Developing theory of probability density function for stochastic modeling of turbulent gas-particle flows

Turbulent gas-particle flows are studied by a kinetic description using a probability density function (PDF). Unlike other investigators deriving the particle Reynolds stress equations using the PDF equations, the particle PDF transport equations are directly solved either using a finite-difference method for two-dimensional (2D) problems or using a Monte-Carlo (MC) method for three-dimensional (3D) problems. The proposed differential stress model together with the PDF (DSM-PDF) is used to simulate turbulent swirling gas-particle flows. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results and the second-order moment (SOM) two-phase modeling results. All of these simulation results are in agreement with the experimental results, implying that the PDF approach validates the SOM two-phase turbulence modeling. The PDF model with the SOM-MC method is used to simulate evaporating gas-droplet flows, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.