Experimental and Theoretical Investigations on the Discharge of Granular Materials from

Bins*

I. I. KOTCHANOVA

inrrrturr
01 Xfechanizorron of Farming,Sarato~(iiS S-R.)

(Recewed December 22. 1970)

SUMMARY Experiments were conducted with peas, corn,

Measurements Lace been made of the rate of discharge
of granular agricultural rnaterialsfrontjlat-bottomed
bins with various shapes and positions ojf outlet: a
general empirical expressionfor theflow rate has been
obtained_ The relocity field of particles adjacent to
the ~a11of the bin has been found b_v a photographic
method and this has been used to calculate the
discharge rate.
whea+ millet and mixed feed.
It has been found experimentally that:
(1) During steady state motion the throughput is
independent of the column height, outflow time and
presence or absence of a funnel on the free surface of
granular material.
(2) The throughput is a linear function of the
product FJRn (Fig. l), where F is the outlet area,
and RH is the outlet hydraulic radius.

The rates of flow of various gr2nular agricultural

materials from flat-bottomed bins have been mea-
sured The experimental investigation reveaIed that :
(1) The actual rate of flow is far in excess of that
calculated by the known formulae cited in the
literature.
(2) The cross-sectional area of flow in the outlet
plane is not equal to the geometrical area of the
outlet due to the presence of projecting particles of
granular material at the edges of the outlet and also
due to the fact that the trajectories of particles
2q ,40 60 60 ;oo
moving in the vicinity of the edges of the opening are 203040 50 60 70 90 armm)
inclined to the vertical.
(3) The bulk density in the outlet zone is not equal Fig I. Dependence of thrcughput Q on F,lR,
to thzt found by standard procedures with the aid
of a grain tester-
To enable a comparison of throughput with
To determine the influence of the bin geometry
varying areas of outlets, we introduced a quantity
on the throughput, use has been made of vessels of
4, equal to the amount of _eranularmaterial passing
different shapes and sizes. The round, square, semi-
in one second through a unit area of the outlet
circular and rectangular outlets of several sixes were
(a specific throughput-Fig 2):
arranged at different points of the vessel’s horizontal
bottom. Replacing the metal walls of the bin by Q,
transparent wzihs permitted the process of outflow 4-x = -
F
to be observed and photographed.
where Q,= weight throughput.
Analysis of data of a considerable number of
experiments gave the following expression for the
* Paperpresented
at theSymposiumon Mechanics of Granular specific throughput I
Materials aad Powders, III CHISA Coqress. September
15-14 1969, Marienhad, Czechoslovakia CL= -bo+b,,/& (1)

Pomder recImo@y - Elsevier Sequoia%A., Lame

 Dl!XIiARGE OF GRANULAR MATERLUS FROM BINS

Outlet oreo. F (cm21

FIN 3. Graph for dctcrminin_e the cocfkients &shape of openm~
FIN 2 Dependence of specik throughput on area of openm_e for VaIiotts outlet areas
for \atious shapes; (a) cit-cular, (b) square (c) sernitircular.

where b’ and c’ are the thickness and width of’

particles of granular material, B, is a constant
where b, and b, are factors dependent on the
physico-mechanical properties of the granular dependent on the physico-mechanical properties of
material_ the _eranularmaterial, and Al, is a constant dependent
on the outlet shape.
(3) The shape of the outlet considerably affects the
In the case of square and rectangular outlets the
throughput With the outlets centrally positioned
latter can be determined frcm the following
in the flat bottom of the bin, the highest rate of
throughout is provided by a round hole, then, in empirical formula I
decreasing order, by square, semi-circular and
rectanguIar hoIes_ Equation (I) is true for all the
A, = -!.-
Vk
cases, the only change being in the values of factors
where @ is the ratio of the outlet length to width
b. and b,. Of the two sizes of a rectangular outlet,
the width has the greater effect on the throughput. (rG= A/B), and nkis an experimental factor dependent
on thephysico-mechanicalpropertiesofthe_~uIar
The smaller the outlet area and the larger the
material_
particles of granular materid, the greater is the
For square ard semi-circular outlets with F > 25
influence of the shape of the outlet on thethroughpiit
cm’, the values of the factor K,, change only slightly
Variations in the throughput with the shape of the
with an increase in the area and for practical
outlet can be allowed for by introducing the factor
K+ into the calculation formulae This factor equals purposes can be evaluated within the following
ranges I
the ratio of the specific throughput through the
outlet of the given shape to the specific throughput K& = 1 for round outlets;
over a round outlet The values of this factor can be
K> = 0.93-0.96 for square outlets ;
determined from curves plotted on the basis of
experimental data (Fig 3) or from the empirical Kz = 0.85492 for semi-circular outlets
formula I
The smaller values of the factor should be taken
for coarse-grained materials and larger values for
tine-grained materials.

