CFD Analysis of Dust Explosion Relief System in the Counter-Current Industrial Spray Drying Tower

The aim of the paper was to evaluate the performance of venting devices in an industrial counter-current spray tower during dust explosion using a CFD model and EN14491:2006 standard. Three-dimensional CFD simulations of dust explosion in the spray tower for six different configurations of safety vents located at the top and side walls of the dryer were carried out. In the calculations, in which dust was replaced with a flammable gas-air mixture, the following parameters of dust explosion were analyzed: reaction progress, maximum and average gas temperature, gas velocity, and pressure. Reduced pressures calculated according to EN 14991:2006 standard are close to maximum pressure obtained from CFD simulations for all analyzed spatial configurations of the safety vents, which proves that the CFD model can be used both to design explosion mitigation systems and to describe the mechanism of explosion propagation in the drying chamber. Results of the calculations allowed us to evaluate the performance of analyzed venting devices, to determine the spatial configuration and parameters of venting devices that should be installed to minimize damages of the dryer construction.     

Experimentelle und numerische Modellierung der Wirkung von Gas- und Staubexplosionen

Since the intensity of an explosion increases substantially on damming or as a result of turbulence-generating obstacles, gas or dust explosions in industrial plant can cause considrable damage. In connection with various research projects, medium and largescale experimental studies on gas and dust explosions were undertaken in order to gain detailed information about the course and effects of explosions under realistic conditions and to assess possible means of improving safety precautions. Some typical experiments on expansion in dust explosions are presented on the basis of the measured explosive pressures and flame lenghts and compared with the calculated results obtained using the BASSIM CFD code developed by Battelle or by empirical modelling.     

CFD Modeling of Microwave-Assisted Fluidized Bed Drying of Moist Particles Using Two-Fluid Model

The drying behavior of moist spherical particles in a microwave-assisted fluidized bed dryer was simulated. The two-fluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory of granular flow was applied to simulate the gas–solid flow. The simulations were carried out using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package Fluent 6.3.26. The effects of different levels of microwave power densities as well as initial gas temperature on the prediction of solids moisture content, gas temperature, and gas absolute humidity were investigated. The effect of microwaves was incorporated into calculations using a concatenated user-defined function (UDF). The simulation results were compared with experimental data obtained from drying of soybeans in a pilot-scale microwave-assisted fluidized bed dryer and reasonable agreement was found. The mean relative deviation for prediction of solids moisture content, gas temperature, and gas absolute humidity were less than 3, 10, and 5%, respectively. Further work is needed to validate the proposed model for large-scale plants.     

Dust/gas mixtures explosion regimes

The explosion features of nicotinic acid dust in atmosphere of methane and air at different concentrations of either dust or gaseous fuel are studied. Experimental measurements of the pressure history, deflagration index and flammability limits are performed by the standard 20 l Siwek bomb though adapted for such hybrid mixtures.Data show non linear effect of explosion severity and the synergistic effects when hybrid mixtures explode. Results allow the definition of five different regimes of the gas/dust/air mixture explosion in the plane dust concentration vs. fuel concentration.     

Coal dust/air explosions in a large-scale tube

Coal dust/air mixture explosions under weak ignition conditions have been studied in a horizontal experimental tube of diameter 199 mm and length 29.6 m. The experimental tube is closed at one end and open at the downstream end. An array of 40 equally spaced dust dispersion units was used to disperse coal dust particles into the experimental tube. The coal dust/air mixture was ignited by an electric spark. A constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer was used to measure the gas velocity during the dispersion process. Kistler piezoelectric pressure sensors were used to measure the propagation of the pressure wave during the explosion process. The maximum overpressure of the coal dust explosion under the weak ignition conditions in the tube was 70 kPa and the propagation velocity of the pressure wave along the tube was approximately 370 m/s. The minimum concentration for obtaining a coal dust explosion that propagated along the tube was 120 g/m³. The suppressing effects on the coal dust explosion of two different kinds of suppressing agents have been studied.     

CFD simulations of turbulent fluid flow and dust dispersion in the 20 liter explosion vessel

A CFD model was developed with the aim at simulating the turbulent flow field induced by dust feeding and dispersion within the 20 L bomb, and the associated effects on the distribution of dust concentration. The model was validated considering a set of data (pressure time histories and root mean square velocity) available in the literature. The time sequences of velocity vector and kinetic energy maps have shown that multiple turbulent vortex structures are established within the sphere. These vortices generate dead volumes for the dust which is pushed toward the walls of the sphere. The obtained results are relevant to the practice of dust explosion testing and the interpretation of test results and, then, they should be taken as reference to improve the conditions for standard tests. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2485–2496, 2013     

