Screw conveyor performance: comparison of discrete element modelling with laboratory experiments

Screw conveyors are very effective for transporting dry particulates, giving good control over the throughput. Despite their apparent simplicity, the transportation action is very complex and designers have tended to rely heavily on empirical performance data. In this paper, we use the DEM to examine how variations of particle properties influence the performance of the screw conveyor. The primary focus of our study is comparing predicted mass flow rates with experimentally measured values. The secondary focus is to study how other performance measures (such as: particle speeds and power consumption) vary due to changes in the properties of the particles.