SHAPE CLASSIFICATION OF GRANULAR-MATERIALS BY ROTATING CYLINDER WITH BLADES

A shape classifier consisting of a rotating cylinder with a row of blades is devised. Each blade works as a conveyor and the granular materials are transported up to inclined cylinder; the particles roll down on the inner wall of the rotating cylinder. Since the nonspherical particles are not so apt to roll down, their net flow becomes upward. As a result, the particles flow out of the classifier in order of non-sphericity. The effects of the angle of inclination and rotational frequency of the cylinder on the classification mechanism are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The classification performance of the equipment is successfully tested for spherical, spheroidal, elliptic-cylindrical particles and their mixtures.