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ELSEVIER Powder Technology 98 (1998) 171-176

A model for performance of the centrifugal countercurrent air classifier

Xiaoyan Wang *, Xiaoling Ge, Xuehua Zhao, Zhiwen Wang
East Chb~a University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 20023Z China
Received 22 September 1997; received in revised form 6 February 1998

Abstract

Based on tile pneumatic mechanics and the gas-solid two-phase fluid theory, a model of gas-solid two-phase flow speed field was set up
for horizontal turbines during the classifying process, and the Ibrmula of classified particle cut size in irregular speed fields was deduced, in
order to evaluate the model, a number of experiments were carried out in a fluidized-bed jet-mill using samples such as calcium carbonate,
carbon silicon, alumina, etc. It was found that the formula of classified particle cut size agreed wilh the experimental results very well.
Furthermore, the relationship between the structural parameters of turbine and the classifying results was discussed, and the turbine structure
was optimized according to the formula of classified particle cut size. © 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Classification: Turbine: Classilied particle cut size

1. Introduction (3) To study the factors that influence the classified par-
ticle cut size and classifying precision, and the relationships
In order to meet the needs of industries, such as the fine between the structural parameters of the turbine, the operating
chemical industry, ceramics, electron, bioengineering, etc. parameters and the classifying results.
working in ultrafine powders, it is very important to research (4) To optimize the turbine structure according to the
on ultrafine pulverizing and classifying theories and their formula of" classified particle cut size.
applications. Up to now, though there are many papers about
ultrafine classifiers, little has been reported on the theories of
2. Theoretical analyses
horizontal turbine classification, if the particles have different
sizes, they move in different states in flow fields I ! ]. The 2. i. The model of gas-solid two-phasefluM speedfieM
fluid speed field in the turbine is the key factor to determine
classifying processes 121. it is therelbre necessary for the Reviewing the research on the classifying equipment, the
relationship between fluid speed fields and classified cut size influence of operating parameters on classifying properties
to be established. Some fluid speed fields of the turbine clas- was mainly researched under the condition that the structural
sifier have been set down under extremely simplified assump- parameters of classifier have been defined, then to determine
tions, so that there are obviously distinctions between the the optimal operating parameters of the classifier, in this
theoretical values and experimental results. paper, the classifying properties of the structural parameters
It is necessary to study carefully the theories on turbine of the classifier such as the blade arrangement angle of cyl-
uitrafine air-classification in order to develop ultrafine pro- inder turbine and the length of turbine blade were studied.
duction and classifying technology. The main objectives of Turbines can be divided into three groups: forward-blade;
this paper are the following. radial-blade; and backward-blade according to their blade
( I ) To analyze classifying fluid speed field and set up a types [3]. In the turbine, the gas is involved in very compli-
model so as to design a stable and adjustable fluid field. cated movements, so the t'ollowing hypotheses were made
(2) To establish the formula of classified cut size in order for simplifying the study:
to give the theoretical foundation for ultrafine classifying (a) The gas was regarded as ideal gas, and the viscosity
technology. of gas was neglected.
(b) The thickness of turbine blades was considered as
* Correspondiv.g author. infinitely thin.

0032-5910/98/$19.00 © 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Pll S 0 0 3 2 - 5 910 ( 98 ) 0 0 0 4 0 - 0
 172 X. Wang et aL / Powder Technology 98 (I 998) 171-176

OU U

,91 r~
ea~, l'm
If the blades of classifier were straight, re ---*
t~U
- - =-2to (6)
OI

