A computational fluid dynamics investigation of a novel flooded-bed dust scrubber with vibrating mesh

This work proposes a vibrating mesh screen as an alternative to the static mesh screen currently used in conventional flooded-bed dust scrubbers for removing airborne coal mine dust in the continuous mining environment.Fundamental assessments suggest that a vibrating screen may improve the dust collection efficiency of scrubber systems and mitigate the clogging issues associated with the conventional design.To evaluate this hypothesis,computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations were carried out to assess the effects of vibration conditions(i.e.,frequency and amplitude)on the dust particle-mesh interaction and mesh wetting conditions,which are the two decisive factors in determining the dust collection efficiency.The results suggest that the vibrating mesh screen can enhance dust particle collision opportunities on the mesh and increase mesh wetted area as compared to the static mesh screen.The effects of mesh screen aperture,coal dust concentration,and spray nozzle flow rate on the performance of the vibrating mesh are also evaluated.Finally,a simplified three-phase flow simulation including airflow,dust particles,and water droplet spray is performed,and the results reflect a significant improvement of dust collection efficiency in the liquid-coated vibrating mesh screen.

Effects of contaminant metal ions on precipitation recovery of rare earth elements using oxalic acid

Solution equilibrium calculations were performed in this study to understand the impact of contaminant metal ions on the precipitation efficiency of selected rare earth elements(Ce^(3+),Nd^(3+),and Y^(3+))using oxalic acid as a precipitant.Trivalent metal ions,Al^(3+) and Fe^(3+),are found to considerably affect the precipitation efficiency of REEs.When Al^(3+) and Fe^(3+)concentrations are increased by 1×10^(−4) mol/L,in order to achieve an acceptable cerium recovery of 93%from solutions containing 1×10^(−4) mol/L Ce^(3+),oxalate dosage needs to increase by 1.2×10^(−4) and 1.68×10^(−4) mol/L,respectively.Such great impacts on the required oxalate dosage are also observed for Nd^(3+) and Y^(3+),which indicates that oxalic acid consumption and cost will be largely increased when the trivalent metal ions exist in REE-concentrated solutions.Effects of the divalent metal ions on the oxalate dosage are minimal.Furthermore,solution equilibrium calculation results show that the precipitation of Fe^(3+) and Ca^(2+)(e.g.,hematite and Ca(C_(2)O_(4))∙H_(2)O(s))likely occurs during the oxalate precipitation of REEs at relatively high pH(e.g.,pH 2.5),which will reduce rare earth oxalate product purity.In addition to the metal ions,anionic species,especially SO_(4)^(2-),are also found to negatively affect the precipitation recovery of REEs.For example,when 0.1 mol/L SO_(4)^(2-) occurs in a solution containing 1×10^(−4) mol/L Ce^(3+) and 4×10^(−4) mol/L oxalate,the pH needs to be elevated from 2.0 to 3.3 to achieve the acceptable recovery.Overall,findings from this study provide guidance for the obtainment of high-purity rare earth products from solutions containing a considerable amount of contaminant metal ions by means of oxalic acid precipitation.