Ore particle backflow performance in the deep-sea mining slurry pump

Abstract

To deal with the problem of poor backflow performance of ore particles in the deep-sea mining slurry pump, the computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) is used to calculate the reflux of spherical particles in a certain slurry pump with single-stage and two-stage impeller guide vanes and reflux of homogenous and nonhomogeneous nonspherical particles. Due to the different relative positions of guide vane and impeller blades, the reflux of particle groups in different guide vane passages is different for the single-stage impeller guide vane. The reflux of particle groups is relative to the shape of the impeller guide vane, and the high rotary speed and small blade size are conducive to particle reflux. When the particles flow back into the pump with two-stage impeller guide vane, the flowing of particles in However, the distribution of particles in different guide vanes in the first stage is not only affected by the relative positions of the guide vane blades in the first stage impeller but also related to the relative positions of the guide vane blades of the first stage impeller and the blades in the secondary impeller. The reflux ability of nonhomogeneous particles is weaker than that of the homogenous particles, along with different passing times in the two stages. The reflux performance of nonspherical particles is inferior to that of the spherical particles, further increasing the difficulty in designing the slurry pump.