ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-07-05DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.013
Jian Song, Zehua Lai, Jiaqing He
{"title":"Dynamic properties of granular materials with varying coefficients of uniformity under cyclic shear and constrained compression from DEM simulations","authors":"Jian Song, Zehua Lai, Jiaqing He","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Evaluation of dynamic soil properties under shear and compressional waves is an important concern in geotechnical earthquake engineering. In this work, the nonlinear strain-dependent behaviors of stiffness and damping properties of granular materials with different particle size distributions are studied using three-dimensional discrete element method. In particular, both nonlinear variations in shear and constrained modulus and associated damping ratios with strain are analyzed based on the simulations of cyclic triaxial and cyclic constrained compression tests. Micromechanical explorations on the influence of coefficient of uniformity (<em>C</em><sub><em>u</em></sub>) and the manner of cyclic loading are presented. The results indicate that the shear modulus exhibits a reduction relationship with shear strain in both triaxial compression and extension stages, whereas the constrained modulus only degrades during the extension stage. The damping ratio under cyclic triaxial loading is much larger than that under cyclic constrained compression. The dynamic nonlinearity under two types of cyclic loading is more pronounced with increasing <em>C</em><sub><em>u</em></sub>. The more significant modulus reduction with higher <em>C</em><sub><em>u</em></sub> correlates with a lower percentage of strong contact and a more heterogeneous distribution of strong contact normal forces. The increase in damping ratio with higher <em>C</em><sub><em>u</em></sub> is associated with a larger percentage of sliding contacts. The difference in damping ratio between cyclic triaxial and cyclic constrained compression tests is attributed to the different strain energy magnitudes that are required to the target shear and compression strain levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 153-164"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144587780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-07-05DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.015
Ningning Zhang, Shuaishuai Zhang, Xinren Li, Zhen Li, Anning Zhou, Hong Wang, Rui Han
{"title":"Molecular structural characterization and model construction of residual carbon in coal gasification fine slag","authors":"Ningning Zhang, Shuaishuai Zhang, Xinren Li, Zhen Li, Anning Zhou, Hong Wang, Rui Han","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The residual carbon contained in coal gasification fine slag (CGFS-RC) is a valuable resource with great potential for application, and the elucidation of the macromolecular structural model of CGFS-RC is an important basis for its recovery and utilization. In this paper, CGFS-RC was comprehensively characterized by proximate, ultimate, FTIR, XRD, XPS, and HRTEM analyses, and the macromolecular geometric model of CGFS-RC was constructed and optimized using Materials Studio software. The results show that carbon atoms in CGFS-RC mainly exist in the form of aromatic carbons with a high percentage of 90.7 %, and the ring number of condensed aromatic rings is mainly 3–5. The aliphatic carbon side chain structure on the benzene ring is mainly dominated by cycloalkanes. Among the heteroatoms, oxygen atoms are mainly present in the form of ether-oxygen bonds, (phenolic) hydroxyl groups, carbonyl groups and carboxyl groups, while nitrogen atoms are mainly present in the form of pyrroles. The molecular formula of CGFS-RC can be expressed as C<sub>165</sub>H<sub>41</sub>O<sub>13</sub>N, and the density of its geometrical configuration was calculated to be 1.65 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. The XRD and FTIR simulation confirmed the reasonableness of the constructed model, and the electrostatic potential simulation revealed the hydrophilic properties of CGFS-RC at the molecular level. This study opened up the molecular structure analysis and modeling process of CGFS-RC, which can provide fundamental basis for the reagent design in the flotation recovery of CGFS-RC as well as the resource utilization of CGFS-RC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 178-189"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144597347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-07-03DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.012
Pengfei Zhao , Guangjian Ren , Junwei Guo , Fan Yang , Chenyang Zhou , Bo Zhang
{"title":"Bed density analysis and prediction of ternary dense medium fluidized bed for oil shale separation using machine learning modeling","authors":"Pengfei Zhao , Guangjian Ren , Junwei Guo , Fan Yang , Chenyang Zhou , Bo Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient dry beneficiation of low-grade oil shale requires precise regulation of bed density in high-density gas–solid fluidized beds. This study develops a ternary dense-medium system comprising ferrosilicon powder, magnetite powder and oil shale particles, and investigates the coupling between medium composition, hydrodynamics and machine-learning-assisted density prediction. The results demonstrated that the ternary density regulation strategy significantly enhances fluidization uniformity and separation efficiency in the dry dense-medium fluidized bed. When the oil-shale mass fraction increases from 0 % to 20 %, the critical fluidization velocity rises from 12.54 to 14.08 cm/s, while the bed expansion ratio grows from 5.19 % to 8.83 %. Compared with the conventional binary medium, the ternary system lowers the mean bed density from 2.567 to 2.382 g cm<sup>−3</sup> and achieves the minimum density fluctuation (standard deviation, SD = 0.097) at an optimal oil-shale mass fraction of 8 %. A back-propagation neural network optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA-BP) using seven process features predicts bed density with correlation coefficient R = 0.979 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.049 on 167 test samples—an 18 % error reduction over the conventional BP model. The proposed ternary medium strategy and GA-BP predictor therefore offer a robust framework for stable, energy-efficient dry separation of oil shale.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 165-177"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144587781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-27DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.010
