Numerical study of flow field in new design cyclones with different wall temperature profiles: Comparison with conventional ones

In this paper, numerical study of flow field in the new design cyclones with five different wall temperature profiles are investigated. The new design cyclone is based on the idea of improving cyclone collection efficiency and pressure drop by increasing the vortex length. In this paper, the five wall temperature profiles are as follows: (A) cooling with uniform distribution, (B) without temperature change, (C) heating with uniform distribution, (D) incremental linear heating, (E) reduction linear heating. Results are compared in new design and conventional cyclones. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) are solved. The Eulerian-Lagrangian computational procedure is used to predict particles tracking in the cyclones. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW).Results show that generally, heating the bottom zone of the cyclones can improve the collection efficiency and reduce the pressure drop while heating the top zone of the cyclones marginally affects the flow field. Moreover, cooling the cyclones reduces the efficiency and causes a higher pressure drop. Among five different wall temperature profiles, C and E profiles can increase the efficiency about 8% and profile C reduces the pressure drop by about 9%. The mentioned values in different conditions including particle diameter, flow rate, etc. can be different.     

Numerical simulation of square cyclones in small sizes

The idea of using square cyclones was first introduced in early 1990s because of some problems of big conventional (round) cyclones in Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) industries, such as huge volume and long start-stop time of cyclones. Now there is this question, in spite of the main reason for making square cyclones, how square cyclones behave in small sizes.In this paper, two small cyclones with the same hydraulic diameter, which one is square and the other one is round, are numerically compared. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds Stress Turbulence Model (RSTM) are solved by use of the finite volume method based on the SIMPLE pressure correction algorithm in the computational domain. The Eulerian–Lagrangian computational procedure is used to predict particles tracking in the cyclones. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW).The results show that the pressure drop in small square cyclone is less than the pressure drop in small round one. Also at each flow rate collection efficiency of small square cyclone is less than round one, but by increasing flow rate this difference decreases.     

Modeling and numerical simulation of flow field in three types of standard new design cyclone separators

In this paper, numerical simulation of flow field in three types of standard new design cyclone separators namely 1D2Dn, 1D3Dn and 2D2Dn are investigated. In these standard cyclones, the length of cylindrical top part of the body is equal to 1, 1 and 2 times of the body diameter, respectively; and the length of the cylindrical bottom part is 2, 3 and 2 times of the body diameter. The new design cyclone is based on the idea of improving cyclone collection efficiency and pressure drop by increasing the vortex length. The Eulerian-Lagrangian computational procedure is used to predict particles tracking in the cyclones. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW). Results show that among the three standard new design cyclones, cyclone 2D2Dn has the highest efficiency followed by 1D3Dn one with about only 2% lower efficiency. Cyclone 1D2Dn possesses the lowest efficiency among all. Similarly, the highest pressure drop occurs in cyclone 2D2Dn. Cyclones 1D3Dn and 1D2Dn followed 2D2Dn one with a marked difference of about 20%. In result section, the details of the flow field including velocity, pressure contours, turbulence, velocity vectors and particle trajectory will be presented.     

High gradient magnetic particle separation in viscous flows by 3D BEM

The boundary element method was applied to study the motion of magnetic particles in fluid flow under the action of external nonuniform magnetic field. The derived formulation combines the velocity-vorticity resolved Navier–Stokes equations with the Lagrange based particle tracking model, where the one-way coupling with fluid phase was considered. The derived algorithm was used to test a possible design of high gradient magnetic separation in a narrow channel by computing particles trajectories in channel flow under the influence of hydrodynamic and magnetic forces. Magnetic field gradient was obtained by magnetization wires placed outside of the channel. Simulations with varying external magnetic field and flow rate were preformed in order to asses the collection efficiency of the proposed device. We found that the collection efficiency decreases linearly with increasing flow rate. Also, the collection efficiency was found to increase with magnetic field strength only up a saturation point. Furthermore, we found that high collection efficiently is not feasible at high flow velocity and/or at weak magnetic field. Recommendation for optimal choice of external magnetic field and flow rate is discussed.     

