Spectrum of density fluctuations in a particle-fluid system— i. monodisperse spheres

A method for calculating the density autocorrelation ′(x)′(x + r) for a homogeneous particle-fluid system in both physical and Fourier transform space has been developed. The density autocorrelation was related to two quantities, the Overlap function which is defined as the volume of intersection of two spheres as a function of the separation distance and the radial distribution function (RDF) of the particles. In dimensionless co-ordinates, the parameter that characterizes the density autocorrelation is the volume fraction of particles, ₁, , or equivalently the dimensionless mean separation distance (normalized by the particle diameter), . For an isotropic randomly distributed system of particles, the density autocorrelation was observed to oscillate with the correlation distance r, with a wavelength that was proportional to λ. The Fourier transform of the autocorrelation likewise oscillated with the wavenumber k, however the effect of changes in the particle volume fraction was limited to the first peak only. Subsequent peaks were more closely associated with the Overlap function.

The results for the density autocorrelation were extended to a particle-fluid system which experienced an asymptotically large pressure gradient. This initially produced a uniform relative motion between the two fields. In this limit, other higher-order moments such as the Reynolds stress can be related to the density autocorrelation in a straightforward manner. Moreover the spectral shapes of all moments collapse onto the density autocorrelation spectrum in this limit. It was pointed out that the uniform relative motion will eventually become unstable because of hydrodynamic forces on the particles induced by the relative motion. This effect was estimated by introducing a mildly attractive force into the RDF. The results demonstrated that the induced hydrodynamic force promoted a shift in the density spectrum toward small k (large scale) indicating an alternative mechanism for growth in the integral length scale.     

Resonance scattering characteristics of double-layer spherical particles

Based on the principle of ultrasonic resonance scattering, sound-scattering characteristics of double-layer spherical particles in water were numerically studied in this paper. By solving the equations of the scattering matrix, the scattering coefficient determined by the boundary conditions can be obtained, thus the expression for the sound-scattering function of a single double-layer spherical particle can be derived. To describe the resonance scattering characteristics of a single particle, the reduced scattering cross section and reduced extinction cross section curves were found through numerical calculation. Similarly, the numerically calculated sound attenuation coefficient curves were used to depict the resonance scattering characteristics of monodisperse and polydisperse particles. The results of numerical calculation showed that, for monodisperse particles, the strength of the resonance was mainly related to the particle size and the total number of particles; while for polydisperse particles, it was primarily affected by the particle size, the coverage of the particle size distribution and the particle concentration.     

Effect of particle polydispersity on micromechanical properties and energy dissipation in granular mixtures

A series of numerical tests was conducted to study the micromechanical properties and energy dissipation in polydisperse assemblies of spherical particles subjected to uniaxial compression. In general, distributed particle size assemblies with standard deviations ranging from 0% to 80% of the particle mean diameter were examined. The microscale analyses included the trace of the fabric tensor, magnitude and orien- tation of the contact forces, trace of stress, number of contacts and degree of mobilization of friction in contacts between particles. In polydisperse samples, the average coordination numbers were lower than in monodisperse assemblies, and the mobilization of friction was higher than in monodisperse assemblies due to the non-uniform spatial rearrangement of spheres in the samples and the smaller displacements of the particles. The effect of particle size heterogeneity on both the energy density and energy dissipation in systems was also investigated.     

Effect of particle polydispersity on micromechanical properties and energy dissipation in granular mixtures

A series of numerical tests was conducted to study the micromechanical properties and energy dissipation in polydisperse assemblies of spherical particles subjected to uniaxial compression. In general, distributed particle size assemblies with standard deviations ranging from 0% to 80% of the particle mean diameter were examined. The microscale analyses included the trace of the fabric tensor, magnitude and orientation of the contact forces, trace of stress, number of contacts and degree of mobilization of friction in contacts between particles. In polydisperse samples, the average coordination numbers were lower than in monodisperse assemblies, and the mobilization of friction was higher than in monodisperse assemblies due to the non-uniform spatial rearrangement of spheres in the samples and the smaller displacements of the particles. The effect of particle size heterogeneity on both the energy density and energy dissipation in systems was also investigated.     

