Use of CFD-DEM Coupling to Determine the Settling Hindered Velocities for Highly Concentrated Mining Slurries

使用 CFD-DEM 耦合确定高浓度矿浆的沉降阻碍速度

• 批准号: 518283-2017
• 负责人: EinMozaffari, Farhad
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Ryerson University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=639897
• 关键词: Use; CFD; DEM; Coupling; Determine

Mixing of highly concentrated slurries is a critical operation in mining industry. The hindered settling velocitymust be considered when a solid-liquid mixer is designed for these suspensions. However, due to the inherentcomplexity of these systems, there is no specific data that provides the actual settling rate of these solidparticles in a hindered settling environment.Currently, Hayward Gordon designs mixing systems for mining slurries by using the settling velocity of asingle particle instead of the hindered settling velocity. This inaccurate approach can lead to oversizeddimensioning of the vessel, inappropriate selection of impeller type, size and rotational speed, low energyefficiency and operation difficulties. Therefore, Hayward Gordon is interested in obtaining better insights intothe particle settling process in a hindered environment to refine and optimize their mixing design andmanufacturing. Thus, the main objective of the proposed research project is to obtain the hindered settlingvelocity in highly concentrated mining slurries as a function of the solid concentration, solid density andparticle size through the coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM).The selection of the correct models is crucial in CFD-DEM coupling.This work is of great importance to the mining industry of Canada. The research results will lead to the designof efficient mixing systems for the suspension of highly concentrated slurries. The Canadian mining industryand mining equipment manufacturers can implement the CFD-DEM approach to assess many scenarios on acomputer without the additional costs of constructing and testing prototype models. This leads to an improvedequipment design, a more reliable process monitoring, a more efficient use of power, a decreased maintenanceand operational cost and finally an increased capital cost saving. Thus, the proposed research will contribute tothe increased economic activity of the Canadian mining industry, and will impact our society, quality of lifeand environment.

高浓度矿浆的混合是采矿工业中的关键操作。在设计固-液混合器时，必须考虑这类悬浮液的受阻沉降速度。然而，由于这些系统的内在复杂性，没有具体的数据提供这些固体颗粒在受阻沉降环境中的实际沉降速率。目前，海沃德戈登设计的混合系统，通过使用单个颗粒的沉降速度，而不是受阻沉降速度的采矿泥浆。这种不准确的方法会导致容器尺寸过大，叶轮类型、尺寸和转速选择不当，能源效率低和操作困难。因此，海沃德·戈登（Hayward Gordon）有兴趣更好地了解受阻环境中的颗粒沉降过程，以改进和优化其混合设计和制造。因此，本研究的主要目的是通过计算流体力学（CFD）和离散元法（DEM）的耦合，获得高浓度采矿泥浆中的受阻沉降速度与固体浓度、固体密度和颗粒尺寸的函数关系，在CFD-DEM耦合中，模型的选择是关键，这项工作对加拿大采矿业具有重要意义。研究结果将为设计高浓度悬浮液的高效混合系统提供依据。加拿大采矿业和采矿设备制造商可以实施CFD-DEM的方法来评估许多方案在计算机上没有额外的成本构建和测试原型模型。这导致改进的设备设计、更可靠的过程监控、更有效的电力使用、降低的维护和操作成本以及最终增加的资本成本节约。因此，拟议的研究将有助于加拿大采矿业的经济活动增加，并将影响我们的社会，生活质量和环境。