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Properties of Solid Mass

• Specially, when solid particles are dry and non-sticky : resembles many properties of
fluid
 Solid particles exert pressure on the sides and walls of a container
 Flow through openings or down a chute
• Solid differ from liquid and gas in several ways
 Solid particles interlock under pressure and cannot slide over one another until
the applied force reaches an appreciable magnitude
 Unlike most fluids, granular solids and solid masses permanently resist
distortion when subjected to a moderate distorting force
 If applied force is large enough then ‘failure’ occurs and one layer slides over
another BUT between the layers on each slide of the failure, there is
appreciable friction.

Solid masses have the following distinctive properties:

• Pressure is not the same in all the directions: In general, a pressure applied in one direction
creates pressure in other directions, but it is always < applied pressure & minimum at right angle.
Characteristic of the material can be expressed by a constant K’:
K’ = PL/PV = ratio of the normal pressure (i.e., at right angle) to the applied pressure
[Non-Cohesive materials which flow freely, K’ = 0.35-0.6 (often)
Cohesive characterized by their reluctance to flow through openings, K’ approaches zero.]

• Shear stress applied at the surface is transmitted throughout a static mass of particles unless
failure occurs (Shear Cell with 1000 particles.AVI & Shear Cell with 7000 particles.AVI)

• Bulk Density – varies depending on the degree of packing

• Mass of tightly packed materials can flow --> dilation needed (increase in volume to permit
interlocking particles to move past one another)

• Angle of response (αr): Angle of the sides of piles from the horizontal, at which materials start
flowing. αr for free flowing materials = between 15˚ and 30˚.

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Storage of Solid Mass

Two types of storage

• Outdoor storage
• Confined storage (Bin Storage)

I. Outdoor Storage
• Coarse solid are stored outside in large piles, when hundred or thousand of ton
of material are involved.
• Out storage can be effected by environmental problem such as dusting or
leaching of soluble material from the piles.
• Dusting is control by covering the piles
• Leaching can be control by covering or by locating it in a shallow basin with an
impervious floor (then runoff safely withdrawn)

Coal storage Gravel storage

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II. Confined Storage (or, Bin Storage)

• Solids that are valuable and can be effected by the environment in out door piles
 Stored in Bins, Silos, and Hopper
 cylindrical or rectangular vessels of concrete or metal

Bins Silos Hopper

1. Silos

• Storing bulk materials like storage of

grain, coal, cement, food products etc.

• Silo is tall and relatively small in diameter

• Types of Silos
Cement storage silos
Tower silo
Low-oxygen tower silos
Bag silos

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Cement storage silos

• There are different types of cement silos such as the low-level mobile silo and the
static upright cement silo.
• The low-level silos are fully mobile with capacities from 10 to 75 tons.
• The static upright silos have capacities from 20 to 80 tons.
• These are considered a low-maintenance option .

Low level mobile silos Static upright cement silos

Tower silo

• Tower silos are cylindrical structures, typically 10 to

90 ft in diameter and 30 to 275 ft in height.

• Silos can be loaded and unloaded by using rail cars or

conveyors.

• Silos storing grain, cement and woodchips.

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Bag silos
• Bag silos are heavy plastic tubes, usually around 8 to 12 ft in diameter, and
of variable length as required for the amount of material to be stored

• They can be used as a temporary measure when growth or harvest

conditions require more space

Low-oxygen tower silos

• Low-oxygen silos are designed to keep the contents in a

low-oxygen atmosphere at all times, to keep the
fermented contents in a high quality state, and to
prevent mold and decay.

• Low-oxygen silos are only opened directly to the

atmosphere during the loading.

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2. Bin Storage
• Typically much shorter than a silo and usually fairly wide.
• Bins may be round or square,
• Round bins tend to empty more easily due to lake of corners,
• The stored material may be powdered, as seed kernels, or as
cob corn.

Square Bins Round Bins

3. Hoppers
• Hopper is small vessel with a sloping bottom for a temporary storage before feeding
solids to a process.
• It is filled at the top and discharge is from the base,
• Hopper can be vibrated externally to encourage flow
• Angle of sloping sides  angle of repose (α).

Pile of bulk
solids

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Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC)

• An IBC is a mobile hopper moved by pallet/fork truck

• Volume usually about 1m3, stainless steel
• Can store material that is waiting for further processing
• Filled at top and placed on an IBC discharge station for emptying.

