Modeling the agglomeration of settling particles in a dewatering process

In this study, the agglomeration of settling particles in a dewatering process is studied numerically. The numerical model is based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamic method. The interaction between solid particles is governed by the Lennard-Jones potential. This paper presents a systematic study for evaluating the influence of various important parameters on the dewatering process, i.e., the Reynolds number, inter-particle pair potential, and phase loading. Several quantitative parameters are introduced to characterize the structure and behavior of agglomerates. It is observed that based on the interplay between the Reynolds number and the pair potential, the agglomerates form four different structures