Studies of Diffusional Mixing in Rotating Drums via Computer Simulations

(Received 24 August 1995, accepted in final form 29 August 1995)

Abstract
Particle diffusion in rotating drums is studied via computer simulations using a full 3-D model which does not involve any arbitrary input parameters. The diffusion coefficient for single-component systems agrees qualitatively with previous experimental results. On the other hand, the diffusion coefficient for two-component systems is shown to be a highly nonlinear function of the rotation velocity. It is suggested that this result from a competition between the diffusive motion parallel to, and flowing motion perpendicular to the axis of rotation.