Cones stop segregation in hopper discharge
The tendency for solids to separate as they are discharged from a hopper affects a range of processes including steel, cement, food, plastic and pharmaceutical production.
However, an industrial researcher has claimed this can be significantly reduced with the addition of an upward facing cone in the hopper.
Karol Ariza-Zafra, from The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology at the University of Greenwich says the cone makes the solids in the hopper descend as a body, rather than form a hole in the centre and fall down it, which is what leads to separation. The problem, like most others in bulk solids handling, is difficult to model. As a result Ariza-Zafra, has been combining modelling with physical experiments to produce data that can be used for better design.
