Numerical Simulation of Granular Flow in Concrete Batching Plant via Discrete Element Method
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Abstract
A new giant concrete batching plant with the production capacity of 270m3/hr was designed, analyzed and fabricated. In this concrete batching plant, the granular materials used for high-quality products must be uniformly mixed to attain a homogenous mixture. For this, the discrete element method (DEM) was utilized to simulate the filling, mixing, and discharging processes. The Hertz-Mindlin, elastic-plastic spring-dashpot and Simplified Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (SJKR) models were used for the interaction rules among granular particles. In the light of the aforementioned models, the first simulation with different particle sizes and the second simulation with monosized particles were realized. In the first simulation, the segregation by percolation and momentum segregation were perceived during the bunker filling stage, as well as the seeded granulation, which occurred in the mixer when the radii of particles were not monosized. Furthermore, in the second simulation, convective, diffusive and shear mixing mechanisms were observed and consequently the quantification of the mixing index was calculated using the lacey and miles statistical methods. At last, the active regions formed in the mixer were investigated by taking the velocity of the particles as reference during the mixing stages as well as the mixture throughput from the transfer chute.
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References
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