Compartmental Modelling of Flow in a Clinker Grinding Mill

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an investigation of the flow regime in a clinker-grinding mill using the radio tracer residence time distribution (RTD) method. The RTD curve of the mill was obtained through the introduction of 40 mci liquid gold (Au-198) as radio tracer at the inlet of the mill on-stream and a highly sensitive sodium iodide detector placed at its outlet for signal measurement. The first moment of the curve, the experimental mean residence time was 33.65 minutes which is less than the theoretical mean residence time of 58.15 minutes, an indication of the presence of dead zones within the mill. Of the three models used for the curve fitting and modeling the experimental data, the mixers-in-series with recycle model most adequately represented the flow structure in the mill with a mean residence time of 23.4 minutes.