Effects of the prolonged vertical tube on the separation performance of a cyclone

This article aims at the gas flow into the dustbin of conventional cyclones, the prolonged cyclone (attaching a vertical tube at the bottom of the dust outlet) is proposed by some researchers, which can make flow with dust enter into the tube and separate further. The Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM) has been employed to predict the gas flow fields of the conventional and prolonged cyclones. The tangential velocity, axial velocity profiles and turbulent kinetic energy profiles are presented, and the downward flow rates into the dustbin of the three cyclones are compared. The separation performances of these three cyclones are tested. The result indicates that the tangential velocity, axial velocity and turbulent kinetic energy in the dustbin reduce greatly when the prolonged vertical tube attaching into the dust outlet, which can avoid the re-entrainment of already separated dust effectively. Furthermore, the prolonged vertical tube increases the separation space of dusts. The downward flow rate into the dustbin of the prolonged cyclone decreases compared with the conventional cyclone. The experimental results show that the prolonged vertical tube can improve the separation efficiency by a slightly increased pressure drop. However, for an even longer tube, the separation efficiency is slightly reduced. Thus, there is an optimal tube length for a given cyclone.     

Numerical simulation of flow field in three types of standard cyclone separators

The numerical simulation of the fluid flow and particle dynamics is presented by CFD techniques to characterize the performance of the three types of standard cyclones. The three types of cyclones named 1D3D, 2D2D and 1D2D. The length of cylindrical part of the body is equal to 1, 2 and 1 times of the body diameter, respectively; and the length of the conical part is 3, 2 and 2 times of the body diameter. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) are solved by use of the finite volume method based on the SIMPLE pressure correction algorithm in the computational domain. The Eulerian–Lagrangian computational procedure is used to predict particles tracking in the cyclones. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW). The dependency of cyclone characteristics on its diameter is investigated and D₅₀ (Cut-Point) is calculated for different Particle Size Distributions (PSDs). The numerical results are compared with the experimental data and the theoretical model and good agreement is observed.     

Experimental and CFD study on effects of spiral guide vanes on cyclone performance

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on a tangential inlet cyclone separator with a spiral guide vane which is not often researched. Numerical pressure drop results were in close agreement with the experimental data. The spiral guide vane was also found to considerably influence the velocity distribution, turbulence intensity, pressure drop and collection efficiency in the cyclone. A critical value of spiral guide vane turns appeared below or above which there was a marked increase in collection efficiency, pressure drop, and tangential velocity. Compared to a cyclone with zero spiral guide vane turn, the maximal decrease in collection efficiency in the cyclone with the critical spiral guide vane turns (one turn) was 2% approximately. The maximum-efficiency inlet velocity appeared to exist independent of spiral guide vane turns, as inlet velocity affected the radial distance traveled by the rebounded particles from the inner wall. The analysis of flow field in cyclones indicated that the flow field was improved with the spiral guide vanes employed to some extent. The results presented here may provide a workable reference for the effects of spiral guide vanes on the flow field and corresponding performance in cyclone separators.     

Exploratory Study on Cyclones of Modified Designs

This paper introduces a new design of cyclone, named triple cyclone, created by adding two more cylinders to the conventional cyclone. The performance of the triple cyclone was evaluated systematically together with the previously reported double cyclone. The tests showed that the collection efficiencies of double and triple cyclones were lower than those of the conventional cyclone with the same body diameter and identical gas inlet and outlet size. Of the three designs, the collection efficiency of the triple cyclone was the lowest. Accordingly, the highest pressure drop was observed for the conventional cyclone, and the pressure drop for the triple cyclone was the lowest. These results are probably attributed to the relatively weak vortices formed within triple and double cyclones.     

