Visualization and Composition Analysis to Quantify Mixing in a Screw Pyrolyzer
Date
Authors
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
The function of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering has been to prepare students for the study and application of chemistry in industry. This focus has included preparation for employment in various industries as well as the development, design, and operation of equipment and processes within industry.Through the CBE Department, Iowa State University is nationally recognized for its initiatives in bioinformatics, biomaterials, bioproducts, metabolic/tissue engineering, multiphase computational fluid dynamics, advanced polymeric materials and nanostructured materials.
History
The Department of Chemical Engineering was founded in 1913 under the Department of Physics and Illuminating Engineering. From 1915 to 1931 it was jointly administered by the Divisions of Industrial Science and Engineering, and from 1931 onward it has been under the Division/College of Engineering. In 1928 it merged with Mining Engineering, and from 1973–1979 it merged with Nuclear Engineering. It became Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2005.
Dates of Existence
1913 - present
Historical Names
- Department of Chemical Engineering (1913–1928)
- Department of Chemical and Mining Engineering (1928–1957)
- Department of Chemical Engineering (1957–1973, 1979–2005)
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (2005–present)
- College of Engineering(parent college)
Related Units
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Abstract
Characterizing the mixing effectiveness of systems or processes in granular applications is difficult due to ineffective sampling procedures and a lack of quantifiable measurement techniques. The mixing effectiveness of a screw pyrolyzer consisting of a binary mixture of 500–6350 μm red oak chips and 300–500 μm glass beads is evaluated using optical visualization and composition analysis techniques. The mass fraction of binary mixture samples is determined and the weighted sample variance from four outlet ports is used to evaluate the mixing effectiveness. The effect of dimensionless screw pitch on the mixing effectiveness is investigated at levels of p/D = 0.75, 1.25, and 1.75. Optical visualization is captured across the entire mixing region’s periphery allowing qualitative observations to be made, leading to the visual observation that increasing the dimensionless screw pitch increases the mixing effectiveness. Quantitative composition analysis utilizing a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical model confirms that increasing the dimensionless screw pitch from 0.75 to 1.25 results in a significant increase in mixing effectiveness. However, diminishing increases in mixing effectiveness were shown as the dimensionless screw pitch increased from 1.25 to 1.75, and statistically these two conditions could not be distinguished given the amount of data in this study. Results are compared to previous granular mixing measurement techniques found in the literature, and similar results are reported.
Comments
This proceeding is published as Kingston, T.A., and Heindel, T.J., “Visualization and Composition Analysis to Quantify Mixing in a Screw Pyrolyzer,” Proceedings of ASME 2013 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting, July 7-11, 2013, Incline Village, Nevada, USA, Paper FEDSM2013-16054, 2013. DOI: 10.1115/FEDSM2013-16054. Posted with permission.