Screening is a key operation in a crushing plant that ensures adequate product quality of aggregates in mineral processing. The screening process can be divided into the two sub-processes of stratification and passage. The stratification process is affected by the relative difference between various properties, such as particle shape, size distribution, and material density. The discrete element method (DEM) is a suitable method for analyzing the interactions between individual particles and between particles and a screen deck in a controlled environment. The main benefit of using the DEM for simulating the screening process is that this method enables the tracking of individual particles in the material flow, and all of the collisions between particles and between particles and boundaries. This paper presents how different particle densities and flowrates affect material stratification and, in turn, the screening performance. The results of this study show that higher density particles have a higher probability of passage because of their higher stratification rate, which increases the probability that a particle will contact the screen deck during the process.
Nitrile rubber (NBR) based elastomer compounds containing different carbon black/silica composition ratios were prepared using laboratory-scale two roll mill. According the cure characterization results, addition of the reinforcing filler, either carbon black or silica, shortened the optimum cure time and also scorch time of samples compared to that of pure NBR gum where the optimum cure time and scorch time both decreased with increasing the silica content of hybrid filler. Analysis of mechanical properties showed that burst strength of carbon black-rich NBR compounds was higher compared to the samples containing silica. This is presumably due to the higher elongation at break observed in NBR/silica compounds revealing lower crosslink density. In fact, adsorption of curing agents onto the functional groups present at the silica surface would be responsible for the lower crosslink density. According to the Barlow’s formula, despite the higher tensile strength of NBR/silica compounds, higher elongation at break leads to the lower burst strength of NBR/silica/carbon black diaphragms.
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