Jrr ...... x__ The fluid field models of gas speed in turbine passageways
in radial-blade, forward-blade and backward-blade were all
taken as
V= V,, - 2oal (7)
The average speed of gas in the turbine passageways was
given by V,,=Q/(2~'Rh), where Q was gas volume flow
jj.1 ............................ rate. The flow speed distribution of gas along radial and
Fig. I. Forces acting on miniature gas dnit at the passageway of the turbine. tangential direction was not equal, according to Eq. (7). In
addition, the gas flow speed in the radial-blade turbine could
(c) The gas density was identical at positions of the same be considered as the composition of average speed and cir-
radius. culation speed.
The analytical method of forces acting on the miniature The gas flow speed t'ormula was obtained under the hypoth-
gas unit was identical for the three kinds of turbines. The esis that the blade thickness of turbine was infinitely thin, but
inclining angle of the backward-blade was taken as negative the blade thickness of the turbine was actually finitely thin.
degrees, the tbrward-blade positive degrees, and the radial- So the cross-section areas of turbine passageways decreased,
blade zero degree. which caused an increase in the flow speed of the gas. For
The coordinate axes s-I is shown in Fig. !, in which s is this reason, the obstruction coefficient 7"was introduced to
along the tangent line of central line of turbine passageway. modify the result ! 3 I:
/ = 0 is in coordinate central point, so I can change from
Zs
- ( m ' ) / z to (rrr)/z. According to pneumatic mechanics 7"=l-
basic equation, the Euler equation is !41: 27rRAsin/3
Introducing the obstruction coefficient 7" into Eq. (7),
de: dd ! yields:
. . . . co"r~+ 2 t ~ i : = - Vp (I)
dt dt p
( V,,, - 2col)
where dt:'/dt is the absolute acceleration, d{'ldt is the relative
acceleration, m"Fis the centripetal acceleration, 2elf" is the
inertia acceleration, Vp is the pressure gradient, in miniature
V=
(=,)
! - 2~'RASin/3
(8)

gas unit, equilibrium of tbrces along the s direction was taken Eq. (8) describes the fluid speed distribution in the turbine
as: passageways, and is the model of fluid speed field for this
paper.
- "~'idsdldh + pdsdldh + lrlsdldhrto"sin/3 = 0 (2)
2.2. The fiJrnuda of classified particle cut size
From Eq. (2),
Op / ' ,dr dt'~ The ultrafine classification in the turbine is schematically
) (3) shown in Fig. 2. The coarse particles were driven toward the
outer edge of the turbine by the centrifugal force, which was
Equilibrium of forces along the ! direction was taken as: created by the revolving turbine, while the fine particles were
contrarily moved toward the center of the turbine by the gas.
pdsdhdl-- pdsdhdlrto- cos 13- 2tot'pdsdhdl To the turbine classifier, the circumference velocity of the
r~ (4) fluid largely depended on that of the turbine. For simplifica-
tion, the following hypotheses were made.
- -~dhdlds=0
at,
( I ) The classification was carded out at the outer edge of
turbine, the classified particle size was indicated by the size
p
~=
r" ,dr
+,-,o-~ - z,,,~. ,) (5)
of particles whose radial acceleration was equal to zero at the
outer edge of turbine.
(2) Ultrafine particles were spheres which stayed in either
Thus, Eq. (4) becomes:
layer flow or weak turbulent flow. The concentration of the
 X. Wang et aL / Powder Technology 98 (19981 171-176 ! 73

