| Abstract Scope |
Micron-sized, spherical SiO2 particles are important in many industrial applications, such as in the production of polyolefins, where they are used as solid catalyst supports. In polyolefin production, the quality of the final product, as well as the resource efficiency of the process, depends directly on the performance of the catalyst material. As the catalyst particles experience various stresses during the polymer particle growth, mechanical properties of catalyst play detrimental role in its performance in the polymerization process. However, there is currently a lack of experimental mechanical property measurements of micron-sized, spherical SiO2 particles.
In this work, the compressive properties of commercial, porous, spherical micron-sized SiO2 powder was studied using a quasi-static micro-compression method. The method includes compressing single, micron-sized particles in controlled loading conditions. From the measurements, the compressive elastic-plastic properties of these particles can be determined. |