Agglomeration processes compaction pressure

FIG. 20-71 Classification of agglomeration processes by agitation intensity and compaction pressure. Relative density is with respect to primary particle density and equals (1 — e) where e is the solid volume fraction. Reprinted from Granulation and Coating Technologies for High-Value-Added Industties, Ennis and Litster (1996) with permission of E G Associates. All rights reserved. 

Pai+icle size enlargement equipment can be classified into several groups, with advantages, disadvantages, and applications summarized in Table 20-36. Comparisons of bed-agitation intensity, compaction pressures, and product bulk density for selected agglomeration processes are highlighted above in Fig. 20-71. 

An alternative approach to size enlargement is agglomeration by compression, or compaction, where the mixture of particulate matter is fed to a compression device which promotes agglomeration due to pressure, as depicted in Figure 2. Either continuous sheets of solid material or solid forms such as briquettes or tablets are produced. Compaction processes range from confined compression devices such as tableting to continuous devices such as roll presses (Chapter 6), briqueting machines. 

Figure 30 Classification of agglomeration processes by agitation intensity and compaction pressure. (From Refs. 1,2,5.)...

The success of compressive agglomeration or pressure compaction processes depends on the effective utilization and transmission of the applied external force and on the ability of the material to form and maintain permanent interparticle bonds during pressure compaction (or consolidation) and decompression. Both of these aspects are controlled in turn by the geometry of the confined space, the nature of the applied loads, and the physical properties of the particulate material and of the confining walls. 

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