Case study: Transfer Chute Redesign with EDEM BulkSim® Simulation
Longking is a large engineering and manufacturing company in China. Longking Bulk Materials Science & Engineering Division is a specialised group that designs and supplies bulk handling and storage equipment to clients around the world.
Challenge
At a power plant in China, thermal coal is processed in a tall building to screen and crush oversized material. Several chutes connect the feed conveyor to the screen and crusher where sub 30mm is fed to the out-going conveyor.
The main issues that needed to be addressed in this project were:
1.Significantly control and reduce dust emissions
2.Reduce likelihood of blockages occurring when handling wet coal
3.Improve loading on the outgoing conveyor
Solution
EDEM BulkSim software was used to run simulations of the existing design and identify the flow problems with dry and wet coal. Post processing was conducted to evaluate:
•Coal velocity at various locations
•Impact velocity on the lower chute and out-going conveyor
•Presentation of coal on the out-going conveyor i.e. side loading
•Slip velocity between the coal discharging the lower chute and out-going conveyor i.e. to assess if the coal is softly loading the belt.
The data and observations from the EDEM BulkSim simulations were utilised to commence re-designing the lower section of the chute.
Several design concepts were developed. To determine which design was optimal, EDEM BulkSim simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of each design.
Improvements – final design shows:
•Controlled flow in spoon chute
•Soft loading on out-going conveyor to reduce dust emission
•Improved velocity profile on out-going conveyor
•Improved central loading on out-going conveyor
In addition a relative wear analysis was conducted in EDEM BulkSim to examine the normal (impact wear) and tangential (abrasive wear) on the new lower chute. This analysis assisted the Longking engineers to design the wear liner package.
Return on Investment to Longking
EDEM BulkSim’s ability to accurately simulate the coal flow through a crushing and screening station provided a number of benefits to Longking:
•Gained greater insight than using traditional design methods
•Provided confidence that the design would perform well with low probability of blockages while reducing dust emissions
In addition EDEM BulkSim visualization helped Longking demonstrate the design solution to the client and increase their confidence that the solution would work to solve the issues.
“EDEM BulkSim was an effective design tool to model the flow of coal through the existing design and develop a robust chute design to solve the on-going problems. Once material testing and calibration was complete, Longking and Bulk Material Engineering Australia (BMEA) were able to examine various design configurations to find an optimal design that would improve coal flow and reduce dust emissions.
Coal must flow through the chute so designing a solution that would not block while generating low dust emissions was vital. The new design has been implemented and the solution has successfully solved the issues”.
Rongfu Liao
Chief Engineer of Dust Suppression
Xiamen Longking Bulk Material Science & Engineering Co., Ltd.
To see the full case study please contact More information on DEM Solutions10806 edem.htm
Case study: Transfer Chute Redesign with EDEM BulkSim® Simulation
Case study: Transfer Chute Redesign with EDEM BulkSim® Simulation
Longking is a large engineering and manufacturing company in China. Longking Bulk Materials Science & Engineering Division is a specialised group that designs and supplies bulk handling and storage equipment to clients around the world.
Challenge
At a power plant in China, thermal coal is processed in a tall building to screen and crush oversized material. Several chutes connect the feed conveyor to the screen and crusher where sub 30mm is fed to the out-going conveyor.
The main issues that needed to be addressed in this project were:
1.Significantly control and reduce dust emissions
2.Reduce likelihood of blockages occurring when handling wet coal
3.Improve loading on the outgoing conveyor
Solution
EDEM BulkSim software was used to run simulations of the existing design and identify the flow problems with dry and wet coal. Post processing was conducted to evaluate:
•Coal velocity at various locations
•Impact velocity on the lower chute and out-going conveyor
•Presentation of coal on the out-going conveyor i.e. side loading
•Slip velocity between the coal discharging the lower chute and out-going conveyor i.e. to assess if the coal is softly loading the belt.
The data and observations from the EDEM BulkSim simulations were utilised to commence re-designing the lower section of the chute.
Several design concepts were developed. To determine which design was optimal, EDEM BulkSim simulations were conducted to evaluate the performance of each design.
Improvements – final design shows:
•Controlled flow in spoon chute
•Soft loading on out-going conveyor to reduce dust emission
•Improved velocity profile on out-going conveyor
•Improved central loading on out-going conveyor
In addition a relative wear analysis was conducted in EDEM BulkSim to examine the normal (impact wear) and tangential (abrasive wear) on the new lower chute. This analysis assisted the Longking engineers to design the wear liner package.
Return on Investment to Longking
EDEM BulkSim’s ability to accurately simulate the coal flow through a crushing and screening station provided a number of benefits to Longking:
•Gained greater insight than using traditional design methods
•Provided confidence that the design would perform well with low probability of blockages while reducing dust emissions
In addition EDEM BulkSim visualization helped Longking demonstrate the design solution to the client and increase their confidence that the solution would work to solve the issues.
“EDEM BulkSim was an effective design tool to model the flow of coal through the existing design and develop a robust chute design to solve the on-going problems. Once material testing and calibration was complete, Longking and Bulk Material Engineering Australia (BMEA) were able to examine various design configurations to find an optimal design that would improve coal flow and reduce dust emissions.
Coal must flow through the chute so designing a solution that would not block while generating low dust emissions was vital. The new design has been implemented and the solution has successfully solved the issues”.
Rongfu Liao
Chief Engineer of Dust Suppression
Xiamen Longking Bulk Material Science & Engineering Co., Ltd.
To see the full case study please contact More information on DEM Solutions10806 edem.htm
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