聚磷酸铵抑制PMMA粉尘爆炸特性研究

为研究聚磷酸铵(APP)对聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)粉尘爆炸的抑制特性,从最大爆炸压力P_ex、最大爆炸压力上升速率(dP/dt)_ex、最小点火能量(MIE)和最小点火温度(MIT)等多方面分析了APP对PMMA粉尘爆炸特性的影响。结果表明,APP可有效降低PMMA粉尘最大爆炸压力和最大爆炸压力上升速率,并延迟最大爆炸压力峰值到达时间;对于不同浓度PMMA粉尘的MIE,APP均有显著的抑制效果,且存在临界抑制浓度配比1∶1,在该浓度配比条件下PMMA粉尘很难通过静电点火;对于不同浓度PMMA粉尘的MIT,APP同样均具有一定抑制作用,且相同浓度配比条件下,抑制作用随PMMA浓度的增大而增大。此外,结合APP和PMMA热特性及红外光谱分析结果,分析了APP抑制PMMA粉尘爆炸机理。     

Experimental investigation on explosion characteristics of nano-aluminum powder—air mixtures

Explosion characteristics of nano-aluminum powders with particle sizes of 35, 75, and 100 nm are investigated in a 20-liters spherical explosion chamber. Results show that the maximum explosion pressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise mainly depend on the dust concentration. For dust concentrations below 1000 g/m³, the maximum explosion pressure increases gradually to a maximum value with increasing dust concentration. After the dust concentration increases above 1250 g/m³, the maximum explosion pressure starts to decrease. The trends of the maximum rate of pressure rise follow the same pattern with increasing dust concentration. The lower explosion concentration limits of nano-aluminum powders with sizes of 35, 75, and 100 nm are found to be 5, 10, and 10 g/m³, respectively, while the lower explosion concentration limit of ordinary aluminum powders is about 50 g/m³.     

A fan‐equipped reactor for dust explosion tests

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed with the aim at simulating the turbulent flow field and associated dust dispersion in an agitated spherical explosion vessel. Simulations were performed in the presence of two counter‐rotating fans and also after having switched‐off the fans. Numerical results have shown that the dust mainly accumulates at the center of the sphere in the space left by the four vortices formed. After the switch‐off of the fans, the dust particles start filling the empty volumes inside the sphere, reaching a quite uniform distribution (with concentration equal to the nominal value) and simultaneously ensuring a controlled value of turbulent kinetic energy. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1572–1580, 2015     

氧化单元干燥机循环载气系统优化

介绍干燥机循环载气的工作原理,从烟囱敲击器、洗涤塔喷淋酸、冷却循环溶剂、载气流量、风机电流、换热器效果等方面,分析了氧化单元干燥机循环载气的影响因素,并提出相应措施,进而对系统进行简单优化处理.     

日产30t锦纶6切片水冷却式干燥塔结构简介

介绍了锦纶6切片工业装置中的一种水冷却式干燥塔的设计。与氮气冷却干燥装置相比,该设备省去了氮气冷却仓、氮气冷却器、氮气循环风机、粉尘过滤器、料住控制系统和大功率变频器等,设备成本下降,运行成本降低。     

乙烯/聚乙烯两相体系爆炸特性

基于改进的20 L球形爆炸装置,实验测量了乙烯/聚乙烯两相体系爆炸特性参数,系统地分析了两相体系爆炸下限和爆炸强度变化规律,并对比分析了乙烯、聚乙烯和乙烯/聚乙烯3种体系爆炸强度之间的关系。结果表明：乙烯诱导聚乙烯最小爆炸浓度显著降低,低于爆炸下限的乙烯气体与低于最小爆炸浓度的聚乙烯混合后仍具有爆炸危险性。向不同浓度的聚乙烯粉尘中添加乙烯后,爆炸压力p_ex和压力上升速率（dp/dt）_ex均显著提高,但增幅随粉尘浓度的增大而减小。乙烯/聚乙烯两相体系最大爆炸压力p_max和爆炸指数K_st均随乙烯浓度的增大而增大,但不同乙烯浓度下的两相体系最大爆炸压力p_max和爆炸指数K_st均大于单相聚乙烯粉尘,小于单相乙烯气体。     

伞罩型除尘脱硫塔内气固二相流数值模拟分析

利用FLUENT软件对新型的伞罩型湿法除尘脱硫塔内的三维二相流场进行数值模拟,气相采用κ-ε湍流模型,颗粒相采用离散相模型(DPM)和欧拉模型,选择SIMPLEC算法进行计算。分析塔内x=0截面的气固二相的浓度,体积分数、速度矢量和压力等参数的分布。结果表明,伞形罩使烟气在塔体内分布得更均匀,延长了气体在塔内停留时间,从而实现高效净化气体的目的;在入口粉尘浓度很低的情况下,DPM更适合气固二相流。模拟结果对设备的优化设计和实际运行有一定的指导作用。     

