Granulation processing parameters on the mechanical properties of diatomite-based porous granulates

•Porous granulates can be achieved with high-intensity granulation process.•Mechanical properties of formed granulates could be tailored by granulation parameters.•Porous properties are not obviously influenced by the granulation parameters.•Rotation speed and rotation mode of granulator affect the granulate growth behavior.

The development of cheap natural porous diatomite into catalyst supporting materials has obvious technical interests. High-intensity granulation process in the presence of clay-based inorganic binder system can be used to preserve the porous network of the diatomite structure and enhance mechanical stability of achieved granulates. In this work, via tuning the granulation parameters, such as pan rotation speed, rotation modes between the pan and the impeller, as well as the factor of granulation time, the size distribution and the mechanical stability of formed granulates were adjusted. Specifically, the pan rotation speed can assist the change of granulate growth mechanism and thus affect their mechanical attrition resistant ability; the rotation mode between impeller and pan has an influence on the powder distribution inside of the pan and the modification of granulate growth rate can be observed; and a certain prolongation of granulation time has no influence on granulates mechanical stability but only increases the granulate size.

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