Investigation of the phenomenological separation process and pneumatic transport of multiparticulate solids

• Grant number: 15/21067-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Transport Phenomena
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Seleghim Júnior
• Grantee: Paulo Seleghim Júnior
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cristiano Bigonha Tibirica ; Jonas Laerte Ansoni ; Oscar Mauricio Hernandez Rodriguez ; Patrícia Aparecida Santiago

Abstract

The phenomenology of the pneumatic interaction between particulate mixtures is still little known, despite the great potential for practical applications in the industrial and agricultural sectors. In this line, the objective of this research project is to conduct an extensive study of the phenomena involved in the aerodynamic transport of multicomponent particulate aiming at developing a high-performance low-consumption pneumatic separator for agricultural products. In particular we wish to investigate the effects of particulate composition in saltation phenomena and aerodynamic entrainment. To this end, a horizontal pipe transport will be built and various particulate compositions will be subjected to different velocities of the carrier phase. In addition to filming with high imaging capturing rates cameras (>2000fps), the evolution of the granulometric profile will be determined through sampling along the pipeline, in addition to the measurement of physical variables such as pressure gradients, velocity profiles, etc., in order to characterize the multiphase flow pattern. The results thus obtained will be compiled and an empirical model will be developed to predict, among other parameters, the specific energy consumption (kJ/kg/m) in function of the separation efficiency. (AU)