COMPUTER SIMULATION OF COAL BREAKAGE IN CONVEYOR

TRANSFER CHUTES WITH ROCKY DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD

PACKAGE
Alexander Potapov1and Timothy Donohue2
1
Granular Dynamics International, LLC
2
TUNRA Bulk Solids, Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources, University of Newcastle

A numerical method that allows direct simulation of breakage of non-round particles with
both mass and volume preservation is presented. The method is based on Voronoi
fracture particle subdivision algorithm; the breakage energy probability and resulting
fragment size distribution is based on T10 approach. The method is used to simulate the
breakage of coal in two different geometries of conveyor transfer chutes. The breakage
rates are analyzed and zones of particles breakage are identified.

INTRODUCTION
The geometry of a transfer station between two conveyors is one of the most important elements
of a conveyor assembly. The most common problem of a transfer station is improper design that
leads to a situation where it cannot handle the volumetric flow of material. In the worst case
scenario, this leads to transfer chute plugging and the necessity of conveyor stoppage. In terms of
design methods to avoid this problem, work has been done using both traditional continuum
approaches [1, 2] as well as using computer simulation approaches [3, 4]. Much less
consideration has been given to material breakage that occurs in transfer chutes. The degradation
of material inside chutes is an important consideration where dust control is critical since such
breakage creates fine particles that are carried by air, and in addition to this in certain
applications there is financial penalty associated with excess fines in the product. The material
breakage must be also considered for cases where shape/size distribution of the particles has to
be guaranteed; for example for transfer of iron ore briquettes. The first attempt to quantify
breakage in transfer chutes using Discrete Element Modeling (DEM) was presented in Donohue
et al [5].

This paper presents a numerical technique that is capable of predicting particle breakage using
the Rocky DEM software package. Rocky is at this stage the only commercial package that uses
true non-round polyhedral particles; the advantages of these particles is that they can be broken
into polyhedral fragments without loss of mass and volume using the Voronoi fracture algorithm
that is well known in the movie and gaming industry (see for Example Coumans [6]). Unlike
methods used in these industries the fragment formation in Rocky is not arbitrary; the breakage
probability is based on the model proposed by Vogel and Peukert [7] and modification of T10
approach proposed by Shi and Kojovic [8]. A brief description of the model, details of the
experimental testing and an application case study of the breakage of coal in transfer chutes is
presented in the following sections.
MODEL DESCRIPTION
Unlike many other DEM computer codes where particles of either spherical or other pres-set
shape are used (see for example [9]) Rocky can use arbitrary-shaped convex polyhedrons and
therefore can preserve both mass and volume in the breakage process. The simulation process is
described below.

For every particle that is in contact with other particles and/or walls, the total specific energy of
this contact, e, is calculated. If this energy is larger than the minimum breakage energy of the
particle, emin, which is determined as

emin=emin,ref (Lref/L) (1)

where L is the particle size, emin,ref is the minimum specific energy for a reference particle size for
this material (this is a material constant) and Lref is the reference particle size, the energy minus
minimum energy is added to cumulative energy of previous contacts ecum:

ecum=ecum+e-emin (2)

The breakage probability of the particle P is calculated via formula [9];

P=1-exp(-S (L/Lref) ecum) (3)

where S is the particle breakage strength parameter which is a material constant. If the particle is
broken then the fragments are generated following the Voronoi fracture algorithm according to
the distribution specified by the T10 rule:

T10=M exp(-S (L/Lref) ecum) (4)

where M is a material constant. The full fragment size distribution is determined from the value
of T10 by assuming a certain shape of size distribution (Gaudin-Schumann is used in the present
work).

EXPERIMENTAL TESTING
A series of experiments were carried out in the laboratory of TUNRA Bulk Solids to determine
the parameters for the breakage model. The physical testing consisted of dropping a particle and
recording firstly if the particle broke or not, and if so what the resulting broken particle sizes
were. The experimental test rig is shown in Fig 1. This test was carried out for three groups of
particles and for two drop heights1, with each group made up of 30 particles. The particle size
ranges were chosen to be as mono-size as possible, but are governed by consecutive sieve sizes.
As such, the three particle size ranges that were tested are 16-19mm, 25-37.5mm, and 53-75mm.
The two drop heights that were tested were 2.5m and 4m.

