PROPERTIES OF PARTICULATE SOLIDS

PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
In general, solids are more difficult to handle than liquids,
vapors and gases because they appear in many forms. They can
be large angular pieces, wide continuous sheets, finely divided
powders, and they may be hard and abrasive, tough and rubbery,
soft or fragile, dusty, plastic sticky. Whatever their form, means
must be found to manipulate these solids as they occur and if
possible to improve their handling characteristics.
PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
In chemical processes, solids are most commonly found in the form
of particles. The main concern of this course includes the study of
the properties, methods of formation, modification, separation and
handling of particulates solids.
PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
1. Density – defined as the mass per unit volume and usually expressed by the symbol 𝜌.
Usual units are lbs/ft3 or g/cm3
𝑚
𝜌=
𝑣
2. Specific Gravity – is the ratio of the density of the material to the density of some reference
substance.
𝜌
𝑆. 𝐺. = 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (dimensionless ratio)
𝜌𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
3. Bulk density(Apparent Density) – the total mass per unit total volume.
Ex. The true density of quartz sand is 2.65 g/cm3 but a 2.65 grams mass of quartz 3sand may
occupy a total or bulk volume of 2 cm3 and have a bulk density of 𝜌𝑏 = 1.33 g/𝑐𝑚 .
𝑚
𝜌𝑏 = 𝑣 𝑡
𝑡
Bulk density varies with the size distribution of the particles and their environment hence it is not an
intensive property. The porosity of the solids itself and the material with which the pores or voids
are filled influence bulk density. For a single nonporous particle, the true density 𝜌 equals the bulk
density 𝜌𝑏 .
PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
4. Hardness – usually defined as resistance to scratching. For certain metals
and plastics it may be defined as resistance to indentation. This is usually
expressed in terms of Mohs’ scale, which is based on a series of minerals of
increasing hardness numbers as follows:

1-TALC 6-FELDSPAR
2-GYPSUM 7-QUARTZ
3-CALCITE 8-TOPAZ
4-FLUORITE 9-CORUNDUM, SAPPHIRE
5-APATITE 10-DIAMOND
PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
5. Brittleness – refers to the ease with which a substance may be broken by
impact. The hardness of mineral is not a sure criterion of its brittleness.
~Friability – the inverse quality to toughness
6. Friction – the resistance to sliding of one material against another material.
The coefficient of friction is the ratio of the force parallel to the surface of
friction in the direction of motion required to maintain a constant velocity, to
the force perpendicular to the surface of friction and normal to the direction
of motion.
CHARACTERIZATION OF SOLID PARTICLES
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 ?
WHY MEASURE PARTICLE PROPERTIES?
 Better control of quality of product (cement, urea, cosmetics etc)
 Better understanding of products, ingredients.
 Designing of equipment for different operations such as crushing,
grinding, conveying, separation, storage etc.
In addition to chemical composition, the behavior of particulate materials is often dominated by the
physical properties of the constituent particles.
These can influence a wide range of material properties including, for example, reaction and dissolution
rates, how easily ingredients flow and mix, or compressibility and abrasivity.
From a manufacturing and development perspective, some of the most important physical properties to
measure are:

 Particle size
 Particle shape
 Surface properties
 Mechanical properties
 Charge properties
 microstructure
1. PARTICLE SHAPE
The shape of an individual particle is expressed in terms of the sphericity, Φ𝑠 which is independent
of particle size.
Sphericity is the ratio of surface area of sphere of same volume as particle to the surface area of
particle.

