Particle Technology as a discipline must include both a study of the fundamentals of how particulate materials behave and some indications of how the science can be applied in practice. We have both been involved in numerous discussions of the scope and organization of Particle Technology in association with our teaching in UK universities and our work on the Editorial Board of the Elsevier journal Powder Technology. In our view, an organization of the subject of Particle Technology which reflects the interests of those who carry out research in it is as shown in the diagram below.

In our view, the interaction of particles with fluids in multiphase flow needs always to be accompanied by an appreciation of the mechanics of particle-to-particle contact and the peculiar behavior of assemblies of particles. On the application side, the processing of products containing particles is hugely important, but so are the properties of materials containing particles. Many new materials containing particles emerge every year, and the ways in which their microstructures are formed and are subsequently modified in use are important parts of the emerging discipline of Formulation Engineering.

As we summarize in Chapter 1 of this book, the fundamental science on which Particle Technology draws was established in the nineteenth century by physicists such as Stokes, Smoluchowski, and Hertz, and elaborated in the twentieth century by numerous others, spurred on by the rapid increase in applications of the subject, from particulate catalysts in reactors to composite materials. The number of applications continues to increase, but the scientific fundamentals remain the same. What has changed the subject very significantly in the last two decades is the rise of computational methods, enabled by the development of better computational codes and the affordability of massive computer power.

Built upon an earlier book authored by Seville, Tüzün, and Clift (1997), this book attempts to do two things: to summarize the essential scientific fundamentals and to introduce the basics required to perform computations in Particle Technology. For the former, we start by introducing the fundamental characteristics of powders in bulk form in Chapter 2, explaining the important bulk properties of powders and how they can be determined. As the bulk properties are ultimately determined by the properties of individual particles, we then introduce individual particle properties in Chapter 3—in particular, particle shape and size, how they can be defined, and how they can be appropriately measured. We then introduce the complexity of a surrounding fluid phase, first in interaction with a single particle (Chapter 4), then through considering multiple particles in gases, in applications such as gas fluidization and pneumatic conveying (Chapter 5), and multiple particles in liquids, in applications including granulation and extrusion (Chapter 6). We also explain the fundamental mechanics of particle systems, both at the bulk level, such as the development of stresses in storage and dynamics during powder flow (Chapter 7), and at the particle level, including particle–particle interaction (Chapter 8). Finally, we introduce two computational methods, namely the discrete element method (Chapter 9) and the finite element method (Chapter 10), both of which have been applied extensively in modeling the behavior of particle systems at low consolidation stresses, such as in powder flow and shearing, and at high consolidation stresses as encountered in die compaction and roll compaction. The last four chapters focus on mechanistic modeling of particle systems and are aimed primarily at Chemical Engineering students in their later years and at both Chemical Engineers and other disciplines, in industry or in academia, who need to carry out mechanical analysis and computational work in this field.

Particle Technology is a broad and inclusive subject. Any work of this kind must necessarily be very selective. This book focuses on fundamentals, particle mechanics, and computational aspects in Particle Technology; we refer readers to the volumes in the Elsevier series Handbook of Powder Technology for more detailed treatment of particular aspects.

We thank all those who have contributed to our understanding of the subject, particularly Mike Adams, Roland Clift, Peter Knight and Colin Thornton, and to our long-suffering families. Thanks are also due to the universities of Surrey and Birmingham, where much of this material has been used in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses.