Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.60, No.6, 2642-2651, 2021
Experimental Investigation of Segregation for Nonspherical Particles in a Fluidized Bed Solids Mixer
A binary mixture of particles varying in size, shape, or density tends to segregate in many different flow situations. Removal of segregation is an important goal as it is often detrimental to process efficiency and product quality. The focus of the current work is to see the effect of the shape of particles on segregation in the particular case of a fluidized bed solids' mixer. The present work describes an experimental method to study the evolution of segregation and its dependence on both the shape and size of the particles. The outcome shows a decreasing order of the axial segregation index as follows: cubic > spherical > oblate > prolate > elongated needle. An increase in the angularity of fine particles improves mixing. The particle shape plays a vital role in determining the extent of segregation. Overall, segregation can be reduced using nonspherical particles.