Particle Technology

Dr. Muhammad Waqas Anjum

 Learning outcomes

• Introduction of the course

• Characterization of solid Particles
• Particle size analysis
• Average sizes

Sections to be studied
Chapter 28 (McCabe & Smith 5th edition)
Introduction
• Particle technology deals with the production, handling, modification,
and use of particulate materials with sizes ranging from nanometers to
centimeters both in wet and dry phases
• Extension of fluid mechanics into particle containing systems
• Its industrial scope includes chemical, petrochemical, agricultural, food,
pharmaceuticals, mineral processing, advanced materials, energy, and
the environment.
Detergents

Pharmaceuticals

Catalyst pallets Milk Powder Fertilizers Energy materials

 Objective of Particle Technology
Today particle technology includes the study of liquid
drops, emulsions and bubbles as well as solid particles.
Particles are commonly referred to as bulk solids,
particulate solids and granular solids
This course deals with
• Crushing & grinding
• Particle size separation, such as sieving, tabling and flotation
• Qualitative separation such as magnetic separation
• Fluidization, flocculation, particle size analysis
• Nanotechnology
 Characterization of Solid Particles

Why measure particle properties?

• Better control of quality of product (cement, urea, cosmetics

etc)
• Better understanding of products and ingredients.
• Designing of equipment for different operations such as
crushing, grinding, conveying, separation, storage etc.
 Characterization of Solid Particles
Which particle properties are important to measure?

• In addition to chemical composition, the behavior of particulate

materials is often dominated by the physical properties of the
constituent particles.
• These can influence a wide range of material properties including, for
example, reaction and dissolution rates, how easily ingredients flow
and mix, or compressibility and abrasivity.
• From a manufacturing and development perspective, some of the most
important physical properties to measure are: – Particle size – Particle
shape – Surface properties – Mechanical properties – Charge
properties – microstructure – Hardness - Porosity
 Characterization of Solid Particles

• Individual solid particles are characterized by their size,

shape and density
• Particles of homogeneous solids have same densities as that
of bulk material
• Particles obtained by breaking up composite solids such as
metal bearing ores have various densities usually different
from densities of bulk material.
• Sizes and shapes are easily specified for regular shaped
particles
• For irregular particles term sizes and shapes are not clear so
then what?
 Shape of Particles
• Shape of individual particle is conveniently expressed in terms of
sphericity which is independent of particle size
“The ratio of the surface area of a sphere of same volume as particle
to the surface area of the particle”
• For a spherical particle, sphericity (φs =1)
• For a non-spherical particle it given as
φs= 6 VP/DPSP
Where,
DP= Equivalent or nominal diameter
SP= surface area of one particle
VP = volume of one particle
 Shape of Particles
• Equivalent diameter is defined as the diameter of a sphere of equal
volume.
• For fine granular materials it is difficult to determine the exact
volume and surface area of the particle.
• DP is usually taken to be the nominal size based on screen analysis or
microscopic examination
• Sphericity of crushed particles ranges 0.6-0.8
• Due to abrasion, particles have higher sphericity i.e 0.95
 Equivalent Diameters of a
Nonspherical Particle
Sieve Diameter
A sieve diameter is defined as the width of the minimum square aperture
through which the particle will pass. A common sizing device associated with
this definition is a series of sieves with square woven meshes
 Equivalent Diameters of a
Nonspherical Particle

Martin's Diameter , Feret's Diameter,

and Projected Area Diameter

Three diameters defined on the basis of the

projected image of a single particle.
Martin's diameter is defined as the averaged
length of a particle which equally
divides the projected area.

Feret's diameter is the averaged distance between

pairs of parallel tangents to the projected outline of the particle.

The projected area diameter is the diameter of a sphere having the same
projected area as the particle
Martin's Diameter , Feret's Diameter,
and Projected Area Diameter

• The projected area diameter of a particle dA can be related to the particle

projected area A by

• Martin's diameter and Feret's diameter

of a particle depend on the particle
orientation under which the measurement
is made.
• Thus, statistically significant measurement requires a large number of
randomly sampled particles which are measured in an arbitrarily fixed
orientation.
 Particle Size
• The particle size can have considerable importance in a number
of industries including the chemical, mining, forestry, agriculture,
and aggregate industries
• There are a large number of methods for the determination of
particle size, these different methods are not expected to give
identical results: the size of a powder depends on the method
used for its measurement
• Particle size analysis, particle size measurement, or simply particle
sizing is the collective name of the technical procedures,
or laboratory techniques which determines the size range, and/or
the average, or mean size of the particles in a powder or
liquid sample
Particle Size Analysis

