Properties of suspension and concentrated products

Many food products are in the form of suspension or concentrated products. Some
point during processing is important in preparation for consumer use. Food
components are mixed together to form suspensions, while in other causes highmoisture liquid product are reduced in moisture content to give more highly
concentrated products.
Suspensions and concentrated products include variety of different particleliquid mixtures.
Product slurry is a particle-liquid mixture which is normally considered dilute
in that the ratio of particles to liquid is very low. This mixture can be transported in
laminar flow with a rather significant amount of settling.
The particle-liquid mixture which is classified as a suspension is one in which
the ratio of particles to liquid is much higher, and forms a products which cannot
be easily transported in laminar flow without deposition of the particles.
In other words, the transport must be conducted under turbulent conditions in
order to maintain the particles in suspension.
Several expressions have been proposed to allow prediction of the product
properties under above condition.
In the case of slurries, the proposed expression attempt to relate the slurry
viscosity to the viscosity of the liquid fraction and the concentration of the particles
per unit volume. Probably the most widely used expression is one proposed by
Einstein:

= L [ 1+2.5 X c ]

.. (1)

In which the slurry viscosity is related almost directly to particle

concentration.
1

Einstein was derived above equation utilizing several assumptions are as

follows:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

Particles are spherical in shape.

Particles are large in composition to the liquid molecules.
No slip occurs between particles and liquid
Particles are unchanged.
Turbulence is not present.

Guth & Simha and Manley & Mason developed similar expression for higher
particle concentrations. According to Guth & Simha= L [ 1+2.5 X c +14.1 X 2c ]

(2)
For 20% concentration by volume.

According to Manley & Mason:

= L [ 1+2.5 X c +10.05 X 2c ]

(3)

Problem
Compare Einstein, Guth & Simha and Manley & Mason equation when
predicting the viscosity of a 15% by volume slurry and a 30% by volume
suspensions. The viscosity of the liquid suspended medium is 1.310-3 lbm/ft sec.
Solution
(1) For 15% suspensions:
From Einstein equation:
= L [ 1+2.5 X c ]

Where,

= 1.3 10- (1+2.5 0.15)

[L =

1.3 10- lbm/ft sec.

= 1.788 10- lbm/ft sec.

Xc = 0.15]

From Guth & Simha equation:

= L (1+ 2.5XC +14.1XC2)
= 1.3 10- {1+2.5 0.15+14.1

(0.15)2}
= 2.2 10- lbm/ft sec.
From Manley & Mason equation:
= L (1+ 2.5XC +10.05XC2)
= 1.3 10- {1+2.5 0.15+10.05

(0.15)2}
= 2.081 10- lbm/ft sec.
(2) For 30% suspensions:
From Einstein equation:
= L (1+ 2.5XC)

where,

= 1.3 10- (1+2.5 0.3)

[L =

1.3 10- lbm/ft sec.

= 2.275 10- lbm/ft sec.

Xc = 0.3]

From Guth & Simha equation:

= L (1+ 2.5XC +14.1XC2)
= 1.3 10- {1+2.5 0.3+14.1

(0.15)2}
= 3.925 10- lbm/ft sec.
From Manley & Mason equation:
= L (1+ 2.5XC +10.05XC2)

= 1.3 10- {1+2.5 0.3+10.05

(0.15)2}
= 3.451 10- lbm/ft sec.
The consumptions indicate that differences in viscosity predicted by the
equations increase as the suspension concentration increases.

Properties of Granular foods and powders:

The design of the handling system for dry products requires knowledge of
the properties of the products being handled.
Density:
Density is one of the basic properties of any material, but in the case of
granular food products various types of density have been defined.
Bulk density:
Bulk density is defined by the following expressions
B =M /V

Where, M= total mass and V= total volume.

Types of bulk density

Loose bulk density:
Loose bulk density is measured after placing the product in the
constant volume container without variation.
Packed bulk density:
Packed bulk density is measured after the sample placed in the
constant volume container has been vibrated until the volume seems constant.
Bulk density value will be dependent on the particle size, characteristics and
any factors which influence them.
Another type of density is apparent particle density.
4

Apparent particle density:

Apparent particle density of a dry food product is a measure of the
amount of air which may be trapped with the individual particles. This parameter
can be measured by utilizing a picometer in which a solvent of know density
replaces air within the particles and allows computation of the apparent particle
density.
Two additional properties of granular food products which related to the
density are:
(a)Void
(b)Porosity
(a) Void:
The void can be defined as the ratio of the volume of space between
particles to the entire volume, and can be expressed as follows:

V=

1
B ( B

Where, V = void, B = Bulk density, p = Particle density

(b) Porosity:
Porosity can be defined as the ratio of the air volume within the particles
to the total particles volume and can be computed by the following expressions:

= 1Where, = Porosity,
making up the product.

B
t

= Bulk density,

= True density of air free solids

t

Particle size and size distribution:

A very important property of granular foods or powder is the particle
size and size distribution. They are related to the computation of various mean
diameters of particle size and size distributions. These are:

1) The arithmetic or number mean diameter

2) The surface mean diameter
3) The volume surface mean diameter
The arithmetic or number mean diameter:
Number mean diameter can be defined as follows:

dL =

dN
N

Where, N = number and d= particle size.

The surface mean diameter:
Surface mean diameter can be defined as follows:

ds =

d2 N
N

Volume surface mean diameter:

Volume surface diameter usually called sauter mean diameter,
defined as follows:

dv =

d3 N
d2 N

Problem
Compare the arithmetic, surface and volume surface mean diameters
for particle in a dry food product within the following distribution of sizes:
NUMBER
1
4
25
20
10
4

SIZE
40
30
20
15
10
5
6

Flow of food powders:

Two specific parameters which describes the flow properties of granular
foods or powders. These are:
1. Angle of repose
2. Angle of slide.
1. Angle of repose:
The angle of repose is defined in the following way:
tan =

2H'
S

Where, H = height of a mound of a powder which forms as it flows from a

container directly above a horizontal surface.
S= Circumference of the pile of powder at its base.
2. Angle of slide:
The angle of slide can be defined as the parameter in which the powder
is placed on a horizontal plate and the angle of the plate is changed until the
powder slides from the plate.
The basic and the fundamental property of powder flow is the angle
internal friction ( ) which is defined as follows:
tan

Where, = Share stress and n= Normal stress.

On another theoretical expression which can be utilized to describe the flow rate of
powder through an orifice in the bottom of a storage container is
7

Q = Cc ( 4 ) B

gD
[ 2 tan ]

Where, Q = Flow rate of powder, D = Orifice diameter,

B

= Angle of repose,

= Bulk density, Cc = Discharge coefficient (0.5 to 0.7)

PROBLE
M
A dry food product with bulk density of 35 lbm/ ft 3 is stored in a
large storage container and is removed by gravity through a 3 inch diameter
opening in the bottom of the container. The test for angle of repose gave a mound
of product with 4 inch diameter and 3 inch height. Compute the rate at which the
product will be released from the container.
Solution
We know,
2H'
S

Angle of repose, tan=

2
Here, S = r =

4
2

(1)

=4

From equation (1) we get,

tan =
=56.4

2 3
4

= 1.5

Now flow rate,

Q = Cc ( 4 ) B

g D5
[ 2 tan ]

3 5

32.2 ( )
12
Q = 0.6 ( 4 ) 35 [
]
2 1.5

Q = 0.173 lbm/sec
Q = 10.4 lbm/min

Flow rate = 10.40 lbm/ min. (answer)