Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering (IJChE)
Scientific Journal

Investigation of Solid Mixing in a Spherical Triaxe Mixer Using the Discrete Element Method

Document Type : Regular Article

Authors

Roshanak Arab-Taheri 1
Reza Zarghami 1
Shahab Golshan 2
Khashayar Saleh 3
Navid Mostoufi 1

1 Process Design and Simulation Research Centre, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155/4563, Tehran, Iran

2 Process Development, Amgen, Cambridge, MA, USA

3 Transformations Intégrées de la Matière Renouvelable, Alliance Sorbonne-Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France

https://doi.org/10.22034/ijche.2025.511627.1559
Abstract
This research aims to study the mixing dynamics of granular materials in the Triaxe mixer and compare the effect of operating conditions on the quality of mixing. The discrete element method was used to simulate the mixer and track the motion of particles. The Johnson-Kendall-Robinson model was used for the simulation of the contact of cohesive particles. The results indicate that the most influential parameter on the mixing performance is the rotational speed since raising the rotational speed increases the transferred momentum to the grains. In the specific design of the mixer, the dead zones are reduced, so the fill-level does not have a considerable impact on the homogeneity. Also, the quality of mixing of large particles in this blender is better than the same for smaller particles. The mixer's performance for blending cohesive grains was similar to that for the non-cohesive particles. For both types of solids, the relative standard deviation reached approximately 35% after 70 s. Mixing performances of two sizes of the mixer were compared based on two criteria, the constant impeller speed and constant power per volume of the mixer. The results show that the case of the constant impeller speed can predict the mixing performance of the larger mixer more accurately.

Keywords

Triaxe® mixer
Discrete Element Method
Solid mixing
Cohesive particles
Mixing index

Subjects

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Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering (IJChE)
Volume 22, Issue 2
Summer 2025
Pages 12-34

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