Investigation on gas-solids hydrodynamics and matching enhancement in feedstock injection zone of double-level nozzle riser

With the development of current energy economy, it is necessary to improve the product distribution of fluid catalytic cracking process, which is achieved by a riser reactor with double-level of nozzles. The new riser is constructed by adding a level of secondary nozzle 0.5 m below the main nozzle of traditional riser. This paper investigates the gas-solids flow and oil-catalyst matching feature based on the optical fiber and tracer technologies. According to the distribution of solids holdup, particle velocity and dimensionless jet concentration, the feedstock injection zone can be divided into the upstream flow control region, the main flow control region, and the secondary flow control region in the radial direction. The size of the regions is changed by the jet gas velocity and axial height. There is a poor match of secondary nozzle jet to particles below the main nozzle. The jet gas from secondary nozzles can improve the matching effect of oil-catalyst near the wall and reduce the probability of coking above the main nozzle.     

The effect of nozzle layout on droplet ejection of a piezo-electrically actuated micro-atomizer

We study here effects of nozzle layout on the droplet ejection of a micro atomizer, which was fabricated with the arrayed nozzles by the MEMS technology and actuated by a piezoelectric disc. A theoretical model was first built for this piezoelectric-liquid-structure coupling system to characterize the acoustic wave propagation in the liquid chamber, which determined the droplet formation out of nozzles. The modal analysis was carried out numerically to predict resonant frequencies and simulate the corresponding pressure wave field. By comparing the amplitude contours of pressure wave on the liquid-solid interface at nozzle inlets with the designed nozzle layout, behaviors of the device under different vibration modes can be predicted. Experimentally, an impedance analyzer was used to measure the resonant frequencies of the system. Three types of atomizers with different nozzle layouts were fabricated for measuring the effect of nozzle distribution on the ejection performance. The visualization experiment of droplet generation was carried out and volume flow rates of these devices were measured. The good agreement between the experiment and the prediction proved that only the increase of nozzles may not enhance the droplet generation and a design of nozzle distribution from a viewpoint of frequency is necessary for a resonant related atomizer. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50405001).     

Low-pressure twin-fluid atomization: Effect of mixing process on spray formation

The present work comparably examines four different twin-fluid atomizers operated under the same operating conditions. Spray formation was examined by several approaches. The internal flow pattern was estimated using a simplified analytical approach, and the results were supported by the observation of the liquid discharge in the near-nozzle region. A high-speed back illumination was used for visualisation of the primary breakup. In the region of fully developed spray, the dynamics of droplets was studied using a phase-Doppler analyser (PDA). The information obtained from all methods was then correlated. Results show that the spray formation process depends mainly on the internal design of twin-fluid atomizer at low gas to liquid ratios (GLR). The amount of gas influences the character of the internal two-phase flow, a mechanism of the liquid breakup, droplet dynamics and a resulting drop size distribution. Differences among the atomizers are reduced with the increase in GLR. Moreover, it was shown that a certain mixing process can inherently create the annular internal flow which generates a stable spray characterized by relatively low mean droplet size.     

A two-phase stream containing liquid particles in the sub- and transonic regions of plane nozzles

The results of experimental studies of the influence of the entrance conditions, the particle size, the profiles of the sub- and transonic parts of the nozzle, and the initial concentration on the distribution of the solid discrete phase in the exit cross sections of axisymmetric nozzles were analyzed in [1]. The results of a study of the influence of the profiling of the nozzle and the size of the particles at the nozzle entrance on the formation of the distribution fields of the discrete liquid phase and its size at the cut of a plane nozzle are presented in the present report, which is a continuation of [1]. The experimental data presented permit a deeper understanding of the mechanism of flow of a two-phase medium in a nozzle and are required for an evaluation of efficiency of the calculation methods.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 167–170, March–April, 1978.     