Coupling Eulerian‐Lagrangian method of air‐particle two‐phase flow with population balance equations to simulate the evolution of vehicle exhaust plume

In this paper, we present a new numerical scheme to describe the dynamic evolution of multiphase polydisperse systems in terms of time, space, and properties by coupling the Eulerian‐Lagrangian method for air‐particle two‐phase flow and population balance equations to describe particle property evolution due to microbehaviors (eg, aggregation, breakage, and growth). This coupling scheme was used to comprehensively simulate the two‐phase flow structure, particle size spectrum, particle number, and volume concentrations. These were characterized by a high‐resolution particle tracking using the Lagrangian approach and the high precision of moments of the particle size spectrum by solving the population balance equation with the quadrature method of moments. The algorithm of the coupling scheme was incorporated into the open source computational fluid dynamics software OpenFOAM to simulate the dynamic evolution of vehicle exhaust plume. The impacts of vehicle velocity, exhaust temperature, and aggregation efficiency on the distribution of auto exhaust particles in space and changes in their properties were analyzed. The results indicate that the particle number concentration, volume concentration, and average diameter of particles in the vehicle exhaust plume could be strongly affected by the plume structure and flow properties.     

Using the discrete element method to assess the mixing of polydisperse solid particles in a rotary drum

Despite the wide applications of powder and solid mixing in industry, knowledge on the mixing of polydisperse solid particles in rotary drum blenders is lacking. This study investigates the mixing of monodisperse, bidisperse, tridisperse, and polydisperse solid particles in a rotary drum using the discrete element method. To validate the model developed in this study, experimental and simulation results were compared. The validated model was then employed to investigate the effects of the drum rotational speed, particle size, and initial loading method on the mixing quality. The degree of mixing of polydisperse particles was smaller than that for monodisperse particles owing to the segregation phenomenon. The mixing index increased from an initial value to a maximum and decreased slightly before reaching a plateau for bidisperse, tridisperse, and polydisperse particles as a direct result of the segregation of particles of different sizes. Final mixing indices were higher for polydisperse particles than for tridisperse and bidisperse particles. Additionally, segregation was weakened by introducing additional particles of intermediate size. The best mixing of bidisperse and tridisperse particles was achieved for top–bottom smaller-to-larger initial loading, while that of polydisperse systems was achieved using top–bottom smaller-to-larger and top–bottom larger-to-smaller initial loading methods.     

Modeling of the random packing of a loose layer of polydisperse spherical particles

A method for calculating the loose packing structure of polydisperse spherical particles with a predetermined size distribution function is proposed. The coordinates of the particle centers in the loose layer are determined as the result of random fall of single spheres on a substrate under the action of gravity, assuming the inelastic collision of the spheres and considering the force of their adhesive interaction, and also assuming that the motion of one sphere on the surface of the other is pure slip. Numerical simulation is used to obtain the pattern of arrangement of polydisperse spherical particles in the loose powder layer, whose porosity depends on the particle size distribution function. The results are compared with experimental data.     

Study of fluid cell coarsening for CFD-DEM simulations of polydisperse gas–solid flows

Particle polydispersity is ubiquitous in industrial fluidized beds, which possesses a significant impact on hydrodynamics of gas–solid flow. Computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) is promising to adequately simulate gas–solid flows with continuous particle size distribution (PSD) while it still suffers from high computational cost. Corresponding coarsening models are thereby desired. This work extends the coarse-grid model to polydisperse systems. Well-resolved simulations with different PSDs are processed through a filtering procedure to modify the gas–particle drag force in coarse-grid simulations. We reveal that the drag correction of individual particle exhibits a dependence on filtered solid volume fraction and filtered slip velocity for both monodisperse and polydisperse systems. Subsequently, the effect of particle size and surrounding PSD is quantified by the ratio of particle size to Sauter mean diameter. Drag correction models for systems with monodisperse and continuous PSD are developed. A priori analysis demonstrates that the developed models exhibit reliable prediction accuracy.     

