(13d) Exploring the Interplay Between Fragmenting Attrition and Cyclone Separation

It is widely known that higher cyclone inlet velocities produce a finer and tighter gas-particle separation at the cost of higher particle attrition.  Few models exist that study the interplay between these two effects in detail.  In previous work, the authors studied the interplay between abrasive attrition and cyclone separation (Freireich and Jacob, 2013, Fluidization XIV).  In that work regime maps were generated demarcating the conditions of separation and attrition dominated regimes.  Additionally, the quantitative effect of increased model complexity (size dependent attrition, retained fines, etc.) were investigated.  In this presentation the previous work will be extended to include fragmenting attrition.  That is, instead of particles attriting by slowly shrinking in size, the consequences of particles fragmenting into multiple discrete pieces will be examined.

The purpose of these exercises is to understand the mechanistic interplay between fragmenting attrition and cyclone separation efficiency and evaluate the necessity of increased model complexity for accurate prediction.