Theoretical analysis of dust explosions

Tribo-Electrification and Associated Segregation of Pharmaceutical Bulk Powders

“…The change in α-LM concentration in the system can be used as an indicator of the extent of segregation of α-LM in the main mixture (SM). The segregation extent for the main mixture was determined by calculating the ratio between the amount of α-LM recovered at the end of tribo-electrification and the amount of α-LM initially used for each sample, as shown by: (6) An extent of segregation that is equal to one indicates a fully segregated system, whilst a value of zero indicates a system where no segregation has taken place. Therefore, an increase from zero indicates that more α-LM particles have adhered to the container walls and this indicates that the binary mixture has undergone segregation.…”

“…When materials become charged, their behaviour can change and as a result they can adhere to each other easier or repel other charged materials 5) . Excessive tribo-electrification of powders can be a nuisance as it causes problems such as dust Accepted: September 10 th explosions 6) , adhesion and coating or blockage of pipelines 7) . It can also lead to powder loss and difficulties in controlling the powder flow.…”