Computational investigation of the mechanisms of particle separation and “fish‐hook” phenomenon in hydrocyclones

The motion of solid particles and the “fish‐hook” phenomenon in an industrial classifying hydrocyclone of body diameter 355 mm is studied by a computational fluid dynamics model. In the model, the turbulent flow of gas and liquid is modeled using the Reynolds Stress Model, and the interface between the liquid and air core is modeled using the volume of fluid multiphase model. The outcomes are then applied in the simulation of particle flow described by the stochastic Lagrangian model. The results are analyzed in terms of velocity and force field in the cyclone. It is shown that the pressure gradient force plays an important role in particle separation, and it balances the centrifugal force on particles in the radial direction in hydrocyclones. As particle size decreases, the effect of drag force whose direction varies increases sharply. As a result, particles have an apparent fluctuating velocity. Some particles pass the locus of zero vertical velocity (LZVV) and join the upward flow and have a certain moving orbit. The moving orbit of particles in the upward flow becomes wider as their size decreases. When the size is below a critical value, the moving orbit is even beyond the LZVV. Some fine particles would recircuit between the downward and upward flows, resulting in a relatively high separation efficiency and the “fish‐hook” effect. Numerical experiments were also extended to study the effects of cyclone size and liquid viscosity. The results suggest that the mechanisms identified are valid, although they are quantitatively different. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Simulation of dry powder inhalers: Combining micro‐scale,meso‐scale and macro‐scale modeling

The flow of carrier particles, coated with active drug particles, is studied in a prototype dry powder inhaler. A novel, multiscale approach consisting of a discrete element model (DEM) to describe the particles coupled with a dynamic large eddy simulation (LES) model to describe the dynamic nature of the flow is applied. The model consists of three different scales: the micro‐scale, the meso‐scale, and the macro‐scale. At the micro‐scale, the interactions of the small active drug particles with larger carrier particles, with the wall, with the air flow, and with each other is thoroughly studied using discrete element modeling and detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD), i.e., resolving the flow structures around the particles. This has led to the development of coarse‐grained models, describing the interaction of the small active drug particles at the larger scales. At the meso‐scale the larger carrier particles, and all of their interactions are modeled individually using DEM and CFD‐LES. Collisions are modeled using a visco‐elastic model to describe the local deformation at each point of particle‐particle contact in conjunction with a model to account for cohesion. At the macro‐scale, simulations of a complete prototype inhaler are carried out. By combining the relevant information of each of the scales, simulations of the inhalation of one dose from a prototype inhaler using a patient relevant air flow profile show that fines leave the inhaler faster than the carrier particles. The results also show that collisions are not important for particle‐particle momentum exchange initially but become more important as the particles accelerate. It is shown that for the studied prototype inhaler the total release efficiency of the fine particles is between 10 and 30%, depending on the Hamaker constant, using typical settings for the properties of both particles. The results are also used to study regions of recirculation, where carrier particles can become trapped, and regions where fines adhere to the wall of the device. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 501–516, 2017     

Experimental study of the vortex end in centrifugal separators: The nature of the vortex end

The nature of the vortex end (or the “tail end” or “tip”) in reverse-flow centrifugal gas cleaning equipment, cyclones and swirl tubes, has been studied by visualization using a stroboscope and high-time-resolution pressure measurements. The core of the vortex is shown to bend to the wall of the separator, and rotate around the wall, forming the ring-shaped pattern normally observed at the vortex end. The end of the vortex was found to occur higher in the swirl tube (“less stable vortex”) when the solid loading is increased, and when the volumetric flow rate to the tube is decreased. The frequency with which the vortex core rotates varies with the gas flow rate and was found to be about the same as the frequency with which the gas rotates higher in the separator. The time-averaged wall pressure suddenly decreases in the separator body at the point where the vortex end attaches to the wall.     

LES–Lagrangian‐particles‐simulation of turbulent reactive flows at high Sc number using approximate deconvolution model

Large eddy simulation (LES) with the approximate deconvolution model is combined with Lagrangian particles simulation (LPS) for simulating turbulent reactive flows at high Schmidt numbers Sc. The LES is used to simulate velocity and nonreactive scalar while reactive scalars are simulated by the LPS using the mixing volume model for molecular diffusion. The LES–LPS is applied to turbulent scalar mixing layers with a second‐order isothermal irreversible reaction at Sc = 600. The mixing volume model is implemented with the IEM, Curl's, and modified Curl's mixing schemes. The mixing volume model provides a correct decay rate of nonreactive scalar variance at high Sc independently of the number of particles. The statistics in the LES–LPS with the IEM or modified Curl's mixing scheme agree well with the experiments for both moderately‐fast and rapid reactions. However, the LPS with the Curl's mixing scheme overpredicts the effects of the rapid reaction. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2912–2922, 2016     

