Investigation of passive acoustic emissions during powder mixing in a V-blender

Abstract

Powder mixing is a complex process and a critical step in production across various industries. Passive acoustic emissions provide a promising potential for inline powder mixing monitoring. Vibrations from these emissions were measured during rotations of a V-blender using glass beads as a model solid as well as starch granules. Vibration profiles were correlated to specific phases of particle motion within the revolving V-shells. The phase, labeled Feature #1b, associated with particle collisions of the V-shell lid with attached accelerometer provided the largest measured vibration amplitudes and most reliable and relevant information on particle movement. After wavelet filtering to remove large-scale vibrations of the V-shell, the optimal information extraction method was identified as the average of the 50 highest amplitudes within the Feature #1b phase. An example illustrating the mixing of two size ranges of granules shows the potential of this monitoring method for pharmaceutical powder mixing in V-blenders. • Passive acoustic emissions are measured by a sensor on the lid of a V-blender. • Passive acoustic emissions from collisions reflect particle size and flow. • The largest emission amplitudes occur from collisions with the V-blender lids. • The 50 largest emissions amplitudes allow a mixing profile to be estimated.