Review of unusual and some unexplained phenomena in pneumatic conveying

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper will review several phenomena and applications of pneumatic conveying which are unusual in nature and not found in the standard applications of pneumatic conveying in solid processing. The effect of reduced gravity of pneumatic conveying in the space shuttle will be cited along with other earth-based reduced-gravity experiments. In our laboratory, we studied the relationship between dilute and dense-phase conveying proposing a thermodynamic analogy in interpreting pneumatic conveying operations. We also explored the potential to relate the different parameters in pneumatic conveying to a generalized phase diagram. Our laboratory also studied many facets of electrostatics and their effect from elimination of the effect to utilization in the development of flowmeters. It was found that the use of a Roots blower in conveying dilute-phase cement yields some fascinating results that show drag reduction. Also showing unexpected results were the conveyance of particles that undergo a physical transformation when being conveyed at high temperatures. Besides these phenomena, considered another paper considered the effects of soft particles and fibrous material (Klinzing 2015).