Density segregation of a binary solids mixture during batch operation in a two-dimensional hopper

Segregation patterns of binary particle mixtures of different densities during emptying after filling of a two-dimensional hopper were theoretically analyzed on the basis of a proposed mathematical model. It includes the segregation process over an inclined heap surface and a velocity profile in the radial direction toward the hopper apex. As a result, it was found that the segregation time zone during emptying as mixing ratio versus discharge time expands and the value of the maximum points in the segregation profile decreases with the increase in the volumetric initial mixing ratio of the denser component and the volumetric feed rate, and that the zone shrinks with the increase in the apex angle and the discharge rate. The steeper radial velocity profile inside the hopper results in a slightly non-uniform time-segregation profile. The initial mixing ratio changes the segregation time zone more than the discharge rate.