POWDER

TECHNOLOGY
ELSEVIER

Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

Overview: Pneumatic transport of solids

O. Molerus
Lehrstuhl Mechanische Verfahrenstechnik, Universit?it Erlangen-Niirnberg, Cauerstrasse 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Received 8 August 1994; revised 3 April 1995; accepted 19 February 1996

Abstract

In the introduction of the paper the most significant advantages, disadvantages and pitfalls are summarized which characterize pneumatic
conveying technology. Historical remarks indicate a surprisingly high standard of pneumatic transport design which has been achieved already
during the 19th century. The discussion of the development of prediction procedures for pressure drop and state of flow is used in order to
show the development in the technology itself. Horizontal, as well as vertical upwards conveying, is taken into consideration. Unsteady states
of flow, for example, plug flow in the form of naturally occurring plugs, is shown to be feasible in the case of coarse-grained particles with
rather smooth surfaces. The various principles of plug forming devices for the transport of fine-grained, and, hence, compressible bulk material
are mentioned. The use of synergetic effects is demonstrated for vibration-induced pneumatic conveying.
Keywords: Pneumatic conveyance; Pressure drop; State of flow; Plug flow

1. Introduction

To a certain extent, pneumatic conveying of particulate

material in pipes is a rather brutal misuse of a principle which
is primarily suited for the transport of liquids or gases. Therefore, it is not surprising that pneumatic transport of solids is
characterized by significant advantages, disadvantages and
pitfalls.

1.1. Advantages
(i) Dust free transportation of a variety of products
(ii) Flexibility in routing--the products can be transported
horizontally and vertically by addition of a bend
(iii) Distribution to many different areas in the plants and
pick-up from several areas

1.2. Disadvantages
(i) High power consumption
(ii) Wear and abrasion of equipment
(iii) Incorrect design results in particle degradation
(iv) Pitfalls

1.3. Pitfalls
With changes in the operational parameters, significant
effects are observed, sometimes abrupt, and even with the
risk of process failure.
0032-5910/96/$15.00 1996 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

PI1S0032-5910(96)03136-1

The disadvantage of a rather high power consumption

restricts the use of pneumatic conveying systems for the conveyance over shorter distances (generally less than 1000 m).
The advantages of versatility and flexibility makes pneumatic
conveying a first choice for the transport of a vast variety of
particulate materials. In Ref. [ 1] a list of about 300 different
products that have been conveyed successfully is presented.
It ranges from A, like ABS powder, to Z, like zinc powder.
During the last decades the advantages already mentioned
initiated strong development efforts to reduce the power consumption. The result of these efforts were dense phase conveying systems that operate at rather low gas velocities.
The pitfalls mentioned last, make it understandable that
companies active in the field often more or less specialize in
this particular type of industrial equipment. The versatility of
the principle of pneumatic conveying even then guaranties a
large enough market.

2. Historical r e m a r k s
Pneumatic conveying of solids is one of the immense numbers of innovations which characterize the industry of the
19th century. An exhaustive investigation of a contemporary
review journal (Dinglers PolytechnischesJournal) revealed
the following facts:
The first documented pneumatic conveying system must
be attributed to the Peugeot plant at Valentigney, France

310

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

Exhaustor

[llllllll llll I

7 grindstones

? grindstones

<

HaxLmum:

Most t i m e
wet o p e r o t i o n
but insvitobts
d u r i n g the
grinding
proossS:

dry o p e r a t i o n

grindstones
at dry opBrotion

~ 1 - -

-J

Fig. 1. The first documented ~neumatic conveying system, Peugeot plant at Valentigney, France, 1847.

where it served since 1847 for the exhaustion of dust from

fourteen grindstones [ 2]. Since dry operation occurred only
as a part of the grinding procedure, the system was designed
to dedust a maximum of four grindstones simultaneously.
Fig. 1 reveals a rather crude design.
In remarkable contrast, the second documented pneumatic
transport system [3], namely Crampton's British patent
Improvements in grinding, preparing and burning coal. Letter's patent No. 2539 dated 13 August 1868, reveals a surprisingly advanced design.
Several metallurgical processes of steel production require
high temperature in appropriately designed furnaces, gas
being the best-suited fuel in those days as well as today.
Crampton intended to avoid the then necessarily indirect
route of coal gasification. High temperatures require near
stoichiometric combustion, and, hence blowing of precisely
dosed masses of pulverized coal to the burners of the furnace.
As indicated in Fig. 2, precise dosage of the pulverized coal
was achieved by the combination of rotating stirring arms m,
a spiked dosing drum d, and a second smaller drum f,
equipped with brushes to remove the fine particles from the
drum d. The coal particles were sucked towards the inlet i of