• Particle size measurement is often a critical parameter in the

manufacturing of many products
• Particle size has a direct influence on material properties such as:
– Reactivity or dissolution rate e.g. catalysts, tablets – Stability in
suspension e.g. sediments, paints
• In many powder handling and processing operations particle size
and size distribution play a key role in determining the bulk
properties of the powder.
• Regular-shaped particles can be accurately described by giving the
shape and a number of dimensions
• The description of the shapes of irregular-shaped particles is a
branch of science in itself
 Particle Size Analysis
• In general "diameter" may be specified for any equidimensional particles
• Most of the solid particles used in industries are not equidimensional,
therefore cannot be specified by a single dimension i.e. “diameter”.
• In order to simplify the measurement process, it is often convenient to
define the particle size using the concept of equivalent spheres.
• In this case the particle size is defined by the diameter of an equivalent
sphere having the same property as the actual particle such as volume
or mass.
Which dimension we use will
depend on
(a) What property or dimension
of the particle we are able to
measure
(b) The use to which the
dimension is to be put
Particle Size
• The equivalent sphere concept works very well for regular semi
regular shaped particles.
• However, it may not always be appropriate for irregular shaped
particles, such as needles or plates, where the size in at least one
dimension can differ significantly from that of the other
dimensions.
• Such particles are often characterized by the second longest major
dimension. For example needle like particles, Dp would refer to
the thickness of the particle, not their length.
• Units used for particle size depend on the size of particles.
Coarse particles: inches or millimetres
Fine particles: screen size
Very fine particles: micrometers or nanometers
Ultra fine particles: surface area per unit mass, m2/g
Mixed Particle Size
• In a sample of uniform particles of diameter Dp, the total volume
of the particle is
m/ρp
where
m = mass of the sample
ρp = density

• Since the volume of one particle is vp, the total number of particles
in the sample is
N = m/ ρp.Vp ----------------- X
• The total surface area of the particles is (combining above eq with
sphericity)
A = N.Sp = 6m/ Dp ρp øs
Mixed Particle Size
• To apply the above two equations to mixtures of particles having
various size and densities, the mixture is sorted into fractions, each
of constant density and approximately constant size.
• Each fraction can then be weighed, or the individual particles in it
can be counted or measured by any of the number of methods.
• Information from such a particle size analysis is tabulated to show
the mass fraction in each size increment as a function of average
particle size. The analysis tabulated in this way is called differential
analysis.
• A second way to present the information is through a cumulative
analysis obtained by means of a cumulative mass fraction curve, in
which the proportion of particles (x) smaller than a certain size (d)
is plotted against that size (d).
Mixed Particle Size
• The distribution of particle sizes can be seen by plotting a size
frequency curve against particle size

• Differential particle size distribution is the percentage of particles

from the total that are within a specified size range; for example,
30% within 1-10um range, 50% within 10-20um range, and 20%
within 20-30um range.

• Cumulative particle size distribution is the sum of the differential

distributions. The cumulative distribution is obtained by
accumulation of differential distribution, for instance, 80% of the
particles are smaller than 20um.
Differential Analysis

Cumulative Analysis
Cumulative mass fraction plot of data
Mixed Particle Size
• The most frequently occurring size is then shown by the
maximum of the curve.
• For naturally occurring materials the curve will generally
have a single peak.
• For mixtures of particles, there may be as many peaks as
components in the mixture.
 Specific surface of mixture
If the particle density ρp and spericity Φs are known, the surface
area of particles in each fraction can be calculated and added to give
the specific surface, Aw (The total surface area of the unit mass of
particles):

------------ 1
Where
xi = mass fraction in a given increment,
N = Number of increments
Dpi = average diameter (taken as arithmetic average
of the smallest and largest particle diameters in increment).
Average particle size
• The average particle size for a mixture of particles is defined in
several different ways.
• Volume surface mean diameter Ds:

---------2
• If number of particle Ni in each fraction is known,
instead of mass fraction xi, then
• Arithmetic mean diameter:
NT = number of particles
in the entire sample

• Mass mean diameter:

• Volume mean diameter:

