see also powder mixing ma- strength, 212-226
chines) undesired, 204-206
Acoustic wave, 23 wet, 256
Adhesion (see also Agglomerates) quality, 266-267
criteria, 253 strength, 207-211
forces, 206, 209-211 Aggregated suspensions, 648-653
friction, 424 Aggregative, 514 (see also operating gas velocity)
method, 124 Agitation, 532 (see also spouted bed)
phenomena, 204 devices, 468-472
testing, 124, 210-211, 424 in aggregate suspensions, 650-652
Adsorption layers, 225 in size enlargement, 252-293
Aeration devices, 477-480 (see also flow promotion) Agitation devices, 468-472 (see also flow promotion)
Aerodynamic diameter, 2, 20 Air classification, 235
Aerodynamic particle sizer, 20 Air jet mills, 235
AeroKaye mixer, 579, 580 Airmerge blender, 581
Aero Sizer, 4, 18, 23 Airmix mixer, 580
Agglomerate quality, 266-267 Air movers (in pneumatic conveying), 380, 383, 385, 387
Aerosol(s), 4, 25, 803, 806 (see also wet scrubbers) Amplitude ratio, 157-159, 160 (see also dynamic shear)
sampler, 872 Analytical separation, 205
Agglomerate(s)/Agglomeration (see also Floes; Size Angle of
Enlargement) elastic compression, 347
agitation methods, 252-293 friction, kinematic, 423
attrition (in spouted beds), 546, 551, 552 internal friction, 138-139, 422
balling, 223, 262 neutral, 347
belt, 371-372 release, 347
binderless, 247 repose, 451
bonding and strength, 206-226 rolling, 347
dense phase, 254, 255-257 wall slide friction, 139-140
binding mechanisms, 206-207 Anisometric pore geometry, 81
definition of, 202-203 Anisotropic, 67
desired, 204-206, 246-251 Anticaking, 206 (see also clustering)
fluidized bed, 372-373 agents, 245
heat, 364-365 Annulus, 533 (see also spouted bed)
in powder mixing, 572 flow, 536
liquid systems, 281-293 voidage, 539
low density, 257 Anvil withdrawal pressing, 323 (see also single motion
mixer agglomerators, 258-259, 267-272 pressing)
oil, 289-291 Apparent specific volume, 97
other methods, 364-375 Applied normal stress, 157, 160 (see also dynamic shear)
883
884 HANDBOOK OF POWDER SCIENCE
Grinding Ideal
adhesion, 205 failure, 591
aids, 232 strength, 519-594
balls, 230 velocity profile, 383-384
energy, 594-596 Image analysis, 7-8 {see also particle size characteriza-
equipment, 586-631 tion)
equilibrium, 231 Imbition curve, 60
rate, 610-611 Imbition simulation, 74
Gripping angle, 347 Immiscible
Grounding, 230 bridging liquid, 257
Growth agglomeration, 246, 252-293 liquids, 283-284
Growth phenomena, 256 fluids, displacement, 87
Impact, 450-451 {see also particle segregation)
compaction, 111
grinding, 233
Hagen-Poiseuille's equation, 116 {see also powder bed) high speed, 863
Hamaker constant, 210 Impaction, 812, 813 {see also scrubbers)
Hammer mills, 603 {see also size reduction) Impactor(s), 25, 872-874 {see also elutriator)
Harmonic pore radius, 81 Impingement plates, 828
Hasset method, 660-661 {see also thickening) Impingement scrubbers, 823
Hausner shape indices, 39 Incipient
Hazards bubbling velocity, 514
fire and explosion, 846-866 calculation of, 515-516
respirable, 869-880 buoyancy, 514 {see also operating velocity)
fieat fluidization, 536, 539
capacity, 502-511 velocity, 517
transfer, 511, 512, 525-527, 543-545, 547 Incorrect metering, 206
recuperation, 253 Incremental yield, 513
High pressure Inertia model, 116-171 {see also vibration)
agglomeration, 214, 312-362 bulk material stiffness, 162-163
rotary machines, 314-321 shear cell vibration model, 165-167
extrusion plates/presses, 340-345 Inertia parameter, 55-56
grinding roll mill, 623-625 Inerting, 856
High speed mixers, 268-270 Indirect characterization, 3
Histoplasmosis, 880 Inlet point, 381 {see also pneumatic conveying)
Hooke's Law, 588, 590 Inserts, 453-456
Hopper, 390 Intensifies, 257
geometries, 458-459 intensifier choppers, 577
surface finish, 432-433 Intensive mixers, 257
Hopper indicizer, 441-442 Interception, 813
