What is Particle

Technology?
Engr. Vera Marie L. Lanaria
ChE Dept., CIT University
 Particle Technology is…

• is the “science and technology” related to the handling and

processing of particles and powders.

• it applies to the production, handling, modification, and use

of a wide variety of particulate materials, both wet and dry.
• Particles are commonly referred to as bulk solids,
particulate solids, and granular solids.
• Solids used in chemical industries are most commonly in
the form of particles.
• In process industries, solid appear in variety forms: hard
& abrasive, tough & rubbery, soft & fragile, dusty &
cohesive, free-flowing & sticky.
• Particulate materials, powders or bulk solids are used
widely in all areas of the process industries. Like in the
food processing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, oil,
chemical, mineral processing, metallurgical, detergent,
powder generation, paint, plastics, and cosmetics
industries.
• So, the knowledge of their properties, handling, storage,
transportation, separation and processing is important
from the chemical engineering point of view.
 Subjects of Particle Technology
It deals with:
• the behavior of solids in bulk, including soil mechanics, bulk
material handling, silos, conveying, powder metallurgy,
nanotechnology;
• size reduction including crushing and grinding;
• increasing size by flocculation, granulation, powder
compaction, tableting, crystallization;
• particle separation such as sieving, tabling, flotation,
magnetic separation and/or electrostatic precipitation,
fluidization, centrifugal separation, and liquid filtration;
• analytical procedures such as particle size analysis.
 PARTICLE CHARACTERIZATION

Individual solid particles are characterized by their:

• Composition (determines density and conductivity)
• Size (affects the surface per unit volume and the rate at
which a particle will settle in a fluid)
• Shape (whether regular or irregular shape)
 Particle Size
• The shape of an individual particle is expressed in terms
of the sphericity () which is independent of particle size.

 =

• For spherical particle,  = 1

• For non-spherical particle, it is defined by:
=

where: 𝐷𝑝 = equivalent diameter of particle

𝑆𝑝 = surface area of one particle
𝑝 = volume of one particle
• Equivalent diameter is sometimes define as the diameter
of a sphere of equal volume.
• For fine particles, Dp is usually taken to be the nominal
size based on screen analysis or microscopic analysis.
• Surface area is found from adsorption measurements or
from the pressure drop in a bed of particles.
• For many crushed materials, sphericity is between 0.6
and 0.8.
• For particles rounded by abrasion, sphericity may be as
high as 0.95.
 Particle Size

• the most important physical property

• particle size measurement is routinely carried out across
a wide range of industries
• is often a critical parameter in the manufacturing of
many products
Particle size has a direct influence on material properties
such as:
• reactivity or dissolution rate (e.g. catalyst, tablets)
• stability in suspension (e.g. sediments, paints)
• efficacy of delivery (e.g. asthma inhalers)
• Texture & feel (e.g. food ingredients)
• Appearance (e.g. powder coatings and inks)
• Flowability & handling (e.g. granules)
• Viscosity (e.g.nasal sprays)
• Packing density & porosity (e.g. ceramics)
• in general, “diameter” may be specified for any
equidimensional particles (e.g. emulsions or bubbles)
• most of the solid particles used in industries are not
equidimensional; therefore cannot be specified by a
single dimension i.e. “diameter”
• in order to simplify the measurement process, it is often
convenient to define the particle size using the concept
of equivalent spheres
• in this case, the particle size is defined by the diameter of
an equivalent sphere having the same property as the
actual particle such as volume or mass
• the equivalent sphere concept works very well for regular
shaped particles
• however, it may not always be appropriate for irregular
shaped particles, such as needles or plates, where the
size in at least one dimension can differ significantly from
that of the other dimensions
• Such particles are often characterized by the second longest
major dimension. For example needle-like particles, Dp
would refer to the thickness of the particle and not their
length.
• 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