School of chemical and Bioengineering

Dire Dawa institute of Technology (DDIT)

ChEg3111- Mechanical unit operations

Chapter one : Particle Technology
 Particle size and shape
 Characterization of single particle
 Characterization of mixture of particle
 Sieve analysis
 Introduction
 Particle technology is a term used to refer to the science and
technology related to the handling and processing of particles.
 Particles are commonly referred to as bulk solids, particulate
solids and granular solids.
 Solids used in chemical industries are most commonly in form of
particles.
 Solids in general are more difficult to handle then liquid and
gases.
 In process industries solid appear in variety of forms, they may be
hard and abrasive, tough and rubbery, soft and fragile, dusty and
cohesive, Free flowing or sticky.
 Particulate materials, powders or bulk solids are used widely in all
areas of the process industries.
 For example in the food processing, Pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, oil, chemical, mineral processing, metallurgical,
detergent, power generation, paint, plastics and cosmetics
industries.
 So the knowledge of their properties, handling, storage,
transportation, separation and processing is important from
chemical engineering point of view.
 Particulate materials, powders or bulk solids are used widely in all
areas of the process industries.
 For example in the food processing, pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, oil, chemical, mineral processing, metallurgical,
detergent, power generation, paint, plastics and cosmetics
industries.
 So the knowledge of their properties, handling, storage,
transportation, separation and processing is important from
chemical engineering point of view.
 An understanding of the characteristics of mass of particulate
solids is necessary in designing process and equipment for dealing
with streams containing such solids.
 Characterization of Solid Particle
• Individual solid particles are characterized by their size,
shape and density.
• Size and shape are easily specified for regular particles, such
as spheres and cubes, but for irregular particles ?
 The majority of natural and manufactured products involve particulate
materials either in their final state or at some stage in their production.
 At the simplest level, information on particle size can help maintain a
more consistent product, enhancing end-user value and profitability.
 At a more complex level, careful control of particle size can reduce the
need for in-process modifications and reworking, so making products
more competitive.
 McGraw Hill’s Dictionary of scientific and technical terms defines a
particle as ‘‘any relatively small subdivision of matter, ranging in
diameter from a few angstroms to a few millimeters’’.
 Particle Size Analysis
 Particles that one wishes to measure for size may be composed of
organic or inorganic molecules; molecularly homogeneous or
inhomogeneous ; solid or liquid state ; any shape ; and suspended in
various media .

 Defining the shape and size of solid particles is not an easy task.

 If a particle conforms itself to one of the standard configurations,

sphere, cubic, cylindrical etc. Its size can be easily specified.
Q1. How to define the size of irregular particles ?
 However many of the particles commonly encountered in industrial
practices do not conforms to any of these standard configuration.

 During the early stages of development of particle technology, a

number of authors proposed empirical definitions to particle size,

 Ex. Martin diameter is the length of a line bisecting the maximum

cross-sectional area of the particle.

 Ferret- diameter is the distance between the two most extreme points
on the particle surface.
 Limitation of such definitions
Ex. if the distance between the furthest edges on particle surface
remains the same but the rest of its configuration changes its Ferret's
diameter shall remain unaltered, such definitions cannot describe the
actual size and shape of an irregular particle.
 The simplest shape of a particle is the sphere in that, because of its
symmetry, any question of orientation does not have to be considered,
since the particle looks exactly the same from whatever direction it is
viewed and behaves in the same manner in a fluid, irrespective of its
orientation.

 No other particle has this characteristic.

 Frequently, the size of a particle of irregular shape is defined in terms

of the size of an equivalent sphere although the particle is represented
by a sphere of different size according to the property selected.
 The latest system of defining particle size by comparison with standard
configuration (spherical particle) .

 The size of spherical particles having the same controlling characteristic

as the particle under consideration.

 Controlling characteristics is depends on the system and the process in

which the particle is involved.

 For example powder used in chemical reaction should be characterized

by their surface area.
 Based on the measurement techniques the particle sizes are typically related to
equivalent Sphere diameters by
a) The sphere of the same volume of the particle.
b) The sphere of the same surface area as the particle.
c) The sphere of the same surface area per unit volume.
d) The sphere of the same area when projected on a plane normal to the direction of
motion.
e) The sphere of the same projected area as viewed from above when lying in a
position of maximum stability (as with a microscope).
f) The sphere, which will just pass through the same size of square aperture as the
particle (as on a screen).
g) The sphere with the same settling velocity as the particle in a specified fluid.
 For catalyst particles the surface area is the most controlling parameter.