Wenhao Lian , Xueer Pan , Huping Wang , Nan Zhang , Jingxuan Yang , Kun Yang , Le Li , Zhongren Ba , Xiaogang Hao
{"title":"Integrating multi-scale mass transfer model with discrete-DAEM to simulate the coal pyrolysis in a novel conical-type downer pyrolyzer","authors":"Wenhao Lian , Xueer Pan , Huping Wang , Nan Zhang , Jingxuan Yang , Kun Yang , Le Li , Zhongren Ba , Xiaogang Hao","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The performance of a novel conical-type downer pyrolyzer is carefully evaluated via numerical simulation. The study explicitly accounts for mass transfer effects by using a multi-scale mass transfer model. To achieve simultaneous high precision and computational efficiency, an enhanced strategy for calculating the multi-scale mass transfer coefficient in heterogeneous phase reaction systems is proposed by treating mass transfer and reaction as independent processes. This strategy is coupled with a discrete distributed activation energy model formulated in the Arrhenius framework. A comprehensive analysis is performed to investigate the axial distributions of key parameters, including the average concentration of solid reactants (<em>X</em><sub><em>s</em></sub>), the volatile concentration on particle surfaces (<em>X</em><sub><em>sf</em></sub>), and the volatile concentration in the bulk gas phase (<em>X</em><sub><em>f</em></sub>) under varying pyrolysis temperatures, carrier gas velocities, and solid mass fluxes. The findings reveal that <em>X</em><sub><em>s</em></sub> and <em>X</em><sub><em>f</em></sub> exhibit intuitive, monotonic trends, while <em>X</em><sub><em>sf</em></sub> demonstrates a more complex behavior, increasing due to ongoing reactions yet decreasing with mass transfer proceeding. The simulation results verify the advantages of the conical-type downer pyrolyzer, which can achieve significantly higher volatile concentrations than conventional designs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 128-138"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-27DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.011
Muhammad Naveed , Sana Miraj Khan , Tariq Aziz , Tayyab Javed , Maida Salah Ud Din , Ayesha Saleem , Ayaz Ali Khan , Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed , Fahad Al-Asmari , Fakhria A. Al-Joufi
{"title":"Investigating the enzymatic breakdown capability: A comparative study of Aeromonas caviae-derived enzymes in countering the toxicity of phenolic compounds via different approaches","authors":"Muhammad Naveed , Sana Miraj Khan , Tariq Aziz , Tayyab Javed , Maida Salah Ud Din , Ayesha Saleem , Ayaz Ali Khan , Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed , Fahad Al-Asmari , Fakhria A. Al-Joufi","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Toxic aromatic compounds are widespread environmental pollutants posing significant ecological and health risks due to their persistence and toxicity. <em>Aeromonas caviae</em> is a promising microbial candidate for biodegradation owing to its diverse enzymatic arsenal. This study investigates the cooperative roles of two key enzymes from <em>A. caviae</em>, beta-ketoadipate enol-lactone hydrolase, which is involved in ring-opening hydrolysis, and muconate cycloisomerase, which catalyzes the isomerization of muconate intermediates, in degrading 15 selected toxic compounds using computational methods. Enzyme stability analysis via ExPASy ProtParam indicated an instability index below 40, confirming structural stability. Homology models were constructed and validated with high-quality scores. Molecular docking revealed Acenocoumarol as the compound with the highest binding affinity (−7.8 kcal/mol). Protein-ligand interaction analysis identified key residues involved in Pi-Pi and hydrogen bonding interactions critical for catalysis. Furthermore, a bioengineered hybrid enzyme model demonstrated improved binding precision and structural similarity to homologous proteins. These findings highlight the potential application of <em>A. caviae</em> enzymes in the bioremediation of toxic pollutants. Future experimental validation and enzyme engineering could further enhance their catalytic efficiency for sustainable environmental detoxification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 115-127"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-26DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.009
Yangyang Zhang, Wenjie Xu, Yongzhi Chen
{"title":"A GPU-based FVM–DEM coupling framework and its application on gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow","authors":"Yangyang Zhang, Wenjie Xu, Yongzhi Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow is common in various fields, making it crucial to accurately and efficiently describe its dynamic behaviors. To better perform the gas-liquid-solid three-phase simulations, a coupling code based on GPU named as CoSim-FVDEM is developed, which combines the finite volume method (FVM) and the discrete element method (DEM). This code encompasses unresolved, resolved and resolved-unresolved coupling methods, making it suitable for three-phase flow simulations involving solid particles of various sizes. A series of cases are conducted to validate the accuracy of the developed coupling algorithm, including complex dam breach flow, water entry test of a single sphere and multi-sphere within rotating roller. Finally, a gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow numerical experiment is performed, which involves the bi-disperse granular systems in a rotating roller. Base on the numerical results, the dynamic behaviors of the three-phase flow are analyzed and the computational efficiency is evaluated. The results indicate that the developed coupling code can better be used for the dynamic analysis of large-scale gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 139-152"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-25DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.008
Liu Han Ng, Wen Yang Goh, Kunn Hadinoto