Horsfield packing, 99 Interfacial forces, 206
Horizontal tensile test, 125 {see also tensile strength) Interfacial phenomena, 699
Horizontal roller mill, 625-626 Interlocking, 203
Hudson packing, 99 Intermediate concentrations, 649-650 {see also aggre-
Hydraulic gated suspensions)
bubble size, 527 settling velocity, 653
conductivity, 55, 61 Interparticle forces, 118-123 {see also particle assem-
diameter, 57 blage)
radius, 70 cohesive force, 119-123
spray scrubbers, 824-825 frictional force, 118-119
Hydrodynamic focussing, 19 Interparticle friction, 226, 316 {see also shapes)
in stream counters, 24 Interrogation zone
Hydrostatic in Doppler effects, 22
compression technique, 27 {see also permeability in stream counters, 24
methods) Intersticial velocity, 57
pressing, 336 Iron ore pelletizing, 261, 364
pressure, 301 Irreducible water saturation, 60
INDEX 891
Silicosis, 869 Spiral wound coil, 391-392 {see also bin construction)
Silo, 390 Spout diameter, 536, 542-543
design, 416 Spout fluid bed, 547, 555-558
Single obstacle efficiency, 812 Spout fluidization, 557
{see also collection efficiency) Spouted beds, 272, 532-534
Sinter(ing) Spouted bed granulation, 280-281
binding mechanisms, 203, 206 Spouted bed regime, 533
plants, 258 Spouting (of particulate solids), 532-560
Size enlargement applications, 549-553
by agglomeration in industry, 227-251 chemical reactions, 546-549
characteristics, 228 flow distribution, 536-537
parameters of, 227 heat transfer, 543-545
size of participate, 229 mass transfer, 545-546
Size reduction, 586-631 modifications, 553-559
machines, 597-605 particle motion, 539-542
process analysis, 605-623 pressure drop, 537-539
Sliding anvil pressing, 323 {see also single motion press- Spouting flow rate, 534
ing) Spray agglomerators, 272-281
Sliding velocity, 171-172 Spray chambers, 824
Slip form, 395-396 {see also cast in place) Spray dryers, 272, 273-275
Slotted two-dimensional spouted bed, 555 Spring balance method, 121 {see also cohesive forces)
Slugging, 536 Stack condensate fallout, 815
Soil(s) Starch matrix, 575 {see also powder mixing)
cohesive, 148 Static
mechanics; in vibration, 147, 148-150 angle of internal friction, 422
Sol-Gel processes, 287-189 compaction, 111
Solid bowl centifuge, 721-722 media mills, 603-604
Solid bridges, 119, 206, 209 {see also cohesive forces) mixers, 582
Solid flux, 663 Stober centrifuge, 870
Solid-liquid separation, 635-676 {see also sedimenta- Stochastic motion, 253
tion) Stock conical distribution chute, 452 {see also particle
Solids attrition, 551 segregation)
Solids discharge, 697 Stokes diameter, 645
Solid flow patterns, 390 Storage, 389-480
Solid inflow model, 521-522 bin design, 427-436
Solids loading ratio, 382-383 bin wall stress, 405-416
Solids mass flow rate, 379 {see also operating point) definitions, 390
in storage, 416-424 effect of gas phase, 436-439
Solids mixing, 525-527 flow patterns, 397-405
Solids movement, 533 flow promotion, 459-480
Solids velocity, 382 in agglomeration, 239-246
Solubility, 242 particle segregation, 446-452
Sorption layers, 232 solids flow, 416-424
Sorting processes, 236 types of construction, 390-396
Spatial periodicity, 61 Strain, 587-588
Specific Strange attractor, 50-52
surface, 54, 97 Stream counters, 23-24 {see also particle size charac-
area, 849 terization)
volume, 97 Streamtube model, 547 {see also chemical reaction)
Specimen clamping, 124-125 {see also vertical tensile Streamwise dispersion, 547
test) Strength
Sphere packing analysis of shear, 139
random packing, 99-105 of grain boundary, 207
regular packing, 97-99 of particle assemblage, 118
Spherical agglomeration, 286-287 of particles; shear, 133
Sphericity, 106 horizontal test, 125
Spheronizer(s), 311, 312 of powder mass, 123-133
Spheronizing, 254, 301, 311-312 tensile, 127
Spinning riffler, 3 {see also representative sample) vertical test, 124
INDEX 897