Simulational and experimental determination of the exploitation parameters of a screw conveyor

The paper discusses the designing process of screw conveyors, with regard to the determination of the exploitation parameters of such devices with the use of the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The influence of the chosen model input parameters on the results of the simulations was examined. The key parameters which determine the exploitation characteristics of a screw conveyor were identified as follows: the size of a DEM particle, coefficients of internal and external friction. Experimental measurements of the laboratory screw conveyor provided the actual exploitation characteristics of a device used for the transportation of a limestone powder. The comparison of the results of the simulations and experiments gave satisfactory results. For this reason, DEM simulations were identified as an effective tool for determining and optimization of the construction and exploitation parameters of the screw conveyors