Numerical analysis of swirling turbulent droplet-laden flow and heat transfer in a sudden pipe expansion

The effect of swirling intensity on the structure and heat transfer of a turbulent gas–droplet flow after a sudden pipe expansion has been numerically simulated. Air is used as the carrier phase, and water, ethanol, and acetone are used as the dispersed phase. The Eulerian approach is applied to simulate the dynamics and heat transfer in the dispersed phase. The gas phase is described by a system of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, taking into account the effect of droplets on mean transport and turbulent characteristics in the carrier phase. Gas phase turbulence is predicted using the second-moment closure. A swirling droplet-laden flow is characterized by an increase in the number of small particles on the pipe axis due to their accumulation in the zone of flow recirculation and the action of the turbulent migration (turbophoresis) force. A rapid dispersion of fine droplets over the pipe cross-section is observed without swirling. With an increase in swirling intensity, a significant reduction in the length of the separation region occurs. The swirling of a two-phase flow with liquid droplets leads to an increase in the level of turbulence for all three types of liquid droplets investigated in this work due to their intensive evaporation. It is shown that the addition of droplets leads to a significant increase in heat transfer in comparison with a single-phase swirling flow. The greatest effect of flow swirling on heat transfer intensification in a two-phase gas-droplet flow is obtained for the droplets of ethanol and water and smallest effect is for the acetone droplets.     

Parametric investigation of particle acceleration in high enthalpy conical nozzle flows for coating applications

A modified cold gas-dynamic spray technique is under development by using shock tunnel technology, which can enhance the coating quality by increasing the solid particle velocity up to 1,500 m/s. The particle diameter typically amounts to 10 μm. A theoretical model based on gas-particle flows is employed to describe the behaviour of the flow and the solid particles. This quasi-1D model is capable to consider non-equilibrium effects of the gas phase due to high reservoir temperatures, and the influence of wall friction and heat transfer averaged over the nozzle cross section. This model is used for the design and optimization of the nozzle geometry by a parametric study, which results in a conical nozzle with a half opening angle of 2.8° and a length of 325 mm. Particles for coating are injected at about 55 mm downstream of the throat. A shock tunnel facility has been set up at the Shock Wave Laboratory for performing an experimental study of this new technique. The theoretical performance of this setup is evaluated by the KASIMIR simulation software and the quasi-1D method described in this paper. The high reservoir conditions required to achieve particle velocities of 1,500 m/s can be realized by using either a very high driver pressure of about 600 bar for air as driver gas or a relatively low driver pressure of about 200 bar for helium as driver gas.      

Effects of gas flow and turbulent diffusion on the centrifugal classification of fine particles

Tthe mass movement of fine particles and changes in their trajectories under the effect of centrifugal, gravitational, and aerodynamic forces is studied by numerical modeling of turbulent swirling flow. The effect of turbulent migration of solid particles due to pulsating gas flow velocities on the aerodynamics of particles and, consequently, on the efficiency of the process of separation of particles by size is analyzed. The studies revealed the behavior laws of probability curve of separation of particles by size and showed the effect of regime and geometric parameters on the process of classification of fine powders.     

Particle–wall interaction in entrained-flow slagging coal gasifiers: Granular flow simulation and experiments in a cold flow model reactor

Entrained-flow slagging coal gasifiers display large conversion efficiencies and small levels of unconverted carbon at the exhaust. Both features are apparently at odds with the fairly small “space-time” of the particle-laden gas feeding, as compared with the time scale of heterogeneous gasification of carbon. This apparent inconsistency can be explained by considering that fuel residence times are longer than the “space-time” due to segregation of fuel particles in the near-wall region of the gasifier. Segregation is promoted by swirl flow, by particle–wall interaction as the wall is covered by a molten layer of slag and by the establishment of a dense-dispersed flow of granular solids in the proximity of the wall.This study presents results of granular flow simulations of the interaction of a dense-dispersed particle flow with the confining wall. Simulations consider that both the particles and the wall may be either “sticky” or “non sticky”, based on the prevailing elastic vs plastic behaviour upon collision. The effect of drag forces exerted on particles by swirled gas flow is simulated in a simplified manner. Particle–particle collisions are modelled with a Hertzian approach that includes torque and cohesion. The extent and time scale of segregation of a lump of particles loaded into a cylindrical vessel are assessed. Results clearly indicate the different structure of the layer of particles establishing at the wall surface in the different interaction regimes.Results of simulations are qualitatively compared with results of an experimental campaign performed in a reactor representing a cold flow model of the entrained-flow gasifier, where solid, molten or semi-molten particles have been simulated by atomized wax as surrogate material. Altogether, the results confirm the importance of the particle–particle and particle–wall micromechanical interactions for a correct prevision of the segregation of fuel particles in entrained-flow slagging gasifiers.     

