The parameters governing the coefficient of dispersion of cubes in rotating cylinders

Axial dispersion of cubic particles in horizontal, rotating cylinders was investigated using discrete element modelling simulations. We found that, similar to the behavior of spheres, the axial dispersion coefficient of cubes depends on (1) the rotational speed of the cylinder \({\omega }\), (2) the acceleration due to gravity g and (3) the particle size d, satisfying the relationship \({D}_\mathrm {ax}\propto {\omega }^{1-2{\lambda }}{g}^{{\lambda }}{d}^{2-{\lambda }}\) with \({\lambda }\approx 0.15\) (\({\lambda }\approx 0.1\) for beds of spheres) (Third et al. in Powder Technol 203:510–517, 2010). This observation suggested that, although particle shape influences significantly the rate of axial dispersion (cubes disperse almost twice as fast as spheres of equal volume), the parameters controlling the coefficient of dispersion are independent of particle shape.