Dense medium separator performance evaluation based on 3D Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase CFD simulation

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present paper enumerates a CFD model developed for a 76-mm Dense Medium Cyclone (DMC) using Ansys Fluent Software to gain insights into the separation of particles according to their size and density. The simulation used in this paper includes Reynolds stress model to predict the turbulence inside the cyclone body. An Eulerian–Eulerian multiphase CFD model was applied to model a number of physical aspects such as the separation of coal particles and the segregation of magnetite media solids. The experimental results generated in a laboratory-scale DMC were used for the validation purpose, and the predicted results of CFD have been validated for the flow splits of water, magnetite, and coal. The simulation results obtained from the Eulerian–Eulerian multiphase model reveal that the prediction is in good agreement with experimental results and match reasonably well in terms of the mass flow rates of water, magnetite, and coal. Furthermore, the partition curve of the DMC when mapped for the separation of −3.0 + 0.50 mm size also showed to be in agreement with the experimentally obtained curves. The gravity of cut (SG50) has also been predicted by the Eulerian–Eulerian multiphase CFD model and was found to be in the vicinity of observed experimental value of SG50.