the blower j which fed the burners. More than hundred years
later, this type of equipment looks rather strange. However,
this was not all the case in 1868, because it adopted the
operational principle of a very successful design which at that
time had been in use for seventy years, namely that of the
cotton gin for the liberation of the cotton fibres from cotton
seed.
Furnaces operating according to Crampton's invention
have been operated successfully. His experience gained with
pneumatic conveying peculiarities is evidenced by a second
report about his system [4] which dates from 1871.
As indicated by Fig. 3, Crampton used a multiplicity of
pipes arranged in parallel. The report explains the advantage
of this arrangement as follows: with a single pipe, a certain
pipe length downstream the bend would be necessary in order
to redisperse the particles which had been centrifuged previously towards the bend wall. Crampton instead kept the
length of the pipes downstream of their bends rather short in
order to create intense interference of the high velocity gas
stream of each lower pipe with the low velocity particle
stream of each upper pipe so that good particle/gas mixing
was established where it was needed, in front of the burners.

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

I
I

311

I
i

Fig. 2. Dosing device for pulverized coal, Crampton's patent, see Ref. [3]

".:"

: ...._

..;;

:;7;

,-'"

J
t~
;J

Fig. 3. Crampton's burner arrangement, see Ref. 4

These details of Crampton's patent are mentioned here in

order to show that at that time a high standard of detailed
engineering in pneumatic conveying systems design had
already been achieved. However, this historical excursion
demonstrates the risk of any patent: its fate is not defined by
the excellence of its underlaying ideas, but by the economical
and technological surroundings. Gas as a fuel was available
from different direct or indirect coal gasification processes,
so there was no real need for a then advanced coal burning
technique.
Even ancillary equipment as in use today has been invented
during the last quarter of the 19th century, see for example
the rotary valve patented in 1877 [5] (Fig. 4) which served
for feeding coke fines into air supply lines of blast furnaces.

Fig. 4. Rotary valve, patented 1877.

If the definition of pneumatic conveying is confined to

sheer transport duties, that is to bring particulate matter from
location A to location B, then the first pneumatic conveying
lines transported grains into silos in 1878, as documented in
Ref. [6] (see Fig. 5).
3. Horizontal pneumatic conveying, experimental
results
Fig. 6 shows experimental results obtained with a horizontal glass conveying duct of 0.04 m internal diameter. Meas-

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

312

I
Fig. 5. Pneumatic transport of grains into silos, see Ref. [6].

1000

AP~[kg/m2sZ]

Po[ystyrene

900 Ms =

0.320 kg/s

~' M, = 0.081 kg/s

* M, :

700"

= O.Ot,m

800

of strand type conveying is achieved (b). In this conveying

state, under conditions of constant solid mass flow rate, the
pressure drop increases with decreasing air velocity. There is
no sharp transition from fully suspended flow to strand type
conveying. The transition is gradual. At low air velocities
and low solid mass flow rate, the strand is stationary and the
pressure drop increases in a sudden jump (c). In this conveying state the solids will be conveyed over the stationary
bed essentially in the form of fully suspended flow. Between
this conveying state and strand type conveying, there is a
small velocity range in which dunes are conveyed. No stable
pressure drop occurs in conjunction with this type of conveying. Therefore, pressure drop is presented in the form of a
broken curve in Fig. 6. At high solid mass flow rates a direct
transition from strand type conveying to plug flow occurs for
solids of large particle sizes and, in the case of fine-grained
solids, blockage of the system develops (d). From these
experimental results it follows conclusively that the first priority of theoretical considerations is the prediction of the type
of flow.

dp= 2300 pm

kg/s

[onveying over a

stationary
bed

600.

T
i

500-

c1L

.oo

=~ Ptug flow
~
J.

FuHy suspended
flmv

200
100"

Strands stiding
atongthe boffon~
of the pipe

' ~u
A a..~a~"
=-- ~./~'e
10

15

l
L Pr,
IAL

"I

20

]
l

25

V [m/s

30

Fig. 6. Measured pressure drops for conveying polysterene in a lass tube,

and visually observed flow pattern.

ured pressure drops for polystyrene particles with a diameter

of 2.3 mm are plotted versus superficial gas velocity. Exact
dosage of particulate material allowed a variation of superficial gas velocity at a constant solid mass flow rate.
At high air velocities, the particles are assumed to fly with
a uniform distribution over the pipe cross-section. This state
is referred to as fully suspended flow (a). At low air velocities
a segregation of the suspended particles occurs and the state

4. Prediction of the pressure drop and of the type of

flow in horizontal straight pipes with steady-state flow

4.1. Barth's equation: power requirement

Since fifty years ago, pneumatic transport technology was
largely confined to lean phase systems at rather high gas
velocities, prediction procedures started with this type of
flow.

O. Molerus /Powder Technology 88 (1996 ) 309-321

The gas pressure decreases gradually along the length of

the pipe. Therefore, it is common practice to take gas compressibility effects into account by stepwise correction of the
gas density Or, local incompressibility being assumed. Furthermore, the total pressure drop A p along the length AL of
the pipe can be split into two parts

A p = A p f + App

(1)

where the AP, is gas friction, and, usually calculated as for

single phase flow conditions and A pp is the resistance of the
particulate material. With a developed flow of gas and particulate material it holds that translational invariance, (the pressure drop observed), is proportional to the pipe length AL.
The power required for particle transport related to the mass
flow rate M~ of the solid material and the pipe length AL is:
App"

(2)

M,,AL

where Vg is the volumetric flow rate of the gas. Introduction

of the mass flow ratio:

<

~s =~gg

(3)

into the dimensional group (2) gives

App

(4)

y~pfA L

Group (4) has the dimension of an acceleration, ms -2.

With extremely high superficial gas velocities v, the nearinsignificance of gravitational effects can be assumed with
pneumatic transport in a horizontal pipe. First, (4) needs to
be made dimensionless:
U2

2---D

(5)

where D is the pipe diameter. Substitution of (5) into (4)

gives the particle friction factor, according to Barth [7]:

Ap~2D ( APp/AL)

(6)

/-gspfu2

(7)

Division of the dimensionless pressure gradient f, Eq. (7)

by Ap/2, Eq. (6), yields the Froude number Fr:
U2

Frt~=-Dg

Table 1
Particle propertiesfrom Ref. [8]
Material

p~
(kg/m3)

dr
(mm)

Symbol

Polystyrene
Polystyrene
Polystyrene
Rape
Wheat
Clover
Lupins
Vetches
Beans
Glass beads
Steel spheres

1070
1070
1070
1140
1370
1370
1390
1390
1390
2990
7850

1.0
1.3
2.7
1.9
4.0
1.9
6.0
3.4
8.0
1.1
1.0

[]
O

*
+
x

groups can be dropped without any loss of information. This

procedure defines the heart of the classical representation of
experimental data proposed by Barth [7]:
Ap = Ap(FrD)

(9)

First of all, the physical significance of the statement Eq.

(9) is checked. For that purpose, measurement data [8]
obtained from the pneumatic transport of eleven different
particulate materials (six of them seeds, but also three different fractions of polystyrene particles and even steel
spheres, see Table 1 ), conveyed in pipes of 0.05; 0.1 ; 0.2 and
0.4 m in diameter at different mass flow ratios are plotted in
Fig. 7 in the form of Ap versus FrD. Fig. 7 represents altogether 560 individual measurement points. Fig. 7 reveals the
dilemma of the prediction of pneumatic transport pressure
drop at the earth's surface: For a given particulate material
conveyed in a pipe of given diameter D a e = constant is not
yet achieved at gas velocities, which appertain to the regime
of operational conditions usually observed in industrial practice (v < 30 m s - J).
As shown in Fig. 7, Eq. (9) is not at all suited for the
description of pneumatic transport at rather low superficial
gas velocities. In particular it makes no sense to read mysteries into Eq. (9).

4.2. Muschelknautz's equation: balance of forces

A simple alternative to transform (4) into a dimensionless

one, is to divide it by g, the acceleration due to gravity, which
results in the dimensionless pressure gradient:

f=_APp/AL
I~sPfg

313

(8)

This approach results in three dimensionless groups, ap

(Eq. (6)), f (Eq. (7)) and FrD (Eq. (8)). Since FrD is
nothing but the ratio of the two other groups, one of the three

The intuitive interpretation of the two dimensionless

groups, Eqs. (6) and (7) becomes obvious from their rearrangement into the form of a balance between the driving
force App( 7rD2)/4 and a resistance R (Fig. 8).
Rearrangement of Eq. (6) and introduction of the mean
particle velocity:

u=

M,
cvpsrrDZ/ 4

(10)

where Cv is the volumetric concentration of solid and Ps is the

particle density, yields:

A pp~D 2 = Ap CvP~uz~rrDAL
4
4 2 u

( 11 )

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

314
0,1

0,09

0,08

0.07

o,08

0.05
0.04
C

0.03
[3

0,02

*
@x
Cl~ e,..'t~

0.01

0
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Fro
Fig. 7. Particle friction factor ap vs. Froude number FrD, measurement data from Ref. [8]

0:
J
[.

This assumption results in a modified particle friction

factor:

A* =- ( A P p / A L ) 2 D

aL

Similar rearrangement of Eq. (7) gives:

I
"i

A ppA = fCM~g

Fig. 8. Balance of forces at the pipe element of the lenght AL.

Introduction of the cross-sectional area A = ~-D2/4, the

inner surface S = rrDAL of the pipe element AL and the
velocity ratio
U

0 < C=-<
U

(12)

cvP ua-S
2
C

(16)

~Plg

(13)

The meaning of Eq. (13) is quite clear: the loss of kinetic

energy of the particles which results from direct particle/wall
impacts is ot (1/2)CvpsU 2. Furthermore, Eq. (13) assumes
that particle hits are evenly distributed over the inner surface
wall, S. Comparison with Eq. (6) reveals that a definition of
a particle friction factor which is compatible with an assumed
dominance of evenly distributed direct particle/wall impacts
for the pressure drop observed is given by:

a*

15)

with the mass M~ of particulate material in the pipe element

of length A L. The assumption of sliding particulate material
moving like a solid bar results in wall friction of sliding
material ~Ms g. Comparison with Eq. (7), therefore, gives
rise for the definition of a dimensionless pressure gradient in
the form of dry friction as:
f n = f C = ( App/ A L ) C

into Eq. (11) yields:

14)

#spfu2C

According to their derivations, Eqs. (14) and (16)

describe two extremes, namely all particles suspended and
flying evenly distributed over the pipe cross-section at rather
high gas velocities (Eq. (14) ) and all particles sliding along
the bottom of the pipe at rather low gas velocities (Eq. (16) ).
Muschelknautz's [9] equation, therefore, defines the superposition of two questionable extremes in the form of
( A p p / A L ) 2 D = 2fn + A*C
]&spfU2
CFr

(17)

According to this given derivation, Eq. (17) provides only

a framework which has to be filled with fluid mechanics in
the form of reliable calculation of the velocity ratio C. To

O. Molerus I Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

In contrast to the predictive procedure previously discussed

for rather high gas velocities, perspicuity defines the first
requirement for a prediction procedure for pneumatic transport at rather low gas velocities. Perspicuity is the most significant property of state diagrams. Therefore, Wirth
formulated his prediction procedure in the form of a state
diagram of stable strand flow (Fig. 9). This state diagram
holds for rather coarse-grained particles in the size range of
millimetres and for a stiff blower characteristic which is
obtained under laboratory conditions by gas supply via nozzles which operate at supercritical pressure ratio. The basis
of the state diagram, Fig. 9, is the momentum transfer on the
strand surface. Details of the derivation are described in Ref.
[12].
The ordinate is a dimensionless pressure gradient in the
form of the pressure gradient over the frictional resistance of
the strand:

gain improvements in the accuracy of the prediction of the

velocity ratio C, therefore, characterizes research efforts during the last three decades. The state-of-the-art again is defined
by Muschelknautz's very detailed procedure which can be
read, for example in Ref. [ 10].
Eq. (17) indicates that pure impact type of resistance is
attained only for F r D -+ 0% that is under extraterrestrial conditions. Muschelknautz went his way until the necessary end:
two NASA space laboratory missions, Challenger and Discovery, included pneumatic conveying experiments, recommended and organized by him. The reports of these
experiments evidence the significance of the classical impact
parameters like, for example, the modulus of elasticity of the
particulate material as well as that of the pipe wall material
(see Ref. [ 11 ] ). The experimental results define a constituent
part of Muschelknautz's already cited method for the calculation of the velocity ratio C. This method comprises a rather
long-winded procedure so even if its results are acceptable it
is not at all synoptical. As obvious, Eq. (17) involves a
questionable superposition of two extremes. Therefore, any
sophistication in the prediction procedure for the velocity
ratio C only treats the symptoms but does not cure the disease.

APp/AL
fRCPs-- Pf) ( 1 - E)g

Fri=- {fR[ (Ps/ pf )

]
0.25

Conveying over
stationary bed

1/2

or

I I~_<-,~"

jumplike
/[ I:~l [
increase
'qi
in pressure / II |h

:ill\

drop,

_,,,'

,/\

/1

/,I.]'\/"-,/

t'

type

conveying

----------- 0.12

?, YL ;I .'.1 k
005

jl Stable

~
i/I

/ DI ~' '

I
0.1.--

,,~~

t'i' 'll

of

0.15-

the pipe's cross | ==> ransifion to ptug flow

sectional area
]

I
I1_

0.2

Unstable fitting'+of1

'

[1--~]Dg}

0.3

<3
"G

<3

__ 1]

- - - 7/
/

.;"-

. /

0.06

00~

//

0.0283
0.02
0.012

0.5

1.0

(19)

The diagram contains two additional parameters, the volumetric flow ratio in the form of full lines (pf/t/.s)/ [ Ps( 1 -- E) ]
= constant and the ratio of the strand velocity w to the gas
velocity VGabove the strand in the form of the broken lines
W/VG----constant. Balance of forces for the region above the
strand and for the strand itself, result in a set of algebraic
equations. For the given non-dimensional pressure gradient
AP/{fRPs[ 1 -- (Pf/Ps] (1 -- E)gAL} and given volumetric
flow ratio (pf #s)/[Ps ( 1 - e)] the friction number Fri is

Due to the considerable energy savings in comparison to

transport at rather high superficial gas velocities, development in industry focused on low velocity systems during the
last three decades. With some delay, research followed.
It is self-evident from Fig. 6 that low gas velocity is close
to too low gas velocity, in other words, in order to avoid
trouble this type of pneumatic transport must be treated with
caution.

"

(18)

with the strand porosity e. The abscissa is a dimensionless

gas velocity in the form of a friction number

4.3. Wirth 's state diagram." stresses acting on the strand

surface

-J

315

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

/,.0
Fri -,,-

Fig. 9. State diagram for stable flow type of pneumatic conveying (strand porosity = 0.4) from Ref. 12.

316

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

calculated point by point. Fig. 9 indicates the superiority of

state diagrams over long-winded calculation procedures. The
state of a pneumatic conveying system is represented in every
detail for given operational conditions. In the course of
decreasing friction numbers, Fri beginning at higher values
reveals that at about Fri-~ 1 the curve E is attained, that is
steady-state strand flow type of conveying ceases. Conveying
over a strand at rest, however, begins at the curve D. Therefore, between the two curves, E and D and with decreasing
friction number Fri, a jump-like increase in pressure drop is
observed. This particular feature of the theoretical predictions
of the state diagram (Fig. 9) proves its physical significance,
because it is confirmed by experimental results (compare, for
example, the jump from curve B to curve C in Fig. 6).
Furthermore, from Fig. 9, one reads that, with decreasing
friction number, transition from steady-state strand type conveying to conveying over a strand at rest takes place only for
volumetric flow ratios (pf/x~) / [p~( 1 - e) ] < 0.019.
If an operating point with a rather high volumetric flow
ratio of, e.g. (pd.ts) / [ p~( 1 - e) ] > 0.018, at a higher friction
number of, e.g. Fri = 3.0, has been chosen, one observes that
reduction of the friction number at constant volumetric flow
ratio results, in the state diagram Fig. 9, in a shift of the
operating points mainly towards the left. For the numerical
values previously mentioned, the limiting curve E is attained
at Fri = 2.0. Further reduction of the friction number results
in unstable, but for coarse-grained particles feasible, plug
flow type of pneumatic conveying. With fine-grained and thus
more cohesive particulate material, however, the risk of
blocking of the pipe must be envisaged.
This feature reveals another phenomenon of pneumatic
conveying, namely that of the stability of states of flow,
because the limiting curve E is obtained from a stability
analysis of the calculated steady-state solution [ 12]. An intuitive interpretation for the occurrence of the instability can be
given as follows: the non-dimensional particle pressure gradient (Eq. (18) ) at the same time represents the part ( 1 - ~b)
of the pipe cross-sectional area which is covered by the strand.
From Fig. 9, therefore, one sees that stable strand flow type
of pneumatic conveying is feasible only up to about 20% of
the cross-sectional area covered. This behaviour results from
the interaction of the shear stress exerted at the strand surface
with strand weight and strand width as an increasing part of
the pipe cross-sectional area is filled (Fig. 10). Due to the
circular pipe geometry, with greater solids filling an increase
in strand weight is not accompanied by a corresponding gain
in strand width and thus surface for the driving shear stress.
A jump in ( 1 - th) from 0.2 to 0.4 and, hence, a corresponding
jump in strand weight is accompanied only by a marginal
increase in the ratio s/D and, consequently, surface for the
driving shear stress.
Fig. 10 also indicates the significance of the volumetric
flow ratio (Pc tx~)/[P~ (1 - e)] in the state diagram Fig. 9.
With a lower strand density p~ ( 1 - e) the same strand mass
per unit length of the pipe covers a larger part of the pipe
cross-sectional area, and, hence, provides a larger surface for

1.0

0.8

0.6

-ff

i-

o~f/~
0.2

"1

,~
I

--

01
02
0.3
0.t~ 1 - ~
0.5
Fig. 10. Dimensionless width of strand surface S / D vs. dimensionless strand
cross-sectional area ( 1 - ~ ) .

the driving shear stress. The state diagram Fig. 9, therefore,

reveals the importance of the shape of the pipe cross-section
for pressure drop and state of flow.
With lean phase flow, mass flow ratios of only/x~ < 10 and,
hence volumetric flow ratios of (,Of/J's) / [Ps ( 1 - e) ] < 0.04
are attained. In this case a slight modification of Wirth's state
diagram shows its general significance for the transport of
coarse grained material. The variables of the state diagram,
Fig. 9, reflect the significance of the particle strand for the
pressure drop, because the non-dimensional pressure gradient, Eq. (18), the friction number, Eq. (19) and the volumetric flow ratio (pf /~s)/[ps ( 1 - e)] all comprise strand
parameters, namely friction factor fR and strand porosity E.
As already mentioned, these three dimensionless groups are
interrelated in the form of a set of algebraic equations. Therefore, any alternative representation in the form of arbitrary
multiplicative combinations of the three mentioned dimensionless groups can be generated easily. A very promising
procedure with the goal of a simplified representation, thus,
consists in the consequent elimination of the strand parameters. This can be done as follows: division of the dimensionless pressure gradient, Eq. (18) by Fri2/2 (Eq. (19) ) yields
the Euler number:
Eup =- ( A Ppl A L ) 2D
pfv 2

(20)

Division of the friction number, Eq. (19) by the square

root of the volumetric flow ratio (pr/zs) / Ps ( 1 - Ps ( 1 - E) ]
yields the modified friction number:
I)

Fri* =- {frdxs[ 1 - ( P f / Ps) l D g } L/2

(21)

In Fig. 11, the Euler number Eup,Eq. (20) is plotted versus

the modified friction number Fri*, Eq. (21). Solid lines are
lines of constant volumetric flow ratio. The dashed line indicates the minimum Fr/* numbers of stable steady-state transport for given volumetric flow ratio.

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

Eup

317

0.2
0.04
0.18
0.03

0,16
0.14
0.12

o.o~
0.1
0.06

--PlPm _
p.(1- 8)

\ i

O.01

0.06

0.04

0.005
[~%o.oo2~s
o o

0,02

O.O0001E
0
0

10

20

30

40

60

60

Fri*
Fig. 11. Euler number vs. modified Friction number Fri*, volumetric flow ratio as parameter.

In Fig. 12, the measurement data of Fig. 7 are plotted into

the state diagram, Fig. 11. All measurement data are presented
in Fig. 12 with one common friction factorf~ = 0.5 and one
common strand porosity of = 0.4.
The experimental data depicted in Fig. 12 clearly show the
physical significance of Wirth's approach which is based on
the interference of particles hitting the strand with the strand
instead of a questionable superposition of two different types
of resistance as assumed by Eq. (17).

5. Vertically upwards conveying

With low mass flow rates (/z s < 10), rather high velocities
and smaller pipe diameters, particle wall impacts are also
significant for vertically upwards flow. In this case, the general frame of Eq. (17) is used withfR = 1, that is, all solids
weight being taken into account. The physics of flow are
present in Eq. (17) in the form of a different velocity ratio C
for vertical flow conditions (for details see Ref. [ 10] ).
As for horizontal conveying, at rather low gas flow rates
and high solids loading, a different treatment must be
envisaged.
Fig. 13 presents the measured pressure gradient in vertically upward pneumatic conveying of a catalyst (dp=
25 /zm) plotted versus the superficial gas velocity. The
parameter is the conveyed solids mass flow rate per unit area.
In addition, the regression curve of measured pressure gra-

dients in the steady-state sections of a circulating fluidized

bed is also shown (dash-dot line).
In pneumatic conveying, at constant solids mass flow rate,
the pressure drop due to solids transportation increases with
decreasing superficial gas velocity. When a low solids mass
flow rate of, for example 10 k g / m 2 s is conveyed, on decreasing the gas velocity to below a critical value, the pressure
drop increases sharply. At low pressure drops, the solid is
conveyed in the form of strands and clusters whereas, at high
pressure drops, the solid is transported as migrating fluidized
bed, that is in the regime of the so-called fluidized bed conveying. A sudden increase in pressure drop produces an
equally sudden change in the flow pattern. The superficial
gas velocity,corresponding to this transition, is referred to as
the critical velocity.
If a larger solids mass flow rate is pneumatically conveyed,
for example 30 k g / m 2 s, there is no sudden rise in the pressure
drop when gas velocity is decreased. At these solids mass
flow rates, the pressure drop increases continuously with
decreasing gas velocity. This means that the flow pattern
changes continuously, too. Whereas at high gas velocities,
the solids are conveyed in the form of strands and clusters,
on decreasing the gas velocity, a gradual change of the flow
pattern towards a fluidized bed conveying takes place. The
pressure drop profile in the range of fluidized bed conveying
is practically identical to that in the lower steady-state section
of a circulating fluidized bed. The superficial gas velocity, at
which in pneumatic conveying at low solids mass flow rate
the pressure drop suddenly increases, is the same as that at

318

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

EUp
0.2
0.04

0.18
,X

0.03

0,16
0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04

0,02

O.
S

10

15

25

20

30

35

40

46

60

B5

88

Fri*
Fig. 12. Euler number EUp vs. modified Friction number Fri*,fR = 0.5, e= 0.4, measurement points from Fig. 7.

3000ttP [PQ/m]
AL

2000"

which relates the actual pressure drop to that observed at

minimum fluidization conditions. The abscissa is a nondimensional superficial gas velocity in terms of a Froude
number

\
"~,,.-Circutoflng ftuidized bed

'kk

tx m s =

"~

38

kgl(mZs)

Frp- v/ { [ ( p s / pf) -- 1]dvg} 1/2

0 ms = 10 kg/(mZs}

,\
'&

~ ' ~

1000

b ~'J
~
."~':="~- o -- o - - o

~'~

o~-3

t=

vtm/sl

Fig. 13. Comparison of measured pressure gradients in pneumatic conveying

and in steady-state sections of a circulating fluidized bed (catalyst dp= 25

p-m).
which an identical solids mass flow rate is entrained in a
circulating fluidized bed. Hence, the flow patterns in the upper
steady-state section of a circulating fluidized bed and in pneumatic conveying at critical velocity are identical.
For vertically upward pneumatic conveying a theoretical
state diagram has been derived by Wirth [ 12] which reflects
the flow phenomena observed according to the experimental
results depicted in Fig. 13. In the diagram, Fig. 16, the ordinate is a normalized pressure gradient

