THE EFFECT OF MIXING TIME ON THE HOMOGENEITY OF MULTI-COMPONENT GRANULAR SYSTEMS

Mixing of granular materials is unquestionably important. Mixing solids is common in industrial applications and frequently represents a critical stage of the processes. The effect of mixing determines the quality of products. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of mixing time on the quality of multi-component granular mixtures. Experimental studies were conducted at the mixing process line in an industrial feed mill. The applied granular systems are feed mixtures with different weight proportions of individual components, varying in their diameter dimensions and bulk densities. Estimation of the degree of homogeneity was performed based on the scale of the mixture quality proposed by Boss according to the relation suggested by Rose. The mixing degree M as a function of time for granular mixtures was extended by presenting it according to different levels of collecting samples. Studies were performed for four mixtures varying according to their granular mixture formulas for five different mixing times. The quality of granular mixtures consisting of eight components was defined as 'very good' for mixing times of 30, 40, 50, and 60 minutes and as 'good' for the 20-minute mixing time. For the 12-component mixture BF, the quality was considered as 'excellent' for the 40-minute mixing time, and as 'very good' for mixing times of 20, 30, 50, and 60 minutes. For the 12-component mixture WM and the 14 component mixture WW, the quality was considered as 'excellent' for all mixing times (M>0.96).