Granule Size Distribution Research Articles

Length Scale of Photospheric Granules in Solar Active Regions

Investigating the length scales of granules could help understand the dynamics of granules in the photosphere. In this work, we detected and identified granules in an active region near disk center observed at wavelength of TiO (7057 Å) by the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST). By a detailed analysis of the size distribution and flatness of granules, we found a critical size that divides the granules in motions into two regimes: convection and turbulence. The length scales of granules with sizes larger than 600 km follow Gauss function and demonstrate “flat” in flatness, which reveal that these granules are dominated by convection. Those with sizes smaller than 600 km follow power-law function and behave power-law tendency in flatness, which indicate that the small granules are dominated by turbulence. Hence, for the granules in active regions, they are originally convective in large length scale, and directly become turbulent once their sizes turn to small, likely below the critical size of 600 km. Comparing with the granules in quiet regions, they evolve with the absence of the mixing motions of convection and turbulence. Such a difference is probably caused by the interaction between fluid motions and strong magnetic fields in active regions. The strong magnetic fields make high magnetic pressure which creates pressure walls and slows down the evolution of convective granules. Such walls cause convective granules extending to smaller sizes on one hand, and cause wide intergranular lanes on the other hand. The small granules isolated in such wide intergranular lanes are continually sheared, rotated by strong downflows in surroundings and hereby become turbulent.

Beyond amylose content, selecting starch traits impacting in vitro α-amylase degradability in a wheat MAGIC population

A major challenge faced when studying the “structure-degradability” interaction of native starch is deciphering the interdependency between different structural levels, especially when experimental conditions limit the number of samples. To tackle this challenge, 224 wheat starches from a 4-way multiparent advanced generation inter-cross population were screened for structural features and degradation profiles by porcine pancreatic α-amylase. A hierarchical clustering on principal components (HCPC) were used as multifactorial analysis to explore the data structure. The degradation procedure was proved to be robust and sensible enough to screen a large collection of starches. The HCPC highlighted the combined effects of granule size distribution (GSD), amylopectin chain length distribution (CLD), amylose content and endogenous α-amylase activity on degradation kinetics. Especially the GSD and amylopectin CLD showed high co-occurrences with specific hydrolysis profiles. These findings provide an innovative screening method and structural factors to be primarily considered for wheat starch selection in breeding programs.

Process parameter optimization for the preparation of soap granules by Comil

A conical screen mill is commonly used to reduce particle size and produce granules of the required particle size. In the present work, an experimental study was designed to explore the use of a comil for the milling of soft solids. As a helpful example for research on soft solids, soap noodles were selected for optimizing the milling parameters such as impeller speed and type, screen type and size, and design of the milling cycle. A preferable combination of the comil parameters was the one generating a minuscule percentage of fines as also the one causing no damage or softening of the structure whatsoever due to agitation or temperature. The study involves comparing the particle sizes statistically and computing different parameters for designing the process. The particle size distribution of the soap granules obtained from the comil affects the soap bar's hardness and friability when punched. Hence, it was deduced that, for soft solids like soap noodles, comil can be helpful in particle size reduction, provided the parameters are optimized according to the mechanical properties of the material. Finally, this work presents a novel application to the comil equipment and gives a new processing technique for soap noodles.

Combined Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application and High Temperature on Grain Quality Properties of Cooked Rice.

Ambient temperature and nitrogen (N) fertilizer are two of the most important factors that affect rice grain quality. However, less information has been available on the interactive effect of N fertilizer and ambient temperature on grain quality under stressful high temperature (HT). In this article, the effects of panicle N fertilizer, ambient temperature, and their interaction on starch composition, particle size distribution of starch granules, starch physicochemical properties, and storage protein accumulation in milled grains were investigated to clarify the potential role of panicle N fertilizer topdressing in regulating rice grain quality under stressful HT by using a two-factor experiment of three N levels in combination with two temperature regimes. Results showed that appropriate application of panicle N fertilizer could attenuate the adverse effect of HT during grain filling on milling quality and chalky occurrence to some extent, particularly for the effective alleviation of HT-induced decrease in milling quality. However, the topdressing of panicle N fertilizer tended to enhance starch gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH) and its setback viscosity in HT-ripening grains, with the simultaneous decrements in the number and surface area proportions of smaller starch granules under the higher N fertilizer in combination with HT exposure. The effects of higher nitrogen fertilizer and HT exposure on total protein content and gluten composition of grains were additively increased. Hence, the topdressing of panicle N fertilizer exacerbated HT-induced deterioration in cooking and eating quality, rather than alleviating the negative impact of HT exposure on the palatability of cooked rice.

