A novel gravity blender with an inner downcomer was experimentallystudied in this work. The flow characteristics of solid through thedowncomer with branch pipes and the influence of the number of intakeopenings and their axial position along the downcomer on blendingefficiency were investigated. The results of tracer experiments showthat better blending quality can be obtained if the intake openingsalong the downcomer are designated according to the equal time intervalprinciple. More intake openings are beneficial for blending efficiency,and the solids flow rate through the branch pipes along the downcomercan be predicted by the Beverloo equation.