Research on enhancement of screening performance of a novel drum screen based on the Discrete Element Method simulation

Abstract

Screening is one of the most basic technologies for size classification of granular materials. Based on discrete element method simulations, a new built-in component was developed to address the problems of particle piling and poor segregation in drum screening process, and the particle dynamics and spatial distribution were carefully investigated. The results showed that, increasing the blade length will enhance the particle spreading, and a gap between the rotating blade end and the screen wall can lead to proper size segregation; Built-in slits can act as a ‘secondary screen’ by changing the volume ratio of large and small particles, and the curved-end blades can not only push the particles forward but also exert pressure on the ones underneath them; The screening efficiency changes non-linearly with the change in baffles' height; Contrastively, the screening efficiency of the optimized built-in component drum screen is significantly increased up to 82.34%.