MECHANICAL OPERATION

(CEO-I) 3320013
Semester - 03

Kartik R. Desai
Head, CHED, NGPP

:REFERENCE BOOKS:

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Definition of Unit Process & Unit Operation:

Unit process: It involves only chemical
changes For example - hydrogenation,
halogenations,
oxidation,
reduction,
nitration, oxidation etc.
Unit operation: It is an operation in which
only physical changes takes place for
example filtration, size reduction, heat
transfer, drying, distillation etc.

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Differences of Unit Operation & Unit

Process:
Sr.
No.

Unit operation

Unit process

It is an operation in which only

physical changes are occurred.

It is a process in which
physical and chemical
changes are occurred.

2.1 Mechanical operations like

filtration, size reductions, screening,
sedimentation etc.
2.2 Fluid flow operation like
fluidization, pumping, compression,
flow control etc.
2.3 Heat transfer operations like
evaporator, cooling, freezing, heat
exchanging etc.
2.4 Mass transfer operations like
extraction, leaching, distillation etc.

These includes
-hydrogenation,
- halogenation,
- oxidation,
- reduction,
- nitration,
- sulphonation
etc.

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Specific properties of solids:

1) Specific surface area (Aw)
2) Volume-surface mean diameter (Ds)
3) Sphericity (s)
4) Mass mean diameter (Dw)
5) Volume mean diameter (Dv)
6) Density () & bulk density

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

1) Specific surface area:

If the particle density ( p) and sphericity (s) is known,
the surface area of the particles in each fraction may be
calculated and the results for all fractions are added to
give the specific surface area, A w. If (p) and (s) are
constant Aw is given by
Aw = (6x1 /p . s .Dp1) + (6x2 /p . s .Dp2) + .. + (6xn / p . s .Dpn)
= (6/p .s ) (xi/Dpi)

2) Volume-surface mean diameter:

The average particle size for a mixture of particles is
defined by volume surface mean diameter (D s), which is
related to specific surface area Aw.
(Ds) = 6/ p .s . Aw = 1/ (xi/Dpi)

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

3) Sphericity (s):
A measure of the particle size which is frequently used is
the sphericity (s).

s =

Surface area of sphere of same volume as particle/ Surface area

of particle

For spherical particle of diameter (Dp), s = 1. For nonspherical particle, the sphericity is defined by the relation:
s = 6. Vp/Dp . Sp
Dp = Nominal diameter of particle or equivalent diameter of
particle
Sp = Surface area of the particle
Vp = Volume of the particle
For crushed materials, s = 0.6 to 0.8
For cubes, s = 0.81; For cylinders, s = 0.87

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

4) Mass mean diameter (Dw)

The mass mean diameter is given as:
Dw = xi. Dpi4 / xi . Dpi3

5) Volume mean diameter (D v)

The average volume of a particle is the volume mean diameter given
as :
(Dv) = [1/ (xi/Dpi3) ]1/3

6) Density & Bulk Density:

Density = defined as its mass per unit volume.
Bulk density is defined as the mass of many particles of the
material divided by the total volume they occupy. The total
volume includes particle volume, inter-particle void volume and
internal pore volume.

Bulk density = mass of particle/ volume as a whole

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Sphericity s = 6vp/Dpsp
No. of particles in mixture N = m / pvp
Total surface area A = N sp = 6 m / s p Dp
Specific surface of mixture Aw = 6 / s p (xi / Dpi)
Average particle size Ds = 1 / (xi / Dpi)
Mass mean diameter Dw = (xi Dpi)

Chapter 1: Properties of Particulate Solids

Calculation of no. of particles particulate

solids:
No. of particles in mixture N = m / pvp
m = mass of mixture
p = density of a particle
vp = volume of a particle