Experiment 2: Measurement of Equivalent Radius, Bulk Density And Solid Density Of

Granular Materials.

OBJECTIVES

To measure the equivalent radius, bulk density and solid density of granular materials.

INTRODUCTION

Granular materials are widely applied in many industries and are very important in our daily
life. The handling and processing of granular materials have economic importance in numerous
kind of industries, including pharmaceutical as well as food technology. The granular material
is a group of distinct macroscopic particles, composed of grains or particles of solids with
interstitial spaces, which are the spaces between the particles. Having spaces between
the particles means that there are rooms left for the filling of air or liquid, known as
porosity. In this experiment, the porosity is measured by the Archimedes buoyancy method,
from which the bulk density of the test specimen is also obtained. The porosity and the bulk
density together fix the solid density of the specimen, as only two of the three quantities are
independent.

MATERIALS

Red beans, green beans and soy beans

APPARATUS

100 ml measuring cylinder, 50 ml measuring cylinder, analytical balance and cooking oil.

METHODS

400 numbers of beans were counted and weighed. The weigh obtained was then recorded (M).
The beans were placed in 100 ml measuring cylinder A and the reading of the cylinder was
recorded as (V). Certain amount of cooking oil was measured into a 50 ml measuring cylinder
B. The initial reading of the cylinder B was next recorded as (v1). Then, the cooking oil was
poured into the measuring cylinder A until all the beans submerged in oil. The final reading of
the cylinder (v2) was recorded. The volume of oil that was poured into the measuring cylinder
A was then obtained by v = (v1 – v2) ml.

RESULTS

Table 1.1: Data of equivalent radius, bulk density and porosity of granular materials

Red beans Green beans Soya beans

Weight of 400 beans, M (kg) 0.03065 0.01823 0.06051
Volume of 400 beans + void spaces, V 40 25 85
(ml)
Initial reading of cylinder v1 (ml) 50 50 50
Final reading of cylinder v2 (ml) 32 38 18
Volume of void space, v = v1 – v2 (ml) 18 12 32
(V- v) x 10-6 m3 2.20 x 10-5 1.30 x 10-5 5.30 x 10-5
Equivalent radius, r (mm) 2.36 x 10-3 1.98 x 10-3 3.16 x 10-3
Solid density, ρs (kg/m3) 1393.18 1402.31 1141.70
Bulk density, ρb (kg/m3) 766.25 729.20 711.88
Porosity, ε 0.45 0.48 0.37

CALCULATION

Volume of 400 beans + spaces between beans in cylinder A = V ml

Volume of air spaces between beans in cylinder A = v = (v1 – v2) ml

Volume of 400 beans = (V – v) ml x 10-6 m3

Weight of 400 beans = M kg

Let r mm be radius of a bean, therefore

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = (V –v) x 10-6 m3
3

Obtain the value of equivalent radius, r.

𝑀𝑘𝑔
Solid density of bean (ρs) = (𝑉−𝑣)𝑥 10−6 𝑚3
 𝑀𝑘𝑔
Bulk density of beans (ρb) = 𝑉 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3

ρs− ρb
Porosity, ε = ρs

For red beans:

V = 40 ml v = v1 – v2 volume of 400 beans = (V –v) ml x 10-6

= 50 – 32 = (40 – 18) x 10-6

= 18 = 2.20 x 10-5

Equivalent radius:

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = (V –v) x 10-6 m3
3

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = 2.20 x 10-5 m3
3

r = 2.36 x 10-3

Solid density: bulk density:

𝑀𝑘𝑔 𝑀𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (𝑉−𝑣)𝑥 10−6 𝑚3 (ρb) = 𝑉 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3

0.03065 kg 0.03065 𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (ρb) = 40 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3
2.20 x 10−5𝑚3

= 1393.18 kg/m3 (ρb) = 766.25 kg/mm3

Porosity:

ρs− ρb
ε= ρs

1393.18 −766.25
ε= 1393.18

ε = 0.45

For green beans:

V = 40 ml v = v1 – v2 volume of 400 beans = (V –v) ml x 10-6

= 50 – 32 = (40 – 18) x 10-6

= 18 = 2.20 x 10-5
Equivalent radius:

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = (V –v) x 10-6 m3
3

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = 2.20 x 10-5 m3
3

r = 2.36 x 10-3

Solid density: bulk density:

𝑀𝑘𝑔 𝑀𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (𝑉−𝑣)𝑥 10−6 𝑚3 (ρb) = 𝑉 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3

0.03065 kg 0.03065 𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (ρb) = 40 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3
2.20 x 10−5𝑚3

= 1393.18 kg/m3 (ρb) = 766.25 kg/mm3

Porosity:

ρs− ρb
ε= ρs

1393.18 −766.25
ε= 1393.18

ε = 0.45

For soya beans:

