Separator Drum Research Articles

Judicious combinations of gravity, magnetic, electrostatic separators and microwave heat energy on recovery of ilmenite from Humma lean grade beach placer deposit

Microwave heating is an eco-friendly and novel technique for sintering and heating minerals and materials as it has several advantages in terms of phase transformation, energy efficiency, enhancing speed, process simplicity, improved properties. Such heating provides the composite materials to absorb electromagnetic energy volumetrically and transform into heat and produces larger densities as compared to conventional heating. This study focuses on two main objectives: the recovery of ilmenite through a strategic combination of mineral processing equipment, including a spiral concentrator, followed by magnetic and electrostatic separation, and the enhancement of ilmenite concentrate using microwave heat energy on a cleaner magnetic product, followed by electrostatic separation. Continuous magnetic separation results indicate that among the dry high-intensity belt magnetic separator, box mag wet high-intensity magnetic separator and dry rare earth drum magnetic separators, the rare earth magnetic separator yielded the highest quality product. The application of microwave heat energy before the rare earth drum magnetic separator at 1.4 T, followed by high-tension separation, produced the best grade of ilmenite. The magnetic product obtained after microwave treatment contained 98.6% ilmenite, which was further upgraded to a 99.6% ilmenite concentrate through high-tension separation. Therefore, it is recommended that an effective combination of gravity separation, microwave heat energy, rare earth drum dry magnetic separation and high-tension separation be employed to achieve the highest grade of ilmenite concentrate.

Change in the qualitative composition of non-metallic mineral raw materials as a result of blasting operations

Purpose. The research purpose is to study the change in the qualitative composition of granite before and after blasting operations to determine its compliance with the criteria of marketable products. Methods. X-ray phase and X-ray structural research methods are used to study changes in the mineral composition of granites before and after blasting operations. To separate magnetic and non-magnetic fractions of the selected granite samples, a three-roller RST magnetic separator is used. X-ray phase research is conducted using a DRON-3 diffractometer. Additionally, an analysis of the unit cell dimensions of the quartz crystal lattice was conducted, and the dislocation density along the corresponding crystallographic planes was studied. Findings. It has been determined that after blasting operations, granite mass is redistributed from coarse fractions of 1-20 mm to small fractions of 0-1 mm with an increase in the latter by 4.2%. It has been found that the biotite content decrea-ses naturally and consistently, and the quartz content increases correspondingly in products in the following series: magnetic separator drum (90%, 2%) → lower roller (72%, 14%) → upper roller (55%, 31%) → non-magnetic product (48%, 34%) before blasting operations. Therefore, despite significant differences in the magnetic favorability of these two mineral phases, they are present in all magnetic separation products (with the exception of quartz in the non-magnetic product): magnetic separator drum → lower roller → upper roller. Originality. It has been established that along the crystallographic directions 101 and 211, the maximum gradient of dislocation density increase in the quartz crystal lattice in granite samples before blasting operations is observed during the transition from the lower roller product to the upper roller product, amounting to 1.55·1010 and 6.63·1010 cm-2, respectively. After blasting operations, in granite samples along the same directions, the maximum gradient of dislocation density increase is observed between the upper roller product and the non-magnetic product, amounting to 3.01·1010 and 4.67·1010cm-2. As a result of the thermodynamic impact of blasting operations, the weighted average dislocation density value along crystallographic planes 101 and 211 in the quartz crystal lattice increases by 47.21 and 25.72%, respectively. Practical implications. Understanding the quality characteristics of marketable products after blasting operations will contribute to optimizing the stages of further processing of non-metallic mineral raw materials (two-, three- or four-stage crushing) and expanding the scope of granite applications. This increases its competitiveness in the building materials market by reducing the costs for additional processing with a reduction in the labor intensity of the process.

