Separation efficiency of liquid–solid undergoing vibration based on breakage of liquid bridge

Abstract Vibrating separation is a significant method for liquid–solid separation. A typical example is the vibrating screen to dewater wet granular matter. The properties of granular matter and the vibrating parameters significantly affect the separation efficiency. This study investigates the effect of vibration parameters in separation based on the breakage of large-scale liquid bridge numerically by using a calibrated simulation model. Through analysing the simulation results, the liquid bridge shape and the volume between two sphere particles for various particle sizes and particle distances were studied in the static condition under the effect of gravity. The results show a general reducing trend of liquid bridge volume when the radius ratio of two particles increases, particularly when the ratio increases to 5. Additionally, a set of vibrating motion was applied to the liquid bridge in the simulation model. A group of experiments were also performed to validate the simulation model with vibration. Then, the effect of vibrating peak acceleration, distance between spheres and radius on the separation efficiency which was reflected by the residual water were investigated. It is found that separation efficiency increased obviously with the peak acceleration and the increase slowed down after the peak acceleration over 1 m/s2.