A screw-brush feeding system for uniform fine zinc oxide powder feeding and obtaining a homogeneous gas–particle flow

• We suggested a screw-brush feeding device to feed fine ZnO powder and to achieve a homogenous gas–particle flow.
• We examine the performance of a screw feeder versus the screw-brush feeder in steady and stable feeding in low flow rate. The results indicated that the screw-brush feeder is better than screw feeder.
• Moreover, the screw-brush system with a minimal amount of gas flow rate is able to reduce the mean aggregate size of the PSD and could provide a homogeneous gas–particle flow.

The most important requirements of gas–solid two phase flow feeding are a very uniform mass flow of fine particles and providing a homogeneous dispersed cloud of them. In this study, a screw-brush feeding device has been developed to feed fine zinc oxide powders and to achieve a homogenous gas–particle two phase flow by a minimum gas flow rate. The results of these experiments indicated that the performance of this feeding system without gas flow was better than a screw feeder alone, to stabilize the feeding of fine ZnO powder at low flow rates. Moreover, the results of experimental micrographs showed that the screw-brush system with a minimal amount of gas flow rate is able to reduce the mean aggregate size of the particle size distribution and could provide a homogeneous gas–particle flow.

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