GPU-enhanced DEM analysis of flow behaviour of irregularly shaped particles in a full-scale twin screw granulator

During twin screw granulation (TSG), small particles, which generally have irregular shapes, agglomerate together to form larger granules with improved properties. However, how particle shape impacts the conveying characteristics during TSG is not explored nor well understood. In this study, a graphic processor units (GPUs) enhanced discrete element method (DEM) is adopted to examine the effect of particle shape on the conveying characteristics in a full scale twin screw granulator for the first time. It is found that TSG with spherical particles has the smallest particle retention number, mean residence time, and power consumption; while for TSG with hexagonal prism (Hexp) shaped particles the largest particle retention number is obtained, and TSG with cubic particles requires the highest power consumption. Furthermore, spherical particles exhibit a flow pattern closer to an ideal plug flow, while cubic particles present a flow pattern approaching a perfect mixing. It is demonstrated that the GPU-enhanced DEM is capable of simulating the complex TSG process in a full-scale twin screw granulator with non-spherical particles.     

Experimental investigation of hydrodynamic loads and pressure distribution during a pyramid water entry

In the maritime environment slamming is a phenomenon known as short duration impact of water on a floating or sailing structure. Slamming loads are local and could induce very high local stresses. This paper reports a series of impact test results and investigate the slamming loads and pressures acting on a square based pyramid. In this study the slamming tests have been conducted at constant velocity impact with a hydraulic high speed shock machine. This specific experimental equipment avoids the deceleration of the structure observed usually during water entry with drop tests. Three velocities of the rigid pyramid have been used (10, 13 and 15 m s⁻¹). Time-histories of local pressures, accelerations and slamming loads were successfully measured. The relationship between the pressure magnitude and the impact velocity is obtained and the spatial distribution of pressures on pyramid sides is characterized. The impact velocity was found to have a negligible influence in predicting the maximum pressure coefficient.     

Experimental distribution of phases and pressure drop in a two-phase offset strip fin type compact heat exchanger

Uniform distribution of fluids is crucial to obtain high performance in compact heat exchangers. Maldistribution has been studied by many authors, especially for parallel channels heat exchangers. But theoretical models and experimental studies for predicting flow maldistribution in offset strip fins exchangers are scarce. Offset strip fins, besides their higher thermal hydraulic performances, favour lateral distribution due to their geometry. In this work, an experimental investigation has been carried out for this type of heat exchanger. The experimental set-up consists in a flat vertical compact heat exchanger (1 m × 1 m area and 7.13 mm thickness) equipped with offset strip fins with a hydraulic diameter of 1.397 mm. Air and water are the working fluids. The flow rates of each phase in seven zones regularly distributed at the outlet have been measured as well as the pressures at the inlet, the outlet and two intermediate positions. These measurements were completed with visualisations using a high-speed camera.     

Determination of the soil pressure distribution around a cone penetrometer

The objective of this paper was to investigate the pressure distribution around a cone penetrometer using a pressure sensing mat under laboratory conditions. The investigation was conducted under (1) constrained conditions using cylindrical split pipe molds and (2) unconstrained conditions using a soil box. These tests were conducted in Capay clay and Yolo loam soil containing two different moisture conditions and two compaction levels.In the constrained tests, a maximum radial pressure of 111 kPa was observed in the Capay clay soil with 3.4–4.3% d.b. moisture content and three blows of compaction (cone index value of 2040 kPa) when using the 41 mm diameter split pipe mold. These pressure levels decreased to 82 and 22 kPa, respectively, when 65 and 88 mm diameter molds were used. In both the Capay clay and Yolo loam tests, the average radial pressure and average cone index values showed similar trends.In the unconstrained tests, a maximum pressure of 9.0 kPa was observed in the Capay clay with 4.5% d.b. moisture content and three blows of compaction (cone index value of 550 kPa) at a horizontal distance of 25.4 mm from the vertical axis of the cone penetrometer and minimum pressure levels in the range of 0.2–0.3 kPa when the horizontal distance of the penetrometer was in the range of 56.8–66 mm. The pressure levels are much smaller than the ones obtained in the constrained tests and may suggest that the pressure distribution under field conditions is small at a distance of 25.4 mm or higher from the tip of the cone.The experimental data were statistically analyzed to identify significant factors. The results of the analysis for the constrained test indicated that the mold diameter and number of blows significantly increased the pressure readings within the soil mass. Increasing the mold diameter led to a decrease in the average radial pressure and increasing the number of blows contributed to an increase in the average radial pressure. In the unconstrained test, the average radial pressure distribution at a given point were significantly influenced by the horizontal distance of the point from the vertical axis passing through the center of the penetrometer shaft, soil type, and soil moisture content. Higher pressure values were obtained in the Capay clay tests compared to the Yolo loam tests. In all cases, the pressure levels were greater for the drier soil than for the moist soil.     

