PNEUMATIC CONVEYING OF SOLIDS ALONG A CHANNEL WITH DIFFERENT WALL ROUGHNESS

The present contribution describes three-dimensional Euler/Lagrange calculations of confined horizontal gas-particle flows emphasizing the importance of elementary processes, such as particle collisions with rough walls and interparticle collisions, on the predicted two-phase flow variables and pressure drop along the duct. In the chosen configuration the pneumatic conveying of spherical particles along a 6 m long horizontal channel with rectangular cross section is described from a numerical perspective. Calculations were carried out for spherical glass beads of different diameters (130 and 195 μm) with a mass loading of 1.0 (kg particles/kg gas). Additionally, different wall roughnesses were considered. In the experiments, the air volume flow rate was constant to maintain a fixed gas average velocity of 20 m/s. The numerical computations were performed by the Euler/Lagrange approach in connection with a Reynolds stress turbulence model accounting for two-way coupling and interparticle collisions. For the calculation of particle motion all relevant forces (i.e., drag, slip-shear and slip-rotational lift, and gravity), interparticle collisions and particle-rough wall collisions were considered. The agreement of the computations with the experiments of Sommerfeld and Kussin (2004 Sommerfeld , M. , and Kussin , J. ( 2004 ). Wall roughness effects on pneumatic conveying of spherical particles in a narrow horizontal channel , Powder Technol. , 142 , 180 – 192 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was found to be satisfactory for pressure drop and mean and fluctuating velocities of both phases as well as for the normalized particle mass flux.     

Numerical study on pressure prediction and its main influence factors in pneumatic conveyors

The flow characteristics of multiphase gas–solid flow in a pneumatic conveyor were investigated numerically and experimentally to predict the important pressure within the pipeline. The effects of particle size, particle density, and bend radius ratio on pressure drop over the bend pipeline were also analysed. Experiments were conducted to obtain the static pressure at certain cross-sections of a fine powder pneumatic conveying pipeline with a length of 26 m and an inner diameter of 53 mm. The conveyed material was flyash with a mean particle size of 30 μm and the solids loading ratio was in the range 20–70. A numerical study of gas–solid flow in complex three-dimensional systems was undertaken by means of commercial CFD software Fluent 6.3. The simulation was performed using the Euler–Euler approach, accounting for four-way coupling. The calculated results of pressure gradient were found to be in good agreement with the measured data, with a fitting slope of 0.781 for the first horizontal straight pipeline and 1.017 for horizontal bend. It was also found that the pressure gradients increase with increase in particle diameter rapidly and reach the peak value when particle diameter is 150 μm, and then begin to decrease and show a slight steepening with increase in particle diameter with a value greater than 150 μm. An increase in particle density results in increase in pressure gradient. The pressure drop is much smaller when the roughness height is zero. The pressure gradient over the horizontal bend increases gradually with the increase of roughness height. The larger the roughness constant is defined, the greater the pressure drop will be. The bend pressure gradient decreases significantly when the bend radius ratio increases from 1 to 3, and then much slowly for bend radius ratios 3–6. With the increase of velocity difference, the pressure drop decrease is different at first, after 0.2–0.3 m, the pressure reduces the same.     

Modeling Nonsteady‐State Regimes of Dilute Pneumatic Conveying

The nonsteady‐state gas‐particle flows in pipelines are considered. Chaotically moving particles are described as granular gas characterized by granular temperature. This temperature dissipates because of partially inelastic particle collisions with the wall, with each other and also because of the particle viscous friction with gas. The energy losses on a microscale are translated into the pressure losses on a macroscale. The model developed is validated for both steady‐state and nonsteady‐state regimes by comparing calculated pressure losses with experimental data. A detailed numerical study of the nonsteady‐state flows shows that the pipe wall roughness is a major parameter affecting the pressure drop. Flow regimes for different particle elastic properties, particle sizes, and solids loading are studied.     

