Changes of Dextrose Particles with Pneumatic Conveying: Analysis of Size and Shape

When conveying particulate materials, changes in size and shape of individual particles can be observed. These changes can have a great impact on the bulk powder and affect its flow properties in the pipeline. Changes can be wanted or unwanted depending on the whole process chain and final use of the powder. In this investigation, dextrose monohydrate particles were pneumatically conveyed repetitively in a pilot plant–scale rig, and the size and shape of the particles were characterized by a semiautomatic image analysis method. This characterization was done qualitatively by observing micrographs and quantitatively for each individual particle (a total of 16,120 dextrose crystals) by using two statistical diameters and two shape factors. The effect of the changes in shape and size of the particles on the mass flow rate in the system was studied. It was concluded that the mass flow rate of the pneumatic conveying tests was not affected considerably by the changes of the dextrose particles.