Antibiotic resistance partitioning during on-farm manure separation and high temperature rotary drum composting

Manure application as fertilizer can increase environmental exposure risk, as antibiotics, antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB), and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) can be transmitted to agricultural fields, and adjacent natural systems. Understanding how specific antibiotics and ARGs respond within different manure fractions during on-farm management is limited. The study objective was to conduct a mass flow analysis determining the fate of antibiotic resistance factors (antibiotics, ARGs, and ARB) through solid-liquid separation, with the solid fraction continuing through a bedding recovery unit (BRU) via high temperature rotary composting for use of the manure solids as dairy cow bedding. The results show that most of the manure mass containing the antibiotic resistance factors went untreated following solid-liquid separation, with 95 % of the mass leaving the separator as a liquid and pumped to a storage lagoon for field application and 5 % proceeding to BRU processing. The tetracyclines and tulathromycin sorbed to the manure solids, while the beta lactams, ampicillin, and benzylpenicilloic acid were only found in the liquid fraction. The removal of antibiotic residuals during the BRU composting was insignificant, yet 40 %-73 % of the antibiotics were in the liquid fraction. The BRU composting was 100 % effective in removing the ARB examined. Five of the eight ARGs (intl1, sul1, tetQ, tetX, and tetM) had significant reduction (>95 %) following the BRU composting treatment. While the three other ARGs (tetW, ermB, and bla2) remained constant despite treatment. This study highlighted the importance of examining manure management from a mass balance perspective and understanding antibiotic resistance risk factors.

A comb-brushing-type green soybean pod harvesting equipment: Design and experiment.

To solve the problem of low efficiency of manual harvesting of green soybeans and lack of adaptable harvesters, in this study, a brushing-type green soybean harvester was designed. The comb-brushing type green soybean pod harvesting equipment is composed of a front-mounted separation drum, a full-width material delivery mechanism, a negative pressure cleaning system, and a stalk-pod separation system. Based on the operation requirements of the front-mounted brushing-type detachment drum, the drum parameters, parameters of comb arrangement, and structural parameters of the comb, the force analysis in detachment was performed. By taking the pod detachment rate and damage rate as the response indexes, the rotational speed of the drum, the travel speed of the device, and teeth distance as influencing factors, a three-factor five-level orthogonal rotary combination test was carried out by the software Design-Expert. By establishing mathematical regression models for various influencing factors and evaluation indicators, conducting variance analysis and significance analysis on the response indicators of each factor, the optimal parameters were obtained at a rotational speed of teeth of 397.36 rpm/min, minimum axial teeth distance of 4.8 mm and travel speed of the device of 0.5 m/s. Field test results showed that, under the optimal parameter combination, the pod detachment rate was 94%, the damage rate was 3.04%, the harvesting efficiency was greater than 0.187 hm2/h, and impurity content was less than 7.8%, all of which met the design and usage requirements. The research results can provide a reference for the design of soybean harvesters.

Reinforcement-Learning-Based Level Controller for Separator Drum Unit in Refinery System

The Basrah Refinery, Iraq, similarly to other refineries, is subject to several industrial constraints. Therefore, the main challenge is to optimize the parameters of the level controller of the process unit tanks. In this paper, a PI controller is designed for these important processes in the Basrah Refinery, which is a separator drum (D5204). Furthermore, the improvement of the PI controller is achieved under several constraints, such as the inlet liquid flow rate to tank (m2) and valve opening in yi%, by using two different techniques: the first one is conducted using a closed-Loop PID auto-tuner that is based on a frequency system estimator, and the other one is via the reinforcement learning approach (RL). RL is employed through two approaches: the first is calculating the optimal PI parameters as an offline tuner, and the second is using RL as an online tuner to optimize the PI parameters. In this case, the RL system works as a PI-like controller of RD5204. The mathematical model of the RD5204 system is derived and simulated using MATLAB. Several experiments are designed to validate the proposed controller. Further, the performance of the proposed system is evaluated under several industrial constraints, such as disturbances and noise, in which the results indict that RL as a tuner for the parameters of the PI controller is superior to other methods. Furthermore, using RL as a PI-like controller increases the controller’s robustness against uncertainty and perturbations.