Pressure in Bins & Silos

• The lateral pressure of solid exerted on the wall at any point < predicted from head of material
above that point.
• Friction force between the wall & solid material
 because of the interlocking of the particles, effect of the friction is felt throughout the mass
  friction at the wall tends to offset the weight of the solid and reduces the pressure exerted
by the mass on the bottom of the container
 therefore vertical pressure on the vessel floor or the packing support is much smaller
than that exerted by a column of liquid of the same density and height
 In general, (height of solid) > (about 3 times the diameter of the container): Additional
solids have no effect on the pressure at the bottom (that means total mass increases if more
solids are added, but additional mass is carried by the walls and foundation, not by the floor of
the vessel.
• HENCE, the actual pressure of the solid depends on
 value of K’; coefficient of friction b/w solid mass and wall; way the solid are placed in
the vessel (packing)

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Pressure in Bins & Silos….(continued)

• In granular solids a high pressure does not always increase the tendency of
the material to flow (as it does in a liquid), instead, increased pressure packs
the grains more tightly and makes flow more difficult.

• In extreme cases, combination of gravitational & friction forces at some point

in the container causes the solids to arch or bridge – so that mass do not fall
further even when the material below them is removed
[Arching (Bridging in the shaft).AVI]

• Usually all large bins contain an archbreaker – an upward pointing shallow

metal cone set near the bottom
[Archbreaker - Flow of material (cone insertes) 2.wmv]

Stresses and forces

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Flow out of Bins

• Flow through a side: Increases lateral pressure on the other side of the bin during the flow of
solids
Flow through a bottom: less likely to clog & not induce abnormally high pressure on the wall at any
point
• Factor affecting the flow through bottom:
Steepness of the wall in the bottom section
Coefficient friction between solid and wall
Discharge opening
Property of solid
• Flow Pattern (or, Modes) developed
1. Mass Flow: All the material is in motion, but not necessarily at the same velocity (mass flow.AVI)
2. Tunnel Flow (or, Funnel Flow): Centrally moving core, dead or non-moving annular region
(Funnel flow.AVI)

Flow Modes
In mass flow (figure a), the whole contents of the silo are in motion at discharge. Mass flow is only
possible, if the hopper walls are sufficiently steep and/or smooth, and the bulk solid is discharged
across the whole outlet opening.
If a hopper wall is too flat or too rough, funnel flow will appear. In case of funnel flow (figure b), only
that bulk solid is in motion first, which is placed in the area more or less above the outlet. The bulk
solid adjacent to the hopper walls remains at rest and is called "dead" or "stagnant" zone. This bulk
solid can be discharged only when the silo is emptied completely. The dead zones can reach the
surface of the bulk solid filling so that funnel flow becomes obviously when observing the surface. It
is possible as well that the dead zones are located only in the lower part of the silo so that funnel
flow cannot be recognized by observing the surface of the silo filling.

Does not imply

plug flow with
equal velocity “Dead” or non-
flowing region

Material in motion
along the walls (a) Mass flow (b) Tunnel flow

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Mass and Core flow from a Hopper

• Core flow occurs when All the powder in the

only material in the hopper is in motion with
centre flows from the Mass flow
hopper

Mass Flow Tunnel Flow

Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Flow is more consistent  Speed of Flow
 Stress field is more predictable  Flushing
 Full bin capacity is utilized  Inadequate Emptying
 First in/first out principle
Time Consolidation – Caking

Disadvantages
 Wall wear is higher (esp. for abrasives)
 Higher stresses on walls
 More height is required

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Funnel / Tunnel flow

Flushing: Uncontrolled flow from a hopper due to powder being in an
aerated state. Occurs only in fine solids.

Inadequate emptying: Usually occurs in funnel flow where the cone

angle is insufficient to allow self draining of the bulk solid.

Remaining bulk
Time-consolidating (Caking): Many powders will tend to cake as a solid
function of time, humidity, pressure, temperature. Particularly a
problem for funnel flow which are infrequently emptied completely.

Characteristics to be considered before

selection of storage type

• Wall Friction Testing

• Powder Shear Testing - measures both powder internal friction and cohesion

• Compressibility/Permeability

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• For more details refer:

Chapter “Properties and Handling of Particulate Solids”

Book: Mc Cabe, Warren L., Smith Julian C. and Peter Harriot,
“Unit Operations of ChemicalEngineering, 7th Edition, McGraw
Hill

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