Numerical simulations of pressure pulses produced by a solid core pressure screen rotor

摘要

Pressure screens are the most effective way to remove contaminants that reduce the quality and strength of the final paper product. Hydrodynamic elements are used in pressure screens to backflush the narrow apertures in the screen basket to improve the capacity and runability of the screen. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to study the effect of different shape parameters on the performance of a solid core rotor element. The angle at the trailing edge of the element and the location the maximum height of the element were shown to have a large effect on the performance of the rotor, while the angle at the leading edge and the chord length were shown to have less of an effect. Additionally, the effect of operational parameters such as element height, the clearance between the rotor and the screen basket, and the rotor tip speed were examined. From these results an optimized element shape has been developed, which was shown to have an 11% increase in the magnitude of peak negative pressure on the screen basket.