1
Note that for the largest particle size range only one drop height was tested due to a limited supply of particles in
this size range
 Fig 1: Diagram of Experimental Test Set-up
The test results for each of the testing cases can be seen in multi-parameter fits of Equations 2
and 3. The fraction of broken particles appearing in Table 1 is the breakage probability P from
Equation 2 and the percentage of particles passing the screen size of 1/10th of the original particle
size is the value of T10 from Equation 3. The particle drop height multiplied by gravity is the
particle specific energy e. The parameters emin, S and M are calculated and used in the
simulations.
Table 1. From these test results, the breakage parameters can be found by multi-parameter fits of
Equations 2 and 3. The fraction of broken particles appearing in Table 1 is the breakage
probability P from Equation 2 and the percentage of particles passing the screen size of 1/10th of
the original particle size is the value of T10 from Equation 3. The particle drop height multiplied
by gravity is the particle specific energy e. The parameters emin, S and M are calculated and used
in the simulations.
Table 1: Summary of test results
Size Range (mm) 16 - 19 25 37.5 53 75
Drop Height (m) 2.5 4.0 2.5 4.0 2.5
Particles in Group 29 30 30 30 26
Number of unbroken
13 3 7 2 2
particles
Group Particle Mass (g) 153.98 112.41 858.74 709.41 4753.61
Sieve opening (mm) Mass Passing (g) Mass Passing (g) Mass Passing (g)
53 0 0 0 0 4100.25
37.5 0 0 0 0 39.48
25 0 0 686.34 402.85 234.68
19 0 0 99.20 149.37 62.00
16 117.16 63.41 24.40 59.12 38.34
11.2 24.67 27.47 20.18 32.75 88.13
5.6 8.28 13.18 13.29 32.26 68.41
2.8 1.05 3.89 4.18 9.17 33.35
2 0.20 0.92 1.58 2.78 12.63
<2 2.59 3.54 9.57 20.71 108.47
TRANSFER CHUTE SIMULATIONS
The geometries of two transfer chutes which are used in the analysis for this paper are presented
in Fig 2 below. The first chute has a classic rock box design and the second one is a classic hood
and spoon design. The parameters used in the simulations are presented in

Table 2 below. The parameters for the breakage parameters presented in this table have been
determined from the experiments as discussed previously.

The simulations were performed on 32-core Intel Xeon 2.26 GHz computers; each simulation
took approximately 3 days of CPU time for 20 seconds of real time; the model size was 1.2
million particles with approximately half of this model being breakable non-round particles and
the other half unbreakable round particles with rolling resistance to represent the fine fractions
(0.019 m and lower). The fine fraction was included to provide a "cushioning" effect for higher
fractions; the prediction of breakage will not be accurate without it.

Fig 2: Geometries of two transfer chutes used in the simulation: rock box (left) and hood and
spoon (right). Particles are colored by velocity.
The results of the simulations are presented in terms of feed particle breakage rate versus time,
with these results shown in Fig 3. One can see from this figure that breakage rate is significantly
higher for the rock box chute compared to hood and spoon chute. This conclusion is consistent
with the general findings of Donohue at el [5]. It is interesting to note that the hood and spoon
chute exhibits lower breakage rates in spite of higher particle velocities (shown in Fig 2). While
the average absolute particle velocity is higher for the hood and spoon chute, the normal relative
velocity at particle contacts is lower for this configuration which causes a lower breakage rate.

Table 2: Parameters used in the transfer chute simulations

Parameter Units Value
Chute Tonnage Mtph 2,600
Starting Number of Particles 1,202,603
Particle size Range m 0.019-0.1
 Rock Density kg/m3 1,600
Chute Static and Dynamic Friction 0.5/0.5
Particles Reference Size m 0.1
Reference Minimum Specific Energy J/kg 2.1
Breakage Strength Parameter, S kg/J 0.25
120
T10 Parameter % 4.9
Breakage Rate, mtph

100
Fragment Size Distribution Type Gaudin-Schumann
80
60
40
20
0

Fig 3: Particle breakage rate (original particles larger than 0.019 m) for two chutes configuration
versus time.
Breakage results are shown visually in Fig 4 for the two chutes where only fragments (red) and
particles that are going to be broken (blue) are displayed. This picture allows a simple
identification of the zones where particle breakage is taking place. As expected, the breakage for
the rock box chute takes place in the two rock box sections of the chute and at the bottom of the
chute where particles hit the wall. For the hood and spoon very little breakage takes place at the
upper part of the chute, the majority of breakage is in the lower section of the chute where the
particle velocity is higher. These breakage zones can be easily seen on the movie created from
the simulation results, this movie is available upon request.

Fig 4: Particles that are going to be broken (blue) and breakage fragments (red) for the two
transfer chutes simulated
CONCLUSION
A new numerical model for breakage simulations is presented, with this model being based on
non-round particle capabilities of Rocky DEM software. The model is capable of predicting
breakage rates and fragment size distribution inside a variety of industrial devices. The specific
application studied in this paper is conveyor transfer chutes, with the study including a rock box
chute and a hood and spoon chute. The breakage model presented in this case study, which was
based on experimental testing, indicated that rock box chutes are more likely to cause particle
degradation than in hood and spoon chutes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Authors would like to acknowledge undergraduate student Michael Carr for carrying out the
experimental testing as part of a summer scholarship carried out in conjunction with TUNRA
Bulk Solids and the University of Newcastle.

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