大涡模拟搅拌槽中的液相流动

采采用大涡模拟湍流模型对有档板的Rushton 桨搅拌槽进行了数值模拟研究。控制方程采用控制容积法进行离散,对流项用三阶QUICK格式,扩散项是二阶中心差分。压力 速度耦合方程在交错网格上采用SIMPLE算法进行求解。小尺度流动的模化采用动力学（dynamic）亚格子模型。搅拌桨与档板之间的相互作用采用改进的内外迭代法进行处理。计算结果和文献值吻合得很好。     

The “cold‐solutioning” phenomenon in cellulose triacetate–acetone mixtures

Direct mixing of cellulose triacetate (CTA) in acetone at room temperature produces only an opaque swollen gel at all concentrations. However, cycling the mixture between room temperature and ?78 ± 3°C results in a stable solution at room temperature, if the concentration is less than 6% (w/w). This process has been called “cold‐solutioning.” Such a process also produces a clear solution at concentrations between 6% (w/w) and 10% (w/w); however, in time, the solution separates slowly into at least two phases, a clear liquid and an opaque gel phase. At concentrations above 10% (w/w) and below 20% (w/w), the system exhibits two phases. A completely opaque swollen gel forms at concentrations of 20% (w/w) and above. The above‐described cold‐solutioning phenomena are shown to be the coupled kinetic and thermodynamic consequences of (1) the large thermal stresses that would result from thawing a swollen mixture of CTA and acetone, arising from the large differences in their thermal expansion coefficients; and (2) the “bimodal” composition of the cellulose derivative. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1697–1707, 2003     

Experimental and computational study of the bed dynamics of semi‐cylindrical gas–solid fluidized bed

With computational fluid dynamics (CFD) it is possible to get a detailed view of the flow behaviour of the fluidized beds. A profound and fundamental understanding of bed dynamics such as bed pressure drop, bed expansion ratio, bed fluctuation ratio, and minimum fluidization velocity of homogeneous binary mixtures has been made in a semi‐cylindrical fluidized column for gas–solid systems, resulting in a predictive model for fluidized beds. In the present work attempt has been made to study the effect of different system parameters (viz., size and density of the bed materials and initial static bed height) on the bed dynamics. The correlations for the bed expansion and bed fluctuations have been developed on the basis of dimensional analysis using these system parameters. Computational study has also been carried out using a commercial CFD package Fluent (Fluent, Inc.). A multifluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was applied in order to simulate the gas–solid flow. CFD simulated bed pressure drop has been compared with the experimental bed pressure drops under different conditions for which the results show good agreements.     

LDA measurements and CFD simulations of an in‐line high shear mixer with ultrafine teeth

Hydrodynamics of a pilot‐scale in‐line high shear mixer (HSM) with double rows of ultrafine rotor and stator teeth, including the velocity profiles and power consumptions, were measured using laser Doppler anemometry and a torque transducer, respectively. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were conducted using the standard k‐ε turbulence model with first‐ and second‐order accuracy and large eddy simulation (LES) with the standard Smagorinsky–Lilly subgrid scale model. Predictive capabilities of the different turbulence models and discretization schemes were assessed based on the experimental data. It is found that the current LES can predict accurately the flow patterns for the strongly rotating and locally anisotropic turbulent flows in the complex in‐line HSM. The results obtained are fundamental to explore potential applications of the in‐line teethed HSMs to intensify chemical reaction processes. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1143–1155, 2014     

Interrogation of “surface,” “skin,” and “core” orientation in thermotropic liquid‐crystalline copolyester moldings by near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering

Injection molding thermotropic liquid‐crystalline polymers (TLCPs) usually results in the fabrication of molded articles that possess complex states of orientation that vary greatly as a function of thickness. “Skin‐core” morphologies are often observed in TLCP moldings. Given that both “core” and “skin” orientation states may often differ both in magnitude and direction, deconvolution of these complex orientation states requires a method to separately characterize molecular orientation in the surface region. A combination of two‐dimensional wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) in transmission and near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy is used to probe the molecular orientation in injection molded plaques fabricated from a 4,4′‐dihydroxy‐α‐methylstilbene (DHαMS)‐based thermotropic liquid crystalline copolyester. Partial electron yield (PEY) mode NEXAFS is a noninvasive ex situ characterization tool with exquisite surface sensitivity that samples to a depth of 2 nm. The effects of plaque geometry and injection molding processing conditions on surface orientation in the regions on‐ and off‐ axis to the centerline of injection molded plaques are presented and discussed. Quantitative comparisons are made between orientation parameters obtained by NEXAFS and those from 2D WAXS in transmission, which are dominated by the microstructure in the skin and core regions. Some qualitative comparisons are also made with 2D WAXS results from the literature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Dynamic delayed detached eddy simulation of a multi‐inlet vortex reactor

