Numerical simulation and experimental validation for investigating the novel hydraulicbarrier-hydrocyclone in industrial beneficiation process

Abstract

In the face of the dwindling reserves of high-quality phosphate rock resources in the world, beneficiation and purification of low-grade phosphate ore is a possible solution to alleviate the growing scarcity for strategic phosphorus resources. Hydrocyclone is one of the common equipment for solid–solid separation in liquid medium, which is suitable for mineral beneficiation processing. The study investigated the industrial beneficiation of low-grade phosphate ore by novel hydraulicbarrier-hydrocyclone. The results from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation revealed that Semi-through hydraulicbarrier (S-Hb) hydrocyclone had the optimal performance, making short-circuit flow reduced to 7.17% and eliminating fish hook effect, so that the classification efficiency increased by 5% and separation sharpness reached 0.9516. The reasons leading to performance intensification were elaborated in accordance with the optimization and integration of hydrodynamics multiphase flow field by hydraulicbarrier, including the pressure, velocity, turbulent kinetic energy distribution and air core development, as well as streamline analysis, etc. The results from practical industrial experiment indicated that the P2O5 grade was increased to 23.6wt.% from an initial grade of 17.5wt.%, meeting the medium-grade phosphate ore specifications, and the SiO2 content was decreased from 29.0wt.% to 4.2wt.%, meanwhile, the proportional error was 0.74% about cutting size compared to simulation results, indicating excellent consistency. The investigation offered an economically viable route to beneficiate the low-grade phosphate ore, cogently supporting sustainable development of phosphorus resources in chemical engineering.