• (dividing total volume of sample
by no of particles gives average
volume of particles)

• For sample consisting of uniform particles these average diameters

are, of course, all the same. For mixture containing particle of
various sizes, however, the several average diameters may differ
widely from one another.
Number of particles in mixture
For given particle shape, the volume of any particle is proportional to its
"diameter" cubed.

a = volume shape factor , different of various regular shapes

Assuming that a is independent of size, then total population in unit mass,
Put value of vp in eq. x
Mixed Particle Size

Sizes of typical powder products

Classification of d50 Sieve Opening

Powder
Very Coarse > 1000

Coarse 355–1000

Moderately Fine 180–355

Fine 125–180
Very Fine 90–125
Measurements of particles
The principles of some of the methods are now considered
together with an indication of the size range to which they are
applicable

Screening
Sieving (>50 μm)
Microscopic analysis (1–100 μm)
Sedimentation methods (>1 μm)
Permeability methods (>1 μm)
Electronic particle counters
Laser diffraction analyzers
 Sieving
• Testing sieves are made of woven wire screens.
• Openings are square
• Sieve analysis is performed using a nest or stack of sieves
where each lower sieve has a smaller aperture size than
that of the sieve above it.
• Sieves can be referred to either by their aperture size =
mesh size = sieve number
• Screens are identified by Mesh No. Mesh No. is the
numbers of opening per linear inch.
• The smaller the mesh number, the larger particles can
pass through the mesh.
• Stranded screens are ranged from mesh size 4 in to 400
mesh
Sieving
Sieve analysis may be carried out using a nest
of sieves, each lower sieve being of smaller
aperture size.
The sieves may either be mounted on a
vibrator, which should be designed to give a
degree of vertical movement in addition to
the horizontal vibration, or may be hand
shaken.
Whether or not a particle passes through an
aperture depends not only upon its size, but
also on the probability that it will be
presented at the required orientation at the
surface of the screen.
Sieving
The ratio of the actual mesh dimension of any screen to that of the next smaller
is √2=1.41. for closer sizing, intermediate screens has a mesh dimension of
4√2=1.189 times that of the next smaller standard screen.
The sizing depends on the dimensions of particles and lower limit of size and is
determined by two major factors;
1- the proportion of free space free space on screen surface becomes very small
with reduction in aperture size.
2- attractive forces between the particles become larger at small particle sizes and
the articles tend to stick with each other resulting into blockage of screen.
Number of standard series are available for sieves;
Sieves are available in a number of standard series. There are several standard
series of screen and the sizes of the openings are determined by the thickness of
wire used
British standard (B.S), institute of mining and metallurgy (I.M.M), Tyler series,
ASTM series.
Sieving
• The efficiency of sieving is defined as the ratio of the mass of
material which passes through the screen to that which is capable
of passing.
• This will differ according to the size of the material
• It may be assumed that the rate of passage of particles of a given
size through the screen is proportional to the number or mass of
particles of that size on the screen at any instant.
• If w is the mass of particles of a particular size on the screen at a
time t , then:
dw/dt = −kw
Where,
k is a constant for a given size and shape of particle and for a
given screen.
Sieving
Thus,
the mass of particles (w1 − w2) passing the screen in time t is
given by:
ln w2/w1 = −kt
or w2 = w1 e−kt
• If the sieve contains a large proportion of material just a little
larger than the maximum size of particle which will pass, its
capacity is considerably reduced.
• Sieving is generally continued either for a predetermined time or
until the rate of screening falls off to a certain fixed value (fix
certain value, Do again and again)
Sieving
• Sieving may be carried out with either wet or dry material. In wet
screening, material is washed evenly over the screen and clogging
is prevented. In addition, small particles are washed off the
surface of large ones. This has the obvious disadvantage, however,
that it may be necessary to dry the material afterwards.
• With dry screening, the material is sometimes brushed lightly
over the screen so as to form a thin even sheet. It is important
that any agitation is not so vigorous that size reduction occurs,
because screens are usually quite fragile and easily damaged by
rough treatment. In general, the larger and the more abrasive the
solids the more robust is the screen required.
Problems
• Example 28.1
• Problem 28.1, (Do it)
• Arithmetic mean diameter: NT = number of Volume mean diameter:
particles in the entire sample (dividing total volume of sample
by no of particles gives average
volume of particles)

Mass mean diameter: