INTRODUCTION TO BULK SOLID

CHAPTER 1
PROPERTIES OF BULK SOLID

1.1.3
1.2.1 Aerated bulk density,
abd

The particles are separated from each other by a film
of air and are not in direct contact with each other.
Bulk density after the powder has been aerated.
Some of the methods in obtaining the aerated
density:


1.2.1.1 Poured bulk density,
pbd

Powder is pored into a container
Height of fall is fixed
The powder in the container must not be disturbed
Mass of powder is determined
Volume of powder is the volume inside the cup.

1.2.1.2 Tap bulk density,
tbd
Bulk density of a powder, which has been compacted
by tapping or vibration following a specific
procedure.

1.3 Voidage, or porosity
The volume of the voids within the bed. i.e. the
volume occupied by air divided by the total (overall)
volume of the bed.
Void volumes includes the pores within the
particles if they are porous.
1.4 Powder Flowability Determination

No flowability test is universally applicable.
Thus series of powder flow behaviour must be
tested experimentally according to the need
of industrial application such as powder
streams in industrial storage, transport and
processing, in terms of their range of
applicability, cost and difficulty of
measurement.
Since the state of the powder varies for
different types of applications, the test
chosen has to reflect the state of powder in
the actual process.
Below are some of the tests commonly
required in determining flow behaviour in
selected process plant
1.5 Compressibility (from bulk density)
Compression tests are mainly used for quality
control, product evaluation and to measure the
tendency for caking.
One of the way to express differences between tap
density and aerated density:

1.6 Angle of Repose
Definition: the angle of the free surface of a pile of powder to
the horizontal plane.
Whenever a heap of powder is being formed, the angle of
inclination of the free surface to the horizontal can take any
value up to a maximum.
Any attempt to build up a heap with steeper sides results in its
collapse.

Depending on the condition under which the pile has
been poured and how the angle is measured, different
values of angle can be obtained for the same powder.
When a mixture of uniformly sized granular particles
consisting of components with different angle of repose
is poured on a heap, the particles having steeper angle
of repose tend to concentrate in the center of the heap.

1.7 Hausner Ratio, HR

The ratio of
tbd
/
abd
is called the Hausner
ratio, HR (Grey and Beddow 1968/1979).
If the ratio:
HR >1.4 : Group C
1.25 < HR < 1.4 : Transition AC
HR < 1.25 : Group A, B or D


Other available types of test such as:
Funnel/discharge est
Fluidization index, deaeration, permeability
Floodibility test
Dispersibility
Pick up velocity
Pseudoviscosity and suspension-flow behaviour index etc.
Thank you