A Review of Screw Conveyors Performance Evaluation During Handling Process

This paper reviews recent work on screw conveyors performance evaluation during handling process, especially in the case of agricultural grains and bulk materials. Experimental work has been mainly carried out to determine a range of parameters, such as auger dimension, screw rotational speed, screw clearance, conveyor intake length and conveying angle for horizontal, inclined and vertical screw conveyors. Several measurement techniques including theoretical models and DEM have been utilized to study the screw conveyors performance. However, each of these techniques is limited in its application. Difficulties in representing vortex motion and interactions among conveying grains and between the particles and screw rotating flight have so far limited the success of advanced modeling. Further work is needed to be conducted on screw augers performance to understand and improve the agricultural grains and bulk materials handling process.