Per: iara patricia vieira de oliveira (ufop), Guilherme Lizieiro Rugio da Silva (gerdau), paulo santos assis (ufop)
Abstract:
Knowing the behavior of the granular flow in the silo is essential, as irregularities during loading and unloading can directly impact productivity and, in some more extreme cases, complete interruption of the flow. This work proposes the modeling of the granular flow of the coal mixture in the Coal-Bunker, through two distinct approaches: an experimental model in reduced scale; and a computational numerical model using the discrete element method. In both models, the mass flow during the discharge, the flow profile of the load, the effect of friction on the silo walls, the presence of segregation, and the influence of some properties of the coal, under the granular flow, were evaluated: moisture, charge density. The results showed that the ability of the physical and computational models to predict the flow behavior of the coal mixture in the Coal-Bunker was satisfactory.