Hoyle W. Powders and Solids

Developments in Handling and Processing Technologie. English | 20 Jun. 2001 | ISBN: 0854048014 | 156 Pages
—This book will be essential reading for all industrial practitioners and all engineers working either in industry or research on processes involving solid and powder handling.Health, Safety, and Handling
New Technologies
Measurment and Control"The efficient, effective, and safe handling and processing of powders is of prime importance to the chemical industry, processing as it does a high proportion of its products in powder form. In addition, the high rate of innovation means that there is the continual challenge of developing handling and processing procedures for new products.
The papers in this book present an overview of developments in the health and safety aspects of handling powders, and new technologies being applied to powders and powder handling. Measurement and control in powder handling are also covered. The papers include examples of newly introduced commercial practices, case studies and results of recent fundamental research on the behaviour of model powders.
The background to the development of the subject is covered in the first paper and illustrates why ‘solids handling remains a mature industry with an immature technology'. Safety aspects are covered in the second paper and particular emphasis is placed on explosion prevention and protection measures, and the implications of new European ATEX Directives. Containment is the subject of papers three and four, the first of which describes the intermediate bulk container concept and the value of this approach for powder handling in batch processes.
This is followed by a paper outlining new developments in containment of powders in the pharmaceutical industry, and in particular the selection, implementation andoperation of containment strategies. More fundamental aspects of powder structure and behaviour are covered in two subsequent papers. Dodds in his paper on ‘Powder Products and Structure’ discusses the results of model experiments handling binary mixtures of particles of differing size ratios, and the correlation with tablet strength, dispersability, and mixing of powders. Numerical simulation
of shear characteristics of granular materials is addressed by Antony et al. who report promising results using Discrete Element Modelling. Flow aid technology is another area where advances are being made. The paper ‘Flow Aid Technology’ reviews the range and availability of flow aids, highlights the strengths and weaknesses of present knowledge, and presents a schematic for a logical flow aid selection advisor. The last three papers cover aspects of measurement and control. In the first of the three, Campbell et al. describe current work aimed at modelling the evolution of particle size distribution throughout flour milling as a basis for the design, optimisation and control of the process. De Ryck in his paper on ‘Experimental Observations on Powder Consolidation’ investigates consolidation effects and kinetics for three samples of differing lumpiness using an annular shear tester. The final paper presents the successful use of electrodynamic technology in particle emission measurement and powder mass flow monitoring in a production spray dryer."