Deaeration/Settlement of Fine Powders in Conical Hoppers

In this work, the original model for deaeration of fine powders in cylindrical silos by Johanson & Jenike (1972) is extended to conical hoppers. The modified gas and solids governing equations are solved in MATLAB® and results are presented for some fine powders. The model not only predicts the deaeration after filling, but also predicts the air pressure rise during the filling process itself which is the most important part of the problem.