Channel flows of granular materials and their rheological implications

While the flow of a dry granular material down an inclined channel may seem at first sight to be a relatively simple flow, the experiments which have been conducted up to now suggest sufficient complexity which may be present in all but the very simplest granular material flows; consequently it is important to our general understanding of granular material rheology that these experimental observations be fully understood. This review of the current knowledge of channel flows will focus on the basic mechanics of these flows and the contributions the observations have made to an understanding of the rheology. In order to make progress in this objective, it is necessary to avoid some of the complications which can occur in practice. Thus we shall focus only on those flows in which the interstitial fluid plays very little role in determining the rheology. In his classic paper, Bagnold (1954) was able to show that the regime in which the rheology was dominated by particle/particle or particle/wall interactions and in which the viscous stresses in the interstitial fluid played a negligible role could be defined by a single, Reynolds-number-like parameter. It transpires that the important component in this parameter is a number which we shall call the Bagnold number, Ba, defined by Ba = p₈d²δ/µF where p₈,µF are the particle density and interstitial fluid viscosity, d is the particle diameter and δ is the principal velocity gradient in the flow. In the shear flows explored by Bagnold δ is the shear rate. Bagnold (1954) found that when Ba was greater than about 450 the rheology was dominated by particle/particle and particle/wall collisions. On the other hand, for Ba < 40, the viscosity of the interstitial fluid played the dominant role. More recently Zeininger and Brennen (1985) showed that the same criteria were applicable to the extensional flows in hoppers provided the extensional velocity gradient was used for δ. This review will focus on the simpler flows at large Ba where the interstitial fluid effects are small. Other important ancillary effects can be caused by electrical charge separation between the particles or between the particles and the boundary walls. Such effects can be essential in some flows such as those in electrostatic copying machines. Most experimenters have observed electrical effects in granular material flows, particularly when metal components of the structure are not properly grounded. The effect of such electrical forces on the rheology of the flow is a largely unexplored area of research. The lack of discussion of these effects in this review should not be interpreted as a dismissal of their importance. Apart from electrical and interstitial fluid effects, this review will also neglect the effects caused by non-uniformities in the size and shape of the particles. Thus, for the most part, we focus on flows of particles of spherical shape and uniform size. It is clear that while an understanding of all of these effects will be necessary in the long term, there remain some important issues which need to be resolved for even the simplest granular material flows

An algebraic-closure-based momentmethod for unsteady Eulerian modeling of non-isothermal particle-laden turbulent flows in very dilute regime and high Stokes number

An algebraic-closure-based moment method (ACBMM) is developed for unsteady Eulerian particle simulations coupled with direct numerical simulations (DNS) of non-isothermal fluid turbulent flows, in very dilute regime and for large Stokes numbers. It is based on a conditional statistical approach which provides a local instantaneous characterization of the dynamic of the dispersed phase accounting for the effect of crossing between particle trajectories which occurs for large Stokes numbers

Bubbly and Buoyant Particle-Laden Turbulent Flows

Fluid turbulence is commonly associated with stronger drag, greater heat transfer, and more efficient mixing than in laminar flows. In many natural and industrial settings, turbulent liquid flows contain suspensions of dispersed bubbles and light particles. Recently, much attention has been devoted to understanding the behavior and underlying physics of such flows by use of both experiments and high-resolution direct numerical simulations. This review summarizes our present understanding of various phenomenological aspects of bubbly and buoyant particle-laden turbulent flows. We begin by discussing different dynamical regimes, including those of crossing trajectories and wake-induced oscillations of rising particles, and regimes in which bubbles and particles preferentially accumulate near walls or within vortical structures. We then address how certain paradigmatic turbulent flows, such as homogeneous isotropic turbulence, channel flow, Taylor-Couette turbulence, and thermally driven turbulence, are modified by the presence of these dispersed bubbles and buoyant particles. We end with a list of summary points and future research questions.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figure

Particle-resolved numerical simulations of the gas–solid heat transfer in arrays of random motionless particles

Particle-resolved direct numerical simulations of non-isothermal gas–solid flows have been performed and analyzed from microscopic to macroscopic scales. The numerical configuration consists in an assembly of random motionless spherical particles exchanging heat with the surrounding moving fluid throughout the solid surface. Numerical simulations have been carried out using a Lagrangian VOF approach based on fictitious domain framework and penalty methods. The entire numerical approach (numerical solution and post-processing) has first been validated on a single particle through academic test cases of heat transfer by pure diffusion and by forced convection for which analytical solution or empirical correlations are available from the literature. Then, it has been used for simulating gas–solid heat exchanges in dense regimes, fully resolving fluid velocity and temperature evolving within random arrays of fixed particles. Three Reynolds numbers and four solid volume fractions, for unity Prandtl number, have been investigated. Two Nusselt numbers based, respectively, on the fluid temperature and on the bulk (cup-mixing) temperature have been computed and analyzed. Numerical results revealed differences between the two Nusselt numbers for a selected operating point. This outcome shows the inadequacy of the Nusselt number based on the bulk temperature to accurately reproduce the heat transfer rate when an Eulerian–Eulerian approach is used. Finally, a connection between the ratio of the two Nusselt numbers and the fluctuating fluid velocity–temperature correlation in the mean flow direction is pointed out. Based on such a Nusselt number ratio, a model is proposed for it

Adhesion and detachment fluxes of micro-particles from a permeable wall under turbulent flow conditions

We report a numerical investigation of the deposition and re-entrainment of Brownian particles from a permeable plane wall. The tangential flow was turbulent. The suspension dynamics were obtained through direct numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equations coupled to the Lagrangian tracking of individual particles. Physical phenomena acting on the particles such as flow transport, adhesion, detachment and re-entrainment were considered. Brownian diffusion was accounted for in the trajectory computations by a stochastic model specifically adapted for use in the vicinity of the wall. Interactions between the particles and the wall such as adhesion forces and detachment were modeled. Validations of analytical solutions for simplified cases and comparisons with theoretical predictions are presented as well. Results are discussed focusing on the interplay between the distinct mechanisms occurring in the fouling of filtration devices. Particulate fluxes towards and away from the permeable wall are analyzed under different adhesion strengths