Motion in a particle bed agitated by a single blade

Studies on the agitation of granular materials were conducted in a horizontal cylindrical shell stirred by a single long flat blade located on radial arms fixed to a rotor shaft. Positron emission particle tracking, a noninvasive method of investigating opaque systems, permitted the motion of a single particle to be followed. Axial flow patterns showed two loops of circulation inside each compartment defined by the radial arms of the rotating blades. Results revealed the presence at 20% of fill of a circulation zone in the cross-sectional plane directly beneath the rotating shaft where little agitation occurred. This zone decreased in size and moved toward the agitator shaft as fill increased from 20% to 60%. Velocity profiles and Fourier analysis of particle displacement showed that particle movement was controlled by the number of blade passes. Torque measurements on the agitator shaft were correlated with distribution of material in the cross section of the mixer and distribution of tangential velocity. This opens the prospect of relating torque to powder flow patterns. The information can now be incorporated into models for heat transfer, chemical reaction, or agglomeration.