Effects of size and density differences on

mixing of binary mixtures of particles

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1542, 739 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4812037
Published Online: 18 June 2013

H. Musha, G. R. Chandratilleke, S. L. I. Chan, et al.

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 Effects of Size and Density Differences on Mixing of Binary
Mixtures of Particles
H. Musha1, G.R. Chandratilleke1, S.L.I. Chan1, J. Bridgwater2 and A.B. Yu1
1
Laboratory for Simulation and Modeling of Particulate System, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The
University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; 2Department of Chemical Engineering and
Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3RA, UK.

Abstract. Mixing of granular materials is an important operation in many industries such as the pharmaceutical
industry. Generally, a granular material to be mixed can have particles of different densities and sizes, which makes the
mixing difficult. Several studies have addressed the issue of finding the optimum combinations of the size and density
ratios of binary particles for mixing to happen, using rotating drums as the mixers. For mixtures of particles uniform in
either the size or density, we have shown previously that mixing index of the mixtures can be represented by a unique
function of the variable, Ȗȕ3 where β (<1) and γ (<1) are the size and density ratios respectively. This concept was
demonstrated for a volume fraction, α = 0.5 of the large (or denser) particles, using a vertically shafted cylindrical
mixer. The implication of this result is that the size effects can be represented by an equivalent density difference. Here,
this concept is further investigated for mixing of binary particles having different combinations of β and γ, at different
values of α. It is shown that the variation of the mixing index can be expressed as a function of the three variables,
β, γ and α. Such a relationship will be useful in predicting the outcomes of mixing of binary particles.
Keywords: Powder mixing, coordination number, mixing index, discrete element method, size difference, density
difference.
PACS: 83.80.Fg; 83.10.Pp; 82.20.Wt; 83.50.Xa; 81.20.Ev

INTRODUCTION Here, Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to

Particle properties can significantly affect the
mixing behavior of particles [1]. According to this
study, the size and density differences are the major
influencing factors among many other factors. In a
vertically-shafted cylindrical bladed mixer, an increase
in the difference in either the size or density has led to
an increase in the rate of segregation according to
Zhou et al. [2]. They showed that the segregation is
caused by the generation of a vertical driving force on
particles due to the differences in particle size or
density. However, their study mainly focused on
investigating the effects of size and density differences
on particle segregation as separate effects. Conversely,
Nitin et al. showed that the mixing in rotating drums
can be improved under certain combinations of size
and density differences [3]. Recently, Chandratilleke
et al. [4] studied the independent effects of the size and
density differences on mixing in a vertical bladed
mixer and found that the two effects are
interchangeable. Namely, the two effects produce
similar mixing states if the particle weight ratio, γβ3 is
matched, where γ and β are the density and size ratios,
respectively. However, it is not clear whether different
combinations of size and density ratios would produce
similar mixing states even if γβ3 is matched.
study the combined effect of particle size and density
ratios on mixing of binary particles in a vertically-
shafted cylindrical mixer. The aim of the study is to
express the mixing state of a binary mixture as a
function of the three variables, the size and density
ratios and volume fraction of the components of the
mixture. Such a relationship would prove that mixing
behaviour of binary particles is predictable under a
wide range of particle and physical properties.
SIMULATION METHOD
The DEM model used here is based on one
previously developed [5, 6], and is an extension of the
original DEM model [7] to account for the rolling
friction of particles. The model has been validated and
its details can be found elsewhere [6].
Mixture quality is quantified by a particle scale
mixing index (PSMI), which has been used
successfully in the quantification of size and density
effects previously [4].
Simulation Conditions and Procedure
A vertically-shafted cylindrical mixer shown in
Fig. 1 is used in the study of mixing. The blades of the

