Energy consumption analysis and simulation of horizontal drum reactor

Horizontal drum reactor is increasingly being used in resource treatment field of organic wastes, such as livestock and poultry manure, due to their short fermentation cycles and good airtightness．However, there is few theoretical analysis related to force analysis and dynamics of horizontal drum reactor, and most current designs are based primarily on experience．Power demand of horizontal drum reactor under low speed rotation were studied, while factors such as blade angle, blade spacing, drum length-to-diameter ratio were simulated using EDEM simulation software to explore low energy consumption solutions for aerobic composting．In simulation test, chicken manure and wood chips were used as mixed raw materials, blade angle, blade spacing, and drum length-to-diameter ratio were selected as test factors, mixed uniformity and energy consumption per ton of material were set as test indicators, with 1∶1 ratio between two metrics．BBD response surface method was used to optimize parameter combination．Results have shown that optimal parameter combination was blade angle of 50.1°, blade spacing of 1.13 m, and drum length-to-diameter ratio of 6.17．Predicted values for mixing uniformity were 85.5%, and energy consumption per ton of material was 0.173 kW·h/t．Simulation results yielded a mixing uniformity of 86.75% and an energy consumption of 0.168 kW·h/t．Error between simulation value and predicted value was ≤ 5%, indicating that response surface model fits data well．