Characterizing powder mixing processes utilizing compartment models

Powder mixing has been the subject of substantial research due to its importance in a variety of industrial sectors, including pharmaceuticals, food, and polymer manufacturing. Although a number of different models have been proposed in the literature, most of them are either empirical or require computationally intensive calculations that make them difficult to implement for realistic systems. The aim of this paper is to develop a simplified framework, based on compartment modeling that efficiently and accurately captures the system behavior. Using the V-blender as a model system, the compartment modeling approach was used to illustrate the effects of vessel loading on mixing as well as the impact of sampling methods on the accuracy of mixing characterization. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.