The effect of oscillating flow on a horizontal dilute-phase pneumatic conveying

ABSTRACT

A horizontal dilute-phase pneumatic conveying system using vertically oscillating soft fins at the inlet of the gas–particle mixture was studied to reduce the power consumption and conveying velocity in the conveying process. The effect of different fin lengths on horizontal pneumatic conveying was studied in terms of the pressure drop, conveying velocity, power consumption, particle velocity, and intensity of particle fluctuation velocity for the case of a low solid mass flow rate. The conveying pipeline consisted of a horizontal smooth acrylic tube with an inner diameter of 80 mm and a length of approximately 5 m. Two types of polyethylene particles with diameters of 2.3 and 3.3 mm were used as conveying materials. The superficial air velocity was varied from 10 to 17 m/s, and the solid mass flow rates were 0.25 and 0.20 kg/s. Compared with conventional pneumatic conveying, the pressure drop, MPD (minimum pressure drop), critical velocities, and power consumption can be reduced by using soft fins in a lower air velocity range, and the efficiency of fins becomes more evident when increasing the length of fins or touching particles stream by the long fins. The maximum reduction rates of the MPD velocity and power consumption when using soft fins are approximately 15% and 26%, respectively. The magnitude of the vertical particle velocity for different lengths of fins is clearly lower than that of the vertical particle velocity for a non-fin conveying system near the bottom of the pipeline, indicating that the particles are easily suspended. The intensities of particle fluctuation velocity of using fins are larger than that of non-fin. The high particle fluctuation energy implies that particles are easily suspended and are easily conveyed and accelerated.     

Numerical simulation of aerosol collection in filters with staggered parallel rectangular fibres

 In this paper, filters with rectangular fibres arranged in a staggered and parallel array and placed transverse to the flow are studied numerically. A two- dimensional flow field is obtained by solving Navier–Stokes equations with the control volume method. Periodic boundary conditions are introduced in the calculation. In order to achieve higher accuracy, a second-order upwind scheme is adopted and a fine mesh is arranged near the fibre and the symmetrical plane of the flow field where large gradients in velocity are expected. Particle trajectories are calculated by solving the corresponding Lagrangian equation of motion to obtain the collection efficiency of a single rectangular fibre, in which positions of the approaching particles on the inlet plane of the flow field are randomly distributed according to the Monte-Carlo principle. The simulation considers all the important mechanisms of particle capture including interception, inertial impaction and Brownian motion. Effects of fibre aspect ratio, filter packing density, particulate size and Reynolds number on the collection efficiency are numerically determined. The volumetric packing density ranges from 0.4 to 4% and the particle diameter is from 0.01 μm to 2 μm. Reynolds number based on the height of computational domain varies from 20 to 100 and the aspect ratio is from 0.1 to 10. Simulations with and without Brownian motion are carried out for different Reynolds numbers, packing densities and aspect ratios and the results show that Brownian effects are significant for particles smaller than 1 μm. Received 25 May 2001     

Study of inlet temperature effect on single and double inlets cyclone performance

In this paper, a comprehensive study is performed in order to demonstrate the effect of the flow and particle temperature on cyclone performance. Three main characteristics of the low-mass-loading gas-solid cyclone separators, including: pressure drop, particle separation efficiency and natural vortex length are investigated. Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is employed to solve the unsteady Navier-Stokes and energy equations to model the flow of particles. Because of the strong swirling flow in cyclone, Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM) is used to calculate the Reynolds stresses. Numerical simulation is accomplished at a temperature range of 293–700 K and four inlet velocities. Also, a comparison is conducted between two Stairmand high efficiency cyclones with the same dimensions, one with single inlet and the other with double inlets to declare the effect of the second inlet on cyclone performance. The analysis of results shows that the swirling flow becomes weaker for higher temperature cases and thus, flow pressure drop and particle separation efficiency is noticeably decreased. Increasing in temperature causes decrease in natural vortex length. Also, study of natural vortex length is performed for the studied range of temperature.     

