Effect of operating conditions and powder properties on pneumatic conveying characteristics of a top discharge blow tank

The effects of fluidizing and pressurizing gas flow rates on pneumatic conveying characteristics such as powder mass flow rate, solid-gas ratio, and voidage in a top discharge blow tank pneumatic conveying system are evaluated. Pulverized coal and glass beads were used to investigate the effect of powder properties on conveying performance. The results indicate that as the fluidizing gas flow rate increases, the powder mass flow rate and the solid-gas ratio increase at first and then decline. As the pressurizing gas flow rate increases, the powder mass flow rate increases gradually, while the solid-gas ratio increases at first and then declines. Since the voidage values of all experiments are below 0.95, it can be inferred that the top discharge blow tank pneumatic conveying system is able to achieve dense-phase conveying.