ANALYSIS OF FLOW AND PARTICLE SETTLING IN A CONTINUOUS SETTLING TANK: CFD STUDY

Abstract

In the present work, the hydrodynamics and particle separation in a settling tank were studied using the Euler-Euler and Euler-Lagrange approaches. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was validated using data obtained from an ultrasonic velocity profiler. The presence of the particles and their impact on the flow patterns were investigated. The presence of the particles in the settling tank lead to changes in the flow patterns. This phenomenon was evaluated through experiments and simulations. The behavior of different particles was studied using discrete phase model tracking. The effects of the feedwell diameter and height on the flow patterns were studied to select the optimized feedwell parameters. The dependency of the direction of the motion of the particles on the terminal settling velocity and the overflow rate was explored. Since the local conditions inside the settling tank are important, the effects of the flow rate, particle density, and concentration were studied in terms of the separation efficiency.