2.

Application of hopper

2.1.1 Flow property measurement of food powders and sensitivity of Jenikes hopper design methodology to the measured values J.J. Fitzpatrick et al. (2004) had studied about the flow properties and powder physical properties for 13 food powders. The flow properties were measured using shear cell techniques while the powder physical properties measured were particle size, moisture, bulk and particle densities. Figure 2.1 illustrate the typical powder yield locus along with parameters. The flowability of the food powders as characterised by flow index varied from easy flow to very cohesive as shown in Figure 2.2. The effective angle of internal friction varied from 40 to 65, and the angle of wall friction (5.9 kPa normal pressure) varied from 12 to 27. The measured flowfunctions of seven of the food powders tested are presented in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.1: Illustration of a typical powder yield locus along with parameters. UYS is unconfined yield strength. MCS is the major consolidating stress

Figure 2.2: Flow function easy versus difficult flow.

Based on his studied, the particle size and moisture content do affect flowability, however there was no strong relationship for trying to relate the flowability of the food powders based solely on these physical properties. Besides, there was no relationship between measured powder physical properties and their wall friction characteristics.

Figure 2.3: Food powder flowfunction Consequence, surface forces between the powder particles, and between particles and the wall surface play an important role in determining the flow nature of the powders and this is an area requiring research. Jenikes mathematical analysis as illustrated in Figure 2.4 determine the minimum hopper angle and opening size for mass flow is the engineering standard practice for designing a hopper.

Figure 2.4: Schematics of (a) annular shear cell used for measuring powder flow functions, and (b) Jenike shear cell used for measuring angle of wall friction.

As been point out, the wall friction is the most important parameter in determining whether mass or funnel flow is the flow pattern occurring in a hopper. Thus it is necessary to always measure wall friction and not rely on other physical property measurements. Jenikes method can sometimes calculate unexpected values for the size of the hopper opening. For example, very cohesive powders requiring very small size hopper openings. The method is sensitive to where the flowfunction intersects the UYS axis. If it intersects near the origin, then low values of hopper opening size may be calculated. The sensitivity of the method is further exacerbated by potential variability in the values of measured flow properties due to difficulty in obtaining reliable flow property measurements with high reproducibility. Flat flowfunctions when linearly extrapolated can sometimes give high flowfunction UYS intercept values. This may result in conservatively high values for the hopper opening size, because the real flowfunction will most likely curve downwards more towards the origin in the extrapolated region and thus produce a smaller critical applied stress (CAS) and hopper opening size.

References J.J Fitzpatrick, S. A. B., T.Iqbal (2004). Flow property measurement of food powders and sensitivity of Jenike's hopper design methodology to the measured values. Journal of Food Engineering 61: 399-405.