; co..p..io,e particles in the shape of horns: 0.82--0.67

Fine particle panicles in the strip shape: 0.71-0.58
particles in the flat shape: 0.58-0.47
The classified particle size was finally obtained from:
Air / 18/ZVL.,. A
P.r(41r:'n2RA+g cos 0)~
Simultaneously, considering the influence of the other var-
ious factors, the coefficient K was introduced and the equation
became
/ ! 8K/£V L.,..A
D=
V pl'(47r2n2Rg+g COS 0)tb ( !i )
When VLA was a maximum [!= -(*rRa)/Z], the clas-
sified particle size was the classified particle cut size. Intro-
ducing Eq. (8) into the Eq. ( I ! ) gives:
(a) 7--0 (b) 7>0 ' Q
Fig. 2. Classilicationprocess. ~ - 2tol)~/2
D,,,.,~- ~Or( 4 mn'R A - g ) r~ 2 ~R Ah
particles was low so that they did not interfere with each
other. Under such a case. the flow was gas-solid two-phase
_{ 18/.t ~I/2 ~ Q + 2~o7rR5). ""
flow. --tp,.(a~,rR~'-A--g)rtb]" ~
(3) The speed of the particles was the same as that of the
gas.
(12)
In the light of the mechanics model, the moving equation Eq. (12) indicated the relationship between classified par-
of dispersed and single particles in the fluid could be approx- ticle size and the influence of the turbine structural parameters
imately given by the following formula 151 : and operating parameters. Since D,,,~ could now be meas-
ured. the equation could be used to prove whether the values
calculated from it agreed with the corresponding experimen-
d~'T={i+C,,,(Re)ATpv× I V,~,IV~, (9) tal results, and used to direct the optimal design of the clas-
dt m "r 2
sifying turbine, whose optimal operating parameters could be
If the influence of random motion of gas was neglected. derived from Eq. ( 12 ) when the turbine structural parameters
the following differential equations were obtained from were fixed.
Eq. (9): From the formula of classified particle size. it can be seen
that the value of the classified particle size was not fixed, and
dVTq, ATp that it changed in a certain range. This mainly resulted from
dt =C"('~ev) II1"r 2;
(lOa) the uneven distribution of speed field and force field. In addi-
tion, the classified panicle size was also influenced by the
X Vte-VT'e"~I(VL'e-Vr'e'") structural parameters of classifier, operating parameters and
2 +g cos 0
the kinds of substances.
dVT., = - V'r't'~'~
"~ +C,,(Re,.)--pv
AT
dt r mT (lOb) 3. Experimental
IVL.,.--VT.,.,,,I(VL.,.--VT.,.,,~)
X - g cos 0 3. i. Experinwnml eqtdpment
2
If the flow rate of particles and fluid can be measured, the The fluidized-bed jet-mill used in the experiments was a
orbit of the panicles can be estimated. Considering the influ- closed processing system consisting of a jet-mill and a turbine
ence of the particle shape, the coefficient of the panicle shape classifier as shown in Fig. 3 and whose working process is
was introduced into Eqs. ( ! 0a) and ( I 0b ). then now described.

"~
mT V'r'p'A
IX + n l T g COS O-Cw(Rer)ATPT VL'r'A
2dp =0 coarsipr°ducl I

The range of the coefficient of particle shape was as lbllows Ra~ material= = classdk~-,~, puh,er,z¢r
[6]: 1
fine product
particles similar to a sphere: 0.9 I-0.75
174 X. Wanget al. / PowderTechnology98 (1998) 171-176

Table I
The contrastof the theoretical values with experimental results of classified particlecut size

Raw materials Rotational speed Incliningangle Gas flow rate Classifiedparticle cut Classified particle cut Classified particle cut
of classifying of turbine (m~/h) size (/.tm) size (/zm) size (#m)
turbine (r/min) blades [values from Eq. (12) ] [experimental results I [values from Eq. (13a) ]

Mica 15600 0 64.8 6.48 5.81 2.27

Mica 12!33 - 30 64.8 6.05 7.19 2.87
Mica 12133 0 64.8 7.7 I 7.36 2.87
Mica 12133 + 30 64.8 10.75 9.65 2.87
Mica 8875 0 64.8 9.67 10.60 3.92
Carbon silicon 12133 0 64.8 5.83 5.96 2.72
Calcium carbonate 12133 0 64,8 7.14 8.13 2.96
Alumina 12133 - 30 64.8 4.12 4.99 2.45
Alumina 12133 0 64.8 5.25 5.65 2.45
Alumina 12133 + 30 64.8 7.31 6.34 2.45

Illustration: Consideringthe measurement error, etc., D,,7', as adopted as the classified particle cut size.

