Computer-Aided Design and Fabrication of a Dry Wind-Sifter Separator.

Area of Science:

• Mineral Processing and Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering and Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Dry beneficiation of coal is crucial for improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
• Traditional wet beneficiation methods can be water-intensive and generate large volumes of tailings.
• Existing dry separation techniques often face challenges with efficiency and particle size limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To simulate and experimentally validate a novel wind-sifter separator for dry coal beneficiation.
• To assess the effectiveness of the wind-sifting principle in separating coal particles based on density.
• To optimize operating parameters for enhanced coal upgrading.

Main Methods:

• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using the Lagrangian particle tracking method.
• Fabrication and testing of a laboratory-scale wind-sifter separator prototype.
• Experimental analysis of operating parameters including mass flow rate and air velocity.

Main Results:

• Simulations demonstrated the wind-sifting principle's effectiveness across different coal particle size fractions (-6.7 + 3.36, -3.36 + 1, and -1 mm).
• Optimized velocities achieved varying yields (29.1%, 54.3%, 99.4%) at a 1.5 Relative Density (RD) cut-point for the tested fractions.
• Experimental results showed successful upgrading of coal from 30.28% ash and 21 MJ/kg to 18.94% ash and 26.8 MJ/kg calorific value.

Conclusions:

• The designed wind-sifter separator is a viable and effective prototype for dry coal beneficiation.
• The study confirms the wind-sifting principle's efficacy in separating coal particles by density.
• This technology offers a promising alternative to conventional coal processing methods.