How to Determine Bulk Density

Bulk density is the total mass per unit volume of your material when in the state it is being used. Keep in mind this is not particle density, rather the density of the mass of particles and the mass of fluid suspending your bulk material for a given volume. This will change depending on how heavily your material is being suspended/ compacted.

Determining Bulk Density is a very simple question that has a very complex answer. You can begin your search on some of the sites dedicated to powder handling, such as:

http://www.powderandbulk.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1169616985

However I strongly recommend you instead seek the services of a local specialist who can completely evaluate your application, and assist in determining the proper testing and/or equipment suitable to accomplish your objectives.

http://www.geology.iupui.edu/research/SoilsLab/Procedures/bulk/Index.htm

http://www.ptli.com/testlopedia/tests/BulkDensity-d1895.asp

http://veegoinstruments.tradeindia.com/

Hi sl,

Do you want to measure the bulk desity of a plastic? What ref' does the 'porosity' have to the first question?

A little more detail please/

Hi sl,

You may find this chart helpful. Click on the appropriate 'A,B,C, etc.

It would be a lot easier if we knew the product or manufactured item you refer to?

Take care

Regarding the bulk density, as Guest pointed out, you should use the bulk density that is appropriate for the conditions you are evaluating. For example, if you are looking at a structural support system, hopper weight, or weight of truck, etc. you should consider the settled, or tapped, bulk density. If you are looking at mass flow in a conveying system you should consider the "free flowing", or aerated, bulk density. Normally these values are not very far apart.

Regarding "porosity", I have seen, and used, this value as a measure of the difference between the bulk density and the specific gravity. Your material is composed of a solid material that is broken up into smaller pieces. Taking equal volumes of both the original solid material and the particulate material, the porosity is a measure of the amount of air in that volume. For example, iron density is 7860 kg/m3 (490 lb/cu.ft.), but if ground up it might only weigh 2403 kg/m3 (150 lb/cu.ft.). Porosity would be about 70% [(7860 - 2403)/7860]. You may be looking at porosity in a different way, but that is what I'm used to seeing.