Facts At Your Fingertips

Agglomeration Processes
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins

gglomeration is a natural phenomenon in which solid particles stick to each other or to

surfaces. When unwanted, agglomeration can cause problems, such
as caking, buildup or lumping, but it
is also an important particle-size enlargement process widely used in the
chemical process industries (CPI) to
help overcome challenges, including
segregation, difficult flow, low bulk
density and others. Agglomeration
can also help control particle-size
distribution and reduce potentially
hazardous aspects of the solids, such
as dust. This one-page reference provides information on agitation, compression and sintering methods of
agglomeration and their mechanisms.
Agglomeration methods to enlarge
particulate solids can be broadly
broken down into three general categories: agglomeration by agitation
(sometimes referred to as wet agglomeration or tumble/growth agglomeration; pressure (compaction)
agglomeration, and agglomeration
using heat (sintering).

Wet agglomeration
Wet agglomeration processes combine powder, liquid (usually water)
and, if necessary, a binder to impart
shear to form agglomerates. Processing equipment may include rotating drums, disc or pan agglomerators, pin or ribbon mixers or fluidized
beds. Agglomeration can be induced
by a solvent or slurry atomized onto
the bed of particles, or by the controlled sintering or partial melting of a
binder component of the feed (Figure
1). Next, moist particles join together
to form so-called green agglomerates. Drying or curing takes place in
a final stage. The wet agglomerates
are created by first forming nuclei that
then grow into larger aggregates by
layering or coalescence. In some cases, nucleation and aggregate growth
take place in two separate pieces of
equipment that are operated in series.
Nucleation gives rise to seed particles, which are formed when several
individual particles adhere to each
other. The nucleation stage can be
40

time-consuming because the seed

agglomerates are weakly bonded
and readily disintegrate back into individual particles. Eventually, larger
aggregates are formed when small
agglomerates coalesce or individual
particles adhere to larger agglomerates. Once larger agglomerates are
created, growth becomes accelerated as the increased mass and higher kinetic energy of agglomerates
cause them to pick up individual particles more rapidly and incorporate
them onto their surfaces. The relative rates of size enlargement (nucleation, coalescence and layering) and
size reduction (attrition and consolidation) establish the final particle size
along with the materials tendency to
wick moisture from its core to outer
layers. The optimal amount of liquid
added to a powder the amount
that gives the resultant agglomerates their greatest integrity and resistance to breakage is typically
4090% of its liquid saturation. The
liquid saturation is the fraction of total void space that can be filled with
the liquid. When water (or another
liquid) is added to a dry bulk solid,
liquid bridges will begin to form at
contact points between particles.
This is known as the pendular stage
of saturation. All free moisture is attracted to the interfaces between the
solid particles by capillary effects,
and surface tension draws the particles together. As saturation levels
are increased, the funicular stage is
eventually reached where all internal
solid surfaces become surrounded
by liquid. At this point, the mixture
becomes more fluid-like, tensional
forces disappear, and the agglomerates become weaker. When the
powder becomes fully saturated,
it reaches its capillary state, and at
higher moisture levels, the system
begins to behave as a slurry.

Compaction agglomeration
Pressure agglomeration works by applying external forces to dry particulate solids to form enlarged particles.
Continuous sheets of solid material are
produced, as in roll pressing, or some
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Growth
Wetting

Granule properties affected

include size, bulk density,
attrition, dispersion, flowability

Breakage
Consolidation

FIGURE 1. In wet agglomeration, a wetting step

leads to nucleation and particle growth

solid form is made, such as a briquette or tablet. Continuous sheets or

strands may either break down in subsequent handling to form a granulated
material, or the material may be further
processed through a variety of chopping, spheronizing or forced screening
methods. A key factor in compression
agglomeration is the level of force applied. Compaction processes range
from confined compression devices,
such as tabletting, briquetting machines and ram extrusion to unconfined devices, such as roll presses and
a variety of pellet mills.

Heat sintering
In agglomeration using heat (sintering),
atoms and molecules begin to migrate
across the interface where particles
touch each other. This happens at a
certain elevated temperature, which
is different for various materials. While
still in solid state, diffused matter forms
bridge-like structures between the surfaces, which solidify upon cooling. In
the post-treatment of agglomerates,
this phenomenon produces strong
permanent bonds or specific final
properties in parts that may have been
manufactured by virtually any of the
other agglomeration techniques. n
Editors note: Portions of this column have been adapted
from the following articles: Mehos, G. and Kozicki, C., Consider Wet Agglomeration to Improve Powder Flow, Chem.
Eng., January 2011, pp. 4649; and Ennis, B.J., Agglomeration Technology: Mechanisms, Chem. Eng., March
2010, pp. 3439. Additional references include the following: Sochon, R.P.J and Salman, A.D., Particle Growth and
Agglomeration Processes, chapter in Chemical Engineering
and Chemical Process Technology, Vol. II, Encyclopedia of
Life Support Systems; and Pietsch, W., What is Agglomeration?, Power and Bulk Solids, Feb. 27, 2008.

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OCTOBER 2016