DEM study of particles flow on an industrial-scale roller screen

In this work, the screening process of an industrial-scale roller screen was simulated based on the validated discrete element method (DEM). The effects of the feed rate, rotational speed of rollers, inclination angle of screen deck and the cohesion force between wet particles on the screening process were investigated. The results show that screening efficiency decreases with the increase of feed rate, which remains above 0.80 when the feed rate is less than 700 kg/s. The optimal values of rotational speed and inclination for high efficiency are 100 r/min and 6°, respectively. Working parameters have a significant effect on both the passing percentage and the average velocity of different size fractions. Hence, reasonable working parameters should be adopted to avoid the accumulation of particles on the deck. Moreover, both particle shape and cohesion force have little effect on the screening processes of the roller screen.