Production Handling And Characterization Of Particulate Materials

This edited volume presents most techniques and methods that have been developed by material scientists, chemists, chemical engineers and physicists for the commercial production of particulate materials, ranging from the millimeter to the nanometer scale. The scope includes the physical and chemical background, experimental optimization of equipment and procedures, as well as an outlook on future methods. The books addresses issues of industrial importance such as specifications, control parameter(s), control strategy, process models, energy consumption and discusses the various techniques in relation to potential applications. In addition to the production processes, all major unit operations and characterization methods are described in this book. It differs from other books which are devoted to a single technique or a single material. Contributors to this book are acknowledged experts in their field. The aim of the book is to facilitate comparison of the different unit operations leading to optimum equipment choices for the production, handling and storage of particulate materials. An advantage of this approach is that unit operations that are common in one field of application are made accessible to other fields. The overall focus is on industrial application and the book includes some concrete examples. The book is an essential resource for students or researchers who work in collaboration with manufacturing industries or who are planning to make the switch from academia to industry.

Incorporation of particular components with specialized properties allows one to tailor the end product's properties. For instance, the sensitivity, burning behavior, thermal or mechanical properties or stability of energetic materials can be affected and even controllably varied through incorporation of such ingredients. This book examines particle technologies as applied to energetic materials such as propellants and explosives, thus filling a void in the literature on this subject. Following an introduction covering general features of energetic materials, the first section of this book describes methods of manufacturing particulate energetic materials, including size reduction, crystallization, atomization, particle formation using supercritical fluids and microencapsulation, agglomeration phenomena, special considerations in mixing explosive particles and the production of nanoparticles. The second section discusses the characterization of particulate materials. Techniques and methods such as particle size analysis, morphology elucidation and the determination of chemical and thermal properties are presented. The wettability of powders and rheological behavior of suspensions and solids are also considered. Furthermore, methods of determining the performance of particular energetic materials are described. Each chapter deals with fundamentals and application possibilities of the various methods presented, with particular emphasis on issues applicable to particulate energetic materials. The book is thus equally relevant for chemists, physicists, material scientists, chemical and mechanical engineers and anyone interested or engaged in particle processing and characterization technologies.

Over half of the products of the chemical and process industries are sold in a particulate form. The range of such products is vast: from agrochemicals to pigments, from detergents to foods, from plastics to pharmaceuticals. However, surveys of the performance of processes designed to produce particulate products have consistently shown inadequate design and poor reliability. `Particle technology' is a new subject facing new challenges. Chemical and process engineering is becoming less concerned with the design of plants to produce generic simple chemicals (which are often single phase fluids) and is now more concerned with speciality `effect' chemicals which may often be in particulate form. Chemical and process engineers are also being recruited in increasing numbers into areas outside their tranditional fields, such as the food industry, pharmaceuticals and the manufacture of a wide variety of consumer products. This book has been written to meet their needs. It provides comprehensive coverage of the technology of particulate solids, in a form which is both accessible and concise enough to be useful to engineering and science students in the final year of an undergraduate degree, and at Master's level. Although it was written with students of chemical engineering in mind, it will also be of use and interest to students of other disciplines. It comprises an account of the fundamentals of teh subject, illustrated by worked examples, and followed by a wide range of selected applications.

Naturally occurring or manufactured through chemical and/or physical processes, particulate materials are substances consisting of individual particles which have significance to the global economy, society and environments. Due to the diversity and intrinsic nature, manufacturing, handling and processing of particulate materials still face numerous challenges. Aimed at addressing these challenges, this book contains a selection of papers discussing the state-of-the-art research in particulate materials science that were presented at the UK-China Particle Technology Forum III held at Birmingham, UK in 2011. Classified into four distinct topics namely synthesis, characterisation, processing and modelling, the chapters showcase the advances in these areas including a range of advanced synthesis methods for example, spray-pyrolysis, supercritical fluid synthesis assisted with ultrasound, continuous synthesis using supercritical water, hydrothermal synthesis of nano-particulate materials and jet milling. For characterisation, various methods for characterising particulate materials at both particle and system levels are introduced and how these properties affect the behaviour of particulate materials in various processes, such as inhalation, filling, and consolidation, are discussed. In the processing section, recent advances such as capsule filling, micro-dosing, dry granulation, roll compaction, milling, and more are presented. The last section concerns mathematical and numerical modelling in particulate materials, for which the book includes both analytical methods and advanced numerical methods, such as discrete element methods (DEM), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), lattice Boltzmann methods (LBM), coupled DEM/CFD and DEM/LBM, and their applications. Particulate Materials is aimed at research communities dealing with these diverse materials, and scientists and engineers in powder handling industries, such as pharmaceutical, food, fine chemical and detergents.

This book focuses on the practical aspects of particle size measurement: a major difference with existing books, which have a more theoretical approach. Of course, the emphasis still lies on the measurement techniques. For optimum application, their theoretical background is accompanied by quantitative quality aspects, limitations and problem identification. In addition the book covers the phenomena of sampling and dispersion of powders, either of which may be dominant in the overall analysis error. Moreover, there are chapters on the general aspects of quality for particle size analysis, quality management, reference materials and written standards, in- and on-line measurement, definitions and multilingual terminology, and on the statistics required for adequate interpretation of results. Importantly, a relation is made to product performance, both during processing as well as in final application. In view of its set-up, this book is well suited to support particle size measurement courses.

This edited volume brings together the expertise of numerous specialists on the topic of particles – their physical, chemical, pharmacological and toxicological characteristics – when they are a component of pharmaceutical products and formulations. The book discusses in detail properties such as the composition, size, shape, surface properties and porosity of particles with respect to how they impact the formulations and products in which they are used and the effective delivery of pharmaceutical active ingredients. It considers all dosage forms of pharmaceuticals involving particles, from powders to tablets, creams to ointments, and solutions to dry-powder inhalers, also including the latest nanomedicine products. Further, it discusses examples of particle toxicity, as well as the important subject of pharmaceutical industry regulations, guidelines and legislation. The book is of interest to researchers and practitioners who work on testing and developing pharmaceutical dosage and delivery systems.

This handbook presents comprehensive coverage of the technology for conveying and handling particulate solids. Each chapter covers a different topic and contains both fundamentals and applications. Usually, each chapter, or a topic within a chapter, starts with one of the review papers. Chapter 1 covers the characterization of the particulate materials. Chapter 2 covers the behaviour of particulate materials during storage, and presents recent developments in storage and feeders design and performance. Chapter 3 presents fundamental studies of particulate flow, while Chapters 4 and 5 present transport solutions, and the pitfalls of pneumatic, slurry, and capsule conveying. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 cover both the fundamentals and development of processes for particulate solids, starting from fluidisation and drying, segregation and mixing, and size-reduction and enlargement. Chapter 9 presents environmental aspects and the classification of the particulate materials after they have been handled by one of the above-mentioned processes. Finally, Chapter 10 covers applications and developments of measurement techniques that are the heart of the analysis of any conveying or handling system.

Sorghum is among the top five cereals and one of the key crops in global food security efforts. Sorghum is a resilient crop under high-stress environments, ensuring productivity and access to food when other crops fail. Scientists see the potential of sorghum as a main staple food in a future challenged by climate change. The contributors provide a comprehensive review of sorghum knowledge. The discussion covers genetic improvements, development of new hybrids, biotechnology, and physiological modifications. Production topics include water and nutrient management, rotations, and pest control. Final end uses, sorghum as a bioenergy crop, markets, and the future of sorghum are presented. IN PRESS! This book is being published according to the “Just Published” model, with more chapters to be published online as they are completed.