MECHANICAL OPERATIONS

(CHE301L)
Dr. Pandurangan.K
Assistant Professor (sr.)
Chemical Engineering Department,
SCHEME

Contact information:
Room no. CBMR 103C
Email: pandurangan.k@vit.ac.in
Subject
• Code: CHE1022
• Title: Mechanical Operations
• Credits: LTPJ : C 3040 : 4
• Prerequisites: NIL
Course objective:
To impart concepts of particulate solids, size reduction techniques, methods of
separation of particulate solids from liquids by classification, sedimentation,
filtration techniques and mixing of solids and fluids.

Syllabus
Assessment
• CAT – I
• CAT – II
• FAT
• E-Quiz I, II & III (MCQ)
• Assignment - I and II (Problem + Design)
• Laboratory (To be discussed in Lab)
Evaluation
• Assignment:
• Submitted before deadline: eligible for 100% marks
• 1 week delay: eligible for 80% marks
• After that: eligible for 50% marks
Time Line

CAT I will be based on Module – 1 to 3

CAT II will be based on Module – 4,5, 6
Module 1
• Introduction to particulate solids
• Particle shape, size
• Mixed particle sizes
• Size analysis – cumulative and differential
• Various mean diameters
• Screen analysis
• Standard screens
• Various Industrial screens
• LO’s
• Will be able to use different size analysis methods to determine
particle size.
• Will be able to calculate the particle size distribution using screen
analysis.
Particulate – Assembly of small particles
They are characterized by
*Size
*Shape
*Density

Regular –specified by size, shape

Irregular-arbitrarily defined
What Is M Sand? - Source, Properties & Advantages [Civil Planets]
Equivalent diameter (irregular shaped
particles)
•
Sphericity (Φs)

• Sphericity (Φs)
𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑠𝑝ℎ (𝑉𝑆 ≡ 𝑉𝑝 )
𝜙𝑠 = =
𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑃

6𝑉𝑝
𝜙𝑠 =
𝐷𝑝 𝑆𝑝
Where Vp is the volume of the particle,
Ap is its surface area, and

Dp is the diameter of a sphere with the same volume as the

𝜙𝑠 = 1 for Sphere particle (equivalent diameter of the particle (𝑉𝑆 ≡ 𝑉𝑝 ) )
Calculate the sphericity of a cube of edge length ‘a’ [ GATE-2000]

𝑆𝑠𝑝ℎ (𝑉𝑆 ≡ 𝑉𝑝 )
𝜙𝑠 =
𝑆𝑃

𝜋 (1/3)
𝜙𝑠 =
6

Answer: 𝜙𝑠 = 0.806

Calculate the sphericity of a cube of edge length ‘a=1 m, a= 1cm, a= 10 cm’

𝑆𝑠𝑝ℎ (𝑉𝑆 ≡𝑉𝑝 )

Note: For any edge length of cube 𝜙𝑠 = 0.806 will be same. 𝜙𝑠 = 𝑆𝑃
𝜋 (1/3)
turns out to be independent of edge length.
6
 Spherecity of cube
• Ψ = As / Ap Where: As is the surface area of the equivalent
sphere and Ap is the measured surface area.
The sphericity can have a value ranging from 0-1, where Ψ = 1
for an ideal sphere.
• The volume of a spherical particle is:
• Vp= (1/6) π dp3 Where: dp is the diameter of the particle.
• The surface area of a sphere is:
• As = π dp2 = π [ (6 Vp / π)(1/3) ]2 Thus, for a particle, Ψ can be
calculated by measuring its volume and surface area:
• Ψ = As / Ap = π (6 Vp / π)(2/3) / Ap An example: A cube
measuring 1 × 1 × 1 cm has a volume of 1 cm3, and a surface
area of 6 × (1 × 1) = 6 cm2. Its sphericity is:
• Ψ = π × (6 × 1 / π)(2/3) / 6 = 0.806
Calculate the sphericity of a cylinder of dia 1 cm and height 3 cm

𝑆𝑠𝑝ℎ (𝑉𝑆 ≡ 𝑉𝑝 )
𝜙𝑠 =
𝑆𝑃

Answer: 0.78

Calculate the sphericity of a cylinder of dia 2 cm and height 6 cm

𝑆𝑠𝑝ℎ (𝑉𝑆 ≡ 𝑉𝑝 )
𝜙𝑠 =
𝑆𝑃

Answer: 0.78

Note: Therefore for given L/D ratio of cylinder 𝜙𝑠 will be same.

