Numerical Study of Flow Field and Particle Motion Characteristics on Raw Coal Vertical Roller Mill Circuits

In order to improve the motion characteristics of particles in vertical roller mills (VRMs), the assumption that different structures of helical guide blades affect the internal flow field of the VRMs was put forward. The distributions of fluid velocity and vorticity in VRMs were analyzed, and the mechanism affecting the motion of particles and the separation performance was studied. The study took the MMLM2550 (supplied by Jiangsu Dahuan Group, China; grinding table diameter of 2550 mm) VRM as the research object, whose structure was improved by adding helical guide blades. The results showed that, with the increase in the width of blade, the air flow trajectory and the distribution of vorticity improved, which was conducive to the transport of particles. However, changing the thickness of the blade had little effect on the internal physical field of the VRM and particle motion characteristics. Therefore, the influence of blade’s thickness on these factors was ignored. With the increase in the number of helical guide blade turns, the direction of the helical guide blade remained consistent with the trajectory of the movement of particles, making it more conducive to the discharge of particles from the VRM. The height of the helical guide blade had a great influence on the flow field and the particle motion characteristics. The smaller the blade height, the greater the reflux in the primary separation zone, and stronger the irregular circulatory motion of particles, thus increasing the movement time and the distance of particles. With the increase in the number of blades, the airflow speed increased in the flow channel, so that the particles moved with the airflow at high speed, while the movement time was effectively shortened. The study provides valuable guidance for the improvement of VRM structures, and serves as a reference for characterizing the motion of particles and enhancing the internal flow field in VRMs.