Fluidization Quality Improvement for Cohesive Particles by Fine Powder Coating

A dry coating method via fine powder is used to improve the fluidization quality for cornstarch particles, belonging to the Geldart C group, which cannot fluidize normally. Two kinds of SiO2 fine powder are used to coat cornstarch particles. Both a conventional fluidized bed and a magnetic fluidized bed (MFB) are employed for the coating of cornstarch particles. The coating time ranges from 10 to 15 min in this study. The coated particles are observed via the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. Furthermore, the fluidization behaviors of the coated particles are investigated. The results show that coating with fine SiO2 powder is an effective method to improve the fluidization quality of cohesive cornstarch particles. However, no significant difference in fluidization quality is observed between particles coated in a conventional fluidized bed and those coated in a MFB.