4 ......~, fe(xl sesses enough precision. The error between the values from

i
ga~s fine
Eq. (12) and the test results is caused by factors such as the
dispersing property of materials, resistance varying in differ-
ent zone, panicle size and shape of raw materials, measure-
ment error and so on, which were not included in the equation
and inevitably gave rise to the error.
5 ' ~gas In addition, Table I shows that the smaller the inclining
angle of the blades, the smaller the classified particle cut size.
I , . + . ~ . , . 2gutBk ~dmcoW~ 4clmm~nlltw4tm~ [Link]+mt
When the inclining angle of blades increases, the fluid flow
Fig. 3. The flow diagram of experiment equipment.
gradually transfers from the layer flow to the torrent, and the
The raw materials were fed from the upper part of the resistance in the classifying zone decreases, thus the large
equipment. Alter classification by the turbine, the fine pani- panicles pass through the turbine more easily. If the classified
cles were collected, the coarse particles fell into a smashing particle cut size is smaller and resistance in the classifying
cavity and were milled by a high speed gas flow. The milled zone is less, it is better to adopt zero degree for the inclining
substances were driven upwards by the gas flow, and classi- angle of the turbine blades.
lied by the turbine when they reached classifying zone. The Compared with other classified panicle cut size formulae,
coarse particles then dropped into the smashing cavity. Eq. (12) considered more factors which influenced the clas-
When the turbine revolved at high speed, a centrifugal sified panicle size, so that its deviations from the experimen-
force field was created, the gas revolved at the pace of the tal results were less. For example, the classified particle cut
turbine and entered the turbine in a radial direction, The forces size calculated from Eq. (12) was more precise, and had a
;~cting on the particles included centrifugal force, gravita- practical usefulness when compared with the classified par-
tional three and fluid drag lbrce. If the composite force was ticle size tbrmula deduced in Ref. [ 5 ]
t
toward the turbine, the particles were driven into the turbine
along the radial direction, and were discharged through the D= ~ 91"~Q (13a)
4p'rr ~hn -"R ~x
exit as fine particles.
as can be seen from Table I.
3,2. l£~7~erimenmlmaterials Eq. (12) included the structural parameters of the turbine
such as the number of blades, the thickness of the blade, the
Materials used as classified samples included calcium car-
bonate, carbon silicon, alumina, rnica, quartz powder, talcum
Table 2
powder, pegmatolite and so on. The experimental results are
The scope of design variables
shown in Table I,
Name The sst~allestvalues The largest values

4. Results and discussions Z 24 48

S (m) 0.00 i 0.002
From Table I, it can be seen that the classified particle cut Ra (m) 0.02 0.03
sizes in the experiments were closed to those values calcu- h (m) 0.03 0.06
n (r/min) 7800 !5900
lated from Eq, (12), which indicated that the formula pos-
 X. Wang et al. / Powder Technology 98 (1998) i 71-176 175

Table 3
The results of optimal design

Iteration times of calculation Z S (m) RA ( m ) h tm ) n ( r/min )

4 Original value 48 0.00 ! 0.025 0.040 ! 5900

Optimal value 48 0.001 0.027 0.051 15900

Optimal results D ..... (/zm) 5.70

Illustration: The gas flow rate was 64 m3/h.

length of the blade and the outer radius of the classifying 5.2. The optimal design results of the classifying turbine
turbine. Thus it could be used to carry out the optimal design
of classifying turbine, and get the optimal structure of the Objective function from Eq. ( 12)"
classifying turbine. 1/2

Din,,x = .~ ~ +
I,pr(4~n'RA-g)rdp] ~ z ]
5. The optimal design of the classifying turbine
According to the optimal design results of the turbine in Table
3, it would be better to change R A = 27 mm, h = 51 mm, so
The optimal design [7-12] was carried out with given
that the classified particle cut size could decrease from 6.48
original design variables, and employing a computer to sim-
/zm to 5.70/zm.
ulate the calculations, to obtain gradually decreasing values
of the objective function in the feasible region. This process
was continuously repeated until the best values was obtained.