The Impact of Berberine Pharmaceutical Wastewater on Aerobic Granules Formation: Change of Granules’ Size

As important parameters in the characterization of aerobic granulation, the shape and average diameter were related to substrates. The previous studies disclosed that the morphology change in aerobic granules was the result of growth and the relatively strong hydrodynamic shear force. No further exploration of the size distribution of the aerobic granules has been conducted. To better understand the impact of toxic compounds on aerobic granules’ growth during their formation, the properties of aerobic granules were traced over 81 days in 3 sequencing batch reactors fed with acetate and berberine wastewater, especially the particle size and size distribution. The results showed that the aerobic granules were cultivated by the simulated acetate wastewater (R1), simulated berberine wastewater (R2), and effluent from an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) reactor which was fed with industrial berberine wastewater (R3). The reactors exhibited different COD removal efficiencies, and the MLSS and MLVSS values affected by the different substrates which were in an order of R1 > R2 > R3. However, the SVI and SOUR, which were affected by several factors, showed more complicated results. The aerobic granules had the lowest microbial activity (SOUR), while the aerobic granules in R3 had the lowest settling ability among the three kinds of granules. For the three reactors with different influent compositions, the aerobic granulation process displayed a three-stage process separately. Compared with the granules fed with berberine wastewater, the granules fed with acetate in a stable operation period showed more independence from other periods.The size distribution was affected by substrates. The aerobic granules with a range of 0.3–1.0 µm occupied 77.0%, 67.0%, and 35.7% of the volume for R1, R2, and R3, respectively. The biomass less than 0.3 µm occupied 59.1% volume in R3. The components of the substrate had a great influence on the growth of aerobic granules, not only on the diameter but also on the size distribution.

Influence of Formulation Factors, Process Parameters, and Selected Quality Attributes on Carvedilol Release from Roller-Compacted Hypromellose-Based Matrix Tablets.

The importance of roller compaction is recently increasing. This study evaluates the combined effects of formulation factors, process parameters, and selected quality attributes on drug release from roller-compacted hypromellose-based matrix tablets containing carvedilol as a model drug. The influence of selected factors was statistically assessed and good predictive models were developed for various time points of the release profile. The results show that the release profile is mostly affected by the particle size distribution of granules and roll speed. This indicates that the roller compaction process has a major impact on drug release, which is also formulation dependent. A higher d50 and lower d90 value of spatial filtering technique-based particle size distribution results, a lower roll speed, increased hypromellose content, using microcrystalline cellulose as a filler, and higher tablet hardness, resulted in a decrease in the drug release rate. On the other hand, the effect of the roll pressure, size of screen apertures, and d10 values on drug release was insignificant. The significance of the factors was further explained by granule shape, their porosity, and friability evaluation, and by compressibility and compactibility studies of compression mixtures. Additionally, the spatial filtering technique demonstrated to be a promising tool in controlling the roller compaction process.

Interrelating Grain Hardness Index of Wheat with Physicochemical and Structural Properties of Starch Extracted Therefrom.

