(96f) Flow-Aided Pneumatic Conveying of Cohesive Dairy Powder

Flow-aided Pneumatic Conveying of Cohesive Dairy Powder

Akeem
K Olaleye ^a, Gavin M Walker ^a, Harry Van den Akker ^a,
b

^a The Bernal Institute, University of
Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.

^b Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft
University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.

Abstract

When pneumatically conveying
dairy powders, a mixture of powder and air flows around pipe bends or
experiences any change in flow direction, the milk particles often form a
rope-like structure because of inertial, gravitational and centrifugal effects.
The formation of such particle ropes can lead to stratification,
re-agglomeration, and deposition of cohesive powders in the pipe. The current
study focused on the development of novel, low-cost smart flow-aids that deliver
ultra-low powder deposition and high throughput during cohesive dairy powder
transport. First, several conceptual designs of such smart flow-aids were
investigated in a single bends of varying orientation (i.e. H-V, V-H, and H-H)
by means of a CFD-DEM. The ideas with potential were then tested in a 2-inch
test rig with (i) conventional bends, and (ii) bends modified with the selected
flow-aids (see Figure). In
addition to measurements of pressure drop and powder deposition, an optical
technique was used to measure the dynamics (probability densities) of local
particle volume fractions as a function of operating conditions and conveying
configurations. The
results of the flow-aided and the conventional setup are compared.

Figure: Conventional and Flow-aided
pneumatic conveying setup