Particle size segregation of bulk material in dustiness testers via DEM simulation

Dustiness testers are used to quantify the level of dust within a bulk material. The generation of dust can occur as a result of many bulk material handling activities, including filling or discharge from storage bins, during free-fall, material impact on conveyor transfers, or impact with other materials. Dust generation can have a serious impact to the environment as well as workers and nearby communities. This paper presents the findings of a discrete element modeling (DEM) study of the flow behavior of a range of binary granular mixes tested in the European Standard and the Australian Standard dustiness testers. Due to current computing limitations, a nondusty material has been chosen for these simulations to determine the underlying characteristics of particle migration within the rotating drums. A range of simulations have been performed using different starting positions of the simulated test product within the rotating drums to determine if this has any overall effect on the particle interactions. Additionally, simulated binary mixtures containing varied size ratios of the same product have been used in an attempt to uncover possible trends, especially in terms of axial and radial segregation.