Feedwell Optimization
Posted on June 29, 2021 Physical Modeling
Feedwells are fluid dynamic control components which distribute multiphase feed streams (solids, liquids and sometimes gases) into separation or thickening vessels.
The challenge feedwells tackle is to disperse a high velocity feed stream into a much larger vessel, spreading the feed evenly across the vessel with minimal mixing to maximize the separation performance.
A typical slurry stream might have velocities on the order of 5 m/s in the feed pipe and be entering a separation vessel with 1000x larger cross-sectional area and average velocities of only a few mm/s. The feedwell must be designed to minimize wear on both the feedwell itself and vessel while accommodating a wide range of turn-up and turn-down conditions. In some cases, they also combine multiple independent input streams with varying compositions.
Coanda has performed many feedwell design and optimization projects for a numerous clients and process applications using both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and laboratory scale physical modelling tools. Several patents have been issued to our clients on Coanda feedwell designs.