Coal Preparation » Dewatering
The aim of the project was to develop a model for screen bowl centrifuges and validate it using experimental data, enabling the coal preparation plants to improve the operation and control of centrifugal dewatering. A comprehensive centrifuge model was built by integrating pre-established models to predict the product moisture and solids loss from the screen-bowl and solid-bowl centrifuges.
The model was validated using the experimental dataset available in the literature. There was a good agreement between model prediction and the experimental data across diverse operational conditions and sizes of centrifuges.
We used the model to simulate the operation of centrifuges in industrial dewatering operation (machine size of 1.1 m in diameter and 3.3 m in length) under a wide range of operation conditions and gained valuable insights into optimising practical processes. The operating parameters included feed particle size distribution, feed throughput (i.e., feed flow rate and solids content), differential speed, and pool depth.
The main findings are detailed in the report in the following areas:
- Feed particle size distribution
- Feed throughput
- Differential Speed
- G-force at a fixed gear box ratio
- Pool depth
A beta version application was developed as a pre-release build of software, based on the present modelling, which can potentially provide a user-friendly digital twin solution to predicting dewatering performance.
The link to the web application will be provided by the researcher - Liguang.Wang@uq.edu.au.