A preliminary investigation into magnetic separation process using CFD

The performance of magnetic separation units relies on the interaction between magnetic, hydrodynamic, gravitational, and inter particle forces. These forces are controlled by process as well as design parameters. In order to get a better understanding of the separation process we have developed a mathematical model using a computational fluid dynamics framework to follow the separation behavior of particles as in a wet high intensity magnetic separator. A three-dimensional, Eulerian-Eulerian model has been developed to predict the flow profile, as well as the concentration profile of solid particles between two parallel plates. The Navier-Stokes equations are used to predict the flow profile for the liquid phase. The model equations have been solved using the finite volume solver available in the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Fluent, to estimate the volume fraction of magnetic particles captured by the plates. Simulation results show that most of the magnetic particles are trapped on the magnetic plate which has also been observed experimentally.