The Flow Conditions to Move Different Plastic Particles in Dilute Pneumatic Conveying

Abstract

In this research, positive-pressure high velocity pneumatic conveying has been tested to determine the flow conditions such as minimum velocity, solid mass flow rate, and pressure drop per unit length of polypropylene (PP), recycled polyethylene (recycled PE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The conveying efficiency (η ) of such two-phase flow was also experimentally investigated. During the course of the experimental conduct, the material sphericity ranged from 73.2 to 84.4 %. True density ranged from 904.5 to 1305.7 kg/m3, and bulk density covered the range of 493.7 to 783.4 kg/m3 .The tests were carried out on a pneumatic conveying test rig using a PVC pipes of 0.079-m inner diameter and total test length of 8.57 m. The results showed the minimum conditions to move the particles in dilute phase. For the conveying efficiency (η), the efficiency varies reversely with the air velocity in exponential function.