Control of pressure distribution in shock generators with elliptic cross-sections

Theoretical investigation of a liquid shock generating device with an elliptically shaped chamber is presented. A device of such kind has been previously fabricated and tested experimentally. Experimental observations confirmed the results of earlier theoretical analysis of the problem, showing that shock waves produced by an electric discharge at one of the foci of the elliptic chamber will converge at the second focus after the reflection off the cavity wall. In the present paper a previous two-dimensional model is extended to account for the height variation in the chamber. Expression for the pressure distribution behind the converging wave front is obtained and a relation between the shape of the upper bounding surface of the chamber and pressure distribution behind the converging wave front is investigated. It is shown that a desired pressure distribution may be obtained by an appropriate choice of the upper surface of the chamber.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Enhanced equilibrium distribution functions for simulating immiscible multiphase flows with variable density ratios in a class of lattice Boltzmann models

This research examines the behavior of a class of lattice Boltzmann (LB) models designed to simulate immiscible multiphase flows. There is some debate in the scientific literature as to whether or not the “color gradient” models, also known as the Rothman–Keller (RK) models, are able to simulate flow with density variation. In this paper, we show that it is possible, by modifying the original equilibrium distribution functions, to capture the discontinuity present in the analytical momentum profile of the two-layered Couette flow with variable density ratios. Investigations carried out earlier were not able to simulate such a flow correctly. Now, with the proposed approach, the new scheme is compatible with the analytical solution, and it is also possible to simulate the two-layered Couette flow with simultaneous density ratios of O(1000) and viscosity ratios of O(100). To test the model in a more complex flow situation, i.e. with non-zero surface tension and a curved interface, an unsteady simulation of an oscillating bubble with variable density ratio is undertaken. The numerical frequency of the bubble is compared to that of the analytical frequency. It is demonstrated that the proposed modification greatly increases the accuracy of the model compared to the original model, i.e. the error can be up to one order of magnitude lower with the proposed enhanced equilibrium distribution functions. The authors believe that this improvement can be made to other RK models as well, which will allow the range of validity of these models to be extended. This is, in fact, what the authors found for the method proposed in this article.     

Diffusion flame analysis of twin plane jets via a kinetic theory approach

Diffusion flame solutions of twin plane jets based on a turbulent kinetic theory due to Chung and a Green function method by Hong are presented. The chemical reaction between fuel and oxidizer is assumed to be one-step, one-direction and infinitely fast. The solutions are obtained by direct integration over a constructed probability density function in velocity space. The probability density functions of reactants in transverse velocity space, species mass fraction distributions, turbulent transport of momentum and heat, temperature distributions and flame structure are also considered in this paper. The diffusion flame phenomena of the twin plane jets show that the interaction between the two jets is a dominant factor.     

Experimental study on the performance of a novel structure for two-phase flow distribution in parallel vertical channels

Uniform flow distribution is critical to obtain high thermal performance in many heat and mass transfer devices. It especially plays an important role in a compact heat exchanger. In this paper, a two-phase flow distributor is proposed for the evaporator unit of the plate-fin heat exchanger to alleviate the phase maldistribution in the multiphase flow. Air and water mixture was adopted as two-phase medium and distributions into ten parallel channels were measured in detail. The results show that the proposed distributor can improve the two-phase flow distribution of the plate-fin heat exchanger.     

Experimental investigation about the effect of non-axisymmetric wake impact on a low speed axial compressor

Non-axisymmetric wake impact experiments were carried out after the best exciting frequency for a low speed axial compressor had been found by axisymmetric wake impact experiments. When the number and circumferential distribution of inlet guide vanes （IGV） are logical, the wakes of non-axisymmetric IGVs can exert beneficial unsteady exciting effect on their downstream rotor flow fields and improve the compressor＇s performance. In the present paper, four non-axisymmetric wake impact plans were found working better than the axisymmetric wake impact plan. Compared with the base plan, the best non-axisymmetric plan increased the compressor＇s peak efficiency, and the total pressure rise by 1.1 and 2%, and enhanced the stall margin by 4.4%. The main reason why non-axisymmetric plans worked better than the axisymmetric plan was explained as the change of the unsteady exciting signal arising from IGV wakes. Besides the high-frequency components, the nonaxisymmetric plan generated a beneficial low-frequency square-wave exciting signal and other secondary frequency components. Compared with the axisymmetric plan, multifrequency exciting wakes arising from the non-axisymmetric plans are easier to get coupling relation with complex vortices such as clearance vortices, passage vortices and shedding vortices.     

