In the present study, a two-dimensional DEM method is used to simulate the flow of salt particles through a pneumatic conveying system consisting of three straight pipes and two bends. Ghadiri's models for chipping and breakage were implemented, for the first time, in the simulation and were used to define the changes in the particles' size. The predictions of the numerical simulation for the attrition rate of salt are qualitatively similar to the experimental results of Bell et al. [T.A. Bell, A. Boxman, J.B. Jacobs, Attrition of salt during pneumatic conveying, Proceedings of the 5th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, San Diego, USA (1996)] for consequent conveying passes, and various loading ratio (solids loading ratio, SLR) and inlet gas velocity. The numerical predictions for the size distributions of the salt particles after a few passes are compared with the experimental results. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.