CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, Nos.

3-4, 183-188, 2006

PNEUMATIC CONVEYING OF BIOMASS PARTICLESA REVIEW

Heping Cui and John R. Grace*
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia,
2360 East Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z3, Canada
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: (604) 8223121; Fax: (604) 8226003; E-mail: jgrace@chml.ubc.ca

Abstract Processes involving biomass are of growing interest, but handling and conveying biomass particles are
challenging due to the unusual physical properties of biomass particles. This paper reviews recent work on pneumatic
conveying of biomass particles, especially agricultural particles and pulp fibres. Experimental work has been mainly carried out to determine a range of parameters, such as pressure drop, particle velocity, flow regime and electrostatic
charging for both horizontal and vertical conveying. Models ranging from empirical to CFD models are also being developed. Difficulties in representing turbulence and interactions among biomass particles and between the particles and
fluid have so far limited the success of advanced modeling. Further work is needed to improve understanding of multiphase biomass pneumatic conveying and to assist in the development of biomass energy and conversion processes.
Keywords

biomass, multiphase flow, pneumatic conveying, agricultural, modeling, particles

1. Introduction
Biomass is uniquely important for energy and materials
conversion processes given the relative abundance of
biomass waste materials, the renewable nature of biomass
and its favourable status with respect to emission of
greenhouse gases. To achieve viable commercial processes, the biomass must typically be collected, sorted,
transported, shredded or crushed, dried, fed, and finally
reacted in particulate form. However, biomass particles are
atypical of particles handled in most particulate processes.
Unusual characteristics commonly include a combination
of relatively large mean particle sizes, wide size distributions, extreme shapes (including flakes, chips, fibres, slivers, splinters, stalks), pliability and flexibility, compressibility, and general heterogeneity (Mckendry, 2002). Biomass
particles are highly anisotropic. They may also contain
significant quantities of moisture, affecting interparticle
forces and the distribution of density. In addition, they may
defibrillate, causing particles to become coupled together
or tangled. Given these factors, biomass particles present
unique challenges when subjected to multiphase flow.
Most reported studies of particles and powders have focused on smooth spherical or rounded particles of narrow
size distributions, with some extension to other regular
shapes like cylinders, spheroids and discs. Methods of
handling irregular particles are generally not very reliable.
Biomass particles are commonly so extreme in their
physical characteristics that their transportation by gases
and liquids is not readily predictable. As a result, industrial
biomass processes are being limited and the potential of
biomass as a source of renewable energy is largely unrealized.
To assist in the effective utilization of biomass resources,
we have recently carried out a comprehensive review of
published results on multiphase flow of biomass particles
within key areas (e.g., feeding, packed beds, fluidization,
spouting, conveying, suspension and separation) related to
energy and conversion processes. Whereas there have

been many publications dealing with development and improvement of biomass conversion processes, relatively few
authors have characterized flows involving biomass particles. This paper deals with pneumatic conveying of biomass particles, mainly involving agricultural particles (e.g.,
grains, wheat, corn) and pulp fibres. Pneumatic conveying,
in which particles are transported or suspended by gas (air)
in vertical and horizontal conveying systems, has found
wide industrial applications. Dilute pneumatic conveying
has the advantage that heterogeneous, often sticky particles are well separated from each other, minimizing the
adverse effects of inter-particle forces. In general, conveying takes place in horizontal or vertical pipes and ducts,
avoiding inclined surfaces. In this paper, both experimental
and modeling efforts are reviewed, related to hydrodynamic parameters, e.g., particle velocity, pressure drop,
slip velocity and drag coefficient, leading to recommendations for needed future work.

2. Pneumatic Conveying of Biomass Particles

2.1 Agricultural grains
Wolfe et al. (1970) developed a pneumatic feeder for
corn silage and haylage at feed rates up to 30 th-1. Experiments were performed to determine the relationship
between pressure drop and conveying distance, air and
material flow rates, and tube diameter for chopped forage.
Pressure drops across the feeder and capacities were correlated for various conveying tube diameters. Particle acceleration was essentially complete within 4.3 m of the
feeder for all materials and configurations. This work was
extended by Wolfe et al. (1971) who proposed a method to
predict the pressure drop for chopped fibrous materials such
as corn and grass silage, accounting for both acceleration
and fully developed horizontal pneumatic conveying.
Jafari et al. (1979) developed a novel dense pneumatic