Machine Learning for heat radiation modeling of bi- and polydisperse particle systems including walls

We investigated the ability of four popular Machine Learning methods i.e., Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Random Forest-based regressors (RFRs), Extreme Gradient Boosting-based regressors (XGBs), and stacked ensembles of DNNs, to model the radiative heat transfer based on view factors in bi- and polydisperse particle beds including walls. Before training and analyzing the predictive capability of each method, an adjustment of markers used in monodisperse systems, as well as an evaluation of new markers was performed. On the basis of our dataset that considers a wide range of particle radii ratios, system sizes, particle volume fractions, as well as different particle-species volume fractions, we found that (i) the addition of particle size information allows the transition from monodisperse to bi- and polydisperse beds, and (ii) the addition of particle volume fraction information as the fourth marker leads to very accurate predictions. In terms of the overall performance, DNNs and RFRs should be preferred compared to the other two options. For particle–particle view factors, DNN and RFR are on par, while for particle–wall the RFR is superior. We demonstrate that DNNs and RFRs can be built to meet or even exceed the prediction quality standards achieved in a monodisperse system.     

Differentially weighted direct simulation Monte Carlo method for particle collision in gas-solid flows

In gas-solid flows,particle-particle interaction(typical,particle collision) is highly significant,despite the small particles fractional volume.Widely distributed polydisperse particle population is a typical characteristic during dynamic evolution of particles(e.g.,agglomeration and fragmentation) in spite of their initial monodisperse particle distribution.The conventional direct simulation Monte Carlo(DSMC)method for particle collision tracks equally weighted simulation particles,which results in high statistical noise for particle fields if there are insufficient simulation particles in less-populated regions.In this study,a new differentially weighted DSMC(DW-DSMC) method for collisions of particles with different number weight is proposed within the framework of the general Eulerian-Lagrangian models for hydrodynamics.Three schemes(mass,momentum and energy conservation) were developed to restore the numbers of simulation particle while keeping total mass,momentum or energy of the whole system unchanged respectively.A limiting case of high-inertia particle flow was numerically simulated to validate the DW-DSMC method in terms of computational precision and efficiency.The momentum conservation scheme which leads to little fluctuation around the mass and energy of the whole system performed best.Improved resolution in particle fields and dynamic behavior could be attained simultaneously using DW-DSMC,compared with the equally weighted DSMC.Meanwhile,computational cost can be largely reduced in contrast with direct numerical simulation.     

Onset velocity of circulating fluidization and particle residence time distribution:A CFD-DEM study

Until now,the onset velocity of circulating fluidization in liquid-solid fluidized beds has been defined by the turning point of the time required to empty a bed of particles as a function of the superficial liquid velocity,and is reported to be only dependent on the liquid and particle properties.This study presents a new approach to calculate the onset velocity using CFD-DEM simulation of the particle residence time distribution(RTD).The onset velocity is identified from the intersection of the fitted lines of the particle mean residence time as a function of superficial liquid velocity.Our results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data.The simulation indicates that the onset velocity is influenced by the density and size of particles and weakly affected by riser height and diameter.A power-law function is proposed to correlate the mean particle residence time with the superficial liquid velocity.The collisional parameters have a minor effect on the mean residence time of particles and the onset velocity,but influence the particle RTD,showing some humps and trailing.The particle RTD is found to be related to the particle trajectories,which may indicate the complex flow structure and underlying mechanisms of the particle RTD.     

