The spiral concentrator is a type of gravity-based beneficiation equipment extensively utilized in the processing of hematite, specular iron ore, chromite, and ilmenite, owing to its advantages of minimal environmental impact, low production costs, and straightforward configuration. In industrial applications, surface instabilities, known as roll waves, are frequently observed in spiral concentrators due to fluctuations in the free surface, with flow resistance being a primary factor influencing flow stability. This study focuses on three key factors affecting flow resistance: wall roughness, fluid viscosity, and trough surface grooving.Utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology, we investigated the influence patterns of these parameters on the stability of separation flows in spiral concentrators. Analysis based on the liquid film evolution equation reveals that the inertial forces within the spiral sorting stream are unstable and contribute to destabilizing the flow. In contrast, surface tension mitigates the development of minor disturbances, thereby enhancing flow stability. A CFD model of a spiral concentrator was employed to simulate the flow field under varying flow resistance conditions. The simulation results indicate that an increase in wall roughness, fluid viscosity, or the number of grooves on the surface results in a gradual increase in flow resistance, subsequently reducing the maximum achievable Reynolds number of the spiral separation flow. Furthermore, the increase in flow resistance led to a decrease in both the Froude number and the Weber number, with reductions of 4.8% and 14.0% observed when the roughness was increased from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm, respectively. Similarly, when the viscosity was elevated from 0.010 Pa·s to 0.020 Pa·s and 0.025 Pa·s, the Froude number decreased by 8.9% and 20.7% respectively. Additionally, increasing the number of engraved grooves on the surface from 0 to 10 and 19 resulted in a reduction of the Froude number by 13.6% and 16.7%, respectively. These findings demonstrate that increased flow resistance contributes to enhanced flow stability.
螺旋溜槽是一种重力选矿设备,凭借其污染少、生产成本低和配置简单等优点,被广泛应用于赤铁矿、镜铁矿、铬铁矿和钛铁矿的选矿中(刘惠中,2011;Veiga et al,2020;Ye et al,2021)。在螺旋溜槽选矿过程中,流膜表面常因失稳而出现明显的波浪现象,该现象在水力学中被称为“滚波”。滚波的形成会显著影响分选流场结构,进而影响矿物的分选效果。滚波的发展过程受多种因素的影响,其中流动阻力是主要影响因素之一。
国内外针对螺旋分选流稳定性的研究较少,部分学者通过构建螺旋分选流模型分析了部分结构参数对于螺旋分选流稳定性的影响,结果表明,直径和距径比的增大,均会导致流体稳定性降低(刘惠中等,2023;李陈金,2023)。除此之外,未查阅到更多关于螺旋分选流稳定性的研究成果。然而,流动阻力作为水力学的研究重点,自20世纪70年代以来,陆续得到学术界的关注。Roels et al(1984)和沙际德等(1995)针对浅层水流阻力特性建立了一系列数学模型,但关于阻力系数与雷诺数之间的定量关系,不同试验条件下得出的结论不尽相同,呈现出复杂的非单调特性(Woolhiser et al,1967;丁文峰等,2002;Tatard et al,2008)。这种复杂的阻力特性与流动稳定性密切相关。研究表明,流动阻力(受粗糙度和黏滞系数等因素的影响)存在维持流动稳定的特定范围,当流动阻力超出该范围则失稳产生滚波等现象(Smith et al,2011;张宽地,2011;杨苗,2017)。这为进一步探究螺旋分选流流动稳定性提供了理论基础。综上可知,流动阻力是自由液面失稳发展成滚波的影响因素之一(潘成忠等,2009),此前有关流动稳定性的研究主要集中于水力学领域的坡面流,难以直接应用于空间曲率复杂的螺旋分选流中。螺旋分选流失稳所产生的滚波会显著改变分选流场结构,进而影响分选效果(李陈金,2023)。然而,目前流动阻力因素对螺旋分选流稳定性的影响研究尚属空白,因此,深入探究流动阻力对螺旋分选流稳定性的影响,对揭示失稳机理、优化分选过程具有重要意义。
层流状态下对应的临界弗劳德数为0.527,紊流状态下对应的临界弗劳德数为1.5~2.0(Julien et al,1986;Chen,1992)。螺旋分选流类似于明渠流,但也存在差异,其中螺旋槽横断面内存在着随径向变化的横向倾角,这导致螺旋分选流中不仅有纵向流动,还伴随有横向流动。这种差异使得螺旋分选流稳定性的判定标准与明渠流不同。为消除纵向倾角的影响,本研究将计算出若干径向位置的弗劳德数、雷诺数和韦伯数,通过观察这些无量纲参数随流动阻力变化的趋势来评价螺旋分选流的稳定性,如:若弗劳德数等参数随流动阻力的变化呈下降趋势,则认为流动趋于稳定;反之,则认为稳定性降低。该方法为定量分析流动阻力对螺旋分选流稳定性的影响提供了依据。
螺旋槽内给入流体后,计算域中同时混杂着液体和气体,即可将其视为气液两相流动,考虑到流动过程中,流体直接与空气接触,有明显的气液分界面,因此选择采用VOF多相流模型,主相为空气,次相为水,初始状态计算域中充满空气。螺旋分选流中层流和紊流共存,同时存在径向方向的二次环流,RNG k-ε模型能够较好地求解二次流与旋流等问题,本文将采用RNG k-ε模型进行模拟(Abu-Ali et al,2013)。
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