Influence Of The Spiral Concentrator Main Structural Parameters On The Processing Flow Pattern And Mineral Particles Behavior

Spiral concentrator is a kind of high-efficiency gravity separation equipment,which is widely used in mineral processing industry due to its features of working without power,energy saving and environmental protection,and easy configuration.Spiral concentrator is an efficient gravity separation equipment for hematite,ferro-titanium,ferro-chrome,tantalum-niobium,coal mines,etc.It is used in a large number of applications in the mineral processing industry because it works without power,is energy-saving and environmentally friendly,and is easy to configure.It is the key equipment for beneficiation of hematite,ferro-titanium,ferro-chrome,tantalum-niobium,coal mine,etc.According to the existing research,the diameter of the spiral concentrator,distance to diameter ratio and other major structural parameters play a key role in the sorting flow pattern,mineral sorting behavior and sorting performance of the spiral concentrator.Generally speaking,the spiral concentrator with large diameter and distance to diameter ratio is beneficial to the separation of coarse particles and large specific gravity mineral particles,and conversely,the spiral concentrator with small diameter and distance to diameter ratio is suitable for the separation of fine minerals to achieve satisfactory results.But these conclusions are based on previous laboratory research and industrial application experience,for the spiral concentrator diameter and distance ratio and the relationship between the sorting flow pattern and mineral sorting behavior,there is a lack of corresponding mechanism research.In order to clarify the relationship between spiral concentrator diameter and pitch ratio and spiral concentrator sorting flow pattern and mineral sorting behavior,the relationship between spiral concentrator diameter and pitch ratio and mineral sorting behavior is not studied.In this paper,CFD models of spiral concentrator sorting flow patterns(flow velocity,pressure,flow film thickness)and particle trajectories of various diameters and pitch ratios were established with the aid of computational fluid dynamics(CFD)technology and FLUENT software.The simulation results show that the maximum longitudinal flow velocity of a large diameter spiral concentrator with ?1200mm diameter decreases and then increases from the first turn,while the maximum longitudinal flow velocity of a small diameter spiral concentrator with ?600mm diameter increases with the number of turns from the first turn;the longitudinal flow velocity in the spiral concentrator The location of the highest longitudinal flow velocity in the spiral concentrator gradually moves to the outside of the spiral concentrator as the diameter increases and the pitch ratio increases;the thickness of the flow film in the spiral concentrator gradually increases from the inside to the outside,and the location of the thickest flow film moves to the outside edge of the spiral concentrator as the pitch ratio increases.The simulation results show that for 5μm fine grained heavy minerals,a small diameter spiral concentrator with ?600mm can achieve more obvious enrichment at a certain distance ratio;for 50μm fine grained heavy minerals,a spiral concentrator with ?1200mm diameter spiral concentrator with a spacing ratio of 0.45 can achieve more obvious enrichment effect;for100μm medium-grained minerals sorting,the use of ?1200mm diameter spiral concentrator with a spacing ratio of 0.6 has a better sorting effect.These results are consistent with the existing spiral concentrator application experience.Finally,a spiral concentrator laboratory test system with multiple diameters and spacing ratios was established,and clear water tests and re-election tests with ore were conducted.The research results of this paper can be used to guide the selection of industrial spiral concentrators,the optimization of the configuration process and the development of spiral concentrator products.This paper explains the sorting behavior of spiral concentrators mechanistically,which is of some significance for the exploration of the sorting mechanism of spiral concentrators.