Application of the theory of Markov chains to model different processes in particle technology

The essence of almost all processes with participation of particulate solids is similar: it is a transformation of a particle property, or properties. This suggests that a unified basis for examining the changes of this property with (for example) time, may be derived. In this paper, the general strategy of building the Markov chain models and computational analysis of characteristics of a process is described, and some examples of application of the approach to model grinding, classification, grinding with internal classification, mixing, agglomeration, etc, are shown. The use of multidimensional models to consider simultaneously different properties is emphasised. The approach also allows taking into account non-linear phenomena, which are very typical of particulate processes but are very seldom considered in usual models.