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CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, Nos. 3-4, 2006

conveying system for seed grain in a pipe, requiring less

airflow than for alternative other feeders. Relatively high
pressures were reported. Baker et al. (1984) evaluated the
power requirement, pressure profiles and particle velocities
for a pressurized pneumatic grain conveying system using
dry shelled corn. Two configurations were tested at grain
flow rates of 320 th-1 and conveying air velocities of 15 to
30 ms-1. Energy usage per tonne of biomass decreased
with increasing grain flow and increased as the air velocity
increased. All system pressure components were proportional to the grain flow. Total system pressure drop was
minimized for a conveying air velocity of 20 ms-1. At air
velocities of 20 ms-1 or less, kernel velocity and the potential for impact damage were low.
Baker et al. (1986) studied damage to shelled corn in a
pneumatic handling system similar to those commonly
employed to convey grain from high temperature dryers to
storage bins. Effects of operating parameters, system configuration and grain brittleness on grain damage and dust
production were evaluated. Dust release from the cyclone
varied from 0.0095 to 0.135% by weight of the grain. Dust
production and damage approximately doubled for brittle
particles, relative to non-brittle corn. Dust production and
percent fines increased rapidly as the air velocity increased
above 2 ms-1, whereas feed rate had little influence.
Breakage susceptibility and kernel damage increased
slightly due to handling. A velocity compensator and cyclone decelerator reduced damage when the feed rate and
conveying distance were greatly reduced.
Michaelides and Lai (1987) investigated pressure losses
for flow through U-bends of radii of curvature 0.30, 0.61
and 1.22 m. The experimental facility was a 40 mm I.D.
steel-pipe loop with acceleration and recovery lengths
greater than 9 m. Lucite pellets, wax beads, sand, corn and
wheat were conveyed at low to intermediate loadings by air
as the conveying medium with superficial gas velocities
from 9 to 35 ms-1. A correlation was developed based on
the experimental data for the pressure loss in the bends.
Raheman and Jindal (1993a) reported slip velocities for
both horizontal and vertical pneumatic conveying of agricultural grains. Experiments on pneumatic conveying of
rough rice, milled rice and soybeans indicated that the slip
(i.e. relative) velocity was a function of air velocity,
solid-to-air ratio, grain diameter and solids flow rate. The
slip velocity was a minimum, close to the particle terminal
settling velocity, for low solid flow rates. Increasing either
the air or solid flow rate resulted in higher slip velocities.
Slip velocities in horizontal conveying were considerably
higher than in vertical conveying. A simple unique approach for estimating the slip velocity in pneumatic conveying of agricultural grains was proposed based on a
generalized equation for estimating the drag of multiple
particles and the standard drag coefficient relationship for
single spherical particles.
Raheman and Jindal (1994) provided an alternate approach to estimate the total pressure drop in pneumatic
conveying of agricultural grains. A correlation was devel-

oped for the ratio of suspension pressure drop to that for

air alone as a function of the solid-to-air mass flow ratio,
particle and pipe diameters, and air and solids fluxes. Raheman and Jindal (1993b, 2001a) conducted experiments
on horizontal pneumatic conveying of rough rice, milled
rice and soybeans. The total pressure drop was a function
of air velocity, solid-to-air flow ratio, and particle and pipe
diameters. An equation analogous to the Fanning friction
factor approach for estimating pressure drops in single-phase flow through pipes was assumed to represent
the pressure drop due to solids, leading to a solids friction
factor dependant on velocity ratio (terminal velocity/particle
velocity), particle-to-pipe diameter ratio, a Froude number,
solid-to-air flow ratio and the particle Reynolds number.
The applicability of this equation was verified for horizontal
pneumatic conveying of corn and mungbeans. Experimental and estimated values were in good agreement, with
average absolute variations of 2 to 12% for particles ranging from ~27 mm in size.
Shen et al. (1994) studied the saltation velocity, defined
as the mean air velocity at which particles began to settle
on the bottom of a horizontal pipe, for pneumatic transport
of granular materials. Wheat, wheat sizings and flour were
tested at different feed rates in a horizontal cylindrical pipe.
Two statistical correlations were obtained for the saltation
velocity:
(i) by stepwise regression to find the best multiple regression equation:
Usal = 22.7 + 2.01mc + 3.61Q 1.19 103 (dp mc )

(1)

+ 8.5 10 5 ( ApT ) 0.0028 ( Ap mc );

(ii) by combining Buckingham theorem and stepwise

regression:

U sal = ( d p P0 a ) [ 5.27 10 32 a P0 d p 2 a 2 + 3.64

10

53

P0 d p

7.18 10

75

+ 1.34 10 14 (Q d p a ) + 2.76 10 17

( P d ) (2)
( d A )
2

+ 2.39 10 18 RH 3 ] .

