Domenico Daraio

Domenico Daraio

BSc and MSc – Chemical Engineering, University of Pisa, 2015.

EngD Research Engineer 

Sponsor: EPSRC and Johnson-Matthey, Teesside

School of Chemical Engineering ,University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT United Kingdom  

EngD Project Background

The milling is an important unit operation where due to the application of mechanical actions (grinding, cutting, crushing) a continuous size reduction of a granular material is promoted. Milling may serve for the following engineering purposes:

• Increase the surface area (important for catalysts applications)

• Change the state of the granular material (grain size, grain shape, induce reactions/phase transformations)

The milling mechanisms that take places inside the milling devices are not fully understood yet and this limit both the development of a robust scale-up methodology and the optimization of processes and products.

Current Project Aims

• To develop a better understanding of milling mechanisms and estimate the energy involved in this process applying Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations.

• Use this knowledge to compare different milling devices.

• To develop a more general and robust scale-up methodology using inputs coming from the DEM simulations (Specific energy, Power consumption, Stress).

Other Activities

When Domenico is not busy with his computer simulations he like very much spend time doing sport, travelling and drawing.