Particle Dynamic Characteristics of the Vertical Tubes in a Horizontal-Vertical Pneumatic Conveying System with Different Curvature Radius Bends

Abstract

To examine the flow characteristics of particles in the vertical tube corresponding to different curvature radius bends, the particle velocity is measured at the Minimum Pressure Drop (MPD) using a high-speed Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV). This experiment explores the effects of particle flow characteristics at different curvature radius bends and their corresponding vertical tubes with pressure drop, power consumption, the intensity of particle fluctuation velocity, power spectrum and time-frequency characteristics. It is observed that the pressure drop and power consumption can be reduced with the help of a large curvature radius bend. Besides, the reduction of particle velocity in the large curvature radius bend and its corresponding vertical tube is less, and the particle possesses a larger intensity of fluctuation velocity in its corresponding vertical tube. The particles in the vertical tube corresponding to the large curvature radius bend lead to large peaks of the power spectrum in the low-frequency region, which is closely linked to the pressure drop. Eventually, the dynamics of particles in a vertical tube are revealed from the perspective of time-frequency analysis by using a continuous wavelet transform.