DEM simulations in mining and mineral processing

Abstract

Discrete element method (DEM) has been applied to the mining and mineral processing simulations since 1990s. Successful applications include simulations for conveyor transportation and transition, screen size separation, crusher crushing process, SAG/AG and ball mill operations and associated liner wears, flotation process, and etc. In these DEM applications, particle sizes change from micron scale to meter scale and solid fractions vary from <10 % to almost 100 %. Therefore, it is challenging to use DEM to address different types of scale problems. To meet the challenge, various types of DEM technologies and some special types of particle-based computational mechanics methods have been developed to treat various types of applications. In this paper, it is shown that the mining and mineral processing application domain can be divided into nine subdomains and almost each subdomain requires a specialized DEM methodology or a particle-based computational mechanics method. Examples are given to demonstrate the specialized DEM applications.