Effect of powder densities, particle size and shape on mixture quality of binary food powder mixtures

Pooja Shenoy, Maxime Viau, Kristel Tammel, Fredrik Innings, John Fitzpatrick, Lilia Ahrné*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

84 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Particle size and density are two important parameters which affect the mixture homogeneity of powder mixtures. In this study several types of food powders with different particle sizes and poured bulk densities were chosen for the binary powder mixing trials. In each type of binary mixture salt was one of the main ingredients, hence conductivity analysis was performed on the mixtures and coefficient of variation was used to evaluate the mixture homogeneity. All binary powders were mixed at a ratio of 50:50 by weight in a 2. L prototype lab-scale paddle mixer. The experiments were conducted in such a way that the ingredients used either had a similar particle size and different bulk density or similar bulk density and different particle size. Different density and size ratios were investigated to observe the limit up to which good mixing takes place. Density differences between the binary powders were varied from 1.5 up to 16.4. The range of size ratio investigated was from 1.96 up to 15.73. Results indicate that powders mixed very well up to a particle size ratio of 4.45. For higher ratios mixture quality disimproved but no segregation was visually observed. The bulk density had a larger influence in affecting the mixture quality (MQ) as compared to particle size. At higher bulk density ratios almost complete segregation was observed and this was majorly influenced by the irregular shapes of thyme and oregano.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPowder Technology
Volume272
Pages (from-to)165-172
Number of pages8
ISSN0032-5910
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Density ratios
  • Dry powder mixing
  • Food powders
  • Mixture homogeneity
  • Segregation
  • Size ratios

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