The multi‐inlet vortex reactor (MIVR) is used for flash nanoprecipitation to manufacture functional nanoparticles. A validated computational fluid dynamics model is needed for the design, scale‐up, and optimization of the MIVR. Unfortunately, available Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes methods are unable to accurately model the highly swirling flow in the MIVR. Large‐eddy simulations (LES) are also problematic, as excessively fine grids are required to accurately model this flow. These dilemmas led to the application of the dynamic delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) method to the MIVR. In the dynamic DDES model, the eddy viscosity has a form similar to the Smagorinsky sub‐grid viscosity in LES, which allows the implementation of a dynamic procedure to determine its model coefficient. Simulation results using the dynamic DDES model are found to match well with experimental data in terms of mean velocity and turbulence intensity, suggesting that the dynamic DDES model is a good option for modeling the turbulent swirling flow in the MIVR. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2570–2578, 2016     

Particle‐scale simulation of the flow and heat transfer behaviors in fluidized bed with immersed tube

A kind of new modified computational fluid dynamics‐discrete element method (CFD‐DEM) method was founded by combining CFD based on unstructured mesh and DEM. The turbulent dense gas–solid two phase flow and the heat transfer in the equipment with complex geometry can be simulated by the programs based on the new method when the k‐ε turbulence model and the multiway coupling heat transfer model among particles, walls and gas were employed. The new CFD‐DEM coupling method that combining k‐ε turbulence model and heat transfer model, was employed to simulate the flow and the heat transfer behaviors in the fluidized bed with an immersed tube. The microscale mechanism of heat transfer in the fluidized bed was explored by the simulation results and the critical factors that influence the heat transfer between the tube and the bed were discussed. The profiles of average solids fraction and heat transfer coefficient between gas‐tube and particle‐tube around the tube were obtained and the influences of fluidization parameters such as gas velocity and particle diameter on the transfer coefficient were explored by simulations. The computational results agree well with the experiment, which shows that the new CFD‐DEM method is feasible and accurate for the simulation of complex gas–solid flow with heat transfer. And this will improve the farther simulation study of the gas–solid two phase flow with chemical reactions in the fluidized bed. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

Gas dispersion in air‐lift reactors: Contribution of the turbulent part of the added mass force

Gas dispersion in an airlift reactor focusing on the closure law on turbulent contribution of added mass is presented. A data bank for bubbly flow in an airlift reactor is presented. The liquid velocity is measured by hot film anemometry and gas fraction and velocity are measured with an optical probe. The sensitivity of numerical simulations of gas dispersion to the modeling of turbulent contribution of added mass is shown. Without the turbulent contribution, the bubbles move toward the region where the turbulence is high and the pressure is low. When the turbulent contribution is introduced, the bubble migration towards the low pressure region is counter‐balanced and the void fraction profile is significantly modified. The modeling of the turbulent contribution of added mass is expressed in terms of the turbulent correlations in the gas phase, u_Gi^′u_Gj^′ , that can be related to the Reynolds stress in the liquid phase, u_i^′u_j^′ . © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011     

流体流动型态对膜通量影响的实验和计算流体力学研究

This paper reports a study on the role of fluid flow pattern and dynamic pressure on the permeate flux through a micro filtration membrane in laboratory scale. For this purpose, a dead-end membrane cell equipped with a marine type impeller was used. The impeller was set to rotate in the clockwise and counter clockwise directions with the same angular velocities in order to illustrate the effect of rotation direction on permeate flux. Consequently, permeate fluxes were measured at various impeller rotational speeds. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) pre-dicted dynamic pressure was related to the fluxes obtained in the experiments. Using the CFD modeling, it is proven that the change in dynamic pressure upon the membrane surface has direct effect on the permeate flux.     

Rushton涡轮搅拌槽内流场特性及颗粒运动行为数值模拟

基于计算流体动力学（CFD）方法,采用大涡模拟（LES）和拉格朗日颗粒追踪技术计算了Rushton涡轮搅拌槽内流场特性及三种St颗粒的运动行为。平均流场（切向速度、轴向速度和径向速度）、颗粒速度及浓度分布方面与实验值的吻合度较好,验证了数值模拟的可靠性。结果表明,搅拌流场及颗粒运动均呈现循环流特性,当转速N=313r/min不变时,St=0.24的小颗粒几乎实现了均匀分布;而St=37.3的大颗粒与流体的跟随性较差,底部沉积率较高,容器顶部会出现一定的颗粒空白区。叶轮附近产生一系列的湍流涡结构,并且由于剧烈的颗粒-壁面碰撞,该位置颗粒拟温度最高;小颗粒（St=0.24）的运移主要受叶片后方尾涡的控制,均匀分布在低涡量区;而大颗粒（St=37.3）由于具有较大的惯性,运动不再由涡主导,很快被叶轮甩向边壁,穿过了尾涡所形成的高涡量区,故而叶轮对附近大颗粒的搅拌效果较差。