The maximum flow rate of hoppers that are widely used for feeding powder is depend on the area of the discharge opening at the bottom of the hopper.
The way of increasing the flow rate without changing the area of the discharge opening has been studied, and it is confirmed that the flow rate increases by about 60% by attaching a cylinder to the inside of a conical hopper.
The author succeeded in increasing the flow rate by 120% by adapting the fundamentals of the cylinder. This is a rectangular hopper to the inside of which two pairs of vertical plates, called “guide plate, ” are attached.
This paper describes the flow characteristics of a model hopper using guide plates, and indicates its mechanism.
View full abstract