硫磺粉尘燃爆危险性研究

为预防硫磺粉尘的燃爆危险性,测试了硫磺的自燃温度、自热特性、热稳定性、最小点火能、爆炸下限质量浓度、爆炸压力和爆炸指数,根据实验结果对硫磺粉尘危险性做了分级。结果表明,随着粒径的减小,硫磺粉尘的自燃温度、最小点火能和爆炸下限质量浓度相应降低,爆炸压力和爆炸指数则升高;70 μm以下粒径的硫磺粉尘的自燃温度（AIT）为220 ℃,最小点火能（MIE）为0.14 mJ,爆炸下限质量浓度（MEC）为17.5 g/m3,最大爆炸压力（pmax）为1.15 MPa,最大爆炸指数（Kmax）为39.87 MPa·m/s,因此燃爆危险性最高;450 μm以下粒径的硫磺粉尘爆炸危险性等级均为St3级。     

Modeling of low-speed combustion of a methane-air-coal dust suspension

A plane one-dimensional problem of the propagation of slow-speed combustion in methane-air-coal dust suspensions is solved. Methane contained originally in the gas is assumed to burn-up completely in the flame front. The front velocity relative to the gas is calculated from relations derived in analysis of the stationary problem using the theory of thermal explosion. The gas suspension is regarded as a two-temperature and two-velocity medium. Heterogeneous reactions of carbon (coke) combustion and carbon monoxide reduction, and the yield of volatile components and their gas-phase combustion together with carbon monoxide are taken into account. Based on numerical calculations, the coal dust is shown to affect unambiguously the flame velocity, with moderate content of the dust. In lean mixtures, with a moderate content of the dust the intensity of the combustion wave increases and decreases under conditions close to stoichiometric ones. Institute of Mechanics at Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 46–54, July–August, 1997.     

硫基复合肥造粒尾气处理工艺改造

针对传统硫基复合肥喷浆造粒干燥尾气除尘吸收装置存在的问题进行改造。介绍具体的改造措施,包括:对烟气管道进行保温,增加管径,增加一台旋风除尘器,新增文丘里洗涤器和空塔代替原旋风除沫器等。通过改造,台时产量增加2~3 t,干燥尾气中粉尘排放质量浓度由115 mg/m~3降到26 mg/m~3以下,氨排放质量浓度可控制在80 mg/m~3以内,使尾气达标排放。     

连通容器内气体爆炸过程的数值分析

为了研究连通容器内气体爆炸强度增加产生机理以及燃烧火焰与压力传播的基本规律,采用k-ε模型和EBU-Arrhen ius混合反应模型,从流体力学和化学反应动力学守恒方程出发,利用大型流体动力学软件F luent 6.1对连通容器内气体爆炸过程进行了数值分析,获得了气体爆炸过程中火焰和压力传播特性以及气体流动特性,模拟结果能够比较清晰地反映气体爆炸的整个过程。研究表明连通容器中气体爆炸过程中火焰始终是加速传播的,气体压缩和反流以及喷射火焰是连通容器气体爆炸强度增加的主要原因。     

SCALE-UP OF SPRAY DRYERS WITH THE AID OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

The scale-up of spray dryer chambers is difficult because of the complexity of gas and spray flow patterns. The principal concerns in designing a spray drying chamber are to ensure sufficient residence time for drying and to avoid particle-wall collisions. Dimensionless groups are of limited use because it is practically impossible to achieve dynamic similarity between small and large chambers. In the past, empirical, rather than theoretically based, rules generated by experience with existing plant have been used in the design and scale-up of spray dryer chambers but these models, because of their empirical nature, are limited in their range of applicability. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is potentially a powerful tool to aid spray dryer design allowing much more flexibility in design but because of the difficulties of modelling such complex phenomena, especially the gas turbulence, its predictions cannot, at present, be considered absolutely reliable and experimental validation of the results is required. However, by considering the principles of similarity, it is shown that validations carried out on pilot scale equipment under the correct conditions will prove the accuracy of CFD applied to spray dryers of any size.     

SH2010型内热式干馏炉在褐煤干馏中的应用

为了综合高效利用褐煤,陕西冶金设计研究院有限公司开发了褐煤干燥-干馏联产工艺。介绍了该工艺的核心设备立式干燥炉和SH2010型内热式干馏炉的工艺流程、工作原理以及褐煤干馏煤气净化与煤焦油回收工艺。结果表明:为了降低褐煤与高温含氧烟气在立式干燥炉中爆炸的可能,需要在干燥炉顶部设防爆板且进料粒度不能大于150 mm。SH2010型内热式干馏炉使褐煤基本干馏完全,提高了褐煤发热量,后续的配套净化工段回收了大部分的煤焦油与煤气。     

A Sensitivity Study on CFD Modeling of Cocurrent Spray-Drying Process

This article presents CFD modeling of drying process in a cocurrent spray dryer. Initial parameters of discrete and continuous phase were determined experimentally and used in the model. The theoretical results were compared with experimental data and sensitivity of the simulation results to the selected parameters was determined. Results show that the applied gas turbulence model, drying kinetics, effect of atomizing air, and turbulent particle dispersion are crucial parameters that control accuracy of the CFD modeling.