Hydrodynamic modeling of a circulating fluidized bed

Hydrodynamics plays a crucial role in defining the performance of circulating fluidized beds (CFB). The numerical simulation of CFBs is very important in the prediction of its flow behavior. From this point of view, in the present study a dynamic two dimensional model is developed considering the hydrodynamic behavior of CFB. In the modeling, the CFB riser is analyzed in two regions: The bottom zone in turbulent fluidization regime is modeled in detail as two-phase flow which is subdivided into a solid-free bubble phase and a solid-laden emulsion phase. In the upper zone core-annulus solids flow structure is established. Simulation model takes into account the axial and radial distribution of voidage, velocity and pressure drop for gas and solid phase, and solids volume fraction and particle size distribution for solid phase. The model results are compared with and validated against atmospheric cold bed CFB units' experimental data given in the literature for axial and radial distribution of void fraction, solids volume fraction and particle velocity, total pressure drop along the bed height and radial solids flux. Ranges of experimental data used in comparisons are as follows: bed diameter from 0.05-0.418 m, bed height from 5-18 m, mean particle diameter from 67-520 μm, particle density from 1398 to 2620 kg/m³, mass fluxes from 21.3 to 300 kg/m²s and gas superficial velocities from 2.52-9.1 m/s.As a result of sensitivity analysis, the variation in mean particle diameter and superficial velocity, does affect the pressure especially in the core region and it does not affect considerably the pressure in the annulus region. Radial pressure profile is getting flatter in the core region as the mean particle diameter increases. Similar results can be obtained for lower superficial velocities. It has also been found that the contribution to the total pressure drop by gas and solids friction components is negligibly small when compared to the acceleration and solids hydrodynamic head components. At the bottom of the riser, in the core region the acceleration component of the pressure drop in total pressure drop changes from 0.65% to 0.28% from the riser center to the core-annulus interface, respectively; within the annulus region the acceleration component in total pressure drop changes from 0.22% to 0.11% radially from the core-annulus interface to the riser wall. On the other hand, the acceleration component weakens as it moves upwards in the riser decreasing to 1% in both regions at the top of the riser which is an important indicator of the fact that hydrodynamic head of solids is the most important factor in the total pressure drop.     

Predicting axial pressure profile of a CFB

The numerical simulation of CFBs is an important tool in the prediction of its flow behavior. Predicting the axial pressure profile is one of the major difficulties in modeling a CFB. A model using a Particle Based Approach (PBA) is developed to accurately predict the axial pressure profile in CFBs. The simulation model accounts for the axial and radial distribution of voidage and velocity of the gas and solid phases, and for the solids volume fraction and particle size distribution of the solid phase. The model results are compared with and validated against atmospheric cold CFB experimental literature data. Ranges of experimental data used in comparisons are as follows: bed diameter from 0.05 to 0.305 m, bed height between 5 and 15.45 m, mean particle diameter from 76 to 812 μm, particle density from 189 to 2600 kg/m³, solid circulation fluxes from 10.03 to 489 kg/m² s and gas superficial velocities from 2.71 to 10.68 m/s. The computational results agreed reasonably well with the experimental data. Moreover, both experimental data and model predictions show that the pressure drop profile is affected by the solid circulation flux and superficial velocity values in the riser. The pressure drop increases along the acceleration region as solid circulation flux increases and superficial velocity decreases.     

Microflow hydrodynamics in slits: Effects of the walls relative roughness and spacer inter-filaments distance

A slit designed with very tight dimension tolerances was manufactured to perform pressure drop measurements in fully developed laminar flows, viewing the isolation of the effects of the walls roughness from those of the entrance developing flow and from uncertainties in the channel height. For that, five different values of the slit height, 0.7, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5 and 2.0 mm, were used together with five differently finished surfaces for the channel bottom wall, possessing average roughness values of 31.4, 11.4, 4.1, 1.3 and below 1 μm, which is the sensor detection limit of the contact profilometer used for the measurements. The slit allows also for flow visualization and can accommodate cylindrical-type spacers, positioned transversally to the flow and in direct contact with the bottom wall, with diverse inter-filament distances to study the critical Reynolds numbers marking the departure from the steady-state laminar flow regime. Results with deionised water and 5.4–13.9% of uncertainty for the pressure drop in the open channel showed that surface phenomena due to roughness, irrelevant at macroscale flows, are present in flows like those studied herein. Flow visualization for the same fluid and pressure drop measurements in the channel filled with ladder-type spacers showed that its height is crucial in the set up of the flow instabilities marking the departure from steady laminar flow.     

