Vol. 6, No. 1: Using air injection to boost fine powder flow rates.  The objective of  air injection is to increase the flow rate to that required by a process.  Its use can increase powder flow rates several hundred times beyond that allowed without air injection; however, in the following scenarios, air injection may be necessary for reasons other than just increased flow rates . . .

Vol. 6, No. 2:  Understanding causes of particle segregation.  There are more than a dozen easily identifiable segregation mechanisms that result in out-of-spec product, but the five most common segregation mechanisms —sifting, angle of repose, fines fluidization, air currents and chute trajectory are responsible for more than 80 percent of segregation problems in solids processing and storage.

Vol. 6, No. 3:  Assessing and eliminating caking problems.  There are several factors or mechanisms that affect a material’s tendency to cake and that will, over time, produce the kind of cohesion and strength that will create serious discharge problems in bins, hoppers and silos.  Some materials are more susceptible to caking than others, but knowing the conditions that produce caking and the types of mechanisms associated with a given bulk solid, allows plant managers to make operational changes that will reduce these caking effects.