Фракционирование сыпучих пищевых продуктов

Powders are part of many food products, which makes grinding an important food industry process. The research objective was to develop a new process of separating a polydisperse powder that differs in particle density from the liquid it is dissolved in.
 The study featured polydisperse sugar powder crushed in a ball mill and dissolved in sugar wafer suspension. The article introduces a physical and mathematical model of the process and a method for quantitative modeling of the process of separating particles from powder by centrifuging the suspension.
 The research was based on the classical concept of the diameter of a particle moving in a predetermined manner in the inter-barrel space of the separator drum. The authors developed a new concept of the current critical particle diameter, which they calculated from the dispersion composition of the powder synthetic indicators, the control parameter of the suspension separation process, and the performance of the separating machine, e.g. coefficients of clarification and loss factor. The study resulted in a new calculation method with fewer fractionation stages.
 The authors calculated the separation of targeted particles from a granulometric composition by centrifuging the powder. The calculation method fits any fine and medium-dispersed particle size and can facilitate any quantitative analysis of fractionation processes in a disc separator.

Quantitative Analysis of Suspension Clarification Process in Inter-Tray Space of Separator Drum

Quantitative Analysis of Suspension Clarification Process in Inter-Tray Space of Separator Drum

Calculation of Emulsion Separation Process in Intertray Space of Separator Drum

Calculation of Emulsion Separation Process in Intertray Space of Separator Drum

On-farm screw press and rotary drum treatment of dairy manure-associated antibiotic residues and resistance.

An on-farm solid-liquid separator (SLS) and rotary drum composter (RD) manure treatment system was monitored for its impact on antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Administered antibiotics were tracked, and treatment system mass flows were quantified. Total amounts of antibiotic residues and ARGs were calculated from measured concentrations and mass flows. Only oxytetracycline (OTC) and sulfadimethoxine (SDM) were detected in the manure treatment system influent. No β-lactams were measured despite comprising ∼25% of the antibiotics administered. Nearly 80% of OTC and>90% of SDM partitioned into SLS liquid effluent (SL). The RD reduced the mass of OTC remaining in the SLS solid effluent (SS) significantly by 50%, whereas the mass of SDM appeared to increase after RD treatment. All four ARGs tested were detected in influent, with>70% of the sul1, blaOXA-1 , and intI1 genes (normalized by the 16S ribosomal RNA gene) partitioning into the SL. In contrast, about eight times more normalized tetO gene copies partitioned into the SS than in the SL. All ARGs remaining in the SS were significantly reduced by the RD treatment, with a noteworthy 98% reduction in normalized tetO gene copies. This study provides insight into on-farm levels of antibiotic residues and ARGs in dairy manure, their partitioning during SLS treatment, and their fate after a high-temperature RD treatment reaching 72.2 ± 0.18 °C near the outlet. It also notes the importance of mass-flow standardization of data, and the need to work towards standardization of manure system sampling protocols for antibiotic residues and ARGs.

Recovery of Ultra-Fine Tungsten and Tin from Slimes Using Large-Scale SLon-2400 Centrifugal Separator

China is very rich in tungsten and tin resources, but most of them are finely disseminated with gangues, and thus, fine grinding is required for effective separation, which results in the abundant production of ultra-fine tungsten and tin values into slimes and tailings. The SLon centrifugal separator is highly effective in recovering ultra-fine heavy particles, because it operates on the centrifugal acceleration of particles in the flowing film of a few millimeters thick. The recovery of ultra-fine tungsten minerals from a slime assaying 0.22% WO3, in which 81.85% distributed in −40 µm fraction, was investigated using large-scale SLon-2400 centrifugal separator. Under optimized operating conditions, it produced a primary tungsten concentrate assaying 1.65% WO3 at a high recovery of 77.83%. Moreover, it produced a primary tin concentrate assaying 1.56% Sn at a high recovery of 79.85% from a tin slime assaying 0.27% Sn, in which 74.78% Sn was distributed in −40 µm fraction; then, followed by the flotation cleaning process, a final tin concentrate assaying 16.23% Sn with 66.7% recovery was produced. It was particularly noted that in this large-scale centrifugal separator, the three-conical separation drum stuck with abrasion-resistant ceramic slices on its inner surface played a key role for achieving high constant separation performance. It was concluded that the SLon centrifugal separator has important application prospects for high-efficient recovery of ultra-fine heavy minerals from slimes and tailings.

