CSP seminar series session focuses on bulk solids handling

Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility welcomes Greg Mehos, director of Greg Mehos & Associates LLC, for the next session of the Concentrating Solar Power Seminar Series. “Storage and Flow of Bulk Solids,” will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. MST to 11:00 a.m. MST.

When compared to fluids, engineers’ training and education in bulk solids handling is lacking. Perhaps that is why it is often easy to identify which lines or equipment in a chemical plant handle powders — they are the ones with all the hammer marks. This session will discuss common bulk solids handling problems and explain how fundamental properties of a bulk material (i.e., cohesive strength, internal friction, compressibility, wall friction and permeability) are measured.

Other topics will include how to use Andrew Jenike’s fundamental engineering principles to predict powder flow behavior and design reliable powder handling equipment. The session will be hosted by Concentrating Solar Power Program Manager Margaret Gordon.

Greg Mehos, PhD, PE, is the director of Greg Mehos & Associates LLC. He is a chemical engineering consultant who specializes in bulk solids handling, storage and processing and is an adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island. Greg enjoys teaching professionals and students bulk solids engineering fundamentals so that they can solve powder handling problems and design equipment for reliable handling of solids. He has authored dozens of technical papers on the subject and contributed to the Solids Processing and Particle Technology section of the ninth edition of Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook. Greg received his bachelor’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado and his master’s degree from the University of Delaware. Greg is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a past chair of the Boston local section. He is a licensed professional engineer in Massachusetts.

Registration is available via Teams.