The most important variables affecting the saltation velocity were the solids feed rate, mean particle size and specific surface area. The models were tested using the
F-statistic and t-test.
Pan and Wypych (1997) determined the pressure drop
and slug velocity in low-velocity slug-flow pneumatic conveying of bulk solids. While this mode of conveying has
been applied increasingly in industry and to a wide range
of bulk solids, most investigations have focused on bulk
solid materials of regular shape, with very little work on irregular materials. The authors proposed a new test-design
procedure and model, with a slug velocity given by
A2 ( A2 4 A1A3 )
2 A1

1/ 2

Usl =

and total pressure drop by

Pt = PmLs ,

(3)
(4)

where
A1 = b fm ,

(5)

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Cui & Grace: Pneumatic Conveying of Biomass Particles: A Review

1/ 2

g
A2 = a + 2b fmUa + 2.17 b w k w ,
D

(6)

A3 = aUa + b fmUa b g ( 2 1.18 w k w ) ,

(7)

with
Ls =

msL
,
A(1 ) bUsl

(8)
1/2

0.542 ( gD )
A
= st =
A

Usl

(9)

These equations could predict accurately both the

pressure drop and slug velocity for fine, coarse and irregular-shaped particles in large-scale low-velocity slug
flow in horizontal pipes, based on particle properties and
data from a vertical test chamber of 106 mm in diameter
and ~1 m in length, with four materials (plastic, urea,
semolina and maize germ). This procedure can be applied
to bulk solid materials with regular, irregular and/or unusual
shapes, densities and size distributions, so long as they are
good candidates for this mode of conveying.
Carpinlioglu and Gundogdu (2000) investigated the development length of fully suspended flow of solid particles
conveyed by air through a horizontal pipeline of circular
cross-section. The development length was based on the
uniformity of static pressure gradients downstream of a
particle feeder. Wheat and semolina particles of average
diameter 375825 m were transported by airflow at Reynolds numbers from 51 500 to 109 000 and particle loading
ratios from 5 to 30%. The development length was correlated as a function of dimensionless parameters d/D, particle loading ratio, Re and Fr.
Nifuku and Enomoto (2001) considered the possibility of
dust explosions due to static electricity in a malt grain silo.
Two kinds of experimental equipment were utilized. One
supplied electrostatic charges to investigate the effects of
overall charge build-up, whereas the other transported the
grain pneumatically to study the accumulation of frictional
charges. The particle charge of the pulverized malt grain
was ~10-14 C, whereas that of the malt grain was ~109 C, of
the same order as the pipe charge. Grounding the pipe did
not alter the particle charge, whereas the air velocity had a
strong effect. The grain concentration also had some influence, depending on the air velocity. The charge on grain
particles increased with increasing concentration because
of the higher collision frequency. The electrostatic charge
on the pipe due to pneumatic transport increased with increasing air velocity and grain concentration. The charge
and the potential increased when isolated conductive materials were charged.
Raheman and Jindal (2001b) developed an indirect
method to estimate the velocity of particles in vertical
pneumatic conveying of agricultural grains. Experiments
on rough rice, milled rice and soybeans indicated that the
particle velocity was a function of air velocity, solid flow rate,
solid-to-air loading ratio and equivalent particle diameter.
An empirical dimensional equation,

ds = a1 dp

0.9

( )

+ a2 dp

0.5

( )

( )

+ a3 ( ) + a4 p + a5 dp

(10)

was developed to predict the dispersed solids density, i.e.

the concentration of solids. Knowing the solids flow rate
and dispersed solids density, the average particle velocity
was then calculated. The method used to determine the
solids velocity includes the hypothesis that the average
solid velocity is zero when the limiting air velocity equals
the terminal velocity of the grains. The applicability of the
relationships for estimating the solid velocity was verified
for other agricultural grains like corn and mungbeans.
Raheman and Jindal (2003) reported drag coefficients
for vertical pneumatic conveying of agricultural grains.
From experiments on rough rice and milled rice, it was
found that the drag coefficient computed using the basic
relationship for slip velocity of single spheres in air could
be used for the conditions studied. Generalized equations
were developed to estimate the drag coefficient in terms of
particle equivalent diameter, solids flux and solid-to-air
volume ratio,
Cd = B1e

B2 msp

(11)

where
ln B1 = 1906.9dp + 0.129 ln ln dp + 7.617 ln d p +0.265 ln + 51.087,

(12)

ln B2 = 1.106ln 1571.737dp + 6.904ln d p +42.089.