Corrosion classification of pipelines in hydrocracking units (ISOMAX) by data mining

One of the best and important unit in oil refineries is Hydrocracking unit. In this study, one of specific type of decision called the conditional contract arrangement, is used to extract the relevant knowledge in Hydrocracking Units (ISOMAX) for 3 factors: The conditional of feed (temperature, pressure and density), pH in separator drum, H2S in recycle gas (centrifugal compressor). This paper aims to optimize some conditions to eliminate corrosion in ISOMX unit. After analyzing all of stage to the above mentioned (data for separator vessel), according to the obtained results, the best range of feed is: density is less than 0.81 kg/m3, temperature is less than 65 °C and pressure is less than 1.9 bar. Also pH in separator is more than 7.3 and H2S in recycle gas, centrifugal compressor, is less than 10000 ppm. The results also show how this findings can be used to gain insight into some petrochemicals and refineries to deliver results in a comprehensible and user-friendly way.

Mechanisms of Centrifugal Fluid System Separation Process in a Separator Having Double-Curved Inserts

The kinetics of flow of a viscous incompressible fluid between two closely lying parabola-shaped inserts (plates) rotating with the same angular velocity around a common axis is studied. The flow, in the inter-plate gap of the separator drum, of a weakly concentrated liquid + solid type of two-phase fluid is modeled. Based on the postulates of the theory of fluid flows in “sliding” mode, the internal problem of hydrodynamics along the flow in the chosen working space of the centrifugal equipment is proposed to be solved in linear formulation. For an isolated small spherical particle moving in the flow, the critical diameter of the particle (settling in the working space of the separator), which determines the separation efficiency, is calculated by solving the external problem of hydrodynamics.

NMPC integrated with optimization layer in offshore production

Abstract In offshore oil production, the occurrence of oscillatory flow regime that causes instabilities is very common, resulting in production losses, occasioned by shutdown, and environmental fine due to the violation of quality requirements. In this work, we evaluate the capability of a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) integrated with an optimization layer to maximize production, minimize energy consumption and mitigate impacts caused by slug flow regimes present in offshore processes. The objective function used in the optimization problem is formulated with the oil and gas production as profit and energy consumption as cost. The degree of freedom of the optimization problem are the topside pressure in the processing plant and the gas-lift injection flow rate in each well. The constraints are the BSW (Basic and Water sediments) and TOG (Grease and Oil content) specifications, capacity of the compression unit and the limits of gas-lift injection, in each well and total flow. The simulated offshore production system encompasses the subsea well, the flowline, the riser, and the topside platform. The subsea part, with four wells, was modeled in OLGA simulator and integrated with a simulated platform in EMSO simulator. The control problem was formulated with nine manipulated variable: gas-lift injection and opening choke valve in each well, and interface level in the separator drum. The results show that the controller can reject the slug disturbances, keeping the BSW and TOG inside the limits and driving the process to the setpoints coming from the optimization layer.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE MOVEMENT OF SMOOTH PARTICLES AT THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SEPARATORS WITH DRUM

The paper presents the main theoretical elements underlying the seeds separation process after their surface. During the seed cleaning and sorting process according to the surface condition machines with electromagnetic or magnetic separators drums are used. In this paper is made a comparative theoretical analyze of smooth seeds movement on electromagnetic drum surface and trajectory in free flight, neglecting and taking into consideration air resistance, detached from the separation drum and it is evaluated the collection area of detached seeds. On this basis, were carried out several case studies and numerical simulations for three different machines.

