Particulate binary mixtures : dependence of packing porosity on particle size ratio

Binary mixtures with significant size ratios are scarcely studied. Yet, contaminants of chromatographic columns or ion-exchange resins have size ratios of delta < 0.1. Binary mixtures of glass beads with delta = 0.1-0.0375 were used experimentally to measure packing porosity. Simultaneously, a significant number of published data was analyzed. A linear mixing model was adopted to predict the porosity of each particle fraction in the binary mixture. Deviations from the model may be caused by wedging of small particles between the large ones. Large particles may disturb the porous medium properties by inducing a wall effect over the small particles. Wedging analysis led to the conclusion that, for delta < 0.01, its effect is insignificant. The wall effect yields an additional void around the large particles as long as delta > 0.0035. For delta < 0.0035, the small particles form a monosized dense packing and both wedging and wall effects become negligible.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) e FEDER – POCTI/EQU/37500/2001