Structure of the nonisothermal swirling gas-droplet flow behind an abrupt tube expansion

Flow structure and heat and mass transfer in a swirling two-phase stream is numerically modeled using the Reynolds stress transport model. The gas phase is described by the 3DRANS system of equations with account for the inverse influence of particles on the transport processes in the gas. The gas phase turbulence is calculated using the Reynolds stress transport model with account for the presence of disperse particles. The two-phase nonswirling flow behind an abrupt tube expansion contains a secondary corner vortex which is absent from the swirling flow. The disperse phase is redistributed over the tube cross-section. Large particles are concentrated in the wall region of the channel under the action of the centrifugal forces, while the smaller particles are in the central zone of the chamber.     

Experimental Study on Stabilization of Lifted Swirl Flames in a Model GT Combustor

This study reports on experimental investigations on isothermal and reacting swirled non-premixed flows under varying pressure conditions. In this configuration, a central high speed fuel jet was surrounded by a heated swirling air flow. For the reacting case natural gas served as fuel whereas for isothermal conditions fuel was replaced by a mixture of helium and air to achieve Reynolds-similarity. The optically accessible combustor allowed for application of laser diagnostics. Here we report on Laser Doppler Anemometry and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) experiments used to characterize the flow field and visualize selected scalars, respectively. Acetone served as a fluorescence marker for mixture fraction investigations. The hydroxyl radical was used to provide general features of the reaction zone such as flame shape and mean stabilization. To expose the influence of pressure on the flame structure three different operating points were investigated varying the combustor pressure between 2 and 6 bar while the inflow bulk velocities remained the same. Striking features of the present configuration are a detached flame, multiple recirculation zones, and complex coherent flow structures.     

Cold flow experiments in an entrained flow gasification reactor with a swirl-stabilized pulverized biofuel burner

Short particle residence time in entrained flow gasifiers demands the use of pulverized fuel particles to promote mass and heat transfer, resulting high fuel conversion rate. The pulverized biomass particles have a wide range of aspect ratios which can exhibit different dispersion behavior than that of spherical particles in hot product gas flows. This results in spatial and temporal variations in temperature distribution, the composition and the concentration of syngas and soot yield. One way to control the particle dispersion is to impart a swirling motion to the carrier gas phase. This paper investigates the dispersion behavior of biomass fuel particles in swirling flows. A two-phase particle image velocimetry technique was applied to simultaneously measure particle and gas phase velocities in turbulent isothermal flows. Post-processed PIV images showed that a poly-dispersed behavior of biomass particles with a range of particle size of 112–160 µm imposed a significant impact on the air flow pattern, causing air flow decelerated in a region of high particle concentration. Moreover, the velocity field, obtained from individually tracked biomass particles showed that the swirling motion of the carrier air flow gives arise a rapid spreading of the particles.     

Numerical and experimental investigation on droplet dynamics and dispersion of a jet engine injector

