Effect of the liquid layer on the impact behaviour of particles

During a spray granulation process the moisture loading in fluidized beds has a great influence on\ud the inter-particle collision properties and hence on the flow behaviour. To study the influence of the\ud liquid layer as well as granule impact velocity on the impact behaviour free-fall experiments were\ud performed. During these experiments the g-Al2O3 granules were dropped from a predefined height\ud onto a liquid layer on the flat steel wall and the velocity-time curves were obtained using highspeed\ud video recording. The height of the liquid layer was varied from 50 mm to 1 mm. Moreover,\ud the tests were performed at different velocities and viscosities of liquid layer in the range of 1-300\ud mPa∙s. Both distilled water and water solutions of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose with different\ud concentrations (3, 6, 10 mass-%) were used.\ud The obtained restitution coefficients were compared with the experiments performed without liquid\ud film on the surface. For a granule impacted on a liquid film on the wall, the increase of liquid\ud viscosity decreases the restitution coefficient and thickness of liquid layer at which the granule\ud sticks. In the examined velocity range, with decreasing impact velocity the restitution coefficient\ud greatly decreases. To explain the obtained effects the force and energy balances for a particle\ud impacted on a liquid layer on the wall were derived. Both contributions to energy absorption\ud (granule-liquid layer and granule-wall contacts) have been taken into consideratio

Using of spouted bed spray granulation process for fabricating of metal/ceramic-polymer composites

Naturally occurring structural materials are composites with very high filling degrees on hard constituent. In recent years structure and properties of biological materials have been studied in detail. But it has not been possible to reconstruct this structural design. In this contribution we present a process for the fabrication of very highly filled composite materials by using of the spouted bed spray granulation process. Spouted bed granulation offers many advantages for the design of composite materials. In this investigation fine particles (dP =10-50 µm) could be uniformly spouted, and optimal properties for further processing to bulk materials can be obtained by means of granulation. For this a hybrid spouted bed with horizontal gas inlets was designed, which has a small prismatic process chamber with adjustable inlets and a high conical-cylindrical relaxation zone. The thickness of the polymer layer is adjusted by a two-fluid nozzle. The adjustment of the thickness of polymer layer is very important to fabricate composites of adjustable filling degrees. After granulation the particles are assembled to a composite material by means of warm pressing. Additionally for achievement of very high packing densities bimodal particle size distributions are used. For this purpose, particles in nm-range are firstly suspended in polymer solution and the suspension is sprayed in the spouted bed on coarser particles. Granulated particles are assembled to composites and mechanical properties of these were analysed by 4-point bending-tests. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) via the collaborative research center SFB986. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Effect of the liquid layer on the impact behavior of particles

During a spray granulation process the moisture loading in fluidized beds has a great influence on the inter-particle collision properties and hence on the flow behaviour. To study the influence of the liquid layer as well as granule impact velocity on the impact behaviour free-fall experiments were performed. During these experiments the g-Al2O3 granules were dropped from a predefined height onto a liquid layer on the flat steel wall and the velocity-time curves were obtained using highspeed video recording. The height of the liquid layer was varied from 50 mm to 1 mm. Moreover, the tests were performed at different velocities and viscosities of liquid layer in the range of 1-300 mPa·s. Both distilled water and water solutions of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose with different concentrations (3, 6, 10 mass-%) were used. The obtained restitution coefficients were compared with the experiments performed without liquid film on the surface. For a granule impacted on a liquid film on the wall, the increase of liquid viscosity decreases the restitution coefficient and thickness of liquid layer at which the granule sticks. In the examined velocity range, with decreasing impact velocity the restitution coefficient greatly decreases. To explain the obtained effects the force and energy balances for a particle impacted on a liquid layer on the wall were derived. Both contributions to energy absorption (granule-liquid layer and granule-wall contacts) have been taken into consideratio

Compartmental residence time estimation in batch granulators using a colourimetric image analysis algorithm and Discrete Element Modelling

In this paper we present an experimental technique and a novel colourimetric image analysis algorithm to economically evaluate particle residence times within regions of batch granulators for use in compartmental population balance models. Residence times are extracted using a simple mixing model in conjunction with colourimetric data. The technique is applied to the mixing of wet coloured granules (binary and ternary systems) in a laboratory scale mixer. The resulting particle concentration evolutions were in qualitative agreement with those from the mixing model. It was seen that the algorithm was most stable in the case of the binary colour experiments. Lastly, simulations using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) were also performed to further validate the assumptions made in the analysis of the experimental results. Particle concentrations from the simulations showed the same trends as the experiment and highlighted the importance of particle size distributions on the DEM residence times

