CFD simulation of fine coal segregation and stratification in jigs

The literature review on discrete element (DEM) model analysis of jigging reveals that an idealized fluid behavior is assumed and the damping of the fluid motion across the mineral bed is generally ignored. A microscopic model based on the principles of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the liquid flow and stratification of coal particles with a wide size range and density distribution in jigging. Fluid motion is calculated by directly solving the Navier–Stokes equations. Coal particles are moved in a Lagrangian frame through the action of forces imposed by the fluid and gravity. Particle effects on fluid motion are fed back at each time step through calculating the velocity disturbance caused by the particle. Particle–particle and particle–wall collisions are also considered. The snapshots of particle configurations for the simulation of stratification in oscillating flow show that the model predicts the macroscopic behavior, such as segregation and stratification, of particles reasonably well.