Wall surface effects on particle-wall friction factor in upward gas-solid flows

The variation of the particle-wall friction factor along the riser is investigated in an Internal Circulating Fluidized Bed (ICFB) riser 1 m in length and 0.052 m in diameter. The results obtained are based on calculating the normal and the shear forces at the wall under dynamic conditions rather than the static ones usually obtained in shear box experiments.The strength of the method used resides in the measurement technique applied to measure the particle velocity field in the riser. The radioactive particle tracking program was developed for coaxial systems and is used to build dynamic pictures of particle trajectories in the vicinity of the wall of the ICFB riser.The experiments were conducted using sand (d_p = 250 µm) and alumina (d_p = 170 µm) materials in the gas velocity range between 2 and 12 m/s. The most common correlations for calculating the particle-wall friction factor are reviewed and compared to the results obtained in this work. The data obtained demonstrates that the particle-wall friction factor is not a constant value but changes along the riser and with change in the gas superficial velocity. The results also show the effect of the roughness of the wall surface and define the particle-wall friction factor area.     

Some aspects on gas-solid flow in a U-bend: Numerical investigation

Pneumatic drying is widely used in many engineering applications. It has been shown in earlier research [Fyhr C. and Rasmuson A., Mathematical model of a pneumatic conveying dryer, AIChE Journal, Vol. 43, pp 2889-2902, 1997.] that the U-bends in the pneumatic conveying dryer system significantly influence drying behavior since they create enhanced slip velocities between suspended material and the drying medium. On one hand, this slip will increase external heat and mass transfer rates, thereby enhancing drying conditions. On the other hand, increasing the number of bends will cause an increase in pressure drop. Use of the suitable mean gas velocity and the suitable bend radius ratio will result in a better design and improved operating conditions.Two-phase CFD calculations, using a Eulerian-Eulerian model and commercial program Fluent 6.0, were employed to calculate the gas and particle flows in a U-bend. Variables studied include: particle diameter, particle density, particle volume fraction, gas velocity and bend radius ratio. The numerical calculations were validated against experimental data from the literature. The density and diameter of particle vary from 600 up to 1000 kg/m³ and from 0.00025 up to 0.001 m, respectively. The gas velocity and particle volume fraction vary from 10 up to 25 m/s and from 0.001 up to 0.01 m³/m³, respectively. The bend radius ratio varies from 3 up to 8 m/m. The slip velocity is affected by all the studied parameters, in particular, particle diameter, gas velocity and bend radius ratio; whereas the total pressure drop is strongly affected by gas velocity and bend radius ratio. A low mean gas velocity will give a lower total pressure drop and longer particle residence time. A small bend radius ratio will produce a faster dispersion of particles, which benefits drying, but on the other hand, will increase the total pressure drop. Thus, optimizing gas velocity and bend radius ratio is important in reducing energy consumption.     

颗粒负荷对小型旋风器性能影响的模拟分析

为探究颗粒负荷对小型旋风器内气固两相流动的影响,基于雷诺应力模型（RSM）和欧拉-欧拉方法的混合流模型（Mixture）进行气体-颗粒、颗粒-颗粒的相间耦合计算。采用粒径为0.5～5μm的颗粒组在40L/min、60L/min和80L/min的入口流量下模拟0~3kg/m³的5种不同颗粒浓度工况,通过对比旋风器内纯气相流场和颗粒负荷流场的不同,研究了颗粒的存在对流场的影响;探究了入口流量和浓度变化对旋风器内分离效率和压降特性的影响。基于模型有效性验证的数值模拟结果表明：较高颗粒浓度负荷使旋风器内的气相流场发生显著变化。随着入口流量的增大,旋风器的分离效率先增大后减小,压降呈非线性增大。随着颗粒浓度的增大,旋风器的分离效率逐渐增大,压降先减小后增大。     

Multi-object optimization study on the performance of gas cyclones based on heterogeneous condensation and turbulent agglomeration

Improving the separation efficiency of fine particles becomes more and more critical as environmental pollution aggravates. This study aims to investigate the effects of four key parameters on the performance of gas cyclones, including cyclone body height, particle concentration, initial supersaturation degree, and inlet temperature. Then, the two-way coupling numerical model, in which is the process of heterogeneous condensation and agglomeration for insoluble fine particles, was achieved by user defined function. On this basis, the response surface analysis method and multi-objective genetic algorithm were adopted to optimize the cyclone. The results show that when the particle concentration is less than 1000 mg/m³, the separation efficiency can reach above 95%. The initial supersaturation degree has the greatest effect on the separation efficiency and vapour consumption rate, while the cyclone body height is the most critical factor on the pressure drop. As the particle concentration increases, the separation efficiency decreases at first and then keeps almost stable. With the increase of inlet temperature, the separation efficiency is enhanced, and the pressure drop reduces. These research results can provide important guidance for the optimization and engineering application of this technology.     