(13)

These equations also gave good predictions for corn. They

can be used for biomass particles of mean diameter from
approximately 3 to 7 mm being conveyed by air at atmospheric temperature and pressure.

2.2 Pulp fibres

Most fibre transport of interest is by liquids, related to
paper-making. Much less work has been published on
transport of fibres by air. Applications of gas-transport include making pulp mats for absorbent products (diapers or
napkins), drying of fibres in a hot gas (flash drying), fluffing
of pulps for gas-phase reactions (oxygen bleaching), and
suspending individual fibres for dry forming. In the
dry-forming process, fibres are distributed in airflow, and
the suspension is sucked through a moving form with a
wire mesh bottom, where the fibres deposit to form the mat.
The flow properties determine the quality of the final
product. The fibres are introduced into the airflow via a
milling machine, but tend to form flocs, and aerodynamic
agitation is insufficient to break all inter-fibre bonds. Consequently, it is important to achieve effective disruption in
the milling machine. The aerodynamic forces are important,
however, as they distribute the unbonded fibres and remaining flocs over the flow cross-section. This distributive
effect is considerably more important in airflow than in
water owing to the large density difference between cellulose and air, which readily causes flow stratification. For
example, fibres tend to concentrate in the low portions of
straight horizontal ducts at low flow velocities, or near the
outer walls of elbows or bends at high conveying velocities.

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CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, Nos. 3-4, 2006

Such local increases in fibre concentration may cause already-dispersed fibres to re-flocculate. Thus, homogenization of the flow requires a uniform entry distribution of fibres
and avoidance of agglomeration in the subsequent channel system and forming section.
Garner and Kerekes (1980) studied air suspensions of
wood pulp in a horizontal pipe flow connected to a vacuum
system. A bell-mouthed entry preceded a 14-m straight test
section of 152 mm diameter hydraulically-smooth aluminium tubing. This was replaced by 7-m-long, 50-mm-diameter smooth-walled copper tubing to examine the influence of pipe diameter. Average air velocities varied from 5
to 48 ms-1 in the larger pipe, whereas the maximum velocity was 120 ms-1 for the small pipe. Pressure drops
were measured at different locations along the test section.
Four types of suspension flow regimes were identified:
heterogeneous, flocculated, stratified and homogeneous.
The effects of fibre concentration, air velocity, feeding
method, calming length, pipe diameter and fibre type were
examined. In fully developed flow in the 152 mm diameter
pipe, all four regimes could be obtained with a refiner me3
chanical pulp of original bulk density 32 kgm- , but only the
flocculated and heterogeneous flow regimes were observed with a bleached softwood kraft pulp of original bulk
3
density 76 kgm- . In the Reynolds number range of 1.5
5
4.010 , the friction loss of the air/fibre suspensions was
only slightly (max. 15%) greater than for air alone, while a
6% drag reduction was found in the 50-mm pipe. No significant correlation was observed between the friction loss
and flow regime.

2.3 Flow measurement techniques

The motion of particulate materials in pipelines can
generate significant electrostatic charges. Ma and Yan
(2000) designed and implemented special electrostatic
solids flow instrumentation to measure particle motion. The
charge was detected by an insulated electrode in conjunction with a suitable electronic circuit, which derived signals
from the electric field fluctuations caused by passing
charged particles. A pair of axially-separated electrostatic
sensors, combined with cross-correlation signal processing,
provided a promising method for determining the velocity
of particles in pipelines. Repeatability, linearity and response time were determined in 36-mm-bore vertical and
horizontal sections of a pneumatic conveyor circulating
corn flour and pulverized coal at velocities of 6 to 45 ms-1
and particle mass concentrations of 0.014 to 5.7 kgm-3.
Effects of particles accretion on the inner surface of the
pipe wall were also determined. The system was demonstrated to be capable of providing solids velocity measurements with repeatability better than 2% and a response time less than 2.5 s.
Melander and Rasmuson (2004) developed a method to
simultaneously measure the concentration and velocity of
wood fibres in pneumatic transport. The velocity was obtained from particle image velocimetry (PIV), whereas the