Differentially weighted direct simulation Monte Carlo method for particle collision in gas–solid flows

In gas–solid flows, particle–particle interaction (typical, particle collision) is highly significant, despite the small particles fractional volume. Widely distributed polydisperse particle population is a typical characteristic during dynamic evolution of particles (e.g., agglomeration and fragmentation) in spite of their initial monodisperse particle distribution. The conventional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for particle collision tracks equally weighted simulation particles, which results in high statistical noise for particle fields if there are insufficient simulation particles in less-populated regions. In this study, a new differentially weighted DSMC (DW-DSMC) method for collisions of particles with different number weight is proposed within the framework of the general Eulerian–Lagrangian models for hydrodynamics. Three schemes (mass, momentum and energy conservation) were developed to restore the numbers of simulation particle while keeping total mass, momentum or energy of the whole system unchanged respectively. A limiting case of high-inertia particle flow was numerically simulated to validate the DW-DSMC method in terms of computational precision and efficiency. The momentum conservation scheme which leads to little fluctuation around the mass and energy of the whole system performed best. Improved resolution in particle fields and dynamic behavior could be attained simultaneously using DW-DSMC, compared with the equally weighted DSMC. Meanwhile, computational cost can be largely reduced in contrast with direct numerical simulation.     

Onset velocity of circulating fluidization and particle residence time distribution: A CFD–DEM study

Until now, the onset velocity of circulating fluidization in liquid–solid fluidized beds has been defined by the turning point of the time required to empty a bed of particles as a function of the superficial liquid velocity, and is reported to be only dependent on the liquid and particle properties. This study presents a new approach to calculate the onset velocity using CFD–DEM simulation of the particle residence time distribution (RTD). The onset velocity is identified from the intersection of the fitted lines of the particle mean residence time as a function of superficial liquid velocity. Our results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The simulation indicates that the onset velocity is influenced by the density and size of particles and weakly affected by riser height and diameter. A power-law function is proposed to correlate the mean particle residence time with the superficial liquid velocity. The collisional parameters have a minor effect on the mean residence time of particles and the onset velocity, but influence the particle RTD, showing some humps and trailing. The particle RTD is found to be related to the particle trajectories, which may indicate the complex flow structure and underlying mechanisms of the particle RTD.     

Fluid Permeability in Stratified Unconsolidated Particulate Bed

Fluid permeability of polydisperse particulate bed with finite thickness has been examined. On the assumption of creeping flow, the permeability of monodisperse particles with arbitrary arrangement is calculated by means of Stokesian dynamics approach in which the interaction between individual particles and interstitial fluid is described by multipole expansion of the Oseen tensor. We have extended such calculation method to polydisperse particulate systems which have not so dense structures (up to particle volume fraction ${\phi \sim}$ 0.2). The particles are located infinitely in space and their interaction has been taken into account by Ewald summation technique. For the spatial distribution of polydisperse particles, we consider locally stratified particulate beds and define stratification degree as a parameter which apparently and mathematically represents the thickness of the mixing region of different-sized particles. The permeability profiles in the particulate beds with different stratification degree show the dependence of local permeability on the spatial and size distribution of particles. Consequently, the calculation results indicate that the permeability of non-uniform polydisperse particulate bed can be predicted by integrating the local permeation resistance which is determined by the local specific surface area.     

DEM simulation of polydisperse systems of particles in a fluidized bed

Numerical simulations based on three-dimensional discrete element model (DEM) are conducted for mono-disperse, binary and ternary systems of particles in a fluidized bed. Fluid drag force acting on each particle depending on its size and relative velocity is assigned. The drag coefficient corresponding to Ergun’s correlation is applied to the system of fluidized bed with particle size ratios of 1:1 for the mono-disperse system, 1:1.2, 1:1.4 and 1:2 for the binary system and 1:1.33:2 for the ternary system b...     

Effects of Particle Size Non-Uniformity on Transport and Retention in Saturated Porous Media

Short-pulse injection experiments are investigated to study the effects of particle size non-uniformity on the transport and retention in saturated porous media. Monodisperse particles (3, 10, and 16 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\) latex microspheres) and polydisperse particles (containing 3, 10, and 16 latex microspheres) were explored. The obtained results suggest considering not only the particle sizes but also their polydispersivity (particle size non-uniformity) in transport and retention. Although, the density of the suspended particles is close to that of water, results reveal a slow transport of particles compared to the dissolved tracer whatever their size and flow velocity. The recovered particles in the mixture experiments show that the retention of large particles (10 and 16 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)) enhances the retention of small ones (3 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)). However, the straining of 10 and 16 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\) particles in “mixture experiments” is smaller than their straining in “monodisperse experiments”. A linear relationship summarizing the simultaneous effect of particle sizes and flow velocity on deposition kinetics coefficient is proposed.     

