Experimental analysis of a flighted rotary drum to assess the optimum loading

•A lot of experiments are carried out on a batch rotary drum.•The drum is designed with rectangular flights of different numbers and dimensions.•The experiments are performed to assess the optimum loading of the rotary drum.•Comparisons have been conducted between the results and models from literature.•New fitting factor to modify Baker׳s model is proposed.

The loading state of a rotary drum strongly affects its overall performance. Hence, assessing the optimum (design) loading of the rotary drum is a critical issue. In the present work, a lot of experiments were carried out on a 50 cm diameter and 15 cm length batch rotary drum furnished internally with rectangular flights. Different loadings were examined through image analysis processing of the recorded videos from under-loading to over-loading, including design-loading. Many solid materials (free flowing) with different particle diameters and angles of repose, varied rotational speeds (from 1 to 5 rpm), two numbers of flights (12 and 18), and two flight length ratios (0.375 and 0.75) were researched. A comparison is conducted between the experimental results and some available design loading models from literature. Based on the experimental results a new fitting factor is proposed.