 Therefore for defining the size of a catalyst particle we can use the surface diameter (𝑑𝑠 )
which will thus to be defined as the diameter of a spherical particle having the same
surface area as the particle. If 𝑠𝑝 is the surface area of particle then

𝑠𝑝
𝑠𝑝 = 𝜋(𝑑𝑠 )2 , 𝑑𝑠 =
𝜋

 The Gravitational free settling velocity of a particle in a liquid can be controlled by mass
of the particle (or, for a given density, its volume) in this case particle size can be defined
by volumetric diameter (𝑑𝑣 ) which is defined as the diameter of spherical particle having
the same volume as the particle under consideration.
 The dynamics of gas bubbles in a liquid or that of liquid drops in a liquid or gas depends
not only on the bubble or drop volume but also on the interfacial tension at the gas-liquid
or liquid-liquid interface.

 In this case, the bubble or drop can be defined using volume surface diameter (Sauter
diameter 𝑑𝑣𝑠 ) - which is diameter of spherical particle having the same specific surface
(surface area per unit volume) as the particle (bubble or drop) under consideration.

2
𝜋𝑑𝑣𝑠
 𝑆𝑝 = 𝜋𝑑3
𝑣𝑠
6

Where 𝑠𝑝 - specific surface (surface area/volume)

 Once the controlling characteristic is specified, we can define the size
of any irregular particle using above methodology.

 Another popularly employed definition of particle size is screen size

or the screen average size "daug'.

 This in fact is the aperture site of a standard screen through which the
particle just passes or more correctly the arithmetic average of the
aperture size of two successive standard screens, one of which let, the
particle pass through whereas the other retains it.
 Particle shape
 The shape of an individual particle is expressed in terms of the sphericity( s),
which is independent of particle size.

 For a spherical particle of diameter 𝑑𝑝 , s =1 Where:

dp: equivalent diameter of particle
Sp: surface area of one particle
vp: volume of one particle
 The equivalent diameter is the diameter of a sphere of equal volume.
 For fine particles, Dp is usually taken to be the nominal size based on screen analysis
 Units used for particle size depend on the size of particles.
 Coarse particles: inches or millimeters
 Fine particles: screen size
 Very fine particles: micrometers or nanometers
 Ultra fine particles: surface area per unit mass, m2/g
Sphercity value of particles having different shapes
 Volume shape factor v
 This factor is sometimes used for calculating the volume of an irregular particle.
 We know that the volume of spherical particle is proportional to the cube of its
diameter .
 If we assume the same is true for irregular particle as well, then
𝑣𝑝  𝑑𝑎𝑣𝑔 3 or 𝑣𝑝  𝜆𝑣 𝑑𝑎𝑣𝑔 3
Where, v - is constant proportionality called volume shape factor.
For spherical particles 𝜆𝑣 = /6.

 The reciprocal of sphericity is shape factor (surface shape factor =𝜆𝑠 )

Exercise 1.1
Find the sphercity of cylinder particle of diameter 3mm of height 3mm?
 Mixture of particles
 In actual industrial practice, we normally come across mixtures of particles of different sizes.

 A sample of solid particles contains a wide range of particle sizes and densities for which their analysis
becomes extremely difficult.
Average particle size
 Sieve (screen)
 A screen is an open container usually cylindrical with uniformly spaced openings at the
base.
 Standard screens are used to measure the size (and size distribution) of particles in
the size range between about 3 and 0.0015in (76mm and 38m m).
 It is normally made of wire mesh cloth, the wire diameter and the interspacing between
wires being accurately specified.

 The openings of a screen are commonly square through rectangular opening are not
unusual, the size of the square opening that is (the length of clear space between
individual wire ) is called the aperture size of the screen.
 Depending on this particular size the material which should be passed through it can be
decided.
 Sieve analyses
 Sieve analyses is basically done using standard sieve shaker in which screens of
different sizes are arranged one over another.
 In this test screens are stacked one above the other in the ascending order of their
aperture size.
 The top most screen it has the largest size because it has to retain the largest size
particle and has to pass the practical lesser than this so therefore the largest
opening screen is placed at the top and finest opening screen should be placed at
the bottom.
 A weighed amount of the feed material is feed to the top most screen and the
whole assembly is shaken continuously either manually or more preferably
mechanically.
 After a period of time the vibration is stopped and the
screens are dissembled, the material retained on each
screen including the material in the bottom pan is weight
 The material that passes through the screen is called the
(-)material or undersize and the material that is retained
on the screen(+) material or oversize.
 Homework
1. The screen analysis shown below applies to a sample of pyrite. The density of the particles is
5000kg/m3 and the volumetric shape factor (λv= 2) and sphercity (𝜙𝑠 = 0.55). For the
material between 500 𝜇𝑚 and 75 𝜇𝑚 .

Calculate

a. The specific surface area(𝜇𝑚/𝑔)

b. Number of particles per gram

c. Volume mean diameter (μm)

d. Number of particles for the 104/75 increment

e. What fraction of the total number of particles are in the 104/75 size increment?