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Numerical Simulation of Granular Flow in Concrete Batching Plant via Discrete Element Method

Jaber Salamat1✉,
Bülent Genç2
1Elkon Concrete Batching Plants, R&D Center, Tekirdağ, Türkiye
2Elkon Concrete Batching Plants, R&D Center, Tekirdağ, Türkiye
Published:May 12, 2023
DOI: 10.56038/ejrnd.v3i2.219
Vol. 3, No. 2

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.

Keywords
Discrete Element MethodGranular MaterialsTwin Shaft MixerWet Granulation

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Cite This Article
Salamat, J., Genç, B. (2023). Numerical Simulation of Granular Flow in Concrete Batching Plant via Discrete Element Method. *The European Journal of Research and Development*, 3(2), 11-28. https://doi.org/10.56038/ejrnd.v3i2.219

Bibliographic Info

JournalThe European Journal of Research and Development
Volume3
Issue2
Pages11–28
PublishedMay 12, 2023
eISSN2822-2296