To investigate the physicochemical, structural, and rheological characteristics of starch from wheat cultivars varying in grain hardness index employed in making jiuqu and to interrelate grain hardness index with physicochemical and structural properties of starch. Starch extracted therefrom was investigated for structural and physicochemical properties. Starch granules showed relatively wide granule size distribution; large size granules showed lenticular shapes while medium and small size granules exhibited spherical or irregular shapes. Starch from wheat with a lower grain hardness index exhibited a relatively higher degree of crystallinity. Chain-length profiles of amylopectin showed distinct differences; among the fractions of fa, fb1, fb2, and fb3 representing the weight-based chain-length proportions in amylopectin, the fa fractions ranged from 19.7% to 21.6%, the fb1 fractions ranged from 44.4% to 45.6%, the fb2 fractions ranged from 16.2% to 17.0%, and the fb3 fractions ranged from 16.1% to 18.8%, respectively. To, Tp, Tc, and ∆H of starch ranged from 57.8 to 59.7 °C, 61.9 to 64.2 °C, 67.4 to 69.8 °C, and 11.9 to 12.7 J/g, respectively. Peak viscosity, hot pasting viscosity, cool pasting viscosity, breakdown, and setback of starch ranged from 127 to 221 RVU, 77 to 106 RVU, 217 to 324 RVU, 44 to 116 RVU, and 137 to 218 RVU, respectively. Both G’ and G” increased in the frequency range of 0.628 to 125.6 rad/s; the wheat starch gels were more solid-like during the whole range of frequency sweep.

Effects of particle size distribution of potato starch granules on rheological properties of model dough underwent multiple freezing-thawing cycles

In order to elucidate the mechanism underlying the effect of different-sizes potato starch on dough during freeze–thaw treatment, the rheological properties, moisture distribution, secondary structure, and relative crystallinity of dough were investigated. The results showed that the storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″), and complex modulus (|G*|) of dough increased as a result of the freeze–thaw treatment, and the effect was more obvious as the starch granular sizes increased. The higher β -sheet and T22 contents reflected the higher viscoelasticity and freeze–thaw sensitivity, which may be related to the higher degree expansion of amylose. In contrast, dough with small-sized starch had higher intermolecular interactions, and denser structure, lower water migration, showing that this has better resistance and higher stability. The presented mechanisms may contribute to the better understanding of the effects of freeze–thaw process on model dough properties.

Impact of Rolled and Crushed Aggregate with Natural Pozzolan on the Behavior of HPC

High performance concrete (HPC) has several advantages in building construction that cannot be achieved using conventional concrete in terms of strength durability, resistance to chemical attack, and workability of high performance concrete are high. The introduction of fillers and additives contributed to the improvement of high-performance concrete (HPC), other parameters also influence the performance of these HPCs, coarse aggregate fraction is known to strongly influence both fresh and hardened concrete’s properties. Consequently, selection of both content and particle size distribution for (HPC) mixture is an important issue regarding the predicted performance of concrete. For to make concrete more improvement , the porosity of the granular skeleton as well as the rheology of our HPC, 3/8 fraction of rolled gravel with smooth and rounded surfaces was introduced, in substitution for the crushed gravel of the same fraction , by testing various combinations of fractions 3/8 of rolled gravel and fraction 8/15 of crushed gravel in the present study, and based on previous results obtained the combinations 35,40 and 45% fraction 3/8 of rolled gravel and 65 , 60 and 55% fraction 8/15 of crushed gravel (binary granular system) respectively, gives a minimal porosity . Super plasticizer and four percentages of pozzolan were experimented. Compressive strength function of coarse aggregate was determined at 7, 14 and 28 days. Results have revealed that the mixtures with modified granule size distribution system ,1.5% of superplasticizer and 5% by weight of pozzolan allow an improvement in the compressive strength of 35.1% relative to the control concrete.

Low-frequency ultrasound-assisted esterification of Bixa orellana L. seed starch with octenyl succinic anhydride

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the ultrasound intensity (0, 5, 10, and 20 W/cm2) on the esterification of annatto (Bixa orellana L.) seed starch with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) employing a short processing time (5 min) to produce a novel emulsifier. OSA-esterified annatto seed starches were examined according to their degree of substitution (DS), amylose content, granule size distribution, microstructure, and X-ray diffractogram. Also, the performance of the OSA-modified annatto seed starch to stabilize colloidal systems was compared to commercial samples of OSA-modified starches. For this, annatto seed oil-in-water emulsions were produced and characterized according to their droplet size distribution, microstructure, and kinetic stability. Increasing ultrasound intensity from 5 W/cm2 to 20 W/cm2, DS values reached up to 0.139 ± 0.031. Likewise, these treatments yielded approximately 1.24–1.36 times more amylose content than the sample without ultrasound application. Most of the starch granules presented smooth surfaces without visible fissures. The higher ultrasound intensity hindered the aggregation of starch granules, thus forming well-defined elliptical particles. On the other hand, the increase of the ultrasound intensity did not change Brouckere mean diameter of the starch granules. No significant qualitative differences were seen in the X-ray diffractograms in terms of diffraction angle and peak intensity, indicating that the main functional characteristics of starches were not altered with ultrasound treatment. Furthermore, modified annatto starch was able to stabilize annatto seed oil-in-water emulsions. When compared to two commercial modified starches, OSA-esterified annatto starch produced a colloidal system with a larger Sauter mean diameter (14 ± 2 μm). However, the emulsion stabilized with modified annatto starch was more kinetically stable during the storage time in comparison to those stabilized with commercial starches.

