Two-fluid modeling of turbulent particle-gas suspensions in vertical pipes

Numerical simulations of dilute, turbulent gas-solid flows in vertical pipes are performed using a two-fluid model or Euler-Euler model incorporating kinetic theory for granular flows (KTGF) and accounting for a four-way coupling (i.e. consideration of particle-particle collisions along with gas-particle interactions). Comparison of the model predictions with experimental data reveals good agreement. The paper mainly focuses on the investigation of fully developed velocity profiles; turbulent intensity and pressure drop over a wide range of operating conditions and particle properties. The significant contribution of the present study is the development of a correlation for pressure drop in vertical gas-solid flows using non-linear regression analysis from the data obtained from CFD predictions, which gives an accuracy of +/- 15%. This correlation can be used for the prediction of pressure drop in pneumatic conveying of fly ash, cement, pulverized coal etc. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.