Comparing modeling approaches in simulating a continuous pilot-scale wet vertical stirred mill using PBM-DEM-CFD

[Display omitted] •Significant differences between DEM and coupled DEM-CFD in predicting media motion.•Mill mechanical environment well described considering three axial mixing zones.•Selected material breakage parameters fitted from first pass through the mill.•Mechanistic model provided good descr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced powder technology : the international journal of the Society of Powder Technology, Japan Japan, 2023-09, Vol.34 (9), p.104135, Article 104135
Main Authors: de Carvalho, Rodrigo M., Oliveira, Alessandro L.R., Petit, Horácio A., Tavares, Luís Marcelo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
DEM-CFD
Grinding
Mechanistic
Modeling
Stirred mill
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Significant differences between DEM and coupled DEM-CFD in predicting media motion.•Mill mechanical environment well described considering three axial mixing zones.•Selected material breakage parameters fitted from first pass through the mill.•Mechanistic model provided good descriptions of additional passes through the mill.•Simulations show particles are weakened, whereas tougher ones likely to survive. Vertical stirred mills have become increasingly popular in size reduction operations in the fine and ultrafine range, being normally used in industry in continuous operation. The present work describes the application of a mechanistic mill modeling approach based on the population balance (PBM) to describe the performance of a pilot-scale gravity-induced continuous stirred mill using 6 mm steel grinding media. At first, DEM and coupled DEM-CFD were compared in simulation of the mill, clearly demonstrating the significant effect of incorporating explicitly the fluid flow in describing the motion of the grinding media. The work then uses data from the stirred mill grinding calcite in multiple passes for model calibration and validation, besides breakage parameters from previous studies. It shows that the population balance-based mechanistic mill model predictions vary depending on the number of mixers-in-series used to predict product size, but that are capable of describing very well the milling operation considering the mill as three perfectly mixed grinding zones in series.
ISSN:0921-8831
1568-5527
DOI:10.1016/j.apt.2023.104135