Particle size- specified by diameter.

Size expressed in different units according to size range

*coarse – inch (or) mm

*Fine - screen size (mesh)

*Very fine - µm (or) nm

*Ultra fine – m2/gm (specific surface area)

Mixture of homogenous particles (same size)

No. of particles in the sample

𝑚
𝑁=
𝜌𝑝 𝑣𝑝
Total surface area
6𝑚
𝐴 = 𝑁𝑆𝑝 =
𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷𝑝
Mixture of heterogeneous particles (different size)

Specific surface of mixture(different size)

6𝑥1 6𝑥2 6𝑥𝑛

𝐴𝑤 = ഥ𝑝1
+ ഥ
+…+ ഥ𝑝𝑛
𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷 𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷𝑝2 𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷

𝑛
6 𝑥𝑖
= ෍
𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝐷
𝑖=1

xi is the mass fraction

Volume shape factor:
Volume is proportional of cube of diameter, the constant of proportionality is
knows as volume shape factor (a).
a=π/6 for spheres

𝑣𝑝 = 𝑎𝐷𝑝3

Number of particles in Mixture (Different sizes)

𝑛
1 𝑥𝑖 1
𝑁𝑤 = ෍ =
𝑎𝜌𝑝 ഥ 𝑝𝑖
𝐷 3 ഥ𝑣3
𝑎𝜌𝑝 𝐷
𝑖=1
Average particle size
I. ഥ 𝑵)
Arithmetic mean diameter (𝑫

II. ഥ 𝒘)
Mass or weight mean diameter(𝑫

ഥ 𝒗)
III. Volume mean diameter (𝑫

ഥ 𝒔)
IV. Volume Surface mean diameter (𝑫
 ഥ 𝑵)
I. Arithmetic mean diameter (𝑫

σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑁𝑖 𝐷
ഥ𝑝𝑖
ഥ𝑁 =
𝐷
σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑁𝑖
NT = σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑁𝑖 is the total number of particle

ഥ 𝒘)
II. Mass or weight mean diameter(𝑫

𝑛
ഥ𝑤 = ෍ 𝑥𝑖 𝐷
𝐷 ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝑖=1
 ഥ 𝒗)
III. Volume mean diameter(𝑫

ഥ 𝒔)
IV. Volume Surface mean diameter (𝑫

6
ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷
𝜙𝑠 𝐴𝑤 𝜌𝑝
1
ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷 𝑥
σ𝑛𝑖=1 ഥ 𝑖
𝐷𝑝𝑖
Calculate the mass mean, volume mean and surface mean diameter for the
following particulate material in μm. [GATE-1995]

Size range in μm Mass of the Particle in gm

704-352 25
352-176 37.5
176-88 62.5
88-44 75
Pan 50
Size range in Mass of the Mass fraction ഥ𝑝𝑖 𝒏
𝐷
μm Particle in gm 𝑥𝑖 ഥ 𝒘 = ෍ 𝒙𝒊 𝑫
𝑫 ഥ 𝒑𝒊
𝒊=𝟏

704-352 25 25/250 =0.1 (704+352)/2

=528
352-176 37.5

176-88 62.5

88-44 75 (88+44)/2 =66

Pan 50 (44+0)/2 =22

Size range in Mass of the Mass fraction ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝐷
μm Particle in gm 𝑥𝑖

704-352 25 0.1 528

352-176 37.5 0.15 264

176-88 62.5 0.25 132

88-44 75 0.3 66

Pan 50 0.2 22
 Mass ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝐷 𝑛
1
fraction ഥ𝑤 = ෍ 𝑥𝑖 𝐷
𝐷 ഥ𝑝𝑖 ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷 𝑥
𝑥𝑖 𝑖=1
σ𝑛𝑖=1 ഥ 𝑖
𝐷𝑝𝑖
0.1 528

0.15 264

0.25 132

0.3 66

0.3 22 ഥ 𝒘 =149.6 μm
𝑫 ഥ 𝑽 =36.8 μm
𝑫 ഥ 𝒔 =61μm
𝑫
Average particle size
ഥ 𝒔)
IV. Volume Surface mean diameter (𝑫