POKdcr TechnoZ_ 4 (197Oj7 1) 32-37

34 1. I.
(4) The throughput is dependent on the ar-
rangement of the outlet in the horizontal bottom of
the bin.
The investigations into the kinematics of the
process of outflow with the aid of filming disclosed
that different arrangements of the outlet cause a
change in (1) the path of the particles, (2) their
outflow velocity, (3) the height and shape of the
slopes of the stationary material around the outlet,
(4) the interface between the zones of uniform and
shear motion, and (5) the shape and volume of the
zones of loosening and intensive motion of the
particles. All these factors influence the throughput_
The throughput increases if the outlet edges adjoin
the vessel walls.
The influence of the outlet arrangement on the
throughput is allowed for by introducing the factor
K, into the calculation formulae. This factor is
independent of the outlet size but deFerids on the
ratio of the length of the sides coincident with the
walls to the perimeter. It also depends on the
following physico-mechanical properties of the
granular material: relative size of the particles,
friction factors, etc. This factor has been determined
experimentally from the expressions :
where Q,, 0, and 0, are the respective throughputs
through outlets at the centre, at the wal1 and at the
comer of the bin horizontal bottom.
For grain, in the case of square outlets
Kp = 1.1-1.2; K;; = 1.2-1.35.
The smaller values of the factors are valid for
fine-grained materials and the larger ones for
coarse-grained materials.
The generalized formulae for computir.g the
throughput with allowance for all the above-
mentioned effects become
Q, = K, K+ cFo y. and Qh = K, K+ q_ Fj-H
where u is the flow velocity (m/xc), y is the bulk
density of the material, and the subscripts 0 and H
refer respectively to conditions in the outlet plane
and at a height H. yH is the bulk density found by
standard procedures with the aid of a grain tester.
The study of the outflow pattern with the aid of
filming revealed that during steady motion two
kinds of granular material movement are possible I
uniform motion in the upper portion of the vessel
(the entire bulk moves as an integral mass and the
particles do not move relatively to each other) and
KOTCHANOVA
shear motion in the lower portion (the particles in
the horizontal layers move at different velocities,
which causes their relative movement). The granular
material always passes through the outlet in shear
motion.
Depending on the state of the granular material
in the bin, four specific zones in the flow may be
distinguished (Fig 4): the zone of uniform motion,
the zone of transition from uniform motion to shear
motion, the zone of intensive motion (shear), and the
zone of stationary material_
The physico-mechanical properties of granular
materials, without changing the general pattern of
outflow, affect the position of the boundaries of the
referred zones, the slopes of the boundary of the
stationary zone, the regions of transition and in-
tensive motion and the depth and shape of the
funnel on the free surface.
When the level of granular material drops to
height H corresponding to the upper point of the
boundary of the shear motion zone, a funnel appears
on its free surface. This results from non-uniform
increase in the velocities of the particles in the
horizontal sections of the flow when changing from
uniform motion to shear motion. The shape of the
funnel is dependent on the distribution of velocities
in these sections, and the gradual change of its shape
with descent reffects the nature of variations in the
velocities of the particles while: they move towards
the outlet plane.
Ifa granular material is looked upon as a complex
of material particles, the rate of flow can be cal-
culated as an integral mean of the actual velocities
of the particles when passing through the outlet
plane.
Filming made it possible to determine the veloci-
ties of separate particles in the iayer adjacent to the
glass wall of the bin and to plot *he curves for the
vertical and horizontal sections of this layer, as
well as for the section through the outlet (Fig 5)
In layers parallel to the glass wall., only the absolute
values of the velocities will be different, but the
general relationship describing the velocity profile
in layers parallel to the wall and at the wall itself
will be the same.
To determine the influence of the wall on the
velocity of the particles, filming was performed with
the outlets positioned at the comer of the vessel, in
which case the two adjacent edges of the square
outlet touched the glass walls
The velocity profile in the outlet plane can be
represented to an adequate accuracy by an equation
Pm* Techd. 4 (1970/71) 32-37
 DISCHARGE OF GRAhWLAR MATERIALS FROM BISS 35

