Influence of the chip particle shape of deep-sea seafloor massive sulfide on collection characteristics

• The sphericity parameter is selected to characterize the shape of deep-sea seafloor massive sulfide chip particles. • The influence of the sphericity of chip particles on the collection characteristics has been revealed. • Under the condition of the same sphericity, the influence of chip particle size on the collection characteristics has been systematically studied. Investigations into the collection of seafloor massive sulfides have had a relatively late start, with few related achievements. Moreover, most existing studies have focused on the collection of spherical particles. Therefore, the influence of particle shape on collection characteristics has not been fully investigated. This study develops a computational fluid dynamics and discrete element method coupling method with particle shape characterized by sphericity. The collection characteristics of four types of chip particles with sphericity of 0.671, 0.806, 0.911, and 1 were investigated. The results indicate that the collection mechanisms of the particles with the four sphericities were consistent. However, as sphericity increases, the mass of both collected and escaped particles increases, while collection efficiency decreases. Moreover, the main escape directions of the four types of particles align with the wake direction of rotation. In addition, as sphericity increases, the drag force borne by particles decreases, average number of particle collisions decreases, and minimum collection time is correspondingly shortened. This study provides a more solid theoretical basis for studies on non-spherical particle collection and has significant practical engineering applications.