Solids Conveying

Guide to the Pneumatic Solids

Conveying Example
Aspen Technology
Burlington, MA
2013

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Modeling Solids Conveying with

Aspen Plus V8.2
Pneumatic conveying is widely-used in industry to transport
powdered and granular solid materials over short and long distances
Depending of the solids loading there are two major solids conveying
types that have to be distinguished
Dilute phase conveying
Solids loading up to 30 kg solid per kg gas
Lower pressure drop compared to all other conveying
types
Highest material velocity and therefore the highest
tendency to abrasion
Material conveyed above saltation velocity of each
particle (each particle is airborne with the gas stream)

Dense phase conveying

Solids loading up to 150 kg solid per kg gas

Medium pressure drop
Low material velocities
Material is conveyed in dunes/slugs
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Modeling Solids Conveying with

Aspen Plus V8.2
Conveying lines can be operated in pressure or
vacuum/suction mode:
Pressure mode

Vacuum/suction mode

The Aspen Plus Pipe & Pipeline model allows to

simulate
Dilute phase and dense phase conveying
Pressure and vacuum conveying
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Solids Conveying
- Dilute Phase Conveying model

Model predicts the pressure drop of a lean phase conveying

system
Pressure drop of the solids according to Muschelknautz or
Siegel
Horizontal, vertical and inclining pipelines can be considered
Pressure drop due to initial acceleration of solids can be
considered
Pressure drop due to elbows can be considered (pipe)
Plugging limit is calculated

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Solids Conveying
- Dense Phase Conveying model

Model predicts the pressure drop of a low-velocity slug flow

conveying system
Model is based on the method proposed by Wypych and Yi to
predict the pressure drop in horizontal pipelines
In vertical sections, a pressure drop to lift the solid mass has
to be added
Pressure drop due to elbows can be considered (pipe) by use of
a equivalent length
Slug velocity and total length of slugs is calculated

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Example 1
Dillute Phase Conveying System
in Pressure Mode

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Dilute phase conveying

- Pipe example / Pressure Conveying
Modeling and optimization of a dilute phase conveying line
Base case:
Total pressure drop of the conveying line is ~ 66 mbar

Task:
Decrease the pressure drop of the conveying line

Constraints
Ensure that no plugging of the conveying line will occur (approach
to saltation velocity > 5 m/s)

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Open the file

PressureConveyingPipe.bkp
Open the layout Flowsheet

Calculator is used to calculate the

total pressure drop of the
conveying line
Transfer block is used to copy the
diameter defined in the custom
table to all pipe segments
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Review the Input for the Pipes (Geometry)

All pipe segments
have a diameter of
150 mm.
Segments have
different length and
elevation

Open the layout Pipe Geometry

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Review the Input for the Pipes (Solids Conveying)

Dilute phase
conveying
selected

Open the layout Solids Conveying Input

Calculation of
the pressure
drop according
to
Muschelknautz

Pressure drop due to

initial acceleration of
the solids is
considered for first
segment only

Determination of the saltation velocity

according to Molerus et. al.

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Run the Model

Run the model

Open the layout BaseCase-Profiles

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Profiles show:
pressure,
vapor velocity,
solids velocity,
saltation velocity
as function of the pipe
length

Review the Results

Pressure drop due to initial

acceleration of solids is
considered for the first segment

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Review the Results

Custom table shows:
Pressure drop for each
segment
Overall pressure drop
Approach to saltation velocity

Open the layout Flowsheet

Approach to saltation velocity is a

measure (block result) that gives
the minimum difference between
vapor velocity and calculated
saltation velocity. As long as this
value is positive, no plugging
should occur.

Value for approach to saltation velocity is quite high.

Reducing the gas flow rate will reduce the pressure
drop and reduce energy demand of the blower

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Process Optimization Task Definition

Base Case:
Transportation gas flow rate: 2,375 kg/hr
Pressure drop: ~ 66 mbar
Approach to saltation velocity: ~ 24 m/s

Objective
Decrease pressure drop of the conveying line while considering
>5 m/s approach constraint for saltation velocity

Solution Approach
Use Constraint and Optimization tools to find lowest pressure
needed to maintain >5 m/s approach

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Activate Optimization and Constraints

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Setup Optimization
Open the layout Optimization Setup

