www.ijcrt.

org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF U-SHAPED

RIBBON BLENDER WITH SCREW
CONVEYOR
Divagaran P 1 Mr.M.Umashankar 2, Gokul K 3, Mariyappan V 4, Muthu K 5
B.E.Mechanical Engineering 1,3,4&5, Assistant professor 2
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Narasu’s Sarathy Institute of Technology, Salem, India

Abstract: Ribbon blender is the one of the mixing equipment which is largely used in many industrisal application for mixing the
material to provide final product with required quality. The performance and efficiency of the blender is most important to achieve
the high rate of production. In this highly competitive market where the demand for the product is increasing gradually, it is
essential for a manufacturing company to reduce the production time and cost accordingly. In this project several problems
regards to ribbon blender is identified and solution is provided with new design to overcome the existing problems. Some of the
modification in the ribbon blender will leads to increase the production capacity of plant, quality of mixing and efficiency of the
blender with reduction in production time and labour cost.

Index Terms – Ribbon blender, blade design , analysis of shaht , performance of blender.
I. INTRODUCTION

The mixing of various materials is an important operation that concern many industrial fields. It is an important step since it
allows combining properties of different powders into single product that has to meet specifications and standards based on
homogeneity of mixers. Successful manufacturing of a variety of products is heavily dependent on the efficiency of this process,
because the final product quality is inherently dependent on the quality of the obtained mixture. The mixing performance, which is
usually characterized by the degree of mixing, is of paramount importance to the quality of products in industrial processes. Some
research investigated the effects of the operating conditions on the particles mixing in cylindrical vertical mixers with bladed
impeller, including the fill level, rotational speed and number of impeller blades.
In this ribbon mixer, the mixing vessel was open at the top, and thus the particles were free to move vertically upwards.
However, when the particle motion is constrained at the vessel top, circumferential motion of particles becomes dominant as the
shaft speed increases, and the curves of mixing index versus shaft revolutions may be affected by the shaft speed, as observed
previously in the case of a vertically-shafted cylindrical mixer. Although the use of a low blade speed can reduce stresses on
particles and hence particle fractures, it may result in a poor homogeneity when mixing cohesive particles because of the reduction
of shear stresses, which are responsible for the diffusing of particles in the mixing .

II. LITERATURE REVIEW:

A.T.Desai, M.G.Kumbhar, R.H.Deokar ,A.M.Mandhare [1] [2018] :Design And Analysis of Powder Mixing Ribbon
Blender - A review Performances of Dry solid powder mixing with in a twin Ribbon blade blender have been performed in this
work in order to characterize mixing behavior in such a mixer of binary mixtures with different cohesionless materials. The effects
of fill height and blade rotation speed on mixing homogeneity have been studied. Design considerations had been studied during
Analytical Calculations .Analysis of varience is used to determine significance of main effects and their interactions. The residence
time is significant by both rotational rate and mixing angle. This paper analyzes the impact of operating conditions and
characteristics of a industrial-scale ribbon blender on the blend homogeneity and the mixing rates of commercial dry powder
stearate. The loading methods explored are the layering and the off-center spot injection; the benefits of this method is the greater
homogeneity of the blends, and the reduction of mixing time.It is also observed that the ratio of the product of median particle size
and the bulk density of one ingredient to the other in abinary mixture bears a quadratic correlation to their segregation index.

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4526

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Musha Halidan [2014] :Particle Mixing Study in Different Mixers In the first part of the study, a vertically-shafted
cylindrical mixer was used and the effects of particle size, density and volume fraction on the mixing behaviour of binary
mixtures were investigated. The mixture quality showed an improvement if the larger particles are heavier and small ones lighter.
With respect to variations in the size and volume fractions, each mixture quality showed a peak value. A correlation was
established for predicting the effects of size, density and volume fraction on mixture quality in a wide range of each variable. The
correlation predicts a global peak value at an optimum condition of size, density and volume fraction.

III. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:

 The blade design for the various blender differs with the type of materials used ,capacity of the blending and rate of
production. In the existing blender the blade design is in the form single directional flow of materials in the blender so that , the load
on the blender is high at inlet section and low at the exit section .By using the multiple directional flow of materials in the blender
we must change the blade design as bidirectional flow to distribute the load evenly through the mixing chamber .
 The block of materials mixing in the blender is occurs due to several conditions such that uneven loading ,excess binders
ratio, improper ratio of material , highloading and other cases. In order to clear the block of materials in blender , a emergency doors
must be provided to take out the materials suddenly.

