Particle size-included partition curve model of dense medium cyclones

The partition curve of dense medium cyclones (DMCs) has been extensively investigated. Most of the existing models are merely used to simulate the density distribution at the same size fraction. However, when the particle size varies, the models are no longer applicable to the new separation. To solve this problem, first, the effects of coal slime size in the suspension and feed coal size on the separation performance of DMCs were discussed. We found that with an increase in the coal slime size, the separation deteriorated and the cut density increased slightly, whereas an opposite trend occurred in the case of feed coal size. Then, a new partition curve model with a compound input of the density and particle size for DMC was presented. The model took the form , where x indicates density, y indicates particle size and a, b, c m, n are constants. The results of comparison between our experiment and other plant data demonstrated the effectiveness of the model as all the predicted partition curves approximated to the actual ones. Further, the model could be applied to simulate the separation performance of DMCs with different coal slime sizes in the suspension and feed coal size simultaneously. The model can be used to describe the complex separation behaviors of DMCs with varying particle size.