Analysis of hopper eccentricity effect on granular flow in three-dimensional silos using discrete element method

Silos are widely used in industry and agriculture for the storage of different granular products. The discharge of granular matter from these containers is one of the most common phenomena of everyday life, but it has not yet been completely understood. Early studies of the discharge process were mainly concerned with the concentric silos. However, eccentric hoppers are frequently encountered in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Then, it is of paramount importance to understand the physical phenomena that control the flow of grains in these silos to guarantee optimal discharge process. In this study, numerical simulation was performed using Discrete Element Method DEM in order to analyze the discharge process in three dimensional eccentric silos. The flow performance in centric and eccentric silos are also analyzed and compared and a clear effect of hopper eccentricities is shown. The results obtained for different hopper eccentricities reveal that flow of particle is slightly dependant on the position of exit aperture.