Modeling and simulation of gravitational solid–solid separation for optimum performance

Empirical study on the effects of screen inclination and feed loading on size classification of solids by gravity

“…hopper or silo, onto an inclined sieve with increasing aperture sizes downwards, with channels below each sieve width to tap the falling undersize grades. For such a system the principle of relativity holds, so that the reduction in the oversize mass (m i ) and increase in undersize mass (m u ) are equal at any given time (Rotich et al, 2013).…”

“…Successful development of the approach would enable gravity-based systems e.g. deck screens, to be applied not only in the minerals industry but across process industry as a whole (Rotich et al, 2013). Knowledge of process flow conditions together with information about the flow properties of materials over different equipment surfaces will enable process engineers to optimize material handling operations by utilizing approximate empirical models for instance, to predict material flows.…”

“…In this paper, we present experimental results on the effects of screen inclination on solids classification carried out on the prototype designed in Rotich et al (2013); we also fine-tune the original models to reflect the realities of the experimental results. The formulated particle velocity models were solved by linear simulation, and found to behave similar to a linear time-varying system.…”

“…It was concluded in Rotich et al (2013) that there was no generation or degeneration of particulates, dm/dt % 0 during the classification process. However, upon further experimentation, it became apparent that some particles either got attached to and blinded the screens or flew off and hence could not be quantified as properly belonging to the undersize or oversize groups, which were the only groups covered by the model.…”

“…The acceleration of the center of mass of curved particles (a c ), is given Eq. (1) (Rotich et al, 2013);…”