The effect of rotation speed and mixer size on granular flow and mixing in bladed mixers

Bladed mixers are widely used in the industry for granular mixing. In the past decades, the mixing of particles in bladed mixers has been extensively investigated experimentally and numerically. Recently, GPU-based DEM has been employed to simulate various industrial-scale applications. This work aims to apply the GPU-based DEM to investigate the effect of rotation speed and mixer size on granular mixing in bladed mixers of different sizes. The simulation in a larger mixer revealed distinct particle flow patterns that well-describe the mixing mechanism which is difficult to observe in a smaller mixer. The Lacey’s mixing index curves revealed a delay in mixing as the mixer size increases. The mixing rate decreases as the mixer size increases and it can be improved with increasing rotation speed. The average particle velocity increase significantly with increasing rotation speed and mixer size.