Development of a Virtual Sensor for Real-Time Prediction of Granule Flow Properties

We report progress of an ongoing work to develop a virtual sensor for flowability, which is a critical tool for enabling real time process monitoring in a granulation line. The sensor is based on camera imaging to measure the size and shape distribution of granules produced by wet granulation. Then, statistical methods were used to correlate them with flowability measurements such as ring shear tests, drained angle of repose, dynamic angle of repose, and tapped density. The virtual sensor addresses the issue with these flowability measurements, which are based on off-line characterization methods that can take hours to perform. With a virtual sensor based on real-time measurement methods, the prediction of granule flowability become faster, allowing for timely decisions regarding process control and the supply chain.

The Effect of Mould Filling on the Mechanical Properties of Wall Tile Production

This study is focused on the development of properties of ceramic wall tile bodies by changing the degree of mould filling under industrial conditions (Usak Seramik A.S., Usak, Turkey). The effects of spray dryer operating conditions and granule size distribution on the degree of mould filling have been investigated. The study measured the ceramic wall tile bodies water absorption, fired shrinkage, fired and dried strength, and porosity. The granule size and distribution were changed by adjusting the pressure and the nozzles’ diameter of the spray dryer. This study aimed to reduce grain size and quantity over 500 microns and to increase quantity between 500 microns and 75 microns by increasing the spray dryer pressure and reducing the nozzle disc diameter. It was also aimed to increase the degree of mould filling by decreasing granule size. 200 tone wall tile slips were prepared and 11,000 m2 of wall tile products were produced. The phase and microstructure analysis were investigated using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). As a result of this study, it was found that a lower granule size of above 500 µm improved the technical characteristics of the tiles. Ceramic wall tiles produced with lower granule grain size have high strength values, mainly due to the higher degree of mold filling. The ceramic tile production parameters in the Usak Seramik Company have been rearranged according to the data obtained from this study. This granule size and distribution set is now an industrial production standard in Usak Seramik.

Extraction and characterization of starch granule-associated surface and channel lipids from small-granule starches that affect physicochemical properties

Granule-associated surface and channel lipids (GALs) were extracted and identified from four small-granule (rice, oat, quinoa and amaranth) starches. All small-granule starches had apparent bimodal granule size distribution, which was due to the aggregation of granules. The bimodal pattern disappeared after extraction of GALs, and the starches showed typical monomodal distributions, indicating that the presence of GALs has a profound effect on granule aggregation. GALs were effectively extracted from small-granule starches, indicated by CLSM coupled with Pro-Q Diamond-staining. GALs content of starches ranged from 0.347 to 0.631%. The GALs of starches were mainly neutral lipids, others were glycolipids or phospholipids, and the fatty acid composition was mainly palmitic acid, stearic acid, myristic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid. Removing GALs increased the peak, breakdown and setback viscosities of rice, oat and amaranth starches, while quinoa starch after GALs removal exhibited a weaker granular structure and a greater tendency to decrease in viscosity under shear. Removing GALs contributed to amylose leaching, accelerated the recrystallization and rearrangement of starch molecules, and facilitated retrogradation, thereby leading to a higher gel hardness. Even though GALs content is very low, it may be of value for manipulation of starch properties.

