Modeling granular material blending in a Tote blender using a finite element method and advection-diffusion equation multi-scale model

Yu Liu (1) , Andrew Thomas Cameron (1) , Marcial Gonzalez (1) , Carl Wassgren (1)

1 Purdue University [West Lafayette]

A multi-scale model is presented for predicting the magnitude and rate of powder mixing in a Tote blender. The model combines particle diffusion correlations calibrated from experiments with transient advective flow field information from finite element method simulations. Predictions of the mixing rate from the multi-scale model compare well quantitatively to published experimental data. The multi-scale model, since it does not directly model individual particles, is expected to scale well to systems of industrial interest.

Mots clés: Blending; Granular material; Finite element method; Multi-scale model

Domaines: Génie mécanique [physics.class-ph]; Génie des procédés; Matériaux

Yu Liu, Andrew Thomas Cameron, Marcial Gonzalez, Carl Wassgren. Modeling granular material blending in a Tote blender using a finite element method and advection-diffusion equation multi-scale model. 2018. ⟨hal-01788341⟩