{"title":"Effects of alginate inclusion on quality attributes and storage stability of gelatin oral pellets encapsulating ionic liquid salt of active pharmaceutical ingredient","authors":"Liu Han Ng, Wen Yang Goh, Kunn Hadinoto","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ionic liquid (IL) salts of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) represent promising formulations for poorly-soluble APIs as they eliminate polymorphism commonly associated with conventional API salts. Being highly viscous liquid, oral dosage formulation of API-ILs is challenging, necessitating immobilization onto particulate carriers, typically by spray-drying. This study developed an alternative oral dosage formulation of API-ILs by incorporating them into soft gelatin-alginate pellets, where the alginate’s role was to improve storage stability of hygroscopic and thermally-sensitive gelatin. Poorly-soluble ibuprofen (IBU) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMIM) was used as the model API-IL. The impacts of alginate inclusion at varying gelatin-to-alginate ratios on quality attributes of IBU-BMIM-loaded pellets were investigated. The evaluated attributes included physical appearance, IBU-BMIM payload, dosage uniformity, flowability, IBU-BMIM release, and IBU solubility enhancement. The results showed IBU-BMIM remained in its liquid-like amorphous form upon incorporation into the pellets, thereby preserving its solubility enhancement capability, albeit at a lower degree due to slower IBU-BMIM release upon alginate inclusion. Alginate inclusion also influenced the pellets’ physical appearance, thickness, flowability, and gelatin’s secondary structures, while having minimal impacts on payload and dosage uniformity. Importantly, the pellets remained stable after one-month of accelerated storage (40 °C and 75 % relative humidity) with minimal variations in their quality attributes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 103-114"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144523998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-20DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.002
Clemens Lischka, Hermann Nirschl
{"title":"Simulation of an intensive lab mixer for dry mixing of Li-ion cathode materials via the discrete element method","authors":"Clemens Lischka, Hermann Nirschl","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 52-67"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144481706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-19DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.007
Kaiyuan Yang , Yang Zhou , Chunying Shen , Xizhong Chen , Luoxia Cao
{"title":"A mechanical-thermal-chemical coupling discrete element method model for simulating hotspot generation and ignition in HMX-based explosives","authors":"Kaiyuan Yang , Yang Zhou , Chunying Shen , Xizhong Chen , Luoxia Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) are widely used in military applications due to their high energy density, but their safety under impact loading remains a critical concern due to hotspot-induced ignition risks. While existing experimental and continuum methods face limitations in capturing sub-millisecond mesoscale processes and discontinuous damage evolution, this study develops an integrated Discrete Element Method (DEM) framework integrating the Edinburgh Elasto-Plastic-Adhesive (EEPA) contact model with Arrhenius reaction kinetics, where mechanical energy dissipation deterministically drives thermal-chemical ignition. The framework successfully predicts hotspot generation and ignition thresholds in cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) particle explosives under impact loading. The maximum temperatures of the cubic sample are consistent with the literature and the verification analysis of a Steven Test is aligned with an experiment in literature. Application to Spigot and Drop Tests reveals strain energy accumulation and damping dissipation as dominant ignition mechanisms, with chemical activation showing exponential dependence on mechanical heating. Compared to existing DEM studies focusing on single-physics processes, this work establishes a more comprehensive and better predictive tool for mapping mechanical loading conditions to ignition thresholds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 68-87"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144490956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ParticuologyPub Date : 2025-06-17DOI: 10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.006
Jixu Ni , Xiaowei Cheng , Mengwen Qu , Peizhou Li , Shiyu Sun , Baoshu Liu , Hua Sun
{"title":"Relation between molecular assembly and nucleation kinetics during 4-bromopyrazole nucleation","authors":"Jixu Ni , Xiaowei Cheng , Mengwen Qu , Peizhou Li , Shiyu Sun , Baoshu Liu , Hua Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nucleation is a critical stage during the crystallization process, determining the attributes of the crystalline products. Due to the complicated and microscopic characteristics of the molecular assembly process, the nucleation mechanism has not yet been fully comprehended. In this study, the molecular self-assembly of 4-bromopyrazole (BMPZ) in various solvents and its relation with nucleation kinetics were investigated by the experiment and molecule simulation. Firstly, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy were employed to explore and determine the existed forms of BMPZ molecules in solution. It was unveiled that the BMPZ molecules assembly behavior showed an individual feature. Afterward, the nucleation kinetics was determined by statistical probability distribution method, and the parameters associated with the nucleation process were derived from classical nucleation theory, further associating with the nucleation kinetics. Solution chemistry, molecule simulation, and nucleation kinetics exposed that BMPZ assembly forms could act as the growth unit of the nucleation, and nucleation kinetics was chiefly governed by the interface-transfer process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":401,"journal":{"name":"Particuology","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 17-27"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144481705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}