IV. METHODOLOGY :

Fig .4.1 .Work plan of ribbon blender

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4527

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882
V. DESIGNING THE COMPONENTS OF RIBBON BLENDER:
5.1 U-FRAME AND BASE COLUMN:

The U-frame and base column is designed in the solidworks software based on the requirement capacity and batch production
.The following considerations are made while designingthe component .The specifications of the components are:
 Material choosen : Mild steel
 Young’s Modulus :210 X109 N/m2
 Poisson ratio: 0.3
 Ductility: 50%AL
 Density: 7850 Kg/m3
 Capacity of the blender : 2000kg

The dimensions of the components are :

 U-frame thickness: 3 inches
 Diameter of the half circle: 26 inches
 Height of the blender: 76 inches
 Discharge capacity: 150 kg/min
 Base column length: 82 inches
 Base column breadth : 44 inches

Fig.5.1 Model of U-frame and base column

5.2 SHAFT AND BLADES:
The shaft and blades is designed in the solidworks software based on the requirement capacity and batch
production .The following considerations are made while designing the component .The specifications of the
components are:
 Shaft diameter : 3 inches
 Lengh of the shaft : 108 inches
 Keyway length : 3 inches
 Blade thichness : 2.5 X 0.5 inches
 Blade diameter : 28 inches
 Pitch of the coil : 24.5 inches
 Helix angle of the blade : 90 degree
 Rod length between blades : 25 inches

The operating speed of the shaft and impeller system must be sufficiently far from the system’s natural frequency, often
called the critical speed, to prevent undamped vibrations. If deflections caused by vibration become sufficiently large, the shaft
could bend or break. Although torsional natural frequencies must be examined on very large mixers, in the following discussion
we address only the lateral natural frequencies, which affect the design of all mixer shafts.

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4528

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Fig. 5.2 Model of shaft and blades

5.3 SCREW CONVEYOR:
The screw conveyor is one of the oldest methods of conveying materials known to mankind with the original design dating
back to more than two thousand years. Since the screw conveyor came into general use a little over a century ago for moving
grains, fine coal and other bulk material of the times, it has come to occupy a unique place in a growing area of material handling
processing. The specifications and dimensions of the screw conveyor are:
 Inclination angle: 30 to 45 degree
 Length of the screw conveyor: 100 inches
 Screw pitch: 24 inches
 Helix angle :90 degree
 Diameter of the screw: 12 inches
 Diameter of the shaft :4 inches
 Type of covering : circular enclosed type

Fig.5.3. Model of screw conveyor

VI. ANALYSIS OF SHAFT AND BLADES:

The shaft and blade analysis is done the NX-Nastran software . The followingresults are obtained in this analysis.

 Structural analysis.
 Thermal analysis.

6.1 NX - NASTRAN:

Nx-Nastran is a finite element (FE) solver for stress, vibration, buckling, structural failure, heat transfer, acoustics and
aeroelasticity analyses. Manufacturers as well as engineering suppliers in aerospace, automotive, electronics, heavy machinery,
medical device, and other industries have relied on NX - Nastran software for their critical engineering computing needs for over 40
years. It allows them to produce safe, reliable and, optimized designs within increasingly shorter design cycles.Nastran is directly
compatible to analyze composite structures, with individual ply representation.

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4529

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882
6.2 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS:

MSC Nastran is a multidisciplinary structural analysis application used by engineers to perform static, dynamic, and thermal
analysis across the linear and nonlinear domains, complemented with automated structural optimization and award winning
embedded fatigue analysis technologies, all enabled by high performance computing.

Fig. 6.1 Meshing of shaft

Fig. 6.2. Displacement of nodes

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4530

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Fig . 6.3 .Stress elemental nodes Fig. 6.4. Reaction forces

6.3 THERMAL ANALYSIS:

Thermal-stress or thermal-deflection analysis is driven by strains created in the structure by a temperature load. One of the
complexities of this loading is that stresses only develop if the structure is prevented from expanding or contracting or materials
with different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) are bonded together (e.g., brazed) or mechanical connected (e.g., bolted).
One simple way to think about this is to just picture a chunk of aluminum or steel or some homogeneous material (i.e., not a
composite) floating in space .As the structure expands or contract due to temperature, the thermally induced strains do not create
any stresses but only deflections, as given by this equation:𝜀=𝖺(𝑇𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑−𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒) where the strain (ε) is determined by the
change in temperature and the CTE(α)of the material.

Setting up the thermal profile to use as a load case to a structural model can be easy or hard and it is obviously dependent
upon the thermal event that is being is being simulation. In our work, we have mapped thermal profiles from static and transient
CFD simulations and have done fully coupled electron-beam welding simulations where phase change and residual plastic strains
are captured within the work piece. These examples representcomplex thermal analyses that are beyond the scope of this discussion
and if your work entails such needs, please contact us and we can provide some guidance. For this discussion, we will stick with
simple thermal loads that can be obtained using a fixed temperature delta or from steady-state temperature gradient or using a data
surface.

STEPS OF ANALYSIS:

 Set Up the Analysis

 Apply the Loads
 Apply the Constraints
 Run the Analysis
 Post-Process the Results

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4531

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Fig.6.5. Thermal stress analysis

VII . ASSEMBLY OF COMPONENTS AND FABRICATED U-BLENDER :

The below diagram shows the assembly and line sketch of the ribbon blender which is performed in the solidworks software to
determine the final fabricated model in the software.

