MEJORA DEL DEPÓSITO DE UNA MÁQUINA COMPRESORA ROTATIVA MEDIANTE LA SIMULACIÓN DEM

Abstract

A wide variety of industries that use granular materials in their processes (mineral industry, food industry, pharmaceutical industry, etc.) are affected by the segregation of the materials. Segregation is a phenomenon in which a homogenous mixture of granular materials whose particles have different properties (size, density, shape, etc.) tends to get heterogeneous. This phenomenon is one of the principal problems in tablet press machines, as the composition of the tablets can be altered by segregation. An incorrect composition can reduce the quality of the tablet due to the compactability of the material can be modified. Moreover, it can result in health problems for the consumers in the case of food and pharmaceutical industries. In this work, a DEM simulation model is used to improve the design of the tank of a rotary tablet press machine with gravity feeder in order to reduce the segregation index that is produced into the tank. The improvement of the design consist on introducing some inserts into the tank. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the origination of the mechanisms of segregation that were identified previously in the original tank.