PNEUMATIC CONVEYING.
DIFERENCES BETWEEN DENSE AND DILUTED PHASE
Abstract. In the paper are presented some of the main characteristics of the pneumatic conveying system with
bouth dense and diluted phases,with some general exemples for each type. The purpose is to inform about the
advantages and disadvantages in each case.
Keywords: pneumatic, conveyor, dense-phase, dilute phase
1. Introduction
Pneumatic conveying has been used to transfer bulk solids for well over 100 years.
The definition of pneumatic conveying is the transport of solid materials from one place to
another using a transporting gas. The materials can be moved through the pipe with air,
mainly used to transport these materials, but sometimes nitrogen is used for materials that
could cause a chemical reaction with the air. Common applications include loading and
unloading of trucks, rail cars, and barges; transferring materials to and from storage silos; and
transferring of materials to production machinery within manufacturing plants. In fact,
pneumatic conveying of bulk materials is used more widely in industry today than any other
conveying method.
Transporting bulk materials by mechanical methods such as belt, screw, drag, bucket,
and other conveyors not only presents difficult problems in system design and routing, but
also presents problems of environmental contamination and contamination of the material
being conveyed. Pneumatic systems are, by comparison, much easier to design: it is easier to
route the high pressure. Spiral pipe that is used in these systems, and a broad range of fittings
and specialized components, such as diverters and blast gates, are readily available to control
the flow of materials.
Cross contamination between the environment and the conveyed material is also
eliminated since pneumatic systems are closed. In addition, pneumatic conveying can achieve
relatively high transfer rates (up to or exceeding 300 tons per hour), and the range of materials
that can be transferred pneumatically is nearly unlimited.
2. Types of pneumatic conveying
Much confusion exists over how materials are conveyed through a pipeline and to the
terminology given to the mode of flow. First it must be recognized that materials can either be
conveyed in batches through a pipeline, or they can be conveyed on a continuous basis, 24 h a day
if necessary. In batch conveying the material may be conveyed as a single plug if the batch size
is relatively small.
For continuous conveying, and batch conveying if the batch size is large, two modes of
conveying are recognized. If the material is conveyed in suspension in the air through the
pipeline it is referred to as dilute phase conveying, if the material is conveyed at low velocity
in a non-suspension mode, through all or part of the pipeline, it is referred to as dense phase
conveying. With those writhed above we can say that the two most distinct categories of
pneumatic conveying can be described as either low pressure (dilute phase) or high pressure
(dense phase) systems.
The first category, the low pressure system, referred to as a dilute phase pneumatic
conveying system, utilizes air pressure under 1 bar. These systems use either positive or
negative pressure to push or pull material through the conveying line at relatively high
velocities (see Figure 1). They are described as low pressure/high velocity systems which
have a high air to material ratio.
The second category, the high pressure system, generally referred to as a dense phase
pneumatic conveying system, utilizes air pressures above 1 bar. These systems utilize positive
pressure to push materials through the conveying line at relatively low velocities (see Figure
2). They are described as high pressure/low velocity systems which have a low air to material
ratio.
2.1. Dilute phase
Almost any material can be conveyed in dilute phase, suspension flow through a pipeline,
regardless of the particle size, shape or density. It is often referred to as suspension flow
because the particles are held in suspension in the air as they are blown or sucked through the
pipeline. A relatively high velocity is required and so power requirements can also be high but
there is virtually no limit to the range of materials that can be conveyed.
There will be contact between the conveyed material and the pipeline, and particularly
the bends, and so due consideration must he given to the conveying of both friable and abrasive
materials. With very small particles there will be few impacts but with large particles
gravitational force plays a part and they will tend to “skip” along horizontal pipelines.
Many materials are naturally capable of being conveyed in dense phase flow at low velocity.
These materials can also be conveyed in dilute phase if required. If a high velocity is used to
convey any material such that it is conveyed in suspension in the air, then it is conveyed in
dilute phase.
2.2. Dense phase
In dense phase conveying two modes of flow are recognized. One is moving bed flow, in
which the material is conveyed in dunes on the bottom of the pipeline, or as a pulsatile moving
bed, when viewed through a sight glass in a horizontal pipeline. The other mode is slug or plug
type flow, in which the material is conveyed as the full bore plugs separated by air gaps. Dense
phase conveying is often referred to as non-suspension-flow.
Moving bed flow is only possible in a conventional conveying system if the material to be
conveyed has good air retention characteristics. This type of flow is typically limited to very
line powdered materials having a mean particle size in the range of approximately 40-70 μm,
depending upon particle size distribution and particle shape.
Plug type flow is only possible in a conventional conveying system if the material has good
permeability. This type of flow is typically limited to materials that are essentially mono-sized,
since these allow the air to pass readily through the interstices between the particles. Pelletized
materials and seeds are ideal materials for this type of flow.
3. Differences between dense and diluted phase
First we have to present the advantages of pneumatic systems in general as follows:
1. Since materials are transported through the pipe, dust is not released in the
atmosphere from the pneumatic conveying system.
2. Typical conveying belts cannot move materials vertically, but by
pneumatic conveying, it is possible to move materials vertically by simply
installing a vertical section of pipe with sufficiently high velocity of the gas
to transport the solids.
3. By using pneumatic conveying, one can reduce the maintenance and
manpower cost.
4. Pneumatic conveying enables us to transport materials that are poisonous
and hazardous.
On the other hand, high power consumption, wear and abrasion of materials and
equipment, and the limited conveying distance (1km maximum due to the economical
purpose) are the disadvantages of the pneumatic conveying. Considerable research has been
carried out to overcome these disadvantages.
One of the most important issues in pneumatic conveying is how to transport the
materials with the lowest pressure drop and thus least amount of energy. The pressure drop
behavior can be observed by preparing a state diagram. A state diagram is a plot of pressure
difference versus the transport gas velocity at a fixed solid flow rate. Figure 4 is an example
of a general state diagram.
In Figure 4, each curve shows how the pressure drop changes with the gas velocity at a
fixed solid flow rate. Each curve shows a concave downward behavior. One notes that there is
a minimum pressure drop that occurs for each solid flow rate, if the velocity becomes too low,
saltation may take place often near the minimum pressure difference range. Care needs to be
taken when operating in this minimum pressure range.
Many material handling plants need to transfer large quantities often times over long
distances. As a result, the power consumption of the conveying system is of prime
importance. In pneumatic conveying, the power consumption is a function of the system
design, transfer rate, and conveying length. Therefore, a conveying system that transfers 100
tons per hour of a bulk material over a distance of 200m will use about the same power as a
system of the same design and conveying the same material at a rate of 200 tons per hour over
a distance of 100m. So, from this it is evident that the length of a pneumatic conveying
system has the same impact on power consumption as rate does.