Histological and physiological changes of potato starch derived from seed and TPS (true potato seed) grown tubers under different cold storage duration

Starch granules in potato tubers exist with varying sizes and size distribution in nature. In this study both the tubers of seed potato (‘Lady Rosetta’) and true potato seed (TPS) (‘BARI TPS-1’) varieties were stored at 5º C for 0 to 4 months, and the changes in starch break down were analyzed physiologically and histologically to investigate how cold storage affects the starch break down. Although the starch content of both varieties reduced during cold storage, the reduction of starch content in ‘BARI TPS-1’ was higher than that of ‘Lady Rosetta’. However, both volume and ovality (length:width) of starch granule did not change significantly throughout the storage period irrespective of variety, suggesting a non-uniform breakdown of starch granules. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of starch granule showed non-uniformed deformation and enlarged cavity or hole along the storage period, which indicated that starch breakdown occurred at a specific part of starch granule rather than peripherally and penetration would be deeper in ‘BARI TPS-1’ than that of ‘Lady Rosetta’. However, there was no significant change in granule size distribution in spite of rapid degradation of amylopectin percentage in ‘BARI TPS-1’ than that of ‘Lady Rosetta’, suggesting more susceptibility of ‘BARI TPS-1’ to starch degrading enzyme and higher enzymatic action would cause deeper penetration in ‘BARI TPS-1’ than that of ‘Lady Rosetta’.

A Hybrid Model to Predict Formulation Dependent Granule Growth in a Bi-Component Wet Granulation Process.

In this study, a hybrid modeling framework was developed for predicting size distribution and content uniformity of granules in a bi-component wet granulation system with components of differing hydrophobicities. Two bi-component formulations, (1) ibuprofen-USP and micro-crystalline cellulose and (2) micronized acetaminophen and micro-crystalline cellulose, were used in this study. First, a random forest method was used for predicting the probability of nucleation mechanism (immersion and solid spread), depending upon the formulation hydrophobicity. The predicted nucleation mechanism probability is used to determine the aggregation rate as well as the initial particle distribution in the population balance model. The aggregation process was modeled as Type-I: Sticking aggregation and Type-II: Deformation driven aggregation. In Type-I, the capillary force dominant aggregation mechanism is represented by the particles sticking together without deformation. In the case of Type-II, the particle deformation causes an increase in the contact area, representing a viscous force dominant aggregation mechanism. The choice between Type-I and II aggregation is determined based on the difference in nucleation mechanism that is predicted using the random forest method. The model was optimized and validated using the granule content uniformity data and size distribution data obtained from the experimental studies. The proposed framework predicted content non-uniform behavior for formulations that favored immersion nucleation and uniform behavior for formulations that favored solid-spreading nucleation.

Investigation on the granulation behavior of iron ore fine in a horizontal high-shear granulator

High-shear granulation is widely used in many particulate industries for its good capability to improve the size, strength and composition uniformity of powder substances. This work conducted an experimental study to investigate the granulation behavior of iron ore fine in a horizontal high-shear granulator, such as granules size distribution, granules growth rate, and permeability of the granules bed. The results show that the granule size and permeability of packed granules bed increase gradually with increasing the granulation time, and the growth of granules can be divided into three stages: the rapid growth stage, the slow growth stage and the relatively stable stage. Both the higher rotational speed and larger number of impellers increase the kinetic energy and collision frequency of the particles, which causes the increase of average granule size, growth rate and permeability of granules packed bed. On the other hand, the shear damage effect of the impellers on the granules is also enhanced with the increase of rotational speed and impeller number, resulting in significant granule size segregation.

Effect of Adding Surfactants to a Solution of Fertilizer on the Granulation Process

Granulated chelates are innovative fertilizers that are highly effective and versatile, and they ensure the best start-up effect for plants. The final properties of granules are influenced by the method of their preparation and the used substances. The diameters of the obtained granules, their size range, and the final costs of the produced fertilizer are of great importance. The paper describes granules that were produced using an agglomeration of ZnIDHA in a fluidized bed with the aid of an aqueous solution of this substance with a high dry matter content. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of surfactant addition to the solution on the evolution of granule size distribution during the process carried out in a batch mode and to access the possibility of describing the process dynamics using population balance approach. A sieve analysis was performed in order to determine the size of the granulate, and numerical calculations were performed to determine the value of the constant aggregation rate. Based on experimental studies, it can be seen that the increase in the diameters of granules is mainly caused by the agglomeration process, and to a lesser extent by the coating process. The addition of surfactant increased the median size of the granules in the initial granulation stage, and also lowered the surface tension. This in turn enables a lower spraying pressure to be used. A comparison of different aggregation kernels constituting an integral part of the population balance model proved that the physically motivated equipartition kinetic energy kernel performs best in this case. Moreover, the computational results show an increase in the aggregation rate when the surfactant additive is used and confirm that population balance allows the extraction of physical information about the granulation.