 For a spherical particle of a diameter Dp ; Φ𝑠 =1

6𝑣𝑝
 For a non spherical particle; Φ𝑠 = 𝐷 𝑆
𝑝 𝑝

where: Dp = equivalent diameter or nominal diameter of particle

Sp= surface area of one particle
vp=volume of one particle

Equivalent diameter – is sometimes defined as the diameter of a sphere of equal volume

For fine granular materials:
Nominal Size – based on screen analyses or microscopic
examination
Surface Area – found from adsorption measurements or
from pressure drop in a bed of particles
For many crushed materials, Sphericity is between 0.6 and 0.8.
For particles rounded by abrasion, their sphericity may be as high
as 0.95.
For cubes and cylinders, for which length L equals the diameter, the
equivalent diameter is greater than L and, Φ𝑠 found from the
equivalent diameter would be 0.81 for cubes and 0.87 for
cylinders
 it is more convenient to use nominal diameter L for these shapes
 Surface area to volume ratio is 6/Dp

For column packings (rings and saddles), nominal size is also used
for Φ𝑠
 2. PARTICLE SIZE
By far the most important physical property of particulate samples is particle size.
Particle size has a direct influence on material properties such as:

 Reactivity or dissolution rate e.g. catalysts, tablets

 Stability in suspension e.g. sediments, paints
 Efficacy of delivery e.g. asthma inhalers
 Texture and feel e.g. food ingredients
 Appearance e.g. powder coatings and inks
 Flowability and handling e.g. granules
 Viscosity e.g. nasal sprays
 Packing density and porosity e.g. ceramics.

Particle size measurement is routinely carried out across a wide range of industries and is often a critical parameter in the manufacturing of many
products.
Units used for particle size depend on the size of particles.
 Coarse particles: inches or millimetres
 Fine particles: screen size
 Very fine particles: micrometers or nanometers
 Ultra fine particles: surface area per unit mass, m2/g
METHODS OF DETERMINING PARTICLE SIZE:
a) Microscope with movable cross hair – for very small particles
b) Screening – simplest method of laboratory sizing
c) Sedimentation – small particles of a given material fall in a fluid at a rate proportional to
their size.
d) Elutriation – dependent on the velocity of settling. Particles whose normal falling velocity is
less than the velocity of the fluid will be carried upward and out of the vessel.
e) Centrifugation – centrifugal force is substituted for the normal force of gravity when the
size of very small particles is to be determined.
f) Magnetic methods – used if material is paramagnetic (such as magnetite) Magnetic force is
directly proportional to its specific surface.
g) Optical methods – the amount of light transmitted depends upon the projected area of
particles.
2.1 MIXED PARTICLE SIZES AND SIZE ANALYSIS
In a sample of uniform particles of diameter Dp, the total volume of the particles
is m/ρp, where m = mass of the sample, ρp = density. Since the volume of one
particle is vp, the total number of particle, N in the sample is:
𝑚
𝑁=
𝜌𝑝 𝑣𝑝

The total surface area of particles, A:

6𝑚
𝐴 = 𝑁𝑠𝑝 = Φ
𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷𝑝

where: Dp = particle diameter

m = total mass of sample
𝜌𝑝 = particle density
2.2 SPECIFIC SURFACE OF MIXTURE
If the particle density ρp and sphericity Φs are known, the surface area of particles in
each fraction can be calculated and added to give the specific surface, Aw (The total
surface area of the unit mass of particles):

Where xi = mass fraction in a given increment,

Dpi = average diameter (taken as arithmetic average of the smallest and
largest particle diameters in increment).
2.3 AVERAGE PARTICLE SIZE
The average particle size for a mixture of particles is defined in several different
ways.
Volume surface mean diameter Ds:

If number of particle Ni in each fraction is known,

instead of mass fraction xi, then:
Arithmetic mean diameter:
NT = number of particles
in the entire sample

Mass mean diameter:

Volume mean diameter:

For sample consisting of uniform particles these average

diameters are, of course, all the same. For mixture containing
particle of various sizes, however, the several average
diameters may differ widely from one another.
2.4 NUMBER OF PARTICLES IN MIXTURE
The volume of any particle is proportional to its "diameter" cubed.

a = volume shape factor

Assuming that a is independent of size, then: