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An investigation on process of seeded granulation in a continuous drum granulator using DEM
Behjani, M.A. Rahmanian, Nejat Ghani N.F.b.A. Hassanpour, A.
Behjani, M.A.
Rahmanian, Nejat
Ghani N.F.b.A.
Hassanpour, A.
Publication Date
2017
End of Embargo
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Rights
© 2017 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2017-02-09
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Abstract
Numerical simulation of wet granulation in a continuous granulator is carried out using Discrete Element Method (DEM) to discover the possibility of formation of seeded granules in a continuous process with the aim of reducing number of experimental trials and means of process control. Simple and scooped drum granulators are utilized to attain homogenous seeded granules in which the effects of drum rotational speed, particles surface energy, and particles size ratio are investigated. To reduce the simulation time a scale-up scheme is designed in which a dimensionless number (Cohesion number) is defined based on the work of cohesion and gravitational potential energy of the particles. Also a mathematical/numerical method along with a MATLAB code is developed by which the percentage of surface coverage of each granule is predicted precisely. The results show that use of continuous granulator is promising provided that a high level of shear is considered in the granulator design, e.g. it is observed that using baffles inside the drum granulators is essential for producing seeded granules. It is observed, moreover, that the optimum surface energy for scooped granulator with rotational speed of 50 rpm is 3 J/m2 which is close to the number predicted by Cohesion number. It is also shown that increasing the seed/fine size ratio enhances the seeded granulation both quantitatively (60% increase in seeds surface coverage) and qualitatively (more homogeneous granules).
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
Behjani MA, Rahmanian N, Ghani NFbA et al (2017) An investigation on process of seeded granulation in a continuous drum granulator using DEM. Advanced Powder Technology. 28(10): 2456-2464.
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Article