Genetic Diversity and Inter‐Relationships of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Starch Traits

AbstractThe starch morphology, granule size distribution, apparent amylose content (AAC), pasting properties, textural properties, gelatinization, and retrogradation of 16 common bean varieties are studied. According to the observed phenotypic data, the genetic diversity and inter‐relationships of these starch traits are analyzed. Wide diversity in starch quality traits is observed. Both volume mean diameter and area diameter of starch granules range from 21.6 to 32.3 µm, AAC ranges from 30.6% to 45.7%, and gelatinization temperature (GT) varies from 64.7 °C to 76.8 °C. AAC is not significantly correlated to GT and other gelatinization parameters or to retrogradation parameters, but is significantly positively correlated to hardness, trough viscosity, final viscosity, and setback. Conclusion temperatures (Tc) and enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔHg) are significantly negatively correlated to retrogradation percentage. Thus, AAC mainly affects textural and pasting properties, and retrogradation mainly depends on gelatinization (ΔHg and Tc) rather than AAC. This study provides guidance for the processing and application of these starches.

Development of an asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation system for the size characterization of starch granules

淀粉颗粒粒径与分子尺寸分别在1~100 μm和20~250 nm之间,是影响淀粉功能特性的重要因素之一。非对称场流分离(AF4)是一种基于样品与外力场相互作用机制的分离技术,已应用于表征淀粉分子尺寸分布。商品化的AF4系统的粒径检测范围为1 nm~10 μm,对于淀粉颗粒粒径表征具有一定的局限性。该文研制了AF4分离系统;考察了其在微米尺度下对红薯、莲子和大米淀粉颗粒粒径表征的性能;采用微米尺寸的聚苯乙烯乳化球(PS)标准样品验证了构建的AF4系统的分离性能。实验结果显示,构建的AF4系统对PS混合样品(粒径2、6、12、20 μm)实现了基线分离,同商品化AF4相比提高了检测上线,具有分离表征淀粉颗粒的潜力。此外,该文研究了载液组成对淀粉颗粒分离表征的影响;通过光学显微镜验证了构建的AF4系统在微米尺度上对淀粉颗粒粒径分布的表征能力。最后,采用商品化的AF4系统串联多角度激光光散射检测器和示差折光检测器对3种淀粉分子进行了分离表征,考察了淀粉的溶解温度对其表征结果的影响。在摩尔质量10 6~108 g/mol范围内,红薯和莲子淀粉的回转半径和水合半径的比值(Rg/Rh)在0.9~1.1之间,大米淀粉的Rg/Rh在1.2~1.4之间。实验结果证明构建的AF4系统是一种快速、准确的淀粉颗粒粒径表征方法,与商品化的AF4系统结合可为研究淀粉尺寸分布与其功能性质之间的关系提供技术支持。

Shear-induced mixing of granular materials featuring broad granule size distributions.

Granular flows during a shear-induced mixing process are studied using discrete element methods. The aim is to understand the underlying elementary mechanisms of transition from unmixed to mixed phases for a granular material featuring a broad distribution of particles, which we investigate systematically by varying the strain rate and system size. Here the strain rate varies over four orders of magnitude and the system size varies from ten thousand to more than a million granules. A strain rate-dependent transition from quasistatic to purely inertial flow is observed. At the macroscopic scale, the contact stresses drop due to the formation of shear-induced instabilities that serves as an onset of granular flows and initiates mixing between the granules. The stress-drop displays a profound system size dependence. At the granular scale, mixing dynamics are correlated with the formation of shear bands, which result in significantly different timescales of mixing, especially for those regions that are close to the system walls and the bulk. Overall, our results reveal that although the transient dynamics display a generic behavior, these have a significant finite-size effect. In contrast, macroscopic behaviors at steady states have negligible system size dependence.