An investigation of computational modeling on phase distribution phenomena in vertical pipes

Abstract

A phase distribution phenomenon is observed in many gas/solid flows. An analysis of this phenomenon indicates that particle turbulence has a significant impact on the dispersion of particles in a vertical pipe flow. A new particle turbulent model has been developed to describe the phenomenon based on the inclusion of particle turbulence dynamics in transport equations. The main features of the model include an new transport equation of particle turbulent kinetic energy, a new expression of radial particle diffusion flux replacing Fick`s Law, and new turbulent viscosity correlation. The particle turbulent model was incorporated into a computational fluid dynamic code to predict particle dispersion in a vertical pipe flow. Preliminary results show the expected trend of particle accumulation near the wall