Effect of particle polydispersity on particle concentration measurement by using laser Doppler anemometry

Measurement of particle concentration by laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) is studied on a vertical air jet seeded by a powder disperser with controlled particle and air flow rates. Particle arrival rate is utilized to retrieve particle number densities from conventional LDA operation. The effect of polydisperse nature of the particles is assessed. Comparisons between measured and estimated particle number densities suggest that only a certain portion of the particle population with a particle size to fringe spacing ratio around unity can be detected. Results indicate that reliable measurement of absolute particle concentration is possible for a particle population of narrow size distribution with an average diameter equivalent to fringe spacing. Present number density measurement technique which is useful for practical purposes with conventional LDA systems is found to yield physically reasonable profiles in both laminar and turbulent regimes.     

Rheological characterization of bimodal colloidal dispersions

In order to investigate the effect of the particle size distribution on the rheological properties of concentrated colloidal dispersions both steady-state shear and oscillatory measurements have been performed on well-characterized bimodal dispersions of sterically stabilized PMMA particles. Replacing a minor amount of large particles by small ones in a concentrated dispersion, keeping the total effective volume fraction constant, decreases the viscosity quite drastically. On the other hand, replacing a small amount of small particles by big ones hardly effects the viscosity at all. This behavior can be attributed to the deformability of the stabilizing polymer layer. A procedure is proposed to calculate the limiting viscosities in a bimodal colloidal dispersion starting from the characteristics of the monodisperse systems. A good agreement has been obtained between the calculated values and the experimental results. The linear viscoelastic properties of the concentrated dispersions have been investigated by means of oscillatory measurements. The plateau values of the storage modulus for the bimodal dispersions decrease with an increasing fraction of the coarse particles. By substituting the bimodal dispersion by an equivalent monodisperse system the storage modulus can be superimposed on the values for the monodisperse suspensions when plotted as a function of the mean interparticle distance.     

Particle size distribution in CPFD modeling of gas–solid flows in a CFB riser

A computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) numerical method to model gas–solid flows in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser was used to assess the effects of particle size distribution (PSD) on solids distribution and flow. We investigated a binary PSD and a polydisperse PSD case. Our simulations were compared with measured solids concentrations and velocity profiles from experiments, as well as with a published Eulerian-Eulerian simulation. Overall flow patterns were similar for both simulation cases, as confirmed by experimental measurements. However, our fine-mesh CPFD simulations failed to predict a dense bottom region in the riser, as seen in other numerical studies. Above this bottom region, distributions of particle volume fraction and particle vertical velocity were consistent with our experiments, and the simulated average particle diameter decreased as a power function with riser height. Interactions between particles and walls also were successfully modeled, with accurate predictions for the lateral profiles of particle vertical velocity. It was easy to implement PSD into the CPFD numerical model, and it required fewer computational resources compared with other models, especially when particles with a polydisperse PSD were present in the heterogeneous flow.     

Evolution of shock waves in polydisperse gas suspensions with a nonuniform particle concentration distribution

The results of a numerical investigation of the laws of shock wave propagation in polydisperse (two-fraction) gas suspensions with a non-uniform initial particle concentration distribution are presented. Examples of shock wave propagation in extended layers of a gas suspension with linearly increasing, linearly decreasing and sinusoidal laws of variation of the particle concentration are considered. It is shown that when shock waves pass through layers of a gas suspension with increasing and decreasing laws of variation of the particle concentration, respectively, amplification and attenuation of the waves are observed; when shock waves travel through gas suspensions with a periodic law of variation of the particle concentration the pressure distribution behind the wave fronts is nonmonotonic. The solutions corresponding to polydisperse and monodisperse gas suspensions with an effective particle size are examined. The nonequilibrium and thermodynamic-equilibrium solutions are compared.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 183–190, September–October, 1991.