Numerical Simulation of Stacked Step Flowincentrifugal Force Field for Copper Ore Separation

Abstract

In this study, the flow field of a stacked step flow device was simulated using Fluent 19.2 software. The simulation results show that: the combination of rotational motion and reverse fluidization of the fluid in the cone of the equipment makes the slurry dispersed and separated in the radial direction, and the upward motion of the fluid can promote the solid phase, especially the smaller particle size and lower density of the silica phase, to realize the separation of the copper phase and the silica phase in the axial direction; the vortex generated by the sudden change of tangential flow velocity at the step can significantly improve the settling efficiency of the copper phase in the upward process. Fluent simulation results show that: when the rotational speed is 50r/min, the feed speed is 0.5m/s, and the reverse fluidization speed is 0.018m/s, the copper recovery rate is 87.70%, and the enrichment ratio is 13.45.