In the case of turbine combustors operating with liquid fuel the combustion process is governed by the liquid fuel atomization and its dispersion in the combustion chamber. By highly unsteady flow field conditions the transient interaction between the liquid and the gaseous phase is of interest, because it results in a temporal variation of air–fuel ratio which leads to a fluctuating temperature distribution. The objective of this research was the investigation of transient flow field phenomena (e.g. large coherent structures) on droplet dynamics and dispersion of an isothermal flow (of inert water droplets) as a necessary first step towards a full analysis of spray combustion in real-life devices. The advanced injector system for lean jet engine combustors PERM (Partial Evaporated Rapid Mixing) was applied, generating a dilute polydispersed spray in a swirled flow field. Experiments were performed using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) and a patternator to determine the droplet polydispersity, concentration maps, and velocity profiles in the flow. An important finding is the effect of large-scale coherent structures due mainly to the precessing of the vortex core (PVC) of the swirling air jet on the particle dispersion patterns. The experimental results then serve as reference data to assess the accuracy of the Eulerian–Lagrangian computations using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES), a Unsteady Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes Simulation (URANS) and two simplified (steady-state) simulations. There, a simplified droplet injection model was used and the required boundary conditions of injected droplet sizes were obtained from measurements. Important transient effects of deterministic droplet separation observed during experiments, could be perfectly replicated with this injection model. It is convincingly shown, through extensive computations, that the resolution of instantaneous vortical structures is indeed crucial; hence the LES, or a reasonably-well resolved URANS are preferred over the steady-state solutions with additional, stochastic-type, turbulent dispersion models.     

Characterization of particle-laden, confined swirling flows by phase-doppler anemometry and numerical calculation

The particle dispersion characteristics in a confined swirling flow with a swirl number of approx. 0.5 were studied in detail by performing measurements using phase-Doppler anemometry (PDA) and numerical predictions. A mixture of gas and particles was injected without swirl into the test section, while the swirling airstream was provided through a co-flowing annular inlet. Two cases with different primary jet exit velocities were considered. For these flow conditions, a closed central recirculation bubble was established just downstream of the inlet.

The PDA measurements allowed the correlation between particle size and velocity to be obtained and also the spatial change in the particle size distribution throughout the flow field. For these results, the behaviour of different size classes in the entire particle size spectrum, ranging from about 15 to 80 μm, could be studied, and the response of the particles to the mean flow and the gas turbulence could be characterized. Due to the response characteristics of particles with different diameters to the mean flow and the flow turbulence, a considerable separation of the particles was observed which resulted in a streamwise increase in the particle mean number diameter in the core region of the central recirculation bubble. For the lower particle inlet velocity (i.e. low primary jet exit velocity), this effect is more pronounced, since here the particles have more time to respond to the flow reversal and the swirl velocity component. This also gave a higher mass of recirculating particle material.

The numerical predictions of the gas flow were performed by solving the time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations in connection with the well known kε turbulence model. Although this turbulence model is based on the assumption of isotropic turbulence, the agreement of the calculated mean velocity profiles compared to the measured gas velocities is very good. The gas-phase turbulent kinetic energy, however, is considerably underpredicted in the initial mixing region. The particle dispersion characteristics were calculated by using the Lagrangian approach, where the influence of the particulate phase on the gas flow could be neglected, since only very low mass loadings were considered. The calculated results for the particle mean velocity and the mass flux are also in good agreement with the experiments. Furthermore, the change in the particle mean diameter throughout the flow field was predicted approximately, which shows that the applied simple stochastic dispersion model also gives good results for such very complex flows. The variation of the gas and particle velocity in the primary inlet had a considerable impact on the particle dispersion behaviour in the swirling flow and the particle residence time in the central recirculation bubble, which could be determined from the numerical calculations. For the lower particle inlet velocity, the maximum particle size-dependence residence time within the recirculation region was considerably shifted towards larger particles.     

Effect of swirling flow on unburned ratio and nitrogen oxide concentration in a spray combustion system

The effect of swirling flow on the unburned ratio and NO concentration in exhausted gas was studied for slurry [coal-water mixture (CWM)] spray combustion with variations of swirl numbers. A numerical analysis for CWM combustion was performed for axisymmetric flow in a cylindrical geometry. First, to check the performance of three previous k-ε turbulence models modified with swirling flow, velocity components of isothermal swirling jets were measured by laser-Doppler anemometry (LDA) and compared with predicted results. The two modified models gave more reliable results than the conventional one. Next, as the swirl number could not be estimated by the angular momentum derived from the vane angle of the circular swirler, the reduction rate of the tangential momentum flux through the tube of the circular swirler was measured and calculated. Both measured and predicted results showed that when the swirl number S′ given by the vane angle was 2.0, the effective swirl number S_eff decreased by about 60% to S′. To take the results mentioned above into consideration, effects of swirl number on both the exhausted NO concentration and unburned ratio were investigated. The predicted unburned ratio showed good agreement with the experimental results. Both experimental and calculated results showed that the optimum operating conditions controlling the exhausted NO concentration and unburned ratio in this spray combustion system were obtained when the swirl number S_eff was about 0.5.     

