A TORSIONAL RHEOMETER FOR MEASURING THE PROPERTIES OF COAL AND COAL SLURRIES

THE PROCESSES AND EQUIPMENT FOR HANDLING SOLIDS AND SLURRIES ARE QUITE INEFFICIENT WHEN COMPARED WITH EQUIPMENT THAT HANDLES LIQUIDS AND GASES. THIS IS LARGELY BECAUSE DESIGNERS DO NOT CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE BEHAVIOR OF GRANULAR SOLIDS AND SLURRIES SUCH AS COAL-WATER SLURRIES. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, A TORSIONAL RHEOMETER THAT CAN BE USED TO MEASURE THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF GRANULAR SOLIDS SUCH AS COAL AND COAL-WATER SLURRIES IS BEING DESIGNED. THE RHEOMETER CONSISTS OF TWO PARALLEL DISKS MOUNTED ON AIR BEARINGS THAT ARE ROTATED BY MOTORS ABOUT A COMMON AXIS. A STRAIN GAUGE IS MOUNTED ALONG THE Z DIRECTION. A STRAIN ROSETTE IS MOUNTED ON THE BOTTOM DISK-THAT IS, STRAIN GAUGES ARE MOUNTED ALONG THE X AND Y DIRECTIONS, AND ONE IS MOUNTED AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE. THIS WILL HELP DETERMINE THE TRACTIONS AND MOMENTS ON THE BOTTOM PLATE THAT IN TURN WILL HELP DETECT THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES (SUCH AS COHESION, ADHESION, VISCOSITY, ETC.) OF THE GRANULAR SOLID. THE DISKS MUST BE ROUGH SO THAT THE GRANULAR MATERIALS CAN ADHERE TO THEM. IN PHASE II, IT IS PLANNED TO FABRICATE SUCH A RHEOMETER WITH WHICH TO DETERMINE THE MATERIAL MODULI CHARACTERIZING GRANULAR MATERIALS AND COAL SLURRIES.