0 <_ A P / [ ( p s - p f ) ( 1 - e m f ) g A L ] < 1

(22)

A separate diagram must be calculated for each particular

combination of gas and particulate material, that is given
input dataAR - [d3g(p, - pf) ] / (pfV2), Frpmf and emr.Fig. 14
shows the following very obvious features. Full lines represent curves of constant volumetric flow ratio, that is curves
(OfP~) / [05( 1 - er~) ] = constant. The envelope of the blank
regime in Fig. 14 defines circulating fluidized bed conditions.
Its upper branch represents the high solids concentration
regime at the lower end of the fluidizing column, the lower
branch steady-state solids entrainment in the upper part of
the column above transport disengaging height (TDH).
In coincidence with the experimental results depicted in
Fig. 13, the state diagram predicts a gradual increase in the
pressure drop with decreasing Frp for volumetric flow ratios
> 0.05 and a sudden jump for volumetric flow ratios < 0.05.
A significant feature of dense phase gas/solid flows is their
greater mean slip velocities in comparison with the single
particle settling velocity. A non-dimensional group which
defines that feature is given by the ratio of the difference
between gas velocity VL,in the lean phase and strand velocity
w, and single particle settling velocity, that is by curves
(UL--W) / wf=constant (broken lines in Fig. 14).

319

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

v,

..........

a_w

0.8

....

9t

I~s

15
-1

-0~

0A

~ r -0.25

0.2

0..

. . . . . . . . :-~-_2"- - -, ~ ;

00, Frpw~

~ : :

=:':'=--

- ~

--'--'-'-'-'-'-'-'~-~

....
Frp

1~ 0 ~
0.01

~ 00075

Frpumf
Fr ,T
Fig. 14. Statediagramfor verticallyupwardsdensephasetransport,input parameters:Ar = 10; Frpmf= 0.05; Frpwrand e~r= 0.4, from Ref. [ 12].

t-O

~l%,:;:~Oo~oWo..

=leo

. .-:~i.;'~':'.:o"'.oZ~?.:o~:o.'-'~

II
~

[" ~

~""'J- t

(]) I:hmstce~

O,B

Fig. 15. Computer simulation of dense phase conveying from Ref. [ 14].

6. Unsteady state type of flow: plug flow with horizontal

pneumatic conveying
Due to several reasons (for example low energy consumption, high mass flow ratio ~s and low particle attrition) the
unstable plug flow type of pneumatic conveying is of interest
for the industrial practice. With this type of pneumatic conveying, the risk of blocking of the pipe can be ignored only

Fig. 16. Turbuflow system (Johannes M611er GmbH & Co., Hamburg,
Germany).

for rather large particles with uniform shape and smooth

surfaces such as, for example, extruded plastic material. During the last years computer capacity has increased dramatically. As demonstrated by Tsuji's [13] very impressive
results, computer simulation renders the unsteady-state of
plug flow accessible to theoretical investigations (Fig. 15).
Without doubt, Fig. 15 marks the beginning of a new area in

320

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

I ttal

mater

spLtt

blockage

pressure

activated

valve

check v o l v o

Fig. 17. The Fluid-Schubsystem (BiihlerBrothers,Ltd., Uzwil, Switzerland

Fig. 18. Arrangementof pulse phase system (SturtevantEngineeringLtd.,

UK).
pneumatic transport research. With rather fine-grained and/
or soft materials, the powder bulk becomes compressible with
the consequence of the plugs blocking the pipe (cork in bottle
effect).
In this case, plug flow type can be mastered only by additional measures in which the world of theory and prediction
is left and the world of engineering ingenuity is entered. These
measures work along three different principles (for a comprehensive review see Ref. [ 1] ) as follows:
(i) Bypass lines which, due to appropriately designed
bypass-pipe resistance, split the material into individual
plugs, as shown in Fig. 16.
(ii) Pressure sensing systems which make use of evenly
distributed pressure sensing booster valves. These automatically sense pressure changes and adjust booster pressure to
keep the powder flowing, see Fig. 17.

,,1]!

(~ rubber mounfings
(~ flexible hoses
(~

axial vibrofion of the ptpe

(~1 unbalance molars

(~) air supply
Fig. 19. Vibration unduced pneumatic conveying (Gericke company,
Regensdorf,Switzerland).
(iii) Plug forming systems, either by using a plug-forming
on/off valve or by using different variants of pulsed flow of
air which bypasses the blow tank, Fig. 18.

