CFD-PBE coupled model for size-driven segregation in polydisperse granular flows

Abstract

Mixtures of granular materials made of different-sized particles may segregate when subjected to vibration or shear rate and in the presence of a gravitational field. This leads to highly inhomogeneous mixtures, which are undesirable in many industrial processes. This work focuses on size-driven segregation in polydisperse mixtures. We described the evolution of the particle size distribution through a Population Balance Equation (PBE), which we solved numerically with the Direct Quadrature Method of Moments. To allow segregation and micromixing to occur, we closed the size-conditioned velocity of the particles with a segregation- mixing model. The PBE was then included in an Eulerian-Eulerian model and solved in a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code. We used the model to study granular flows down inclined planes. The numerical results were then compared with those obtained from Discrete Element Method simulations. The CFD-PBE model predicts well segregation and micromixing in packed beds of polydisperse powders

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