O projeto seguro e econômico das estruturas de armazenamento é função das máximas ações impostas e da resistência destas estruturas de suportar tais ações, observadas as combinações mais desfavoráveis. Entre as ações consideradas nos cálculos dos silos horizontais (peso próprio, peso de equipamentos, vento, recalques diferenciais de apoios, impacto de veículos, explosões, etc), a de maior importância é a causada pelo empuxo dos produtos armazenados e que foi objeto de estudo nesta pesquisa. Este trabalho foi realizado em duas etapas, teórica e experimental, procurando avaliar estas ações com base em teorias e métodos de cálculo de diversos autores. Na tremonha do silo, as pressões foram avaliadas através do método de cálculo proposto por Safarian & Harris, da teoria de Walker e da Norma Australiana AS 3774. Nas paredes, foram avaliadas as pressões de acordo com as teorias de Airy, Reimbert & Reimbert, Coulomb e Rankine e da norma americana ANSI/96. Os modelos teóricos foram estudados e comparados com os resultados obtidos através de medições diretas das pressões em modelo piloto e silo horizontal em escala real com a determinação da relação entre as pressões verticais e horizontais (K). Dos resultados obtidos propõe-se um novo método de cálculo com base em um modelo empírico para a determinação das pressões horizontais nestas unidades. / The safe and economic design of storage structures is a function of the loads and of the strenght of these structures, considering unfavorable loads combinations. Among the loads considered in the calculations of the horizontal silos, the most important load is due stored products. Silos are usually designed on the basis of simple theory which is used to predict horizontal pressures on the walls and hoppers. The pressures generally depend on many factors including the physical properties of the stored materials, the flow pattern and also the method of operating the silo. This work is divided in two parts in order to evaluate these loads based in theories and international codes.The silo hopper was evaluate by Walker\'s theory and by AS 3774-1996 code. The silo walls was evaluete by theories of Airy, Rankine, Reimbert & Reimbert, Coulomb, Safarian & Harris and ANSI (1996) code. The theoretical models were studied and compared with the results obtained through pressure measurements in a real and a pilot silos. From the results we proposed a new empiric design method to evaluate the horizontal pressures in the silos wall.

This thesis is an experimental study of the fluidization of binary mixture in particulate flows. A fluidized bed with two distributors was built with water being used as carrying fluid. Three types of solid particles of nylon, glass and aluminum of the same size and different densities are used in the experiments. The wall effect on a single particle fluidization, the fluidization of binary mixture of large density difference (nylon and aluminum of density ratio of 0.42), and the fluidization of binary mixture of close density (glass and aluminum with density ratio of 0.91) were investigated. Also, the effect of distributors on mono-disperse and bi-disperse particle fluidization was investigated. Results show that the presence of narrow walls reduces the minimum fluidization velocity for a single particle by as much as nearly 40%. Also, in the case of binary mixture of close density particles, uniform mixing was easily achieved and no segregation was observed, but in the case of large density difference particles, there exists significant segregation and separation. At high velocity, the uniform distributor behaves like a transport bed. To achieve a full bed in the single jet, it requires 1.5 times velocity of the uniform distributor. This behavior determines their application in the industries.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 1997. / A computer programme for the simulation of dilute phase pneumatic conveying of solids is presented. This includes positive pressure and vacuum pneumatic conveying. The characteristic conveying parameters such as the conveying absolute pressure, conveying air density, interstitial and average air velocity, particle velocity and voidage are calculated by integrating five differential equations that govern two-phase flow. The two-phase flow is approximated as one-dimensional along the pipe axis. Density and acceleration effects are accounted for. The integration is carried out by means of the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method yielding conveying parameter traces along the length ofthe pipeline. A new method is presented for the determination of the solids friction coefficient from the solids motion equation. This allows for a more accurate determination of the solids velocity in the pipeline when compared to currently used methods. The computer model results are compared to experimental results for cement and ice conveying yielding good correlation for the main output parameters. The theory for the scaling and calculation of Roots blower performance characteristics is presented. This is implemented in a Roots blower selection programme as an integral part of determining the prime air mover for the design of a pneumatic conveyor. The aim of providing a fast, user-friendly interface in terms of pipeline geometry input, simulation and data visualisation has been achieved by using the advantages of object orientated programming and the visual user interface of the DELPHI programming language.

In a proposed design for a concentrated solar power tower, sand is irradiated by solar energy and transfers its energy to another fluid stream by means of a finned tube heat exchanger. To maximize heat transfer and minimize potential damage to the heat exchanger, it is desired to have a very uniform flow through the heat exchanger. However, performing full scale flow tests can be expensive, impractical, and depending upon the specific quantities of interest, unsuitable for revealing the details of what it happening inside of the flow stream. Thus, the discrete element method has been used to simulate and study particulate flows. In this project, the flow of small glass beads through a square pyramid shaped hopper and a wedge shaped hopper were studied at the lab scale. These flows were also simulated using computers running two versions of discrete element modeling software – EDEM and LIGGGHTS. The simulated results were compared against the lab scale flows and against each other. They show that, in general, the discrete element method can be used to simulate lab scale particulate flows as long as certain material properties are well known, especially the friction properties of the material. The potential for increasing the accuracy of the simulations, such as using better material property data, non-uniform particle size distributions, and non-spherical particle shapes, as well as simulating heat transfer within a granular flow are also discussed.