Research on the development of operational parameters for rotary drying drum in organomineral fertilizer production process

The use of commercial organomineral fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, which are predominantly used for being economical and sustainable in agriculture, is becoming widespread day by day. These types of fertilizers are mostly produced in small and medium-sized enterprises in the world and in our country. In order to use organomineral fertilizers to meet the agricultural needs, first of all, the operational difficulties encountered during their production should be eliminated. In terms of operating difficulties, energy and maintenance costs, the most important part of the fertilizer production process is rotary fertilizer drying drums. In this study, determining the optimum loading capacity of the drum, agglomeration, dusting, breaking of the grains, adhesion, corrosive-wearing problems, the interaction of the fertilizer grains with the heated air in the drum and its surroundings, It was tried to be understood by experiments and combined 2D-3D HAD-AEM (CFD-DEM) analyzes made in the Ansys Fluent program. It has been understood that the drum drying performance mainly depends on the optimum loading conditions and the flights profile. It is understood that the pollination problem is caused by the lack of controlled moisture in the granulation disc according to the fertilizer type, and then it breaks and becomes dusty as a result of the heat effect in the drum, the interaction of its surroundings and collisions with each other. Corrosive-wear; It has been understood that the acidic and moist structure of the fertilizer, its abrasive effect in continuous flow and the dust adhering to the inner surface. The corrosive effect of this adhering dust and the corrosiveness of fertilizers in continuous flow; It has been understood that it disrupts the inner structure of the drum and the flighted structures that are effective in its performance, causing operating difficulties and maintenance costs. In order to eliminate these problems for the production of quality fertilizer; As the drum internal structure design, inclined helical flighted at the inlet, then the flightless region and the flighted region, the drum is made of stainless steel, inconel or hastelloy alloy material, or epoxy-graphite type coating is applied to the inner surface of the steel drum and instead of the granulating disc, a better solution for the adhesion and dusting problem It is suggested to use a granulating drum as it can be obtained. With this study, it has been possible to determine the optimum drum production and operating conditions with 2D and 3D simulations in which all operating conditions can be handled. These simulations also facilitated the understanding of the problems encountered in the drum. Keywords: Organomineral/Organomineral additive NPK Fertilizer, Ansys Fluent CFD-DEM Analysis, Polyhedral meshing, Dusting, Adhesion, Erosion