Transportation and storage of solids in bulk

 Storage of solids
 Bulk storage
 When hundreds or thousands of tons of materials are involved
(like gravel and coal), storing outside in large piles is the most
economical method.
 But, this outside storage can lead to environmental problems,
such as:-
 Dusting (can be controlled by covering).
 Leaching of soluble materials (can be controlled by
covering the pile or locating it in a shallow basin).
 …Cont.

 Solids that are too valuable or too soluble to expose in outdoor

piles are stored in bins, hoppers, or silos.
 These are cylindrical or rectangular vessels made out of concrete
or metal.
 Silo: tall and relatively small in diameter.
 Bin: not tall but wider
 Hopper: is a small vessel with a sloping bottom for temporary
storage before feeding solids to a process.
Cont’d

Hopper

Bin
Silo
 Transport Of Solids By Mechanical Conveyors
 Conveyors- a mechanized device used to move materials in relatively large
quantities between specific locations over a fixed path.
 Belt conveyors
 Belt conveyors: where the solids are conveyed horizontally, or at small
angles to the horizontal, on a continuous moving belt.
 Conveyor belts are used in a wide variety of material transport applications
such as manufacturing, food processing, and heavy industry.
 Commercial applications include:
– Agriculture
– Construction - heavy building materials
– Food and beverage processing
– Forestry - logging, paper pulp, etc.
– Mining and quarrying
– Factory production line
Cont’d

Belt conveyors
 Cont’d
 Screw Conveyors
 Screw conveyors: in which the solids are moved along a pipe or channel by
a rotating helical impeller, as in a screw lift elevator.
 Spiral conveyors are used mainly for heating, cooling.
 Screw conveyors use a rotating screw in a channel or tube to move
material.
 Primarily run on a continuous motor that is simply on or off
 Used in the pharmaceutical, food, and manufacturing industries
 Useful for accumulation, drying, or moving vertically in a small space

Screw conveyors
 Cont’d
 Bucket Elevators
 Bucket Elevators:- in which the particles are carried upwards in
buckets attached to a continuously moving vertical belt.
 Cont’d
 Vibrating Conveyors
 Vibrating Conveyors:- in which the particles are subjected to an asymmetric
vibration and travel in a series of steps over a table.

 During the forward stroke of the table, the particles are carried forward in
contact with it.
 With fine powders, vibration of sufficient intensity results in a fluid-like
behavior.
 Used in pharmaceutical and mining industries.
 Cont’d

Vibrating Conveyors
 Cont’d
 Chain conveyors
 Chain conveyor on which material is transported along solid pans by the
scraping action of cross bars that are connected by chains.
 Chain conveyors use belts or rollers to move objects
 Can handle loads of up 9071Kg
 Speeds of up to 60 fpm (18.288m/min), but depend on size of object, for
safety reasons.
 Hydraulic and Pneumatic Transport
 Pneumatic/Hydraulic Conveying: in which the particles are transported in a
stream of air/water.
 One of the main advantages of pneumatic conveying is the complete
enclosure of the product.
 Done for a wide variety of solid particles, from wheat flour to
wheat grain, plastic chips or coal.
 Two different types:
 Dilute (or Lean) Phase Flow: dilute suspensions (less then 1% by
volume) at high gas velocities (>20 m/s) and low pressure drops per unit
length (less than 5 mbar/m).
 Dense Phase Transport: not fully suspended particles at lower gas
fraction (solid concentration >30 % by volume) and lower gas velocities
(1-5 m/s) and with lower energy requirements but high pressure drops
(>20 mbar/m).
Cont’d
 Cont’d
 The advantage of dense phase conveying over dilute phase
include:-
 Considerably lower product degradation from particle-wall
collusions and much lower energy costs because the air
velocities are much less than during dilute phase flow.
 The blower might need to produce lower gas velocities, but
provide higher pressure.
 The lower velocities found in dense phase systems lead to lower
maintenance requirements for such systems.
Cont’d
 Cont’d
The advantages of pipes are:
Can easily alter the flow route
Have few moving parts
Low maintenance
Easy control and the ability to handle a range of products.
Suitable for most chemical and food processes
The main disadvantages of pipes are:
High power
Limited distance
Limited throughput
Expensive for low value products
 Mechanical Micro-Processes In A Fluid
 Introduction
 Mechanics of particle motion through fluids
 Single Particle in a Fluid
 This section deals with the motion of single solid particles in fluids.
 The objective here is to develop an understanding of the forces
resisting the motion of any such particle and provide methods for
the estimation of the steady velocity of the particle relative to the
fluid.
 Introduction
 Mechanics of particle motion through fluids
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 For a rigid particle moving through a fluid, there are 3 forces
acting on the particle:

1. External force: gravitational or centrifugal

2. Buoyant force: acts parallel with the external
Fb
force but in the opposite direction
3. Drag force: appears whenever there is
relative
motion between the particle and the fluid
(opposite direction to the particle motion).
Drag:
. the force in the direction of flow exerted
by
the fluid on the solid.
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 The drag force resisting very slow steady relative motion
(creeping motion) between a rigid sphere of diameter x
and a fluid of infinite extent, of viscosity µ is as follow:
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Drag coefficient
 In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: CD, Cₓ or
Cw) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or
resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water.
 It is used in the drag equation in which a lower drag coefficient indicates
the object will have less aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag.
 The drag coefficient is always associated with a particular surface area.

 Drag coefficient is a function of Reynolds number. The drag curve

applies only under restricted conditions:-
 The particle must be a solid sphere
 The particle must be far from other particles and the vessel
wall so that the flow pattern around the particle is not
distorted.
 It must be moving at its terminal velocity with respect to the
fluid.
Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Four regions are identified: the Stokes’ law region; the
Newton’s law region in which the drag coefficient is
independent of Reynolds number; an intermediate region
between the Stokes and Newton regions; and the boundary layer
separation region.

 The Drag coefficient over the entire range becomes:

Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 A particle falling from rest in a fluid will initially experience a high
acceleration.

 As the particle accelerates the drag force increases, causing the

acceleration to be reduced.

 Eventually a force balance (the forces of buoyancy, drag and

gravity )is achieved when the acceleration is zero and a terminal
relative velocity is reached. This is known as the single particle
terminal velocity.
Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
Example:-1
A particle of 2 mm in diameter and density of 2500 kg/m3 is
settling in a stagnant fluid in the Stokes’ flow regime.
a) Calculate the viscosity of the fluid if the fluid density is
1000 kg/m3 and the particle falls at a terminal velocity of
4 mm/s.
b) What is the drag force on the particle at these conditions?
c) What is the particle drag coefficient at these conditions?
d) What is the particle acceleration at these conditions?
Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics

 Shape affects drag coefficient far more in the intermediate

and Newton’s law regions than in the Stokes’ law region.
This is because:
 It is interesting to note that in the Stokes’ law
region particles fall with their longest surface
nearly parallel to the direction of motion.
 whereas, in the Newton’s law region particles
present with their maximum area to the oncoming
fluid.
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics

Drag coefficients in fluids with Reynolds number approximately 104

 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 For a given particle; if UT is unknown and X is given then the drag
coefficient can be calculated using:

 For a given particle; if X is unknown and UT is given then the drag

coefficient can be calculated using:
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics

 Small particles in gases and all common particles in liquids

quickly accelerate to their terminal velocity.
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
Example:-2
A particle of equivalent sphere volume diameter 0.2 mm, density 2500
kg/m3 and sphericity 0.6 falls freely under gravity in a fluid of density
1.0 kg/m3 and viscosity 2x10-5 Pas. Estimate the terminal velocity
reached by the particle.
Example:-3
A spherical particle of density 1500 kg/m3 has a terminal velocity of 1
cm/s in a fluid of density 800 kg/m3 and viscosity 0.001 Pas. Estimate
the diameter of the particle.
 Single Particle in a Fluid - Basics
 PARTICLE SETTLING
 In free settling:-
 A particle is at a sufficient distance from the walls of the container and
from other particles so that the fall is not affected.
 Interference is less than 1% if the ratio of the particle diameter to
the container diameter is less than 1:200 or if the particle
concentration is less than 0.2 vol % in the solution.
In Hindered settling:-
 This occurred when the particles are crowded so that they settle at a
lower rate, since viscosity and upward flow of liquid are increased
which increases the drag forces.
 The velocity gradients of each particles are affected by the presence of
nearby particles.
An exponent changes
 The settling velocity can be obtained from: from 4.6 in stokes range t
about 2.5 in Newton's law
Void fraction range.
Multiple Particle In a Fluid
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Reading Assignment