Multi-Body Granular Flow Simulation For The Design and Operation Of Mechanical Separation Processes For Recycling

Products and material mixtures found in E-waste are highly inhomogeneous and in continuous evolutions. In spite of this variability, state-of-the-art mechanical recycling systems are extremely rigid, both in their design and parameter settings. This is mainly due to the lack of knowledge-based engineering models and tools to support the design and operation of separation processes able to capture, with an acceptable level of confidence, all the major phenomena affecting the quality of the output, including particle-particle interactions and impacts. In this paper, multi-body granular flow simulation is proposed as a modeling and analysis tool able to capture the physics of mechanical separation processes and to support process parameter design, operation and control in industrial settings. The proposed models are validated at pilot plant level. The major improvements towards state-of-the-art modeling approaches are discussed.