7. The use of synergetic effects: vibration-induced

pneumatic conveying of fragile materials
As demonstrated in Fig. 15, even with transport at low gas
velocities, relative motion of the particles gives rise for high

O. Molerus / Powder Technology 88 (1996) 309-321

1.0

Qo[-II Conventional
.~ 0.8~conveyingpneumatlc
i

,j.q~//!l!
0.4

0.2

x_._.6~_~h~.o ~ - - ~

, j,~.~'7""t~~-e

r/[

-.~
,~/J"
tf[

Fri *

modified friction number, defined by Eq. (21) (-

g
AL
fits

gravitational acceleration (m s -2)

length element (m)
mass flow rate of solid material per unit of crosssectional area (kg m 2 s- 1)
gas mass flow rate (kg s -1 )
solidmass flow rate (kg s 1)
pressure difference (N m - z)
fluid part of pressure drop, defined by Eq. (1),
( N m -2)
particle part of pressure drop, defined by Eq. (1)
( N m -2)
fractional number undersize
resistance force (N)
strand width (m)
inner surface of the pipe element (m 2)
mean particle velocity, defined by Eq. (10) (m

Odgi
and noalmatedal
v-~ati
n
induced

AP
APf

=.ve,,.ng

APp
Ou

~.h

loo

2oo

Particlediameter{wn]

3bo

Fig. 20. Particle size distributions: comparison of conventional dense phase

conveying and vibration-induced conveying. Vertical bars indicate scatter
of results for different samples. Material: spray-dried agglomerates. From
Ref. [12].

rates of attrition or breakage of rather fragile particulate solids, such as weak agglomerates, foodstuffs or tablets. Vibration induced pneumatic conveying applies axial vibrations
with amplitudes of the order of 200/xm and frequencies of
about 50 Hz and, thus, maximum axial pipe accelerations of
about 2 g. With a pipe at rest, wall friction exerted at a solid
material plug always inhibits solids transport. The mentioned
system makes use of synergetic effects in so far as during a
short, but decisive time interval of each vibration cycle wall
friction propels the solid mass [ 15 ]. Due to this measure the
powder bulk forms one single plug along the pipe's length
which moves without internal relative motion (Fig. 19).
The usefulness of this measure is shown in Fig. 20 by
comparison of particle damage with conventional dense
phase conveying and with vibration induced conveying.

Oo

R
s

S
u

A
Ar
Cv

dp
D
Eup

f
FrD

Frp
Frp.
Fry wf
Fro T

Fri

cross-sectional area ( m 2)
[d~g (Ps - Pf) ] / (Pf V2) Archimedes number (-)
solids volume concentration (-)
velocity ratio, defined by Eq. (12) (-)
particle diameter (m)
pipe diameter (m)
particle pressure drop Euler number, defined by
Eq. (20)
pressure gradient, defined by Eq. (7) (-)
friction factor (-)
Froude number, defined by Eq. (8) (-)
particle Froude number, defined by Eq. (22) (-)
particle Froude number at minimum fluidization

(-)

particle Froude number at single particle fall

velocity (-)
particle Froude number at transport velocity (-)
friction number, defined by Eq. (19) (-)

s -x )
u
UG
UL
w
wf

superficial gas velocity (m s -~)

gas velocity above strand (m s -1 )
gas velocity in the lean phase (m s - l )
gas volumetric flow rate (m 3 s -1)
strand velocity (m s- 1)
single particle settling velocity (m s-L)

Greek letters
E
~mf

#s
1)

P~
P~

8. List of s y m b o l s

321

x.

voidage of the strand (-)

voidage at minimum fluidization (-)
mass flow ratio, defined by (3) (-)
kinematic viscosity (m 2 s- ~)
fluid density (kg m - 3 )
solid density (kg m-3)
part of pipe cross-sectional area which is not
covered by the strand (-)
non-dimensional particle part of pressure drop,
defined by Eq. (6)
particle impact factor, defined by Eq. (14)

References
[1] R.D. Marcus, L.S. Leung, G.E. Klinzing and F. Rizk, Pneumatic
Conveying of Solids, Chapman and Hall, London, 1990.
12] Dinglers Polytech. J., 407 (1847).
[3] Dinglers Polytech. J., 293 (1869).
[4] Dinglers Polytech. J., 359 (1871).
[5] Dinglers Polytech. J., 52 (1879).
[6] Dinglers Polytech. J., 132 (1878).
[7] W. Barth, Chem.-Ing.-Tech., 26 (1954) 29.
[8] W. Siegel, Forsch. heft Vet. Dtsch. Ing., 538 (1970).
[9] E. Muschelknautz, Forsch. heft Ver. Dtsch. Ing., 476 (1959).
[ 10] E. Muschelknautz, VDI Wiirmeatlas, 5th edn. Ch. Lh, 1988.
[ 11 ] E. Muschelknautz, F. Nemecek and R. Reuter, Chem. lng. Tech., 58
(1986) 598.
[ 12] O. Molems, Principles of Flow in Disperse Systems, Chapman and
Hall, London, 1993.
[ 13] K. Tsuji, Powder Part., 11 (1993) 52.