An improved correlation for dry pressure losses across static mixers at high Reynolds numbers

Corrugated (SMV-style) static mixers are industrially important for process intensification and can promote gas–liquid mass transfer in processes such as sour gas sweetening. Current correlations for pressure loss are limited to Reynolds numbers (Re) below 40 000, far below the ranges encountered in natural gas systems (10⁵ < Re < 10⁷). An experimental and numerical study of pressure drop across multiple corrugated mixers in the range of 10⁴ < Re <2 × 10⁵ encompassing different configurations (aligned, rotated), pipe diameters (1–4 in.), and sand grain surface roughness values (10–5000 μm) is reported here. Our previous correlation for pressure loss across a single corrugated element is shown to be extendable to multiple corrugated mixing elements. Through the inclusion of mixer tortuosity (τ), porosity (ε), and macro-scale (geometric) wall roughness (e), the correlation also matches historical pressure drop data (at different τ, ε) reported in literature, thereby demonstrating the utility of these variables as parameters that can help optimize mixer performance. Experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling revealed that the rotated configuration increased the residence time by up to 13% in comparison to the aligned configuration. This may have implications on the selective absorption of sour gas components that are based on fast kinetics. In addition, the role of wall roughness (both pipe housing and mixer) was demonstrated to be significant in this study (accounting for 55% of the pressure losses) and must be accurately accounted for when scaling laboratory measurements.     

Dynamics of Emerging Water Droplet Subjected to Sidewall with Different Wettabilities in a Fuel Cell Cathode Channel

On‐site experiments on low temperature fuel cells revealed that water droplets tend to emerge into the gas channel at the corner. This motivates the present investigation on the effects of the location where water emerges from and the wettability of sidewall on the dynamic behaviour of liquid water in gas channel by numerical simulations that employ the volume‐of‐fluid method. A microchannel with a square cross‐section of 0.25 mm in width and a pore of 0.05 mm in diameter is adopted. The simulation results for different pore locations and wettabilities of sidewall show that the behaviour of water droplet only depends on the wettability of bottom wall when it emerges from the centreline without attaching to the sidewall and gains the highest pressure drop. When the emergence location shifts towards the corner, the water droplet unavoidably attaches to the sidewall and thus the wettability of sidewall is found to have significant effects on its dynamics: hydrophobic sidewall results in droplet detachment and fast removal with the highest pressure drop and the minimal water saturation, whereas hydrophilic sidewall leads to a water film and accumulation with the lowest pressure drop and the minimal water coverage on the bottom wall.     

Effects of Surface Roughness on the Performance of Tangential Inlet Cyclone Separators

This study is carried out to investigate the effects of surface roughness on the flow field and cyclone performance. The flow inside the cyclone separator is modeled as a three-dimensional turbulent continuous gas flow with solid particles as a discrete phase. The continuous gas flow is predicted by solving the governing equations by using the Reynolds Stress turbulence model, and the modeling of the particle motions is based on a Lagrangian approach. The results of the numerical simulations are compared with experimental data as well as with the results of mathematical models. Analysis of computed results shows that increase of relative roughness due to corrosion, wear, or accumulation of particles on the inner walls considerably influences the tangential velocity, cyclone separation efficiency, and cyclone pressure drop especially for high inlet velocities. Decreases in cyclone collection efficiency and pressure drop with the increase in surface roughness are found to be more pronounced for high values of relative roughness.     