Begmnmg 01 formotmn
ot ,“““=I

Funnel fully developed

Fig 4 Tra~ectona of mowx-ncnt of particles and dxagrammatic representations of the process of funnel formatIon I. zone of uniform
motion; IL transItion zone; IIL zone of shear motxon; IV, zone of statxonar) matcnaL S. path traversed b> partxle during 10 pictures
of film at a sequence of 61 ptctures per second.

0123556 65432 1 0 can find the average velocity of the particles in the
outlet plane, ie. the rate of flow
?f
c=-
F
The velocity profiles in the coordinate pIaxles
have maximum points. The rate of flow can be
considered as a certain function of the maximum
velocity of the particles z;au
v=p-v_ (3
where p is the proportionality factor dependent on
the outIet arrangement and is determined ex-
Fig- 5. Velocities in various sections in flowing mater&_ perimentally.
When the outlet is positioned at the bin wall, the
particle moving along the centre line of the outlet
of a polynomial curve (Fig 6):
-haa the maximum velocity_ The differential equation
y = sol-a,x+azxz-+.._+u*x” of its motion can be written as
Having cakulated the volume V confined by the
velocity profile and the outlet surface (Fig 7), we

POWder TechnoL, 4 (I 970/71) 32-37

36 I. I. KOTCHANOVA

Z=V m/set Cc)

Fig. 6. Dependence of wrtical components of vdocitics of grains of corn in planeof outflow opening

where m is the mass of one grain, and w, is the force
of resistance to the grain motion.
The resistance to the motion of particles is
dependent on the instantaneous bulk density of the
granular material, but the variation of the latter in
the zone of shear motion is still unknown. It is safe
to say on the basis of statements of a number of
investigators and our experiments that bulk density
decreases towards the outlet_ The decrease in bulk
density results in a decline of the internal friction
‘actor and, hence, of the resistanceforces Thus, the
,notion of a partic arises from a variable force
which can be considered as a fimction of its velocity,
time and position, ie.
Solving differential eqn. (3) for experimentally
determined values of the referredfunctions made it
possible to obtain an expression for determining
the actual velocity of the particles:
u&= Do+v*-v, (4)
Consequently, the velocity of a particle at any
instant (and also when passing through the outlet
plane) can be considered as a free f-g velocity vB
with initial velocity vO= q, reduced by the value of
a loss due to the resistance forces v,.
The velocity of shear motion q, is determined
from the expression

Powder Techol-, 4 (197OJ71) 32-37

 DISCHARGE OF GFUNULAB MAiERIAIS FROM BINS 37

Fig 7. Schematic drawing ofsurfaces created by %elocity profdes of partids in plane of outilow opening for variolr~ sbp~ and pasiti~tt~
of this o_pening.

where d is the diameter of a round outlet or the side Equation (5) expresses the physical essence of the
of a square outlet., D is the bin diameter, and process of outflow and checks well with experimental
<=yo/ya is the loosening factor. data
Substituting the value v_ found from eqr~ (4) The rate of flow calculated from the latter ex-
into expression (2) and performing simple trans- pression is used for computing the throughput
formations, we obtain

%--vll
o=p
l--P&

Pomier TechmZ.. 4 (1970/71) 32-37