阶梯型加速段对旋流喷嘴雾化特性的影响

旋流内芯是压力旋流式喷嘴最主要的旋流发生构件, 其几何特征直接影响压力旋流式喷嘴的喷雾特性.目前采用平滑型加速段的旋流内芯导流效率较低.为减小高流量条件下的能量损失, 使喷嘴旋流内芯加速段对喷雾介质产生预旋效应, 增强旋流强度, 本文设计喷嘴旋流内芯加速段为阶梯型, 其下段阶梯相对上段阶梯旋转15°, 旋向与喷嘴旋流槽方向相同.利用粒子动态分析仪(particle dynamics analysis system, PDA) 和高速摄影(charge coupled device, CCD)系统实验研究了加速段结构改进前后喷嘴的喷雾流量、雾场索特尔平均直径(Sauter mean diameter, SMD)、雾滴速度以及喷雾锥角, 并分析了SMD、 雾滴速度的轴向和径向分布特性. 结果表明, 背压差0.08\mathrm{~} 0.46 MPa 范围内, 阶梯型加速段对喷雾介质具有较好的预旋效果.喷嘴的流量提高了48.0% ~ 51.8%; 喷雾的轴向速度提升了31.4% ~ 32.8%, 径向速度提升了1.6% ~ 16.8%; 喷雾锥角减小了4.21°~6.57°; 较高背压差下喷雾下游的SMD减小了9.8%.与平滑型加速段相比, 阶梯型加速段的设计有效地提高了喷嘴的雾化质量.      

旋流燃烧室内湍流燃烧速度场的实验研究

建立了采用分级进风方式的同轴射流旋流燃烧室实验装置，选用耐高温的氧化铝细粉作为示踪粒子，实现了用三维激光粒子动态分析仪(PDA)测量湍流旋流燃烧的热态瞬时速度场．在分级进风比率和旋流致不同的3组实验工况条件下，得到了气体时均轴向与切向速度、轴向与切向脉动速度均方根值和轴向—切向脉动速度二阶关联量的分布．     

Investigation of the influence of the conditions of swirling on the structure of a two-phase flow in an expanding channel

Both experimental and theoretical investigations show that the main feature in the structure of sufficiently strongly swirling gas flows is the presence in then of reverse circulation regions whose configuration depends very strongly both on the law of swirling of the flow and the conditions at the entrance as well as on the channel geometry [1–6]. In expanding channels, the occurrence of such regions is most probable in the axial region [7, 8]. In short annular channels for which the characteristic transverse and longitudinal dimensions are of the same order, reverse flow arises in the exit part of the channel along its inner wall [6, 9]. Hitherto, the investigations have been made for single-phase gas flows. The present paper reports a numerical investigation of the influence of particles of a condensed phase on the intensity of the reverse flow and the structure of the gas flow in an annular expanding channel under conditions of thermal, mass, and mechanical interaction of the phases. The method of stabilization was used to solve the boundary-value problem. The system of equations describing the axisymmetric unsteady flow of the two-phase medium was integrated by means of Godunov's difference scheme [10, 11]. The calculations were made for different conditions of injection of the particles of the condensed phase into the channel.     

