Numerical Simulation of Particle Mixing Behavior in High Speed Shear Mixer and Cylinder Mixer

The mixing effect of powder materials is crucial in the iron ore granulation process, which determines the composition and particle size distribution, thereby affecting the quality of the sinter. To study the mixing effect of powder particles in a high speed shear mixer (HSSM) and cylinder mixer (CM), numerical simulation based on discrete element method was adopted in this work. For the CM, the particle movement consists of slipping and slumping. For the HSSM, the particle movement consists of rolling and cascading. The particle movement intensity coefficient of the HSSM is larger than that of CM, indicating that the movement of the particles in HSSM is more intensive. For HSSM case with four blades, the variation coefficient of homogeneity increases as rotational speed increases. The number of blades has little effect on the particle movement intensity coefficient and variation coefficient of homogeneity. In comparison to the CM, the variation coefficient of the HSSM reduce the most. It means that the mixing effect of HSSM is better than the CM. These findings are helpful for the improvement of the mixing and granulation efficiency in the iron ore sintering process.