Powders and Grains 2013

AIP Conf. Proc. 1542, 739-742 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4812037
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739
mixer are located diametrically opposite and their
wider surfaces are oriented vertically. The mixer is
roughly filled up to the top edge of the blades as
shown Fig. 1(b) to keep the total volume of a mixture
constant. Particles are loaded into the mixer such that
large (and heavy) particles are on top of the small (and
light) ones as shown Fig. 1(b). After the particles have
settled down, the impeller is rotated from the
stationary state at a constant acceleration until it
reaches a pre-set speed, at which point the impeller
continues to rotate at that constant speed. The size
ratio ȕ is defined as d s / d l and density ratio Ȗ as
ρ s / ρ l , where s and l refer to small (light) and large
(heavy) particles respectively.
The simulations conducted are of three types. In
the first, ȕ is kept fixed while Ȗ is changed. In the
second, ȕ is changed while Ȗ is kept fixed. In the third,
ȕ is varied at different values of Ȗ at a volume fraction
Į = 0.9. More details about the study can be found
elsewhere [8].
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1. Mixer details: (a) geometry, and (b) initial
loading.
The particle properties used are as follows:
Young’s modulus=1×107 N/m2, Poisson’s ratio=0.3,
damping coefficient=0.3, static sliding friction
coefficient=0.3, density of large particles=6040 kg/m3
and rolling friction coefficient=0.001d, where d is the
particle diameter of small particles if particle sizes are
different.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
It has been reported that large particles in a binary
particle mixture of different sizes but uniform density
(or similarly, light particles of binary particles of
different density, but uniform size) are subjected to
large upward forces during the initial stages of mixing,
causing segregation [2]. Here, the density of the large
particles was set, therefore to 6040 kg/m3 to counter
this upward force, compared to 2500 kg/m3 of the
study of Zhou et al [2]. Below the results of the
combined effect of γ and β are discussed.
740
Combined Effect of Size and Density
Ratios
Figure 2 shows a comparison of the combined
effect of ȕ and Ȗ of the present work with the
individual effects of ȕ and Ȗ for the Ȗ=1 and ȕ=1
systems respectively, of a previous work [4]. Note that
x-axis represents the weight fraction γβ3 of binary
particles. The figure shows that mixing index reduces
with a decrease in the weight fraction in the uniform
systems. However, in binary systems, size and density
effects interact with each other, and a maximum
mixing state is observed for an optimum weight ratio
as seen from the dotted-line in the figure. When the
weight fraction is either smaller or larger than this
optimum value, the initially top-loaded particles either
sink to bottom or remain on top of the mixture
respectively causing more segregation than at the
optimum condition. Below the effects of ȕ and γ are
investigated at different volume fractions α.
Mixing index at steady-state 1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
Density effect (binary, β fixed)
Size effect (binary, γ fixed)
0.2 Density effect (β=1)
Size effect (γ=1)
0.0
0.01 0.1 1
3
Weight fraction, γ β
FIGURE 2. Steady-state mixing index as a function of
weight ratio for uniform and binary systems at Į=0.5. Fixed
values of β and γ are 0.5 and 0.22 respectively.
Size effect at a fixed density ratio Ȗ
Previous works suggest that volume fraction Į of
the mixing particles play some role on the final/steady
state of mixing achieved [4, 9]. Therefore, the size
effect is investigated at several α values, keeping Ȗ at
0.22. The results are shown in Fig. 3 for Į = 0.1, 0.5,
0.7 and 0.9.
The figure shows that mixing behaviour is similar
for a fixed volume fraction, with a peak value
appearing at certain size ratio, which seems to vary
somewhat. It can be also seen that the peak value
varies also with the volume fraction: either too small
or large Į value causes the peak to decrease. The
maximum mixing index is achieved at about Į =0.5.
Note that β has been varied keeping the diameter of
the large particle fixed at either 8 or 9 mm.
 Np ki
1.0 1 (1)
α = 0.5
fz =
Np
¦ [m g + ¦ ( F
i =1
i
j =1
c ,ij + Fd ,ij )] z
Mixing index at steady-state 0.8
Nt
α = 0.7 1
¦f (2)
t
fz = z
0.6 α = 0.9
Nt 1

0.4 α = 0.1
Here Fc,ij and Fd,ij are the contact and damping
0.2 force vectors on particle i due to contact with particle
j; mi is mass of particle i; Np is the number of particles
0.0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
of one type of particles, g is the acceleration due to
Size Ratio, β gravity; suffix z represents the force components are
being considered in the vertical direction; and Nt is the
FIGURE 3. Effects of size ratio β and volume fraction α on number divisions in the time axis for averaging.
steady-state mixing for a density ratio of Ȗ =0.22.
Figure 5 shows the time-averaged vertical forces
on small and large particles for the size ratio ȕ=0.875
Density Effect at a Fixed Size Ratio β at a volume fraction Į=0.9.

Figure 4 shows the effect of density on steady-state 0.20

mixing at three volume fractions. At a given volume

Time Averaged Verticle Force (N)

0.15
fraction, mixing index increases with a decrease in Ȗ, 0.10
Small particles

achieved by reducing ρs while keeping ρl at 6040 0.05

kg/m3. When Ȗ=1, only the effect of size difference 0.00
exists, and large particles remain on top of the small
-0.05
particles at the bottom. On the other hand, when ρs is
-0.10
decreased (i.e. Ȗ decreases), the weight of large Large particles
-0.15
particles become dominant, and large particles would
be able to overcome the upward forces on them to -0.20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time(sec)
move into small particle region at the bottom.
Therefore, mixing is improved with Ȗ reduced. To (a) Ȗ=1
illustrate this effect, the forces on large and small 0.20

particles are analyzed following the method reported

Time averaged verticle force (N)

