Effect of Surface Properties on Particle Growth Kinetics for Polymer Coating in Spouted Bed
In this research, glass beads with size range between 1.68 and 2mm were coated with 5 polymeric suspensions. The suspensions formulations differ in relation to their employment and physical properties (solids concentration, surface tension and rheology), generating different characteristics of wettability and adhesion with the nucleus. The aim of this study was to evaluate particle coating in a spouted bed through analysis of particle growth in terms of solid surface energy, wettability, and adhesion before and after the formation of the first layer of polymeric film on the particle. The solid-suspension and film-suspension systems were characterized by contact angle and surface energy. The operating conditions were fixed for all suspensions: 1.5 kg of beads, air velocity of 0.369 m/s, air temperature of 60 °C, suspension flow rate of 4 ml and atomizing pressure of 10 psig. Analyzing particle growth kinetics, different behaviors were observed and related not only to glass-suspension wettability, but also to polymeric film-suspension surface properties.