Numerical Simulation for Non-Metallic Particles Air Sorting with EDEM-FLUENT

In the recycling of end of life vehicle, the residue of shredder composed of metal particles and non-metal particles. If non-metal particles is sorted into raw material with high purity, the recycling value of end of life vehicle will be increased. Due to the litter differences in the volume of solid particles after the broken, the use of traditional hole screening is difficult to achieve separation. According to the different of particle density, they can be separated by wind blowing. For single layer particles group theory mathematics formula can describe the trajectory of particle motion more accurately, but for a certain thickness of the granular layer, due to the interference of particle swarm to the flow field, single particle theory formula for sorting is not accurate. For seeking the optimal kinematic parameters (wind speed, angle direction, wind chamber size etc.), in order to achieve the maximum efficiency of winnowing, Through the coupling of the EDEM-FLUENT software conduct numerical simulation of the air separation process, using control variable method, choose the best separation method. In the analysis of two kinds of rubber and glass particles, when the wind speed is 12m/s, wind angle is 20 degrees, the maximum separation efficiency can be obtained.