Powder mixing is a vital operation in a wide range of industries, such as food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics. Despite the common use of mixing systems in various industries, often due to the complex nature of mixing systems, the effects of operating and design parameters on the mixers’ performance and final blend are not fully known, and therefore optimal parameters are selected through experience or trial and error. Experimental and numerical techniques have been widely used to analyze mixing systems and to gain a detailed understanding of mixing processes. The limitations associated with experimental techniques, however, have made discrete element method (DEM) a valuable complementary tool to obtain comprehensive particle level information about mixing systems. In the present study, the fundamentals of solid-solid mixing, segregation, and characteristics of different types of batch solid mixers are briefly reviewed. Previously published papers related to the application of DEM in studying mixing quality and assessing the influence of operating and design parameters on the mixing performance of various batch mixing systems are summarized in detail. The challenges with regards to the DEM simulation of mixing systems, the available solutions to address those challenges and our recommendations for future simulations of solid mixing are also presented and discussed.

中文翻译：

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DEM在间歇式固体混合机研究中的应用综述

粉末混合是食品、制药和化妆品等众多行业中的一项重要操作。尽管在各个行业中普遍使用混合系统，但通常由于混合系统的复杂性，操作和设计参数对混合器性能和最终混合的影响尚不完全清楚，因此通过经验选择最佳参数或反复试验。实验和数值技术已广泛用于分析混合系统并详细了解混合过程。然而，与实验技术相关的限制使离散元法 (DEM) 成为获得有关混合系统的全面粒子水平信息的有价值的补充工具。在本研究中，固固混合、分离的基本原理，简要回顾了不同类型的间歇式固体混合机的特点和特点。详细总结了以前发表的有关 DEM 在研究混合质量和评估操作和设计参数对各种间歇式混合系统的混合性能影响方面的应用的论文。还介绍和讨论了与混合系统的 DEM 模拟有关的挑战、应对这些挑战的可用解决方案以及我们对未来固体混合模拟的建议。