Fabrication of composites via spouted bed granulation process and simulation of their micromechanical properties

In this contribution numerical simulation of Young’s modulus of copper-polymer composites is presented. For the simulation of the composites the Bonded-Particle-Model was applied. The model allows representing of the structure of composite materials realistically. The polymer matrix, which surrounds the particles, was represented as network of solid bonds connecting copper particles. Simulation results were validated based on mechanical determination of modulus of elasticity. The modulus of elasticity was approximated in experiments as well as in simulation by four-point-bending tests. It was observed, that obtained simulation results are in good agreement with experimental results

Flowsheet simulation of solids processes: Current status and future trends

Complex manufacturing processes are nowadays applied for production of various solid products. It is very common that for production of particles with desired properties several transformation steps like drying, milling, classification, granulation, etc. should be involved. This leads to the process structures consisting of different apparatuses or transformation substeps connected with material and energy balances. Consequently, development of new processes or optimization of already existing, as well as an optimal control, is a very challenging task, which can be partially solved using numerical modelling. For the simulation of modern production processes, the flowsheet calculations can be effectively used. Starting from the 80 s a lot of work focused on the flowsheet simulation of liquid-vapor systems has been done and as result various well-established systems exist today. With respect to the solid processes the intensive research has been started much later. In this contribution we present our view about a current role of flowsheet simulation for modeling of particulate materials and specify the open fields which can be covered in future research

Large enhancement of thermal conductance at ambient and cryogenic temperatures by laser remelting of plasma-sprayed Al2O3 coatings on Cu

Joints of high thermal contact conductance and electrical insulation have been obtained by coating copper supports with thin alumina (Al2O3) layers (of 140–150 µm thickness). This has been achieved by a combination of plasma spraying process and the subsequent coating remelting by a near-Infrared (n-IR) laser. With a proper optimization of the laser processing conditions, it is possible to transform the metastable ¿-Al2O3 phase of the as-sprayed coatings to stable a-Al2O3, and to achieve denser alumina coatings. This results in a large enhancement of the thermal conductance of the joints, enabling their application as heat sinks at cryogenic and ambient temperatures. The process proposed in this work is scalable for the formation of alumina coatings on large metallic pieces of complex geometries. © 202

Influence of cold gas spray parameters on the corrosion resistance of Al-Al2O3 coatings sprayed on carbon steel

This work describes the influence of standoff distance (SoD), and gas temperature on the morphology and corrosion resistance of Al-10%Al2O3 coatings deposited by cold gas spray (CGS) on carbon steel. The results showed that the standoff distance had little effect on the thickness and microstructure of the coating. However, a 100 °C decrease of the spraying temperature reduced the coating thickness by 300 μm. The use of electrochemical analyses and SEM images showed that all the coatings studied were able to protect the substrate during at least 1300 h of immersion, due to the dense microstructure obtained by CGS

Effect of the outer layer of Al coatings deposited by cold gas spray on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the AA 7075-T6 aluminum alloy

The corrosion of AA 7075-T6 aluminum alloy is a critical issue for many industries. In this study, aluminum coatings were deposited onto AA 7075-T6 by cold gas spray and the effect of the porous outer layer on different properties of the coating, including corrosion-resistance was investigated. As-prepared and polished samples were used to study the microstructure, morphology, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the coating in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. Cross-sectional analysis showed a dense structure, low porosity (0.8%) and thickness up to 300 lm (* 100 lm for the porous outer layer and * 200 lm for the compact inner layer). The sliding wear test resulted in a volume loss of 3.2 9 10-4 mm3/Nm with an adhesive wear mechanism. The abrasive wear test showed a wear rate of 1.1 9 10-4 mm3/Nm for the asprepared coating and 0.8 9 10-4 mm3/Nm for the polished coating. The as-prepared coating pores and interparticle spacing in the outer layer were mostly responsible for the increase in wear rate. For the polished coating immersed in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution during 900 h, the electrolyte reached some specific points of the substrate as revealed by the cross-sectional analysis. Inspection of the as-prepared coating demonstrated that the coating/substrate interface