Overall pressure
drop will be
minimized

Approach to saltation
velocity has to be
greater than 5 m/s

Transportation air flow

rate can be changed in
between 1000 kg/hr
and 2375 kg/hr

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Process Optimization Run the Model

Run the model

Open the layout Optimization Results

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Process Optimization Review Results

Optimized gas flow rate is ~1120 kg/hr

Resulting pressure drop is ~22 mbar (-66%)
Approach to saltation velocity is 5 m/s

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Process Optimization
- Run with Optimized Values

Deactivate the optimization task

Switch to layoutFlowsheet.
Enter optimal value (1,120 kg/hr) for the
transportation air flow rate and run the
model

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Process Optimization Review Results

With the optimized flow rate it is possible to decrease
the pressure drop by ~67%
the volume flow by ~53%

Decrease in energy for the blower by over 80%

=

where is flow rate, is the pressure drop, and is efficiency

Poweropt = 0.33*V

Base Case

base*0.47*dPbase=

0.155*Powerbase

Optimized Case

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Example 2
Dense Phase Conveying System
in Vacuum Mode

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Dense phase conveying

- Pipeline example / Vacuum Conveying
The following example will demonstrate how a vacuum
operated dense phase conveying line can be simulated by
using the pipeline model
Use of characteristic curve of blower to determine gas volume
flow

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Open the file VacuumConveyingPipeline.bkp

Open the layout Flowsheet

Calculator is used to calculate the dP

(pressure increase) of the blower based
on the characteristic curve of the blower
DesignSpec is used to adjust the air flow
so that the overall pressure drop of the
conveying line and the filter matches the
calculated dp of the blower

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Review Pipeline Specification

Open the layout Pipeline Setup
Dense phase
conveying selected

Pipeline has
four nodes

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Review Fabric Filter Specification

Open the layout Filter Setup
Design mode
used.

Pressure drop
calculated
from specific
resistance.

Filtration area is
calculated based
on given A/C ratio
using the
coefficient model.

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Ideal separation
of solids is
assumed

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Review Definition of the Characteristic

Blower Curve
Open the layout Calculator Setup
Characteristic curve (pressure
increase as function of volume
flow) of a blower has the form
dp(V) = Pmax + A*V+B*V2
In the present case the
parameters of the curve are:
Pmax = 60000 Pa
A = -0.1429 Pa*s/m3
B = - 0.003 Pa*s2/m6
Calculator is used to
determine the pressure
increase of the blower based
on the current volume flow.
Results is stored in the
parameter DPCALC
(Parameter No. 1)

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Review Definition of the Design Specification

used to Determine the Gas Flow Rate
Open the layout DesignSpec Setup

Design specification is used to

change the air flow rate so
that the dP of the conveying
line and the filter (Pout-Pin)
match the pressure increase
calculated for the blower
(DPCALC from the calculator)

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Run the Model

Run the model

Open the layout Results Calculator and DesignSpec

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Review the Results

Flow rate / Pressure Drop

Design specification has

adjusted gas mass flow
to approx. 3660 kg/h
At this flow rate, the
overall pressure drop is
equal to the pressure
increase of the blower
according to its
characteristic curve

Overall pressure drop

at the adjusted flow
rate is ~307 mbar.

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Review the Results

- Pipeline

Plot shows the change of:

- the pressure
- the elevation pressure
drop
- the friction pressure drop
as function of the pipeline
length

Open the layout Pipeline Results

Negative elevation
pressure drop
indicates pressure
increase due to
downhill flow

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Summary
Example 1- Dilute Phase Conveying System in Pressure Mode
Problem
Want to decrease the pressure drop needed in the pipeline to
reduce the energy needed to run the blower
Need to consider saltation velocity and keep a buffer of >5m/s

Solution

Modeled pipeline using multiple connected pipes

Choose dilute phase conveying
Use Optimization to find optimal vapor flow rate
Use Constraint to limit velocity of material so that it does not
approach <5m/s difference from saltation velocity

Benefit
By reducing both flow rate and pressure drop, the blower
energy requirement was reduced by more than 80%
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Summary
Example 2- Dense Phase Conveying System in Vacuum Mode
Problem
Want to simulate a Dense Phase Conveying System in Vacuum
Mode with a complex pipeline system

Solution

Used pipeline to simulate multiple pipes

Selected dense phase conveying in pipeline
Placed blower after the pipeline to simulate vacuum
Used calculator block to match pressure drop needed in the
pipeline that produced by the blower

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