Internal flow measurements in pilot scale wet low-intensity magnetic separation

In the mining industry, ferromagnetic particles (e.g. magnetite) are concentrated using wet low-intensity magnetic separation (LIMS). The performance is to a large extent controlled by the internal flow conditions in the separator. In previous work, it was shown how an ultrasound pulse-echo setup can be used to simultaneously measure particle velocity profiles and local solids concentration variations in laboratory conditions.In this paper, a real-world case is demonstrated where the system is installed on one of the wet LIMS at the LKAB R&D facilities in Malmberget, Sweden. For the pilot scale experiments a setup with two ultrasound transducers, mounted at the bottom of the separator tank, is used. The design of experiments method is used to study the effects of the feed solids concentration, drum rotational speed, position of the concentrate weir, and the magnet assembly angle on the measured flow patterns. The results show that it is possible to detect changes in the flow velocity patterns and the local solids concentration, as the operational conditions of the separator are varied.Of the factors studied, the drum rotational speed has the strongest influence on the overall flow velocity in the dewatering zone. Also, the presence of a recirculating flow transporting gangue particles away from the concentrate is confirmed. The factor with the strongest influence on this recirculating flow is also the drum rotational speed, together with the magnet assembly angle. Using this method it is possible to make high quality measurements of internal flow velocity profiles. It is also possible to monitor material build-up on the separator drum, and e.g. detect overload of magnetic material. The insights gained, and the methods developed, have generated new possibilities to control, optimise, and develop the wet LIMS process.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE MOVEMENT OF SMOOTH PARTICLES AT THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SEPARATORS WITH DRUM

The paper presents the main theoretical elements underlying the seeds separation process after their surface. During the seed cleaning and sorting process according to the surface condition machines with electromagnetic or magnetic separators drums are used. In this paper is made a comparative theoretical analyze of smooth seeds movement on electromagnetic drum surface and trajectory in free flight, neglecting and taking into consideration air resistance, detached from the separation drum and it is evaluated the collection area of detached seeds. On this basis, were carried out several case studies and numerical simulations for three different machines.

Index Hybrid Differential–Algebraic Equations Model Based on Fundamental Principles for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of a Flash Separation Drum

Model predictive control (MPC) has been widely used in the chemical process industry; however, the industrial applications use a simplified model to describe the time evolution of the system in order to make the dynamic optimization problem easier to solve. Models based on fundamental principles describe in detail the dynamics of the system, but they define a problem of differential–algebraic equations (DAE) that can present high-index difficulties related to the definition of consistent initial conditions. Index reduction techniques have been applied to solve this kind of problem. This study presents an alternative to using high-index DAE models in MPC. The problem is discretized using orthogonal collocation on finite elements, and the original high-index model is used in the numerical integration, but its equivalent reduced index one model is used to define efficiently consistent initial conditions. The set point tracking problem and the disturbance rejection problem for a flash separation drum using nonlinear model predictive control are considered. It is shown that the proposed model does not present a practical difference with respect to the index one reduced model and that it is more efficient in computational terms.

Theoretic Aspects of Seed Motion on Drum Surface of Electromagnetic Separation Machines

The paper presents the main theoretical elements underlying the separation of seeds after their surface. Usually in the seed cleaning and sorting process by surface are used machines with electromagnetic or magnetic separation systems, which represent the main working elements. Based on the characteristic element which may rely make a difference in the seed surface separation process, it was developed a mathematical model of the smooth seed motion on the drum surface on an rotary cylinder in order to determine the seed detachment place and speed. Also in this paper, is made a theoretic analyze of smooth seed trajectory in free flight detached from the separation drum and it is assessed the collection area of loose seeds. On this basis were carried out case studies and numerical applications for three different working machines

Experimental investigations of droplet carryover from the separator drum of an air-lift loop simulating a scaled-down AHWR

Entrainment of phases into each other in a two-phase Natural Circulation Loop is of critical concern in nuclear applications. Despite having serious consequences, such as, radioactivity contamination, hardly any focused study of droplet entrainment from the separator drum has been reported. Hence, a comprehensive experimental study has been performed on an air-lift loop, considering an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) as the prototype. Loop dimensions were obtained following a detailed scaling analysis incorporating natural circulation modelling methodology and entrainment analysis inside the drum. Carryover was observed to increase with air supply rate and generally with drum water level. Porous suppressor plates were employed to reduce droplet entrainment and approximately 94% carryover reduction was achieved for the highest air flow rate employed. Parametric studies characterized the suppressor plates well; carryover rate reduced with reduction in diameter and number of holes in the suppressor plates.

