(167d) Dem Prediction of Particle Flows and Breakage in Comminution Processes

Particle size reduction is a critical unit process in many industries including mineral processing, cement, food processing, pigments and industrial minerals and pharmaceuticals. The aim is to take large feed material and as efficiently as possible reduce the size of the particles to a target size range. Over time a very large range of equipment has been developed to perform this for many materials and in many different conditions. DEM modeling is a computational tool that can allow detailed exploration of the particle flow and breakage processes within comminution equipment and can assist in developing a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the detailed processes occurring within. In this paper we present a broad overview of the application of DEM modeling to the various classes of comminution equipment. These include crushers (gyratory, cone and jaw), AG and SAG mills, ball mills, VSI, HSI, stirred mills and also rolls based mills, crushers and sizers. The use of different types of quantitative DEM output to assist in understanding these different pieces of equipment will be highlighted. Future developments needed to allow full DEM based optimization will be discussed.