CFD-DEM models for matte droplet settling in a flash smelting settler
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Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
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Authors
Date
2023-11
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
16
Series
Heliyon, Volume 9, issue 11
Abstract
The flash smelting process is widely used in copper production. In the process, sulfidic feed and flux are oxidized. The heat released in the reactions melts the feed which forms a slag layer through which matte droplets must settle. Understanding the different phenomena affecting the settling is important to minimize losses. Due to the high temperature, simulation methods were employed to study settling. In this work, coupled CFD-DEM was used to study the effect of coalescence and reactions with in-house built submodels and scaled-down geometries. Colliding droplets often coalesce into larger droplets while reactions decrease their size and make them denser. These increase the settling velocity which is further enhanced by the formation of a channeling flow. Channels make the droplet cluster denser causing more collisions. This method enables the phenomena to be studied at the individual droplets' details, although simulating a full-scale process is beyond the available computational resources.Description
Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Business Finland as this work has been a part of the TOCANEM project. Grant number: 41778/31/2020 . Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
Keywords
Coalescence, Copper, Reaction kinetics, Simulation, Slag
Other note
Citation
Jylhä, J-P & Jokilaakso, A 2023, ' CFD-DEM models for matte droplet settling in a flash smelting settler ', Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 11, e21570 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21570