Pressure drop reduction phenomenon of slush nitrogen flow in a horizontal pipe

Cryogenic slush fluids, such as slush hydrogen and slush nitrogen, are two-phase single-component fluids containing solid particles in a liquid. Their density and refrigerant capacity are greater than those of a liquid-state fluid alone. Owing to these advantages, there are high expectations for use of slush fluids in various applications such as a clean-energy fuel, fuel for space-planes to improve the efficiency of transportation and storage, and as a refrigerant for high-temperature superconducting power machines. Experimental tests were performed with slush nitrogen to obtain the frictional pressure drop flowing in a horizontal pipe with an inner diameter of 15 mm and a length of 400 mm. The primary objective of the study was to investigate the pressure drop reduction phenomenon according to changes in velocity and solid fraction. The pressure drop correlation between the friction factor and the Reynolds number was obtained, and an empirical correlation between them was derived. The flow pattern for slush nitrogen inside a pipe and the behavior of solid particles were observed using a high-speed video camera and the PIV method. From the experimental results, the pressure drop reduction phenomenon emerged clearly when the flow velocity was higher than 3.6 m/s and the flow pattern of solid particles inside the pipe was pseudo-homogeneous.     

Control of nonmagnetic particles using a magnetic field

Abstract

A force and/or torque are induced in a material under the imposition of a magnetic field. Their magnitudes are different from those acting on the surrounding materials because of the difference in their physical properties. Therefore, a magnetic field is a powerful tool for controlling a second phase in a mother phase such as particles suspended in a liquid. In this paper, we focus on two processes. The first one is a novel method of magnetic filtration in which schwertmannite particles in wastewater are controlled using a magnetic field. The second one is a refining process for a metallic alloy structure during solidification in which solid particles suspended in the liquid phase are controlled using the force excited by the simultaneous imposition of a magnetic field and alternating current.     

Study and optimization of flow field in a novel cyclone separator with inner cylinder

This paper presents a study of gas-solid flow in a novel cyclone separator with inner cylinder, compared with that in a conventional cyclone. The Reynolds stress model (RSM) is used to simulate fluid flow, and the discrete phase model (DPM) is selected to describe the motion behavior of particles. The experimental data measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to verify the reliability of the numerical model. The results show that in the novel cyclone, the cleaned gas can be quickly discharged from the vortex finder, the movement distance and residence time of fine particles are prolonged, the short-circuit flow and vertical vortex under the vortex finder are eliminated, the mutual interference between upflow and downflow in the cylinder is eliminated, and the region of quasi-free vortex in the cone is enlarged. Compared with the conventional cyclone, the novel cyclone has higher collection efficiency and lower pressure drop.     

Advanced materials for drug delivery and biosensors based on magnetic label detection

Many traditional magnetic materials are not suitable for the increasing demands of microsensors for environmental control, biomedical applications, drug delivery, and homeland security. The design of magnetic biosensors can be based on different types of magnetic effects. The detection principles are measurements of the resistance, impedance, etc. in the absence and presence of magnetic nanoparticles. Variations in the measured parameters can be associated with either many individual molecular recognition events or with a specific uptake. Magnetic materials which could be used in magnetoimpedance based biosensors have been studied both for the sensitive element and for magnetic label. The self-assembling processes were observed in perpendicular field for different concentrations of the Dynabeads® M-480. Magnetic field controlled assembly is proposed for designing new composite materials which can be also useful to study the properties of the separate particles. The morphology of the particle agglomerates and dipolar chains in the external field can be controlled by using simultaneously two different suspensions of magnetic particles. A new concept is to define synergetic combinations of two or more nanostructures for the best performance.     

Layered Organic–Inorganic Materials: A Way towards Controllable Magnetism

The search for new materials for tailor‐made applications and new devices involves not only solid‐state chemists, physicists or materials engineers, but also the area molecular and organo‐metallic chemistry, and even biochemistry. This is especially clear in the field of organic–inorganic multifunctional materials, whose design necessitates to investigate new concepts and principles developed in these different disciplines. Here, the authors review the structure‐magnetic property relationships in layered structures, made of organic and inorganic subunits.     

The Study of Performance in a Novel Gas–Solid Separator

The three slit-type separator is a new separator which can shorten the residence time of oil & gas and improve the separation efficiency. In this study, a critical validation was carried out to examine the separation performances of the three slit-type separator with different inlet velocity and inlet concentration. According to the experimental results, the separation efficiency and pressure drop of the three slit-type separator increase with the increase of inlet velocity and inlet concentration. Numerical simulation of the gas–solid flow field in the three slit-type separator was carried out by the use of Fluent 15.0 platform. The simulated results coincide with the experimental results. The particles move along the inside wall of the separator in the vaulted space, meanwhile, more gas enters into the exhaust pipe through slots, which can improve the separation efficiency. The study shows that the residence time of oil and gas is less than 0.6 and the separation efficiency is up to 99% in the separator, in addition, the pressure drop could be controlled in 4 kPa below.     