A multiphase model of tumour segregation in situ by a heterogeneous extracellular matrix

Normal and tumour cells live in a fibrous environment that is often very heterogeneous, even characterized by the presence of basal membranes and regions with high density of collagen fibres that physiologically comparmentalize cells in well defined regions, as for in situ tumours. In case of metastatic tumours these porous structures are instead invaded by cancer cells. The aim of this paper is to propose a multiphase model that is able to describe cell segregation by thick porous structures and to relate the transition rule that determines whether cells will pass or not to microscopic characteristics of the cells, such as the stiffness of their nucleus, their adhesive and traction abilities, the relative dimension of their nucleus with respect to the dimension of the pores of the extra-cellular matrix.     

NMR imaging of fluid pathways during drainage of softwood in a pressure membrane chamber

An experiment was implemented to study fluid flow in a pressure media. This procedure successfully combines nuclear magnetic resonance imaging with a pressure membrane chamber in order to visualize the non-wetting and wetting fluid flows with controlled boundary conditions. A specially designed pressure membrane chamber, made of non-magnetic materials and able to withstand 4 MPa, was designed and built for this purpose. These two techniques were applied to the drainage of Douglas fir sapwood. In the study of the longitudinal flow, narrow drainage fingers are formed in the latewood zones. They follow the longitudinal direction of wood and spread throughout the sample length. These fingers then enlarge in the cross-section plane and coalesce until drainage reaches the whole latewood part. At the end of the experiments, when the drainage of liquid water in latewood is completed, just a few sites of percolation appear in earlywood zones. This difference is a result of the wood anatomical structure, where pits, the apertures that allow the sap to flow between wood cells, are more easily aspirated in earlywood than in latewood.     

Modelling of solids distribution in stirred tanks: analysis of simulation strategies and comparison with experimental data

The predictive capabilities of CFD techniques as applied to solid–liquid stirred vessels are investigated. The distribution of solid particles was simulated in three baffled stirred tanks agitated with single and multiple impellers. Suspensions of glass beads of different diameters and average concentration up to 6?vol. % in water were studied. The simulations of solid–liquid suspensions in the stirred vessels were performed by using fully predictive approaches. Eulerian multiphase models were adopted for modelling the solid–liquid flow, coupled with three different extensions of the standard k-? model to the case of multiphase flows. The simulated particle axial concentration profiles are compared with experimental data and critically discussed. The most successful simulation strategy and one possible implementation are described.     

A scaling analysis of added-mass and history forces and their coupling in dispersed multiphase flows

Accurate momentum coupling model is vital to simulation of dispersed multiphase flows. The overall force exerted on a particle is divided into four physically meaningful contributions, i.e., quasi-steady, stress-gradient, added-mass, and viscous-unsteady (history) forces. Time scale analysis on the turbulent multiphase flow and the viscous-unsteady kernel shows that the integral representation of the viscous-unsteady force is required except for a narrow range of particle size around the Kolmogorov length scale when particle-to-fluid density ratio is large. Conventionally, the particle-to-fluid density ratio is used to evaluate the relative importance of the unsteady forces (stress-gradient, added-mass, and history forces) in the momentum coupling. However, it is shown from our analysis that when particle-to-fluid density ratio is large, the importance of the unsteady forces depends on the particle-to-fluid length scale ratio and not on the density ratio. Provided the particle size is comparable to the smallest fluid length scale (i.e., Kolmogorov length scale for turbulence or shock thickness for shock-particle interaction) or larger, unsteady forces are important in evaluating the particle motion. Furthermore, the particle mass loading is often used to estimate the importance of the back effect of particles on the fluid. An improved estimate of backward coupling for each force contribution is established through a scaling argument. The back effects of stress-gradient and added-mass forces depend on particle volume fraction. For large particle-to-fluid density ratio, the importance of the quasi-steady force in backward coupling depends on the particle mass fraction; while that of the viscous-unsteady force is related to both particle mass and volume fractions.     

Experimental analysis of flow regimes and pressure drop reduction in oil–water mixtures

The physical understanding of two-phase flow characteristics in horizontal pipes is of importance in the petroleum industry since significant savings in pumping power can be derived from the water-lubricated transportation of crude oil.     

