Large eddy simulation of particle-laden flow in a duct with a 90° bend

Abstract

Large eddy simulation (LES) of particle-laden turbulent flow is studied for a square duct with a 90° bend and a radius of curvature of 1.5 times the duct width, and for a Reynolds number based on the bulk flow velocity of 100,000. A Lagrangian particle tracking technique is used to study the motion of particles experiencing drag, shear lift, buoyancy and gravitational forces in the flow. LES predictions capture important physical aspects of these flows known to occur in practice, unlike alternative Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approaches, such as flow separation in the boundary layers around the bend entrance on the concave wall of the bend, and around the bend exit on the convex wall. The LES predicted flow and particle statistics are generally in good agreement with both experimental data used for validation purposes and RANS solutions, with r.m.s. fluctuating velocity predictions from the LES in particular being superior to values derived using the RANS technique.