压力雾化喷嘴在受限空间气流中喷雾特性的实验研究

对出口直径为0.21、0.28、0.38、0.46mm的4种压力雾化喷嘴及其组合在150mm×150mm×1 000mm的矩形通道中的喷雾流场进行了实验研究,矩形通道中的空气流速为10m/s。研究了喷嘴布置和组合方式对雾化流场的影响。实验结果表明:喷雾不碰壁距离随入射角的增大而增大;顺流喷雾比无气流时液滴的平均D32减小10%,粒径范围略有扩大;逆流喷雾比无气流时液滴的平均D32增大约70μm,粒径范围扩大了3⁴倍;出口直径小的喷嘴可通过逆流布置和顺流布置的组合,获得液滴粒径分布范围更宽的气液两相流场。双喷嘴在有限空间内的雾化效果与流场中气液流量比有关。所得研究结论对天然气加湿技术的开发有一定参考价值。     

新型折板除雾器的流场和压降数值模拟

对引入液滴辅助捕集结构前后的折板除雾器内的流场和压降进行模拟,将两相流近似为气相流动,用SST k-ω模型模拟气相流场。在2和4 m/s的进口气速下,引入捕集结构前后,最大气速分别由7.32和14.80 m/s增至8.97和18.57 m/s,而且出现位置增多。同时高速区变大、低速区变小,2 m/s进口气速时壁面附近气速由1.5 m/s增至3.5 m/s;并发现不同气速下压降随第1级、第3级高度的变化情况相似,均与第2级差异较大,上述结论均可用于实际设计工作中。     

Gas-liquid two-phase flow in serpentine microchannel with different wall wettability

Gas-liquid flow in serpentine microchannel with different surface properties exhibits drastically different flow behavior.With water and air as working fluids,the method of numerical simulation was adopted in this paper based on CLSVOF (coupled level set and volume of fluid method) multiphase model.After verifing the reasonability of the model through experiment,by changing wall properties and Re number (Re ＜ 1500),the influences of contact angle and surface roughness on flow regime and Po number were discussed.Moreover,the difference of pressure drop between curve and straight microchannel was also calculated.Beyond that,the combined effect of curve channel and wall properties on flow resistance was analyzed.This paper finds that wall properties have great influence on gasliquid flow in microchannels not only on flow regime but also flow characteristics.Meanwhile,the pressure drop in curve microchannels is larger than straight.It is more beneficial for fluid flowing when the straight part of microchannel is hydrophilic smooth wall and curve part is hydrophobic with large roughness.     

Determining Cyclone Particle Holdup by Pressure Drop for a CFB Boiler

An experimental study was conducted to assess the possibility of determining particle holdup by measuring the pressure drop of a conventional cyclone used in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. It was found that within a wide range of inlet solid concentrations, i.e., 0.54–4.42 kg/kg‐gas, the cyclone pressure drop increased linearly with inlet solid concentration at a given gas velocity, while the pressure drop between the dust exit and the vortex finder of the cyclone remained almost constant. Since particle holdup increases virtually linearly with solid flow rate, the particle holdup in the cyclone can be derived from the cyclone pressure drop, and therefore, an equation set was proposed to calculate the particle holdup from the cyclone pressure drop.     

Hydrodynamics of a mobile bed contactor with ‘Low’ density packing particles of different shapes

Experimental studies have been reported on pressure drop, liquid holdup, bed expansion and minimum fluidization velocity in a 0.15 m ID mobile bed of relatively low density (53–183 kg m^?3) spherical and irregular shaped particles. The Kito-Tabei-Murata correlation has been adapted to fit the data on the liquid holdup and the pressure drop. The bed expansion was found to depend on the shape and density of the particles. It is shown that, in general, only a part of the liquid holdup in the bed is supported by the upward flow of gas. It was observed that in some regions the particles congregated at the wall, leaving a particle free core. The maps depicting these regions are presented.     

Radial pressure profiles in a cold‐flow gas‐solid vortex reactor

A unique normalized radial pressure profile characterizes the bed of a gas‐solid vortex reactor over a range of particle densities and sizes, solid capacities, and gas flow rates: 950–1240 kg/m³, 1–2 mm, 2 kg to maximum solids capacity, and 0.4–0.8 Nm³/s (corresponding to gas injection velocities of 55–110 m/s), respectively. The combined momentum conservation equations of both gas and solid phases predict this pressure profile when accounting for the corresponding measured particle velocities. The pressure profiles for a given type of particles and a given solids loading but for different gas injection velocities merge into a single curve when normalizing the pressures with the pressure value downstream of the bed. The normalized—with respect to the overall pressure drop—pressure profiles for different gas injection velocities in particle‐free flow merge in a unique profile. © 2015 The Authors AIChE Journal published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 4114–4125, 2015