5.1. The principles of optimal design 6. Conclusions

( 1 ) A model of gas-solid two-phase flow speed field was

minf(Y) (13b)
set up for a horizontal turbine during the classifying process,
and the formula of classified particle cut size in irregular
s.t. speed field was deduced.
hj(Y)=O j = l , 2 .... n (14) (2) Experiments were carried out in a fluidized-bed jet-
g,j(Y)<O j = l , 2 .... n mill using samples such as calcium carbonate, carbon silicon,
alumina and so on. It was found that the smaller the inclining
(a)f(Y) was the objective function. It was the most inter-
angle of the turbine blades, the smaller the classified particle
esting to make the classified particle cut size the smallest, the
cut size became, and it would be better to design a turbine
formula of the classified particle cut size being taken as the
whose inclining blade angle is zero degree.
objective function in the optimal design of the classifying
(3) The formula of classified particle cut size, which was
turbine. based on the model of gas-solid two-phase flow speed field,
(b) Ywas the design variable, and it could be described as
agreed with the experimental results very well. The formula
following: could also be used as the basis of optimal design of the turbine
and operating parameters of the classifier.
=(YI,Y2 ..... y,,)T
where Y~, Y,..... Y, were measurable factors that influenced
the classified particle cut size of classifier.
(c) gA Y) was the obvious restricted function, and hj (Y) 7. List of symbols
was the hidden restricted function.
The restricted functions included the boundary conditions
and performance, which were the value scopes of design Acceleration
variables that could be chosen according to the design con- AT Meeting fluid cross-section
ditions (Table 2). Resistant coefficient
There are many methods for the optimal design. The ran- D Particle size
dom direction method was used in this paper because there DIIIIIX Classified particle cut size
were no special demands on the property of the objective h Length of turbine blade
functions and it was easy to make and apply the calculation mT Particle weight
programs. 11 Rotational speed of the classifying turbine
176 X. Wang et al./ Powder Technology 98 (1998) 171-176

Q Volume rate of gas Acknowledgements

r Radius of the classifying turbine at any point
RA Outer radius of the classifying turbine Project 29576235 was supported financially by the
Re Reynolds number National Natural Science Foundation of China.
R% Circumference Reynolds number
Re~ Radial Reynolds number
S Thickness of blade References
t Time
VL.,- Radial speed of gas [ 1] R.G. Boothrogol, Flowing Gas-Solids Suspension, Chapman, Lon-
VLr,A Radial speed of gas at the outer edge of the turbine don, 1971.
VL l' Circumference speed of gas 12 ] G. Hao, Numericallysimulatingand experimentalstudy on fluidfield
of compellingeddy and countercurrent classifier,The Master Disser-
Vr¢l Relative speed between particles and gas tation of the ChemicalIndustry Institute of ChineseAcademyof Sci-
K,~J Circumference speed of the turbine ences, 1995.
VR,p.A Circumference speed at outer edge of the turbine [31 X. Guan, The Theory and De:~ignon Pumps, Machinery Industry
Press, China, 1986.
VT Particle speed
14l Y. Li et al., Centripetal Turbines and Centrifngal Compressors,
VT,r Radial speed of particles Machinery Industry Press, China, 1987.
V'l',plt ) Circumference speed of particles of the turbine 151 H. Lu, The classifiedparticlesize calculationand analysesofcentrit:
VT,p,A Circumference speed of particles at the outer edge ugal countercurrent classilier,J. Tongii Univ. 20 (1992) 263-270.
of the turbine (61 C. Cheng, Z. Liu et al., The Theory and Design About the Pumps of
Two-Phase Flow, Arms Industry Press, Beljing,China, 1994.
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Technology Press, China, 1993.
181 X. He et al., The OptimalTechnologyand Application,BeijingIndus-
Greek letters try Univ. Press, Beijing, 1986.
191 J. Zhang, The Foundationof the Optimal Designon Machinery,Coal
Fluid density Press, China, 1990.
Pr Particle density 1101 D. Yah, The Optimal Design of Machinery, Hydraulic Power and
/z Impetus viscosity Electric Power Press, 1987.
to Angular velocity of the turbine installing angle of [ I ! I L, Ji, The Optimal Designof [Link]-West Industry Univ.
Press, Xian, 1991.
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[12] W. Lin et al., The Optimal Design on Machinery,Tsinghua Univ.
Press, Beijing, 1986.