Abstract: The mixing and separating process of different-sized particles in a self-designed rotating drum were explored， where the glass beads were taken as particles. The power consumption of rotating drum under different operating parameters were measured. The results show that the particle separation is more evident when the drum is operated at high fill level， where the small particles surrounded by large particles are mostly observed. When the filling rate is low， it is unobvious for the particle separation of the similar size particles at different rotating speeds. The larger difference of the particle size， the more particle separation occurs. With the increasing rotational speed and fill level， the power consumption increases， while the power consumption is relatively less sensitive to the particle size ratio.

Key words: rotating drum; particle mixing; rotational speed; fill level; particle size ratio