Abstract
A pneumatic test rig is built to test a curved 90° square bend in an open-circuit horizontal-to-horizontal suction wind tunnel system. Sand particles are used to represent the solid phase with a wide range of particle diameters. Velocity profiles are constructed by measuring the gas velocity using a 3-hole probe. Flow patterns inside the bend duct are introduced using sparks caused by burning sticks of incense with the air flow inside the piping system for flow visualization purpose. Numerical calculations are performed by Lagrangian-particle tracking model for predicting particle trajectories of dispersed phase, and standard k-ε model for predicting the turbulent gas-solid flows in bends. Comparisons made between the theoretical results and experimental data for the velocity vectors and particle trajectories show good agreement.
Highlights
The research, optimal design and malfunction diagnoses of pneumatic conveying systems require a fundamental understanding and detailed information of both the gas and particle phases
As the bend is made of a transparent thermoplastic (Perspex), the flow pattern could be visible by introducing sparks caused by burning sticks of incense within the air flow inside the piping system
Mean streamwise velocity profiles of gas phase are plotted and they show good agreement with the results published in the literature
Summary
The research, optimal design and malfunction diagnoses of pneumatic conveying systems require a fundamental understanding and detailed information of both the gas and particle phases. They adopted a computational fluid dynamic code (CFX-TASC flow) for the simulation of the flow field inside the piping and for the simulation of the particle trajectories. Njobuenwu et al [8] studied turbulent gas-solid flows in square ducts with a 90 ̊ bend numerically using an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach coupled under the assumption of one-way coupling using a stochastic approach based on a random Fourier series method. A numerical study was done by Keating and Nesic [12] to investigate the erosion-corrosion in a three-dimensional square-sectioned 180 ̊ U-bend using lagrangian tracking model for simulating the particle motion and three models for predicting the erosion rates, Finnie’s model, Bergevin’s model, and Nesic’s model. Validation of the model settings are achieved by repeating a published flow case
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