6
ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷
𝜙𝑠 𝐴𝑤 𝜌𝑝
1
ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷 𝑥
σ𝑛𝑖=1 ഥ 𝑖
𝐷𝑝𝑖
Find: diameters Surface mean, Mass mean, Volume mean, No. of particles,
Specific surface area. Take a=2, Spherecity=0.571 and Density=2650 kg/m3
Differential Analysis
Mesh Screen Avg. Particle Weight
Openings, μm size, μm fraction
retained, mg
6/8 2362 2845 0.017
8/10 1651 2006 0.235
10/14 1168 1410 0.298
14/20 833 1000 0.217
20/28 589 711 0.105
28/35 417 503 0.062
35/48 295 356 0.028
48/65 208 252 0.017
65/100 147 178 0.010
100/150 104 126 0.005
150/200 74 89 0.002
Pan 0.004
1.0
Cumulative

Mesh Screen Weight fraction

Openings, μm retained, mg
6 3327 0.00
8 2362 0.017
10 1651 0.252
14 1168 0.55
20 833 0.767
28 589 0.872
35 417 0.934
48 295 0.962
65 208 0.979
100 147 0.989
150 104 0.994
200 74 0.996
Pan 1.0
 1
• Surface mean diameter ഥ𝑠 =
𝐷 𝑥
σ𝑛𝑖=1 ഥ 𝑖
𝐷𝑝𝑖
𝑛
• Mass mean diameter
ഥ𝑤 = ෍ 𝑥𝑖 𝐷
𝐷 ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝑖=1

• Volume mean diameter

𝑛
1 𝑥𝑖 1
𝑁𝑤 = ෍ =
𝑎𝜌𝑝 ഥ 𝑝𝑖 3 𝑎𝜌𝑝 𝐷
𝐷 ഥ𝑣3
• Number of particles 𝑖=1

6𝑥1 6𝑥2 6𝑥𝑛

𝐴𝑤 = ഥ𝑝1
+ ഥ𝑝2
+…+ ഥ𝑝𝑛
𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷 𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷 𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 𝐷

• Specific surface area 𝑛

6 𝑥𝑖
= ෍
𝜙𝑠 𝜌𝑝 ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝐷
𝑖=1
Determining Particle Size:
Various methods are used for measurement of particle size.
These depends on size range, the physical properties and the
condition of dryness or wetness.
The following methods are used in laboratory.
1. Microscope
2. Screening
3. Sedimentation
4. Elutriation
5. Centrifuging
Screening (Sieving)

Importance of screening:
• Removes the fine from the feed material before a reduction equipment.
• Prevents oversized material to enter into unit operations.
• Produce a process grade material to meet specific feed size.
• Removes fines from finished product before packing.

Sieve Analysis | Determine Grain Size Distribution | Free Guide ➤ (mt.com)

 Sieve Analysis - YouTube
Sieve Analysis - Tutorial - YouTube
The mesh number system is a measure of how many openings there are per
linear inch in a screen. Sizes vary by a factor of √2. This can easily be
determined as screens are made from wires of standard diameters, however,
opening sizes can vary slightly due to wear and distortion.
Types of standard screens:
1. Tyler standard screen series
2. Indian standard test sieves

Types of Screen/sieve analysis

1. Differential Analysis
2. Cumulative Analysis
Particle size distribution
(a) Differential (b) Cumulative
1. Differential Analysis
2. Cumulative Analysis
2. Cumulative Analysis cont..
1 kg of coarser sample passing through 4 mesh feed to a laboratory
crusher and the crushed finer product is to subjected to sieve analysis and
the amount mass retained on each sieves given in the table. Do differential
analysis and cumulative analysis.