DEVELOPMENT OF THRESHING SYSTEM IN COMBINE HARVESTER FOR IMPROVING OF ITS PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY IN RICE THRESHING

The combine (Class Crop Tiger) which was used in the present study is middle size (2.10 m cutting width). The axial flow drum was used in this combine. Separation wings were parallel with its axis. So, some improvements could be added to the axial-flow threshing/separating drum to improve the straw flow to reduce blockage, loss and to improve field efficiency and grain yield. So, improving the performance of combine machines during the harvesting operation of cereal crops is important to minimize both grain losses and operational costs. The main experiments were carried out at Ahmed Ramie Farm, Etai Al Barod, El-Behera Governorate, in order to compare four different types of threshing and separation drums of combine. The experiments were conducted in productive rice crop, variety (Giza 171) in an area of about 4.10 feddans. Specifications of threshing and separation drum before and after development: 1- Design and fabricate three serrated agitator ledge (15, 10 and 7 teeth), so that the passing crop and separation will be easy. 2- The length of threshing and separation is 180 cm, it consists three parts, the first part of the threshing section length 57.5 cm, the second part of the separation section length 90.5 cm, it change the separation section length to 110.5 cm to increase the grain separation efficiency and the third part of the straw exit section length to 22 cm. 3- The thickness of the separation vane to be 5nm instead of 3.5 min. 4- Using steel 60 to overcome the wear of vanes during the separation operation. Using three levels of cylinder speed as 500, 630 and 803 rpm (17.0, 21.4 and 27.3 m/s, adjusting the cylinder-concave clearance by using three levels of clearance namely 12.5/5.5, 13/6 and 16/7 n, and using two levels of feeding rate 2000 and 3000 kg/h. The results showed that: 1- The total grain losses decreased by decreasing both of the feed, rate, operating forward speed, threshing drum speed and the cylinder-concave clearance. 2- The threshing efficiency increased by decreasing the feed rate and operating forward speed, and it decreased by decreasing threshing drum speed, increasing the cylinder-concave clearance. 3- The grain quality increased by decreasing the feed rate, operating forward speed and threshing drum speed, and it decreased by decreasing the cylinder-concave clearance. 4- The cleaning efficiency increased by decreasing the feed rate, operating forward speed and threshing drum speed, and it decreased by increasing the cylinder-concave clearance. 5- The highest values of the actual field capacity at the feed rate 200kg/h/operating forward speed of 1.22 km/h/grain moisture content 21%, threshing drum speed of 500 rpm (17 m/s) and the cylinder-concave clearance (C1) of 12.5/5.5mm, was found to be as the developed rotor 7 teeth (0.489 fed/h), the develop rotor 10 teeth (0.473 fed./h), the developed rotor 15 teeth (0.460 fed./h) and the original rotor 15 teeth (0.42g fed./h). 6- The least values of the required energy at the feed rate of 2000 kg/h, operating forward speed of 1.22 km/h/grain moisture content of 21%, threshing drum speed of 500 rpm (17 m/s) and the cylinder-cancer clearance (C1) of 12.5/5.5 mm, was found to be as the developed rotor 7 teeth (30.186 kw.h/fed.), the developed rotor 10 teeth (34.600 kw.h/fed.), the developed rotor 15 teeth (41.159 kw.h/fed.) and the original rotor 15 teeth (51.613 kw.h/fed.). 7- The least values of the operating costs at the feed rate of 2000 kg/h, operating forward speed of 1.22 km/h/grain moisture content of 21%, threshing drum speed of 500 rpm (17 m/s) and the cylinder. Concave clearance (c1) of 12.5/5.5 mm, was found to be as the developed rotor 7 teeth (223.50 LE/fed.), the developed rotor 10 teeth (240.50 LE/fed.), the developed rotor 15 teeth (270.25 LE/Fed.) and the original rotor 15 teeth (314.75 LE/fed.). 8- The better results were reached under operating conditions was found to be as threshing drum speed of 500 rpm, feed rate of 2000 kg/h, operating forward speed of 1.22 km/h, cylinder-concave clearance of C, (12.5/5.5 mm) at grain moisture content of 21% was found to be as the developed rotor (7 teeth), whereas the total grain losses of 1.68%, required energy of 30.186 kw.h/fed., operating costs of 223.50 LE, fed., threshing efficiency of 99.34%, separation efficiency of 99.27% and, cleaning efficiency of 99.71%.