Investigation of the dust release from bulk material undergoing various mechanical processes using a coupled DEM/CFD approach

Abstract

In this study a numerical approach to investigate the dust release from bulk solid during handling is presented. The modelling framework relies on the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to describe the bulk particle motion coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to model the gas and the dust phase as part of a multiphase framework. Build up on already successfully applied models for dust emissions, dust release functions are integrated into the coupled DEM/CFD. This enables to simulate the dust release as a result of the impact forces/moments during particle contact and due to particle-fluid interaction. The DEM/CFD model is successfully calibrated and benchmarked to empirical data with mostly good results for variations of the two cases of an overflown heap of bulk material and free fall and impact of the latter. By using the calibrated model, a parameter study in a rotating drum is performed as an illustrative application.