Performance and wear prediction in pipe mills

Purpose and goal
The main scientific objective of the proposed project is to build physically realistic numerical models for grinding materials in pipe mills. The purpose is to improve the understanding of the work of stirred media mill. The results will also facilitate understanding of the physical and mechanical behavior of the process material during grinding in the pipe mills. The vision for a future full-scale innovation project is to develop a mill optimisation tool in industrial mill circuits to save energy and minimise wear.

Structure and implementation
In order to achieve the project objectives, the proposed project is divided into four main parts: 1. Experimental study of grinding of the pipe mill for calibration of numerical models and preliminary validation of numerical results. 2. Creation of numerical ICFD-DEM-FEM model of the pipe mill. 3. Simulation of the milling process for different load situations and predicting load intensity. 4. Preliminary validation of numerical model results in small scale measurements of stirred media. The work will be done in interdisciplinary cooperation between solid mechanics and mineral technology.

Expected results
The results from experiments and simulation will provide load, dynamics and energy consumption in pipe mills. The results will give an understanding of the physical and mechanical behavior of the process material during grinding in the pipe mills. This is an important step for future optimisation of the milling system. In addition, the results of simulations will be used to understand the fluid structure interaction and anticipate the energy distribution in the mill. Based on the results, new and more effective mills may be designed.