高频电磁力作用下金属液内电磁超声波的生成

为解决由机械振动产生的超声波无法在高温环境中成功应用的难题，提出了利用静磁场和交流电流、静磁场和交流磁场的相互作用分别在金属液内直接生成高强度电磁超声波的方法，运用超声波压力传感器对用这两种方法在金属液内生成的电磁超声波的强度进行了测量。研究表明：电磁超声波的强度与所施加的高频电磁力的强度成正比，频率与电磁力的频率相同；实验结果和理论解析结果基本一致；利用高频电磁力的局部作用在金属液全场范围内生成的电磁超声波可以在金属精炼及凝固过程中获得广泛应用。     

Enhancement of air purification by unique W-plate structure in two-stage electrostatic precipitator: A novel design for efficient capture of fine particles

In this paper, a novel W-plate two-stage ESP was developed and investigated systematically through the experimental and simulated process. Numerical models and available calculation procedure of solving coupling electrostatic field, fluid field, and particle dynamics were established, whose accuracy was validated by experiments. The relationship among collection efficiency, gas velocity, and particle diameter was studied, and the distribution of electrostatic field, the evolution of EHD flow and fluid field, and particle dynamics, including particle charging, particle trajectory, transverse velocity, and particle concentration, were also investigated thoroughly. Results showed that W-plate two-stage ESP exhibited excellent number-based collection efficiency for fine particles which benefited from the reasonable structure design and the exceeding weak influence of EHD flow. Besides, the particle charging process suggested that the diameter decided the dominant charging mechanism, and the trajectory also played an important role in controlling the charging action. Compared with the behavior of each particle injected at different inlet positions, fine particles injected near the discharge wire got more charging number and quicker capture. Importantly, W-plate structure could exert its crucial role in capturing particles with the help of fluid field and inertial effect when inlet gas velocity increased rapidly. W-plate two-stage ESP had more than 90% number-based collection efficiency for >3 μm diameter particles and more than 75% number-based collection efficiency for 0.3–1 μm diameter submicron particles at 2 m/s gas velocity in both experimental and simulated investigations.     

Large eddy simulation of particle deposition and resuspension in turbulent duct flows

Particle deposition and resuspension in a horizontal, fully developed turbulent square duct flow at four flow bulk Reynolds numbers (10,320, 83k, 215k and 250k) is simulated by applying large eddy simulation coupled with Lagrangian particle tracking technique. Forces acting on particles includes drag, lift, buoyancy and gravity. Four particle sizes are considered with the diameters of 5?μm, 50?μm, 100?μm and 500?μm. Results obtained for the fluid phase are in good agreement with the available experimental and numerical data. Predictions for particles show that particle size, flow Reynolds number and the duct (celling, floor and vertical) walls play important roles in near-wall particle deposition and resuspension. For the smallest particle (5?μm), the particle deposition rates in duct ceiling, floor and vertical walls are found to be similar with each other and all increase with the flow Reynolds number, while the particle resuspension tends to occur in the middle wall regions and corners of the duct with less influenced by the flow Reynolds number. The ceiling deposition rate gradually decreases with particle size while the floor and vertical wall deposition rates both increase with particle size. The ceiling particle deposition rate increases with Reynolds number while the floor deposition rate decreases with it. The vertical deposition rate for the small particles (5–50?μm) increases with the flow Reynolds number obviously, while for the large particles (100–500?μm) that becomes insensitive. In addition, the flow Reynolds number is found to have an obvious effect on particle resuspension while the effect of particle size on particle resuspension decreases with Reynolds number. Eventually, a dynamic analysis was conducted for particles deposition and resuspension in turbulent duct flows.