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An experimental and numerical study on the grinding media dynamics inside a baffled ball mill under different solid‐flow regimes, namely, cascading, cataracting, and centrifuging, is described. The Eulerian approach was used for all simulations and the boundary condition at the drum wall was investigated by means of the specularity coefficient parameter. This effort is an important approach in representing the particle‐wall interaction in a ball mill. The restitution coefficient of the balls was experimentally measured using a video camera, and its influence was evaluated by comparing the numerical and experimental outcome of flow patterns. The simulations results proved that the specularity and restitution coefficients effects at the drum wall were more evident at high rotational speeds.

Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world, one of the main global commodities. During the processing of coffee beans, rotary drums are used in the drying and roasting phases. This equipment is widely used in many industrial sectors. According to characteristics of the drum, particulate material, and operating conditions, different flow regimes may arise. Such regimes have a direct influence on the performance of these processes and therefore their characterization is of great importance. The present work developed an experimental study about the dynamics of coffee beans, under green and roasted conditions, in a rotary drum. Transitions between rolling, cascading, cataracting, and centrifuging regimes were evaluated, for both green and roasted coffee beans. For the centrifuging regime, a comparison between experimental critical rotation speeds and the ones obtained by correlations found in literature was performed. Additionally, a new expression to predict the centrifuging rotation speed was proposed by the authors. Further analyses regarding the rolling regime were also carried out. For this regime, velocity profiles of the particles were evaluated, as well as the thickness of the active layer for different filling degrees and drum rotation speeds. Great similarity was found between the behaviour of the active region for coffee beans before and after the roasting process.