An Introduction of Population Balance Modeling for Particulate Processes

As demands on both product quality and production efficiency for particulate materials have increased, modeling of the processes which produce these materials has taken on increased importance. Toward addressing these problems, chemical engineers are masters of mass, mole, energy, and momentum balances. Inarguably, these tools are absolutely indispensable for process design and/or troubleshooting.

In this talk we outline yet another tool for this tool box: population balance (PB) modeling. The PB modeling tool allows an engineer to understand how distributed quantities are balanced in a system.  In many solids processing systems, understanding the evolution of the particle size distribution is paramount to design and/or troubleshooting. PB is the tool that guides this understanding. 

This webinar provides a first look at how to model solids processing flow sheets using the PB technique. Building on the pioneering work of Hulburt and Katz, Randolph and Larsen, Austin and Klimpel, Ramkrishna, etc., we introduce the PB concept and show how it can be applied to unit operations such as fluidized beds, size reduction, agglomeration, classification, recycle, etc.  In particular, emphasis will be placed on the conceptual development rather than detailed mathematics.