Handling properties of sugar cane bagasse. Part II: Bulk properties

Part II of the series deals with bulk properties of bagasse (part I was published in Zuckerind. 123 (1998) 428–432). The information on bulk properties summarized in this article forms part of a PhD thesis by Bernhardt (1996). Empirical correlations for the following bulk properties of bagasse are presented: surface friction, bulk density, translation of vertical pressure to lateral pressure and tensile strength. Attempts to measure shear strength had been unsuccessful. The items of apparatus that were specifically designed to measure the stated bulk properties are described briefly and outlines of the methods adopted are given. The philosophy in building the apparatus has been to make it large enough so that boundary effects are likely to be insignificant. The correlations presented here will be used in part III of this series on bagasse handling characteristics when an empirical model predicting the bridging tendency of bagasse will be presented.