0.15
Small particles
previously (Zhou et al, 2003). 0.10

1.0 0.05

0.00
Steady-state mixing index

0.8
α = 0.5 -0.05

-0.10
0.6
-0.15
Large particles
0.4 -0.20
α = 0.9 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time(sec)
0.2
α = 0.1 (b) Ȗ=0.22
0.0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 FIGURE 5. Illustration of the interaction of the size and
Density Ratio, γ density effects considering the vertical forces on the two
types of particles for the case of ȕ= 0.875 with Į=0.9.
FIGURE 4. Effects of density ratio γ at different volume
fractions α on steady-state mixing for a size ratio of β =0.5;
with dl fixed at 8mm. ȕ=0.875 is chosen here because mixing index is close
to the peak value than ȕ=0.5 for Į=0.9 (see Fig. 3).
The figure shows that the vertical force on small
First, following them, the instantaneous vertical
particles, for both ȕ values, are positive from the
forces averaged for each particle group, f z are found beginning of mixing and continue to be so throughout.
as a function of time using Eq.(1). Next, f z is However, ȕ=0.875 has a larger vertical force on small
averaged over time using Eq.(2) to obtain the time- particles in comparison, and thus, more of small
particles are expected to be raised to top of the mixer
average vertical force on a group of particles, f z t .
promoting mixing. The results are supported by Fig. 3,

741
where ȕ=0.875 has a better mixing state than ȕ=1 at predict the general effects of size, density and volume
Į=0.9. fraction of particles of a binary mixture.

Combined Effect of β, γ and α CONCLUSIONS

In order to illustrate the effects of α, β and Ȗ, The combined effect of differences in particle size
several methods were tested. One was to use the and density and volume fraction on the mixing
weight fraction γβ3 as a variable as used in Fig. 2. behaviour of a binary particle mixture was studied by
However, the density effect of Fig. 4 remains means of the discrete element method considering a
essentially the same, ȕ being fixed. Therefore, γβ3n is vertically-shafted bladed mixer. The following
used to account for the variation of particle number conclusions are made.
with changes in α, where n is the number ratio of the For a fixed density ratio γ, the mixing index attains
two particle types. Figure 6(a) replots the effect of a peak value at an optimum size ratio β if the volume
density shown in Fig. 4, using γβ3n as the x-axis fraction α of the mixing particles is kept fixed.
variable. It can be seen that the data can be correlated Similarly, this peak value varies with the volume
fraction, the maximum mixing index being achieved
0.8
for a volume fraction of about 0.5. The interaction of
0.7
the size and density differences could be explained
using the concept of vertical buoyancy forces on the
Steady-state mixing index

0.6
α=0.5 particles, based on a previous work.
0.5
α=0.9
It was also shown that effects of size, density and
0.4 volume fraction can be correlated by considering the
0.3 total weight ratio γβ3n.
0.2 α=0.1
0.1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
0.0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Weight fraction, γ β 3n The authors would like to acknowledge funding for
(a) this work by the University New South Wales, ARC
and Chinese Council Scholarship.
1.0

REFERENCES
Steady-state mixing index, M

0.8

0.6 1. L. T. Fan, Y. M. Chen and F. S. Lai, Powder Technol. 61

255 - 287 (1990).
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β=0.5
Technol. Biot. 78 (2), 187-193 (2003).
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0.2
β=0.85
3. J. Nitin, J. M. Ottino and R. M. Lueptow, Granular
Fit Matter 7 (2-3), 69-81 (2005).
0.0
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
4. G. R. Chandratilleke, A. B. Yu, J. Bridgwater and K.
Weight fraction, γ β 3n
Shinohara, AIChE J. 58 (4), 1099-1118 (2012).
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(b) B. Yu, Physica A 269, 536-553 (1999).
FIGURE 6. Combined effects of α, β and γ: (a), effect of γ 6. Y. C. Zhou, A. B. Yu, R. L. Stewart and J. Bridgwater,
at different α; and (b), effect of γ and β at α=0.9. Chem. Eng. Sci. 59, 1343-1364 (2004).
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by a single curve. Figure 6(b) shows the effect of 8. H. Musha, G. R. Chandratilleke, A. B. Yu, S. L. I. Chan
density at different β for α=0.9. The figure shows that and J. Bridgwater, (To be published).
the trend of the data points can be described by a 9. M. Alonso, M. Satoh and K. Miyanami, Powder Technol.
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coefficient of about 0.84.
M = c1 − c 2 log(γβ 3 n ) (3)

The fitting curve of Fig. 6(a) also has the same form as
Eq.(4). Therefore, the above equation should be able to

742