Powder Flow 2021
Conference
This online event will start with a 1-day workshop covering the fundamentals of powder flow followed by a 2-day technical meeting focused around the latest science underpinning powder flow and handling. It will look at progress in state-of-the-art theories and measurements in the context of practical applications and case studies.
BACKGROUND
Powders are collections of fine particles which are encountered in nature or produced via various routes including crystallisation, spray drying and freeze drying of solutions or slurries and crushing and grinding of larger solids. More than half of all products in food, healthcare, homecare, cosmetic, hygiene, biotechnology, energy, mining, fine chemicals, and high value additive manufacturing sectors are in powder form. Processing and handling of fine powders is an exciting and challenging task, often due to inconsistencies in powder flow behaviour which adversely affects manufacturing reliability and productivity. Good examples are powder flow out of storage vessels, filling and dosing of small quantities, dispersion and therapeutic drug delivery to the lungs using dry powder inhalers (DPIs), as well as spreading for additive manufacturing.
The effective and reliable flow of cohesive powders in such systems is difficult to attain and this is mainly attributed to a lack of understanding and inconsistencies in their flow behaviour under different conditions. For instance, powder flow from small containers with low level of consolidation stress (typically less than 200 Pa) under quasi-static conditions may significantly differ from the flow characteristics at large scales, relatively high stress levels and dynamic conditions. Therefore, the ability to successfully predict the flow behaviour of fine cohesive powders from the properties of individual particles and their interactions under various physical conditions in different applications is a grand challenge of great importance.