Axisymmetric nonstationary flow around an obstable in a cylindrical tube

Questions associated with the interaction between a gas stream and a body in a launching tube, especially the high-speed propulsion of a body by a gas stream [1], have become of great interest in recent years. Partial destruction of the body and the formation of a gap between the body and the launching tube, through which the working gas will flow, inevitably occurs at high velocities. In this case it is possible to consider the ejection of a free body which does not come into contact with the walls of the launching tube as it is accelerated. An analogous problem occurs in the transportation of containers in a tube under the effect of a compressed gas [2], as well as in a gas-dynamic analysis of piston apparatus with different kinds of gas flow through the orifice inmoving or fixed pistons. The interaction between the gas stream and the body or the obstacle in the launching tube must be known for a theoretical investigation of all these problems. The solution is obtained by numerical integration of the nonstationary gas-dynamic equations by means of a through-computation difference scheme [3]. Values of the blockage factors are found for different freestream Mach numbers, for which the reflected shock stands off at infinity upstream. A comparison is given with the one-dimensional approximation obtained under the assumption that the body being streamlined is replaced by two jumps of a strong discontinuity on which the mass, momentum, and energy conservation conditions are satisfied. The results obtained are used in the problem of ejection of a free body from a launching tube under the effect of an unsteady gas flow.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 81–86, July–August, 1978.     

Calculation of the swirling flow of an ideal gas in a laval nozzle

The numerical solution of the problem of the motion of a swirling flow of an ideal gas in a Laval nozzle in axisymmetric formulation is obtained by the method of stabilization. As a result, a number of effects appear that are essentially not one-dimensional, in particular, the drawing-in of the sonic line into the nozzle, an effect that leads to a decrease in the nozzle's expansion coefficient. The dependence of this coefficient on the intensity of the swirling is obtained. A number of problems connected with the control of the expansion of a gas through a Laval nozzle and with variation of the thrust of a nozzle can be solved successfully in cases where a rotary motion is imparted to the flow of gas exhausted from the nozzle. Investigation of such a swirling flow in [1, 2] and a number of other papers are based on a one-dimensional model of gas flow, which makes it possible in principle to obtain integrated characteristics of the flow.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 72–76, September–October, 1971.     

含悬浮固粒的旋转射流剪切层稳定性研究

本文在理想不可压旋转圆射流的运动方程中添加了固粒作用项，由此推得了时间增长率的表达式，进而得关于含悬浮固粒放置射流稳定性的修正瑞利稳定性准则，求出了不同固粒质量密度固－气脉动速度比值，固气脉动速度相位差及Ｓｔｏｋｅｓ数情况下旋转射流场的增长率与径向空间波数的关系曲线，在比较这些曲线的基础上，给出了关于固粒属性对旋转射流场稳定性影响的几个重要结论为控制旋转射流场和后续发展提供了依据。     

Controlled atomization using a twin-fluid swirl atomizer

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of a twin-fluid internally mixed swirl atomizer. In this type of injectors, atomization is attained by injecting a small amount of air (i.e. of the order of less than 16% of the mass flow rate of liquid) into a liquid stream within the injector and the two-phase air liquid mixture is passed through a swirling passage to impart a swirling motion to the flow. Since most of the energy for atomization is supplied to the liquid by the atomizing air, a significantly small pressure drop can produce very fine spray with a small amount of atomizing air. At low values of air–liquid mass ratio (ALR), the appreciable tangential component of velocity with respect to the axial velocity provides a hollow cone spray structure, which turns into a solid cone spray with the increase in axial momentum, through either an increase in ALR or the liquid supply pressure. The results presented in this paper suggest that the investigated injector could be used to control the flow rate and spray characteristics (e.g. spray cone angle, spray solidity, breaking distance, and the droplet diameter) independent of each other by simultaneously varying the supply pressure of the liquid and the atomizing air flow rate. The controlled atomization studied in this paper for a twin-fluid internally mixed swirl atomizer makes it attractive to be used for various commercial applications as the atomizer is capable of providing various spray characteristics depending upon the application requirement.     

Effect of a conical separation region on cold gas-dynamic spraying

Results of an experimental and numerical study of the effect of conical separation regions artificially generated ahead of the target owing to impingement of a supersonic two-phase jet on the character of motion of particles smaller than 1 µm in diameter and on the process of cold gas-dynamic spraying as a whole are presented. Calculations predict a noticeable effect of the conical separation region artificially generated ahead of the target on the character of particle motion; in particular, the maximum velocity of the particle impact onto the target is found to be greater than that during spraying without the spike. Thus, the possibility of formation of a coating from particles smaller than 1 µm in diameter is demonstrated, and recommendations for implementation of the process in practice are given.