Investigations of gas and particle dynamics in first generation needle-free drug delivery devices

Abstract. Transdermal powdered drug delivery involves the propulsion of solid drug particles into the skin by means of high-speed gas-particle flow. The fluid dynamics of this technology have been investigated in devices consisting of a convergent-divergent nozzle located downstream of a bursting membrane, which serves both to initiate gas flow (functioning as the diaphragm of a shock tube) and to retain the drug particles before actuation. Pressure surveys of flow in devices with contoured nozzles of relatively low exit-to-throat area ratio and a conical nozzle of higher area ratio have indicated a starting process of approximately 200 s typical duration, followed by a quasi-steady supersonic flow. The velocity of drug particles exiting the contoured nozzles was measured at up to 1050 m/s, indicating that particle acceleration took place primarily in the quasi-steady flow. In the conical nozzle, which had larger exit area ratio, the quasi-steady nozzle flow was found to be overexpanded, resulting in a shock system within the nozzle. Particles were typically delivered by these nozzles at 400 m/s, suggesting that the starting process and the quasi-steady shock processed flow are both responsible for acceleration of the particle payload. The larger exit area of the conical nozzle tested enables drug delivery over a larger target disc, which may be advantageous. Received 12 March 2000 / Accepted 8 June 2000     

Liquid flow in a simplex swirl nozzle

Pressure-swirl nozzles are widely used in applications such as combustion, painting, air-conditioning, and fire suppression. Understanding the effects of nozzle geometry and inlet flow conditions on liquid film thickness, discharge coefficient and spray angle is very important in nozzle design. The nozzle-internal flow is two-phase with a secondary flow which makes its detailed analysis rather complex. In the current work, the flow field inside a pressure-swirl nozzle is studied theoretically. Using the integral momentum method, the growth of the boundary layer from the nozzle entry to the orifice exit is investigated and the velocity through the boundary layer and the main body of the swirling liquid is calculated. A numerical modeling and a series of experiments have also been performed to validate the theoretical results. The effect of various geometrical parameters is studied and results are compared for viscous and inviscid cases. In addition, the condition in which the centrifugal force of the swirling flow overcomes the viscous force and induces an air core is predicted. The theoretical analysis discussed in this paper provides better criteria for the design and the performance analysis of nozzles.     

On the effect of the nozzle design on the performances of gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separators

This paper constitutes an experimental study of the separation performances of a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) separator that interests the oil industry. The global hydrodynamics behavior in the GLCC is characterized by flow visualization under various inflow operating conditions. The effect of the inlet nozzle design on the performances of the separator is studied by using three different nozzles, and it proves to be a key parameter. With an insufficient nozzle restriction, low swirl intensity is imparted to the flow. Due to inadequate centrifugal effects, liquid is prematurely carried over by the gas as flooding occurs in the separator upper part. High amounts of gas are also carried under by the liquid stream. On the other hand, with a too severe nozzle convergence, the important drag applied by the gas leads to liquid “short circuiting” the cyclone toward the gas outlet. In addition to the nozzle design, the separator performances are influenced by phenomena such as liquid bridging or the occurrence of the slug flow regime at the cyclone inlet. This paper leads to a better understanding of the links between the hydrodynamics in the GLCC and its operational limits, which is necessary to enable reliable scaling up tools.     

Shock pattern in the plume of rocket nozzles: needs for design consideration

For ideal nozzles, basically two different types of shock structures in the plume may appear for overexpanded flow conditions, a regular shock reflection or a Mach reflection at the nozzle centreline. Especially for rocket propulsion, other nozzle types besides the ideal nozzles are often used, including simple conical, thrust-optimized or parabolic contoured nozzles. Depending on the contour type, another shock structure may appear: the so-called cap-shock pattern. The exact knowledge of the plume pattern is of importance for mastering the engine operation featuring uncontrolled flow separation inside the nozzle, appearing during engine start-up and shut-down operation. As consequence of uncontrolled flow separation, lateral loads may be induced. The side-load character strongly depends on the nozzle design, and is a key feature for the nozzle’s mechanical structure layout. It is shown especially for the VULCAIN and VULCAIN 2 nozzle, how specific shock patterns evolve during transients, and how - by the nozzle design - undesired flow phenomena can be avoided.     

Droplet clustering in sprays

In this contribution, the spatial particle distribution in sprays of different atomizers is analyzed. Steady and unsteady particle structures are identified by evaluating the interparticle arrival time statistics at a certain position, which is the time increment between two succeeding particles. In addition to its characteristics of size and velocity, each particle exhibits an individual interparticle arrival time that is used to identify unsteady characteristics in the flow. Unsteadiness in sprays is thereby of interest for several reasons and in several applications, for example, in the combustion industry. A typical example of an unsteady spray behaviour is droplet clustering which can be caused, for example, by pulsating liquid disintegration procedures or particle interaction with large-scale eddy structures in the gas. The aim of the investigation is the analysis of such unsteady spray conditions. The evaluation of spray unsteadiness is done by means of point wise and time resolved PDA measurements in the spray of a pressure and twin-fluid atomizer, respectively.     

