DEM simulation of industrial particle flows: case studies of dragline excavators, mixing in tumblers and centrifugal mills

Discrete element methods (DEM) are now sufficiently well developed to plausibly model industrial and mining related particle flows. Three cases studies of such DEM simulations are presented here; dragline excavators, mixing in tumblers and charge motion in centrifugal mills. They show the breadth of application now possible and the types of predictions that can be made for each. More importantly, they demonstrate the critical role of particle shape in industrial particle flows. Detailed experimental data for two of these applications shows that the simulation predictions are qualitatively accurate.