Mesh Screen open Dpi Mass Retained Mass fraction Average Particle Cumulative mass
ഥ𝑝𝑖
Dia 𝐷 fraction retained
(over size) Φi

4 4.699 0 - - 0
6 3.327 2.51 0.0251 4.013 0.0251

8 2.362 12.5 0.125 2.845 0.1501

10 1.651 32.07 .3207 2.007
14 1.168 25.7 0.257 1.409
20 0.833 15.9 0.159 1.001
28 0.589 5.38 0.0538 0.711
35 0.417 2.1 0.021 0.503
48 0.295 1.02 0.0102 0.356

65 0.208 0.07 0.0077 0.252

100 0.147 0.05 0.0058 0.178
150 0.104 0.041 0.0041 0.126
200 0.074 0.031 0.0031 0.089
Pan - 0.075 0.0075 0.037
Size range ഥ𝑝𝑖
𝐷 Mass of the Mass Cumulative Cumulative
in μm Particle in gm fraction mass fraction mass fraction
𝜟ϕi retained rejected
or 𝑥𝑖 (over size) (under size)

Φi 1-Φi

-704+352 528 25 0.1 528

-352+176 264 37.5 0.15 264

-176+88 132 62.5 0.25 132

-88+44 66 75 0.3 66

Pan 22 50 0.2 22
• Screening Effectiveness: is a measure of the
success of the screen in closely separating undersize and
oversize, materials.

• F: feed
• D: overflow
• B: underflow
A dolomite mixture having the following screen analysis
through a standard 100 mesh screen. Calculate the
effectiveness of the screen and the mass ratio of
overflow and underflow to feed.
Mesh Feed Oversize (wt.%) Undersize (wt.%)
35 7.07 13.67 0.00
48 16.60 32.09 0.00
65 14.02 27.12 0.00
100 11.82 20.70 2.32
150 9.07 4.35 14.32
200 7.62 2.07 13.34
- 200 33.80 0.00 70.02
100 100 100

Mass ratio of overflow to feed: 0.517, Mass ratio of underflow to feed:

0.483, E=91.31
A quartz mixture having a certain screen analysis is screened
through a standard 10 mesh screen. Calculate: (a) the mass ratio
of overflow and underflow to feed and (b) effectiveness of the
screen.

Mass fraction of overflow = 0.85 and mass fraction of underflow =

0.195. Due to blending, an appreciable fraction of screen
becomes inactive. The blending tendency is more pronounced
with fine screens than with coarse screens.

Data: Particle diameter = 1.651 mm, mass fraction of feed = 0.47,

mass fraction
• A gold ore is screened through a 30 mm screen. The
average size distribution of the feed, oversize and
undersize were determined and graphed below.
Determine the efficiency of the screen.
• From a crushed quartz sample the fraction less than 2
mm had to be removed by screening. The feed sample
contained 35% of minus 2 mm material. After screening
the oversize fraction contained 10% of minus 2 mm size
and the undersize contained 82% of minus 2 mm size.
Determine the efficiency of the screen.
Screening Equipments

1. Grizzlies
2. Trommels or revolving screen
3. Vibrating screen
4. Oscillating screen
5. Reciprocating screen
6. Gyratory screen
Grizzlies
Screening of lumps
Stationary(angle 20-50 degree)
Vibrating (back and forth movement)
Flat(bars are horizontal)
Trommels
Screening of relatively large particles
Rotating cylinders of perforated sheet or wire screen ,
5-10degree inclination,15-20 rpm
Screening Equipment
Storage of solids
1. Bulk storage
2. Bin storage

Bin - not so tall but usually wider

Silo – tall and relatively small in diameter
Hopper - vessel with sloping at the bottom
Flow out of Bins
Mass flow-All the material moves whenever any is withdrawn
Funnel flow- Only a portion of the material flows when any is withdrawn
Best flow depends on the following physical characteristics of
materials.
1. Particle size
2. Moisture content
3. Temperature
4. Age
5. Oil content.
Particle Technology Lectures GIKI (slideshare.net)
Problems
• A large welded steel silo 4 m in diameter and 20 m high is
to be built. The silo has a central discharge on a flat
bottom. Estimate the pressure on the wall, at the bottom
of of the silo if the silo is filled with (a) coal particles and
(b) water. The coal particles have the following
characteristics:
• Density = 560 kg/m3
• Ø = 20 degrees
• Jannesen coefficient = 0.4
Problem
• A large welded steel silo 12 ft in diamter and 60 ft high is
to be built. The silo has a central discharge on a flat
bottom. Estimate the pressure on the wall at the bottom of
the silo filled with (a) plastic pellets and (b) water. The
plastic pellet have the following characteristics:

Density = 35 lb/cu ft
Ø = 20 degrees
Jannesen coefficient = 0.4
PPT - SIZE REDUCTION PowerPoint Presentation, free download - ID:9658816
(slideserve.com)