Determining the volume/mass of bulk fillings

Our company has been successfully supplying random column packing of various types made from different materials for many years. In particular, these include Pall rings, Raschig rings, molecular sieves, ceramic balls, etc.

Each of these types of packing is used in various technological processes such as purification, dehydration, saturation, improvement of mass transfer, and many other processes.

The vast majority of this product is accounted for in kg (kilograms) and is accordingly shipped to the customer in kilograms. The price of the product is also indicated per 1 kg.

Customers often ask how many kilograms of a particular product need to be purchased in order to fill a given volume of a column or tank.

For bulk products, a characteristic called bulk density is used.

Bulk density is the ratio of the mass of the packing to the volume it occupies. It is measured in kg/m³.

This characteristic is indicated in the product card for each product (see the photo above). Accordingly, as follows from the formula, to determine the required mass of the packing, it is necessary to multiply the bulk density by the specified volume.

For example, you need to calculate the required mass of Raschig rings A1 25 according to GOST 17612-89 to fill a column with a volume of 2.3 m³.

Accordingly, the required mass of the packing m = 2.3 × 596 = 1370.8 kg

You can also solve the reverse problem — calculate what volume can be filled with a certain amount of packing.

If you have, for example, 200 kg of packing from the previous example, then you can fill a volume V = 200 / 596 = 0.336 m³, that is 336 liters.