Improvement in flow rate through an aperture on a conveyor belt: Effects of bottom wall and packing configurations

We experimentally present three methods for improving flow rate of disks driven through an aperture on a conveyor belt: modifying a flat bottom wall, tuning an initial packing configuration and the combination of both above, when the aperture and conveyor belt velocity cannot be altered. Improvement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Powder technology 2019-03, Vol.345, p.676-681
Main Authors: Zhu, Hong-Wei, Wang, Li-Peng, Shi, Qing-Fan, Li, Liang-Sheng, Zheng, Ning
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apertures
Belt conveyors
Bottom wall
Configurations
Conveyor belt
Disks
Flow rate
Flow rates
Flow velocity
Granular flow
Packing
Packing configuration
Packing density
Traffic flow
Velocity
Velocity distribution
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Summary:We experimentally present three methods for improving flow rate of disks driven through an aperture on a conveyor belt: modifying a flat bottom wall, tuning an initial packing configuration and the combination of both above, when the aperture and conveyor belt velocity cannot be altered. Improvements of up to 15.6% are reported. By measuring the packing density, vertical and horizontal velocity profiles in the flow of disks just before the aperture for various cases, we conclude that flow rate is mainly determined by the vertical velocity in each of these three methods. In addition, we qualitatively discuss that the horizontal velocity has two adverse effects on the vertical velocity. Potentially, this research can shed light on traffic flow or emergency evacuation of crowds. [Display omitted] •Three ways are presented to improve flow rate through an aperture on a conveyor belt, up to 15.6%.•Velocity and density profiles in the flow of particles just above the aperture are measured.•Flow rate is mainly determined by the vertical velocity.
ISSN:0032-5910
1873-328X
DOI:10.1016/j.powtec.2019.01.053