Bifurcations of the flow characteristics of an adjustable supersonic nozzle

A ground-based experimental study of the flow characteristic of an adjustable highaltitude nozzle was performed. It is shown that the flow characteristic of the adjustable nozzle can significantly depend on the design of its supersonic part and operation conditions. It is found that the operation such nozzles can involve different flow regimes of the working fluid depending on the position of the regulator; under certain conditions, there may be an abrupt change in the flow regime, which leads to an abrupt change (bifurcation) of the flow characteristic of the nozzle.     

Two-layer quasi-one-dimensional model for calculating gas-particle mixture flow in nozzles

The one-dimensional approximation is widely used at the present time to calculate gas-particle (solid or liquid) mixture flows in nozzles within the framework of the two-velocity (or multi-velocity) continuum model. Other studies have been made [1–6] in which the calculations of the two-phase flow in the supersonic part of the nozzle was made by the method of characteristics, and, within the limits of the model adopted, these results may be considered exact. Comparison of the exact and approximate results [6] has shown that even for nozzles of quite simple form (nearly conical) the accuracy of the one-dimensional approximation in the case of mixture flow is considerably lower than for the pure gas, and the computation error increases with increase in the relative particle flow rate. This deterioration of the accuracy is to a considerable degree caused by flow stratification, which arises because of particle lag and leads to the formation of a wall region of pure gas. For high particle content, the wall layer, in which the gas is not subjected to thermal and dynamic input from the particles, has the nature of a low-entropy, low-temperature, high-velocity layer with parameters which differ significantly from the gas parameters in the region occupied by the particles.Therefore, in the present study a modification was made in the one-dimensional theory, based on separate averaging of the flow in the wall layer and in the core, where the gas flows together with the foreign particles. Comparison of the exact results with those obtained with the aid of conventional one-dimensional theory and the proposed two-layer model showed that this modification of one-dimensional theory led to a considerable reduction in the errors of calculation for the flow parameters.In conclusion, the authors wish to thank S. Yu. Krasheninnikov for suggesting this study and also N. S. Galyun, A. M. Konkin, and L. P. Frolov for assistance in the investigation.     

Theoretical analysis of heat and mass transfer in swirl atomizers

In this study, theoretical analyses have been performed to investigate the effects of atomizer construction and controlled pressure difference of swirl atomizers. The analysis of fluid field in the swirl chamber is governed by mass/energy conservation rules; in the region outside the nozzle, the analysis of oscillation of liquid sheet is based on Squire’s expression for the amplitude growth rate. With some physical assumptions of control volume, initial values and model correlation, analytical results make it possible to predict film thickness, velocity distribution, spray cone angle and droplet size directly. The distribution of velocity profile and boundary layer thickness in the swirl chamber have been established with the aid of MATLAB. Based on the results we obtained, we here propose the change of individual design parameter and its corresponding flow number to optimize the performance of swirl atomizers.     

Effects of the gas phase molecular weight and bubble size on effervescent atomization

The effervescent atomization from an industrial Coker feed nozzle is compared for two different gas densities (air and mixed gas of 81.4 vol.% helium/18.6 vol.% nitrogen) at equivalent operating temperatures. The application is to observe the similarity of lab tests using air at 20 °C to the industrial process using steam at 300-400 °C. The effects of operating conditions, such as gas to liquid mass ratio, mixing pressure and void fraction on the flow regime, bubble size, and droplet size distribution were also examined in this study. The experiments were performed using mixtures of water with air or mixed gas, which resulted in gas to liquid mass ratios ranging from 1% to 4%.Stroboscopic back scattered imagery (SBSI) indicates that the average bubble size inside the nozzle conduit is similar when air and water are used as the process fluids, when compared to the case when mixed gas and water are used as the process fluids. Under similar conditions, the Phase Doppler Particle Anemometer (PDPA) data indicate that the droplet size in the spray is similar when using either mixed gas or air as the atomization gas.Experimental results obtained by high-speed video shadowgraphy (HSVS) indicate that the flow pattern inside the nozzle feeding conduit was slug flow with a tendency to attain annular flow with increased air to liquid mass ratios. Thus, from the experimental results it is evident that the smaller molecular weight of the mixed gas versus air (8.4 versus 29) does not significantly reduce the bubble (<±10% difference) and droplet size (<±1.5% difference), indicating a weak dependence of the gas phase density on two-phase atomization. This confirms that laboratory experiments on effervescent nozzles using air have reliable similarity to systems that use high temperature steam for the gas phase.     

