Effect of particle size and mass on nano to micron particle agglomeration

Due to the inter-particle force, the most significant characteristic of nano to micron particle flow may become the agglomeration, which considerably affects the flow patterns. The agglomeration results in a reduction in the number and an increase in the size of particles, both of which directly affect the frequency of inter-particle collisions and, in turn, the particle phase properties. In this work, we focus our attention on the verification of nano to micron particle flow behavior due to the agglomeration. By extending the application of the cohesive model based on the kinetic theory, we performed the homogeneous simple shear flow analysis using various initial particle size and particle mass. The predicted flow properties, such as particle diameter growth and the ratio of cohesion energy to fluctuation energy, agreed well with the expected trends.