Flow of Damp Powder in a Rotating Impervious Cone

Abstract

A one dimensional analytical model is developed for the steady state, axisymmetric flow of damp powder within a rotating impervious cone. The powder spins with the cone but migrates up the wall of the cone (along a generator) under centrifugal force. The powder is treated as incompressible and Newtonian viscous, while the shear traction at the interface is taken to be both velocity and pressure dependent. A nonlinear second order ordinary differential equation is established for the mean through-thickness velocity as a function of radius in a spherical coordinate system, and the dominant nondimensional groups are identified. For a wide range of geometries, material parameters, and operating conditions, a midzone exists wherein the flow is insensitive to the choice of inlet and outlet boundary conditions. Within this central zone, the governing differential equation reduces to an algebraic equation with an explicit analytical solution. Furthermore, the bulk viscosity of the damp powder does not enter this solution. Consequently, it is suggested that the rotating impervious cone is a useful geometry to measure the interfacial friction law for the flow of a damp powder past an impervious wall.