Four-Way Coupling of Dense Particle Beds of Black Powder in Turbulent Pipe Flows

Abstract

The modeling of particle deposition and transport in pipes is one of the most challenging problems in multiphase flow, because the underlying physics is multi-faceted and complex, including turbulence of the carrier phase, particle-turbulence interaction, particle-wall interactions, particle-particle interactions, two-way and four-way couplings, particle agglomeration, deposition and re-suspension. We will discuss these issues and present new routes for the modeling of particle collision stress. Practical examples like black powder deposition and transport in gas pipelines will be presented and discussed. The model employed is based on dense-particle formulation accounting for particle-turbulence interaction, particle-wall interactions, particle-particle interactions via a collision stress. The model solves the governing equations of the fluid phase using a continuum model and those of the particle phase using a Lagrangian model. Inter-particle interactions for dense particle flows with high volume fractions (from 1% to close packing ∼60%) have been accounted for by mapping particle properties to an Eulerian grid and then mapping back computed stress tensors to particle positions. Turbulence within the continuum gas field was simulated using the V-LES (Very Large-Eddy Simulation) and full LES, which provides sufficient flow unsteadiness needed to disperse the particles and move the deposited bed.