Power Consumption of Double-Bladed Kneaders of Various Shapes

Abstract

The kneading process is widely used in various industries. When wet particles are mixed, the double-bladed kneader is one of the most useful instruments. We study the power consumption of a double-bladed kneader. The power is a very important factor in kneader designing and the examination of kneading conditions. In this paper, we propose an estimation method of the power consumption for double-bladed kneaders of various geometrical con-figurations based on the relation of the power number, NP, and the modified Reynolds number, Re′. The influences of the vessel type, blade shape, wet particle volume and blade thickness on the power index, β, and the equivalent yield stress, (τc/B) were investigated. The influence of the geometrical configuration of a kneader on β and (τc/B) was explained using the dimensionless wet particle volume, V/v, and the dimensionless effective shearing area, S/s, respectively. These relations were correlated as a power expression. The equations obtained could be used to estimate the values of β and (τc/B) with errors of ±5% and ±10%, respectively. The applicability of these equations was examined in experiments using wet CaCO3 particles and wet kaolin particles. Furthermore, in this study, the power consumption of various kneaders was estimated concretely. As a result, it was shown that the power consumption could be estimated with good accuracy.