GPU-enhanced DEM analysis of flow behaviour of irregularly shaped particles in a full-scale twin screw granulator

During twin screw granulation (TSG),small particles,which generally have irregular shapes,agglomer-ate together to form larger granules with improved properties...     

Experimental and numerical analysis of two-phase infiltration in a partially saturated soil

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of the soil air flow on the process of water infiltration in a 93.5 cm deep vertical column for varied boundary conditions at the surface - positive time constant head; time constant fluxes smaller and greater than saturated soil hydraulic conductivity.Several experiments conducted on a sandy soil column with and without a possible air flow through the wall are presented. Continuous and simultaneous measurements of water content and air and water pressure heads at different depths allow the analysis of the air and water movements within the soil and the determination of the capillary pressure and relative permeability for each phase as functions of the volumetric water content.A numerical solution of the equations describing the simultaneous flow of air and water is compared with the experimental data and with the traditional one-phase flow modeling. The results show that the air movement may significantly affect water flow variables such as infiltration rates, water content profiles, and ponding times.Furthermore, some basic assumptions used in two-phase flow modeling, such as the hydrodynamic stability of the wetting fronts and the pertinence of the relative permeability concept, are discussed in the light of the experimental data.     

Experimental investigation on the distribution uniformity and pressure drop of perforated plate distributors for the innovative spray-type packed bed thermal storage

As an innovative thermal energy technology, the spray-type packed bed has advantages of high efficiency and low cost. A liquid distributor is the key component for the spray-type packed bed for scattering heat-transfer liquid drops evenly. In this study, the distribution performance and pressure drop of the perforated plate distributors of different orifice diameters were studied experimentally. The experimental results indicate that orifice diameter has a greater effect on the distribution performance compared to flow rate. With an increase in flow rate, the flow pattern through the distributor changes from the uncovered drop to the covered drop and then to the jet flow. The covered drop pattern shows the best performance with a good distribution and a small pressure drop simultaneously, which is the design and optimization principle of the distributor for a spray-type packed bed.     

Two-dimensional analysis of pressure transients in pipelines

The paper presents a two-dimensional model for the investigation of pressure transients in pipelines. The governing equations have been established and a method of solving the equations using the centre implicit method is presented. The theoretically predicted values are compared with the experimentally determined pressure transients for horizontal pipelines with a valve at the end. The two-dimensional model gives results which are accurate than those of the one-dimensional model and are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Evaluation analysis of prediction methods for two-phase flow pressure drop in mini-channels

Two-thousand and ninety-two data of two-phase flow pressure drop were collected from 18 published papers of which the working fluids include R123, R134a, R22, R236ea, R245fa, R404a, R407C, R410a, R507, CO₂, water and air. The hydraulic diameter ranges from 0.506 to 12 mm; Re_l from 10 to 37,000, and Re_g from 3 to 4 × 10⁵. Eleven correlations and models for calculating the two-phase frictional pressure drop were evaluated based upon these data. The results show that the accuracy of the Lockhart–Martinelli method, Mishima and Hibiki correlation, Zhang and Mishima correlation and Lee and Mudawar correlation in the laminar region is very close to each other, while the Muller-Steinhagen and Heck correlation is the best among the evaluated correlations in the turbulent region. A modified Chisholm correlation was proposed, which is better than all of the evaluated correlations in the turbulent region and its mean relative error is about 29%. For refrigerants only, the new correlation and Muller-Steinhagen and Heck correlation are very close to each other and give better agreement than the other evaluated correlations.     

Statistical and frequency analysis of the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed of non-spherical particles

In this paper, the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed was measured and processed via standard devia- tion and power spectrum analysis to investigate the dynamic behavior of the transition from the bubbling to turbulent regime. Two types （Geldart B and D） of non-spherical particles, screened from real bed materials, and their mixture were used as the bed materials. The experiments were conducted in a semi- industrial testing apparatus. The experimental results indicated that the fluidization characteristics of the non-spherical Geldart D particles differed from that of the spherical particles at gas velocities beyond the transition velocity Uo The standard deviation of the pressure fluctuation measured in the bed increased with the gas velocity, while that measured in the plenum remained constant. Compared to the coarse particles, the fine particles exerted a stronger influence on the dynamic behavior of the fluidized bed and promoted the fluidization regime transition from bubbling toward turbulent. The power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation was calculated using the auto-regressive （AR） model; the hydrodynamics of the flu- idized bed were characterized by the major frequency of the power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation. By combining the standard deviation analysis, a new method was proposed to determine the transition velocity Uk via the analysis of the change in the major frequency. The first major frequency was observed to vary within the range of 1.5 to 3 Hz.