(68h) Experimental Investigation of Segregation for Non-Spherical 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. Fluidized bed solids mixer is quite often used in the food and pharmaceutical industry to mix granular particles. 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. Glass particles of different shapes like spherical, ellipsoids (prolate and oblate), cubical, elongated needle have been used. Results indicate that particle shape plays an important role in determining the extent of segregation. Overall segregation can be reduced by using non-spherical particles.