Discrete element modeling for flows of granular materials

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Chemical Plume Tracing by Discrete Fourier Analysis and Particle Swarm Optimization

A novel methodology for solving the chemical plume tracing problem that utilizes data from a network of stationary sensors has been developed in this study. During a toxic chemical release and dispersion incident, the imperative need of first responders is to determine the physical location of the source of chemical release in the shortest possible time. However, the chemical plume that develops from the source of release may evolve into a highly complex distribution over the entire contaminated region, making chemical plume tracing one of the most challenging problems known to date. In this study, the discrete Fourier series method was applied for re-construction of the contour map representing the concentration distribution of chemical over the contaminated region based on point measurements by sensors in a pre-installed network. Particle Swarm Optimization was then applied to the re-constructed contour map to locate the position of maximal concentration. Such a methodology was found to be highly successful in solving the chemical plume tracing problem via the sensor network approach and thus closes a long-standing gap in the literature. Furthermore, the nature of the methodology is such that a visual of the entire chemical dispersion process is made available during the solution process and this can be beneficial for warning purposes and evacuation planning. In the context of such chemical release scenarios, the algorithm developed in this study is believed to be able to play an instrumental role towards national defense for any country in the world that is subjected to such threats

Heat Transfer from an Immersed Tube in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed

An Eulerian–Eulerian approach was used to investigate the effects of particle size and immersed tube temperature on bubbling and heat transfer behaviors in a gas fluidized bed. Large gas bubbles were observed to split into smaller bubbles that flowed around the immersed tube during the fluidization process. The formation of pockets of gas around the immersed tube led to a lower heat transfer coefficient. Heat transfer between the immersed tube and particles was facilitated by a phenomenon of particle renewal. Larger gas bubbles formed in the gas fluidized bed containing larger particles and this resulted in lower heat transfer coefficients due to the formation of more gas pockets around the immersed tube. When the temperature of the immersed tube was increased, the sensitivity of the heat transfer process toward formation of gas pockets around the immersed tube was observed to increase

Pneumatic transport of granular materials with electrostatic effects

The methodology of coupling large eddy simulation (LES) with the discrete element method was applied for computational studies of pneumatic transport of granular materials through vertical and horizontal pipes in the presence of electrostatic effects. The LES numerical results obtained agreed well with the law of the wall for various y+-ranges. The simulations showed that a thin layer of particles formed and remained adhered to the pipe walls during the pneumatic conveying process due to the effects of strong electrostatic forces of attraction toward the pipe walls. Particle concentrations were generally higher near the pipe walls than at the pipe center resulting in the ring flow pattern observed in previous experimental studies. The close correspondence between particle velocity vectors and fluid drag force vectors was indicative of the importance of fluid drag forces in influencing particle behaviors. In contrast, the much weaker particleparticle electrostatic repulsion forces had negligible effects on particle behaviors within the system under all operating conditions considered. The electrostatic field strength developed during pneumatic conveying increased with decreasing flow rate due to increased amount of particle-wall collisions. Based on dynamic analyses of forces acting on individual particles, it may be concluded that electrostatic effects played a dominant role in influencing particle behaviors during pneumatic conveying at low flow rates, whereas drag forces became more important at high flow rates. (C) 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012National University of Singapore [R-279-000-275-112