Experimental and simulation study of flow field characteristics of a disturbing rotary centrifugal air classifier

Abstract

In the present study, a new disturbing rotary centrifugal classifier was designed and a method was proposed to characterize its pressure signals. The models for evaluating the classification effects were established based on multi-zones. It was found that the flow field, processing parameters, and material properties significantly affected on the particle force and classification performance. The pressure with high amplitude and energy analyzed using Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) concentrated within 200–400 Hz, and the screening cage facilitated energy transfer to lower frequency bands. Correlation analysis demonstrated the correlation coefficients (A5 and A6) between adjacent measurement points increased with frequency, further enhanced by the screening cage. The flow field of simulation was characterized by a low-pressure, high-velocity gradient at the center and a high-pressure, low-velocity gradient at the sidewalls and the gas velocity and flow for experiment achieved the maximum at z = 0.50 m, while the magnitude of pressure change was significant at the inlet end and discharge end, where the velocity gradient and pressure drop had the same trend and small errors for experiments and simulation. The flow field affected the competing relationship between centrifugal and drag forces on the particles with different kinematic behavior during the classification process. The errors between the predicted values of the theoretical, simulated, and experimental cut particle size models and the true values were all within 10 %, based on which the multi-zone classification efficiency model applicable to the disturbing centrifugal classifier was established, and it was found that the models all had high prediction accuracy and suitability. The article delves into the correlation between pressure signals, flow field characteristics and particle behavior, aiming to provide an important reference for the internal flow field and classification performance of air classifiers.