  The separation of different kind of plastic particles is required in the
process of waste recycling. For the separation drum processes passed through by
a liquid are applicable. Thereby the separation is based on the principle that
particles either sink or float in a liquid depending on their densities. In
this study the aforementioned process is numerically analysed for the
separation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from polypropylene (PP)
particles. The Discrete Element Method coupled with the Smoothed Particle
Hydrodynamics method (DEM-SPH) is used for modelling purposes. The employment
of the SPH for the modelling of the liquid let us exploit the strong side of
this mesh-less method, namely, the relative easiness to model large movements
of the fluid together with free surfaces and moving boundaries. The used
theoretical model is presented and validation tests are performed, where a
dam-break problem is considered as an example. Simulations of the plastic
particle separation in the rotating drum are performed thereafter. The
influence of the different operational and design parameters, such as the
rotational velocity, the feed rate, the number of lifters etc., on the
resultant purity of the plastic is estimated. It is expected that in the future
the performed analysis will allow to optimise drum separation processes.
