Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Spring – 2014
Introduction
• Particle technology is a term used to refer to the science and
technology related to the handling and processing of particles.
• Particle technology is also often described as powder technology,
particle science and powder science.
• Particles are commonly referred to as bulk solids, particulate solids
and granular solids.
• Today particle technology includes the study of liquid drops,
emulsions and bubbles as well as solid particles.
• This course is however limited only to solid particles.
• The discipline of particle technology now includes topics as diverse
as the formation of aerosols to the design of bucket elevators,
crystallization to pneumatics transport, slurry filtration to silo
design.
Importance
• 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.
Course Content
• Introduction to the subject.
• Characterization of solid particles (size, shape and density).
• Fundamentals of solid handling (conveying and storage).
• Mixing
• Size reduction (crushing and grinding).
• Size enlargement (crystallization, pelletization, and
granualization).
• Motion of particles in a fluid.
• Separation techniques
• Screening and Sieving (for solid – solid separation)
• Sedimentation and Filtration (for solid – liquid separation)
• Gas cleaning (for solid – gas separation)
Books to be consult
• Coulson & Richardson’s Chemical Engineering
by J F Richardson & J H Harker with J R
Backhurst. Volume 2, Fifth Edition.
• Units Operations of Chemical Engineering by
Warren Lee McCabe, Julian Smith & Peter
Harriott. Seventh Edition.
• Introduction to Particle Technology by Martin
Rhodes. Second Edition.
Marks Distribution
• Assignments (Nos?): ?%
• Quizzes (Nos?): ?%
• Midterm exam: ?%
• Final Exam: ?%
• Attendance: ?%
1. 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 ?
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.
Which particle properties are
important to measure?
• 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
1.1. Particle shape
• The shape of an individual particle is expressed in terms of
the sphericity 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.
• So for spherical particle sphericity is equal to one.
• For non-spherical particle it is defined by:
Cumulative Analysis
Mass Quantities of sample of particles
Mass fractions from data in previous figure.
Cumulative mass fraction plot of data from previous
figure.
1.4. Specific surface of mixture
• If the particle density ρp and spericity 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):
When the granular solid are piled up on a flat surface, the sides
of the pile are at a definite reproducible angle with the
horizontal. This angle is called angle of repose of that material.
• If solid is poured from a nozzle on to a plane surface, it will form an
approximately conical heap and the angle between the sloping side
of the cone and the horizontal is the angle of repose. When this is
determined in this manner it is sometimes referred to as the
dynamic angle of repose or the poured angle.
• The angle of repose may also be measured using a plane sheet to
which is stuck a layer of particles from the powder. Loose powder is
then poured on to the sheet which is then tilted until the powder
slides. The angle of slide is known as the static angle of repose or
the drained angle.
• Angles of repose vary from about 20◦ with free-flowing solids, to
about 60◦ with solids with poor flow characteristics.
• Powders with low angles of repose tend to pack rapidly to give a
high packing density.
• An angle which is similar to the static angle of repose is the angle of
slide which is measured in the same manner as the drained angle
except that the surface is smooth and is not coated with a layer of
particles.
• A measure of the frictional forces within the particulate mass
is the angle of friction.
Barrel mixer:
Diffusive mixing
The performance of an
industrial mixer is judged by:
•The time required
•The power load Shear hopper:
•The properties of the product. Shear mixing
Mixing Equipments
• For paste and heavy material
– Kneader mixer
– Mixing rolls
– Muller mixer
– Pug mill
– Dispersers
• For granular solids
– Paddle mixer
– Ribbon mixer
– Tumbling mixer
– Internal screw mixer
– Impact wheel
Kneader mixer
• Two arm kneader handles suspensions, pastes and light plastic
masses.
• Kneading is a method of mixing used with deformable solid or
pastes.
• It involve squashing the mass flat, holding it over itself and
squashing it once again.
• Sometime kneading machine tear the mass apart and shear it
between the moving blade and stationary surface.
• Considerable energy is required even with fairly thin materials and
as the mass becomes stiff and rubbery, the power requirements
become very large.
• Material to be kneaded is dropped into trough and mixed for 5 – 20
minutes.
• Sometime the mass is heated while in the machine.
• Trough is often unloaded by tilting it so that it content spill out.
• In many kneader mixer trough is open.
Muller Mixer
• Mulling is the rubbing action similar to that in motor and pestle.
• At large scale processing this action is given by wide heavy wheel of
mixer as shown in figure.
• For solid the mixing index is based on standard deviation that would be
observed with a fully blended mixture ‘σe’ (for pastes this factor is zero).