Fig.7.1 .Assembly of ribbon blender Fig. 7.2 Line sketch of ribbon blender

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4532

www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Fig. 7.3. Fabricated model of ribbon blender

VIII. CONCLUSION:

After a detailed study and analysis of the existing and the newer systems, we implemented the changes in ribbon
blender. The implementation to these changes leads to following changes:

 It increases the capacity of the blender from 800kg capacity to 2000kg.

 It increases the rate of production capacity of the plant.
 It improves the mixing rate of the blender because of double helical blade design.
 It reduces the mixing time of materials in the blender.
 Block of material in the blender is easily removed by emergency doors.

IX. FUTURE SCOPE:

Future scope of out project is that it has a higher in industries for mixing of materials for various application. In future, if
there is a need to improve the performance of the ribbon blender further, we need not to go for the newer designs. We can achieve
further by the simple modification in the equipments.

X. REFERENCES:
1. Zilong Wang, M. Sebastian Escotet-Espinoza, et.al , “Process Analysis and Optimization of Continuous
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing using Flowsheet Models”, International Journal of Computer Application in
Chemical Engineering , 16-2- 2017,7-9
2. Yuyun Bao, Yu Lu, Ziqi Cai, Zhengming Gao, “Effects of rotational speed and fill level on particles mixing in a
stirred tank with different impellers”,Chinese Journal of chemical Engineering, 10 November 2017,5-14
3. M. Halidan, G.R. Chandratilleke, K.J. Dong, A.B. Yu, Mixing performance of ribbon mixers: Effects of operational
parameters, of International Journal on the science and technology wet and Dry particulants sysyem, 1 November
2017,6-9
4. G.R. Chandratilleke , K.J. Dong, Y.S. Shen , DEM study of the effect of blade-support spokes on mixing
performance in a ribbon mixer, International Journal on the science and technology of wet and Dry particulants
sysyem 21 December 2017,125-129
5. Meysam Alian, Farhad Ein-Mozaffari , Simant R. Upreti, Meysam Alian, Farhad Ein-Mozaffari , Simant R. Upreti,
International Journal on the science and technology of wet and Dry particulants sysyem, 9 January 2015,81-83
6. Ebrahim Alizadeh, Francois Bertrand, Jamal Chaouki, Discrete element simulation of particle mixing and
segregation in atetrapodal blender, , International Journal of Computer Application in Chemical Engineering,
25 January 2014,1-8
7. L´eonard Legoix, Cendrine Gatumel, Mathieu Milh´e, Henri Berthiaux, Vadim Mizonov, Powder flow dynamics in
a horizontal convective blender: tracer experiments, International Journal Innovation of Chemical Engineering, 3-3-
2017,2-10
8. S. Masiuk , R. Rakoczy, Kinetic equation of grinding process in mixing of granular material using probability
density functions, transient operators and informational entropy, , International Journal of Chemical Engineering, 12
March 2007,1-3
9. Fernando J. Muzzio , Marcos Llusa, Christopher L. Goodridge, Nhat-Hang Duong, Elizabeth Shen, Evaluating
the mixing performance of a ribbon blender, International Journal on the science and powder technology, 2
January 2008,248-251

10. Sarang Oka, Abhishek Sahay,Wei Meng, Fernando Muzzio, Diminished segregation in continuous powder mixing,
International Journal on the science and technology wet and Dry particulants sysyem, 26 November 2016,4-15
11. Stefan Pantaleev , Slavina Yordanova , Alvaro Janda , Michele Marigo , Jin Y. Ooi , An experimentally validated
DEM study of powder mixing in a paddle blade mixer, International Journal on the science and powder technology,
IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4533
www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 3 March 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882
31 January 2017,289-298
12. M. Perrault, F. Bertrand , J. Chaouki , An investigation of magnesium stearate mixing in a V-blender through
gamma-ray detection, , International Journal on the science and powder technology, 26 February 2010,2-6
13. Patricia M. Portillo, Marianthi G. Ierapetritou, Fernando J. Muzzio, Effects of rotation rate, mixing angle, and
cohesion in two continuous powder mixers—A statistical approach, International Journal on the science and
powder technology, 3 May 2009,219-233
14. Mikio Sakai , Yusuke Shigeto , Gytis Basinskas , Akira Hosokawa , Masayoshi Fuji, Discrete element
simulation for the evaluation of solid mixing in an industrial blender, International Journal Innovation of
Chemical Engineering, 14 May 2015,823-837
15. T.A.H. Simons , S. Bensmann, S. Zigan, H.J. Feise , H. Zetzener , A. Kwade, Characterization of granular mixing
in a helical ribbon blade blender, International Journal on the science and powder technology, 15 November
2015,5

IJCRT2103519 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4534