A method for measuring the imbibation rate of powder in a liquid

Mixing of powders into liquids is a common unit operation. Mixing can be divided into several steps: imbibation of the powder into the liquid being the first. Under some circumstances, for instance, if the powder has poor wetting properties, imbibation can be the rate-determining step. In this study imbibation in a commercial mixer was studied and a method to measure powder imbibation in a model that simulates the commercial mixer was developed. The imbibation mechanism in the commercial mixer is based on a wave drawing the powder down into the liquid, and surface flow transporting it towards the wave. A wave imbibation model was constructed based on the same mechanisms, in which physical parameters such as wave height, surface velocity and surface residence time could be varied. An experimental procedure was used to determine the maximum imbibation rate. Measurements were found to have good reproducibility, with a standard error of means of 4.7% for spray-dried sodium caseinate. The maximum imbibation rates were found to be of the same magnitude in the commercial mixer and the wave imbibation model: 0.04 kg/s m in the commercial mixer and 0.06–0.16 kg/s m in the wave imbibation model for spray-dried sodium caseinate powder.