V = 40 ml v = v1 – v2 volume of 400 beans = (V –v) ml x 10-6

= 50 – 32 = (40 – 18) x 10-6

= 18 = 2.20 x 10-5

Equivalent radius:

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = (V –v) x 10-6 m3
3

4𝜋𝑟3
400 ( ) = 2.20 x 10-5 m3
3

r = 2.36 x 10-3

Solid density: bulk density:

 𝑀𝑘𝑔 𝑀𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (𝑉−𝑣)𝑥 10−6 𝑚3 (ρb) = 𝑉 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3

0.03065 kg 0.03065 𝑘𝑔
(ρs) = (ρb) = 40 𝑥 10−6 𝑚3
2.20 x 10−5𝑚3

= 1393.18 kg/m3 (ρb) = 766.25 kg/mm3

Porosity:

ρs− ρb
ε= ρs

1393.18 −766.25
ε= 1393.18

ε = 0.45

DISCUSSION

According to Liu and Chen (2014), porous materials are the composite of the solid phases and
the pores formed through the solid phases, and the existence of pores is the main difference
between such materials and other solids. In this experiment, three different kind of granular
materials were used to measure its porosity which are red beans, green beans and also soya
beans. These three specimen was being test using Archimedes Principle by obtaining their solid
density and bulk density.

An equivalent radius is define as a measure of particle size, equal to the computed radius
of a hypothetical sphere of specific gravity 2.65 (quartz) having the same settling velocity and
same density as those calculated for a given sedimentary particle in the same fluid; one half of
the equivalent diameter. In this test, a bean particle size is equal to the radius of other 400 same
kind of beans in the same measuring cylinder, with all of them are having the same settling
velocity as well as density in the fluid used. Based on the experiment that has been done, the
soya beans has the highest equivalent radius and the least is the green beans.

As for the solid density, the highest solid density id green beans and the least is soya
beans. Bulk density (or density in a mass) is the weight of the material including the
intergranular air space in unit volume (Kshirod, 2013). The result shows that the red beans has
the highest bulk density and the lowest is soya beans with 711.88 kg/m3. The highest porosity
obtained are from the green beans with 0.48 and the soya beans with 0.37 which is the lowest
porosity.
 The solid density, although rarely discussed, is determined by the mineralogy of the
specimen, and therefore can provide a valuable check on the accuracy of porosity and bulk
density measurements (Hall and Hamilton, 2016). The porosity is measured by the Archimedes
buoyancy method, from which the bulk density of the test specimen is also obtained. The
porosity and the bulk density together fix the solid density of the specimen, as only two of the
three quantities are independent. Habib, Turkan and Birol (2014) in their study stated that
porosity value is also known as a packing factor. Properties of the material in bulk should be
known for mixing, transportation, storage and packaging processes. When granule material is
put in a container, total volume includes air in it. Porosity of packed materials is the total
volume which is occupied by air. In addition, solid density and bulk density are very important
factors in designing transportation, storage and packaging processes

CONCLUSION

This experiment is conducted to measure the equivalent radius, bulk density and solid density
of three granular materials which are red beans, green beans and also soya beans. Archimedes
principle was being applied to obtain the data required. Red beans has the equivalent radius of
2.36 x 10-3 mm with the bulk density and solid density of 766.25 kg/m3 and 1393.18 kg/m3
respectively. It brings the porosity of the red beans is 0.45. Next, the green beans has 1.98 x
10-3 mm radius with 1402.31 kg/m3 solid density and 729.20 kg/m3 of bulk density brings to
0.48 of porosity. The soya beans have 3.16 x 10-3 m radius while its solid density is 1141.70
kg/m3 and the bulk density is 711.88 kg/m3 with the porosity of 0.37. This experiment was
determined using Archimedes principle.

The objectives of this experiment was successfully achieved.

REFERENCES

1. P.S. Liu, G.F. Chen, 2014. Porous Materials Processing and Applications. Butterworth-
Heinemann, retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124077881000010
2. Christopher Hall, Andrea Hamilton, 2016. Porosities of Building Limestones: Using
The Solid Density To Assess Data Quality. Retrieved from
https://pureportal.strath.ac.uk/files-
 asset/46174742/Hall_Hamilton_MAS2016_porosities_of_building_limestones_using
_the_solid_density.pdf
3. Kshirod R. Bhattacharya, 2013. Analysis of Rice Quality. Woodhead Publishing Series
in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition, Rice Quality, Woodhead Publishing.
Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781845694852500131
4. Habib Kocabiyik , Turkan Aktas and Birol Kayisoglu , 2004. Porosity Rate of Some
Kernel Crops. Journal of Agronomy, 3: 76-80. Retrieved from
https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ja.2004.76.80