concentration was measured from raw PIV images. An

image-processing procedure determined the volume fraction of the fibre particles. The measurements were performed in a closed-loop channel of total volume 1 m3 and
200200 mm cross-section, with fibres of length 1.8 mm
and diameter 29 m circulated by a centrifugal fan. Two
channel walls were transparent to facilitate PIV measurements near a 140200 mm throttle. The concentration
range of the experiments was 25450 gm-3, and the average fibre velocity was ~12 ms-1, while the Reynolds
number was ~170 000. The method gave good qualitative
and quantitative results for low fibre volume fractions, but
the results were unsatisfactory at higher volume fractions.
For fibre concentrations of 450 gm-3, the laser sheet was
unable to penetrate through the flocculated fibre suspension. The gas velocity profile was strongly affected by the
volume fraction. A method is needed which can simultaneously determine the velocities of both the gas and fibre
phases.

2.4 Modelling
Ljus (1998) studied pulp-fibre transport in airflow to better understand the physical phenomena involved and to
develop a predictive tool. An Eulerian two-fluid model was
used to calculate the air-fibre flow through a straight
channel towards the mat-forming wheel. Two- and threedimensional calculations were carried out with and without
a gas-phase turbulence model for different fibre concentrations and outlet conditions. Model predictions were
compared with pressure and velocity measurements in an
experimental channel for an inlet particle volumetric concentration of 0.0007. The mean inlet gas velocity was approximately 20 ms-1, whereas the peripheral velocity of the
mat-forming wheel was 5 ms-1. There was good agreement between the calculated and experimental time-mean
results, but the pressure fluctuations were overestimated
by a factor of 2 to 3. The amplitude of the pressure fluctuations, however, strongly depended on the fan, whose
working conditions were not known exactly during the experiments. To obtain predictions which matched the experimental results, models of the non-uniform stochastic
inlet distribution and fibre flocculation had to be implemented. The difference in velocity between the two phases
led to regions of different particle volume fraction, resulting
in a fibre mat of varying thickness. The results were gridindependent, and three-dimensional calculations showed
results similar to two-dimensional predictions. The turbulence model for the gas phase had little effect on the
pressure and velocity fluctuations for the conditions studied. The working conditions of the inlet fan, the pressure
level provided by the outlet fan and the width of the outlet
slots affected the pressure level and the pressure variations in the channel, but had little effect on the general flow
behaviour. An increase in particle concentration led to
pressure fluctuations of greater amplitude.
Zhou and Jiang (2001) studied pneumatic transportation

Cui & Grace: Pneumatic Conveying of Biomass Particles: A Review

of grains. Vibrations were employed to prevent the grain
from accumulating on the bottom of the air suction pipe.
The vibrating bottom and grain piled on it were analyzed
theoretically and by computer simulations, leading to predictions of the amplitude, frequency and inclination needed
to avoid saltation.
Shrivastava (2002) applied a theoretical model together
with correlations to estimate pressure drops for conveying
grains through a horizontal pipe and compared the predictions with experimental results of previous researchers.
The model was also utilized to estimate pressure drops for
pneumatic conveying of mustard seeds through horizontal,
inclined and vertical pipes, and the results were compared
with experimental values from the literature. The model
predicted the pressure drops more accurately than available alternative techniques.

3. Conclusions and Recommendations

Where multiphase flow has been studied in pneumatic
conveying and transport of biomass, the efforts have focused on agricultural particles (e.g., grains, wheat, corn)
and pulp fibres. Hydrodynamic parameters, e.g., particle
velocity, pressure drop, slip velocity, saltation velocity and
drag coefficient, have been investigated, both for vertical
and horizontal conveying. Most of the work has been experimental, with relatively little modeling work reported. No
studies related to inclined conveying of biomass could be
found, probably because inclined pipes are avoided due to
segregation phenomena. Conditions under which biomass
particles can be pneumatically conveyed in a relatively
homogeneous manner, without mat-formation in horizontal
conveying, need to be clarified. The influence of homogeneous vs. heterogeneous particle flow on the performance
of biomass conveyers and energy consumption also lacks
clarity. Effective internals, secondary air jets and vibrations
may be helpful in avoiding mat-formation at the bottom of
horizontal conveying pipelines and in reducing wall-friction
losses, thereby improving conveying efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
Several measurement techniques including electrostatic
instrumentation and PIV have been utilized to study biomass pneumatic conveying. However, each of these techniques is limited in its application. PIV is only suitable for
very dilute systems, whereas electrostatic measurements
depend on various factors including relative humidity and
material properties. Other advanced measurement techniques which have been successful for multiphase flows
like capacitance probe/tomography, X-ray tomography,
MRI, optical probes and imaging techniques should be
deployed in efforts to elucidate biomass multiphase flows.
Modelling efforts have also been reported relevant to
multiphase conveying of biomass material, including grains
and pulp fibres. However, mechanistic models including
CFD have not been able to provide accurate simulations
for concentrated biomass flows, due to the complicated
nature of these processes, in particular the complex inter-

187

actions among complex particles, and between the particles and fluid. Effective comprehensive models are required to represent the complex conveying processes of
biomass and the effects of operating conditions.
Overall, due to their complex physical properties, biomass particle multiphase flows differ significantly from
corresponding flows of smooth uniform spherical particles.
Despite their widespread importance, biomass multiphase
flows have received limited attention. As a result, the potential of industrial biomass transport processes is not being realized. Hence, more work is needed on multiphase
flow of biomass materials to understand and improve biomass processes. Research in this area is difficult, but potentially rewarding to enable biomass materials to be used
effectively in advanced energy and materials processes.
While it is unlikely that computational fluid dynamics can
lead to near-term breakthroughs, CFD studies will help to
resolve issues related to important sub-problems such as
interparticle forces in dense systems with fine particles,
interactions between fluid and material properties, and
complex particle shapes for biomass granular materials.
It is essential that CFD fluid dynamicists communicate effectively with experimentalists for the mutual benefit of both
groups in achieving progress in biomass multiphase flow
research.
Radial and axial gas and solid distributions should be
determined in conjunction with conveying efficiency and
energy consumption for different conveying conditions to
understand the optimum gas-solid distributions. The effects
of pipeline design, operating conditions (e.g., gas cycling to
reduce energy consumption), internals, secondary air and
particle properties should be studied, together with energy
consumption, to determine optimum pipeline design and
particle properties for pneumatic conveying of biomass. It
is also important to explore scaling methods. To do this
requires systematic investigation of flows in systems of
different scales, based on application of general dynamic
similarity criteria.

Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the
interdepartmental Program of Energy Research and Development
(PERD) of Natural Resources Canada, and the support of Dr. M.
Sayed of the Canadian Hydraulics Centre of the National Research Council of Canada. Continuing fruitful interaction with
Professor Yong Jin and past productive collaboration with Prof.
Zhiqing Yu are also respectfully acknowledged.

Nomenclature
a
ai
A
Ai
Ap
Ast
B1,2

constant in Eqs. (6-7),

regression coefficients in Eq. (10), i=1, 2,..., 5,
2
cross-sectional area of pipe, m
coefficients in Eqs. (3, 57), (i=1,2,3)
2
-1
specific surface area, m kg
2
cross-sectional area of stationary bed, m
functions of particle size and solid-to-air loading

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CHINA PARTICUOLOGY Vol. 4, Nos. 3-4, 2006

volume ratio (Eqs. 1113),

b
Cd
dp
D
Fr
g
kw
L
Ls
mc
ms
msp
P0
Pm

Pt
Q
Re
RH
T
Ua
Usal
Usl

constant in Eqs. (57),

drag coefficient,
particle diameter, m
internal diameter of pipe, m
Froude number,
-2
gravitational acceleration, ms
stress transmission coefficient,
total horizontal pipeline length, or bed depth, m
total length of slugs, m
moisture content, % on wet basis
-1
product mass flow rate, kgs
-1
-2
solids flux, kgs m
atmospheric pressure, Pa
pressure gradient at mean conveying condition,
-1
Pam
total pressure drop, Pa
-1
feed rate, kgs
Reynolds number,
relative humidity, %
conveying air temperature, K
-1
air mean velocity, ms
-1
saltation velocity, ms
-1
slug velocity along a pipe, ms

Greek Letters

a
w
a
b
ds
fm
p

solid-to air volume ratio,

air viscosity, Pas
wall friction coefficient,
-3
air density, kgm
-3
bulk density, kgm
-3
dispersed solids density, kgm
-3
average air density, kgm
-3
particle density, kgm

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Manuscript received January 18, 2006 and accepted April 2, 2006.