Investigation of Different Condensation Regimes in Isobaric Turbulent Air-Steam Jets

Condensation in axisymmetric turbulent air-steam jets is studied theoretically and experimentally under bench experiment conditions in which a hot mist jet is injected from a nozzle into air. On the basis of the physico-mathematical model developed, four problems are considered: homogeneous condensation in the jet at a fairly low ambient air temperature, heterogeneous condensation on particles introduced into the jet at the nozzle outlet, heterogeneous condensation on particles ejected into the jet from the surrounding space, and condensation on ions entering the jet from a corona point on the flow axis. The local characteristics of the dispersed phase (mean particle size, standard deviation of the particle size, particle number and volume concentrations) and its integral characteristics (coefficient of vapor conversion into condensed phase and the optical thickness of the jet in different sections) are determined. The calculation results are compared with experimental data. As an application of the model developed, the characteristics of heterogeneous condensation in the jets of certain modern aircraft engines (IL-96-300, Tu-204, MiG-29, Boeing-707) are found on the assumption that the condensation occurs on particles entering the jet at the nozzle outlet and the particle growth rate in all stages (including the initial stage of particle irrigation) coincides with the growth rate of liquid drops.     

A Digital Particle Image Velocimetry Study on Jets Issuing from Hybrid Inclined Nozzles

Digital particle image velocimetry was used to study hybrid inclined nozzles formed by combining flat- and inclined-sections, where the latter are designed based on the aspect-ratios (AR = 2 and 4) of half-ellipses. Results show that AR2 nozzle exhibits flow behaviour largely similar to inclined nozzles with inclined vortex roll-ups moving away from the nozzle centerline. In contrast, AR4 nozzle leads to significantly more intense near-field flow behaviour caused by the sharper junctions, which prevent similar movement of the vortex roll-ups. Streamwise vortices are also observed to form off the peaks of inclined-sections which produce wider jets-spreads along the inclined-sections due to associated lateral jet fluid ejection, though there is a limit to the jet-spread increment. Lastly, both nozzles produce higher turbulent stress levels over those of the conventional circular nozzle, and vortex roll-up vectoring leads to higher turbulent stresses for the AR2 nozzle along certain measurement planes.     

Numerical solution of an inverse problem of nozzle theory for a two-phase gas-particle mixture

In the present paper gas flows with monodisperse and polydisperse particles in plane and axisymmetric nozzles are calculated by the inverse method [1, 2]. The gas velocity distribution is specified on the axis of symmetry of the nozzle, while the gas and particle parameters are specified in the entrance section. As a result of the numerical integration of a system of equations describing a flow of gas with condensate particles in it we determine the gas and particle parameters, the gas streamlines, and the particle trajectories with allowance for the mutual influence of the gas and particles. One of the gas streamlines is taken as the nozzle contour and the limiting trajectories and pure gas zone are found. A difference method is described which makes it possible to calculate the subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flow regions using a single algorithm, its features are noted, and the results of the calculation for monodisperse mixtures with particle diameters 1 and 5 m and fractions by weight 0.3 are given. A comparison is made with the results of calculations by other methods.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 106–114, July–August, 1986.The authors express their gratitude to N. B. Ponomarev and G. E. Dumnov for their useful discussions and help in carrying out the calculations.     

Dual characters of interaction between particles and fluid

The unique characteristics of gas-solids two-phase flow and fluidization in terms of the flow structures and the apparent behavior of particles and fluid-particle interactions are closely linked to physical properties of the particles, operating conditions and bed configurations. Fluidized beds behave quite differently when solid properties, gas velocities or vessel geometries are varied. An understanding of hydrodynamic changes and how they, in turn, influence the transfer and reaction characteristics of chemical and thermal operations by variations in gas-solid contact, residence time, solid circulation and mixing and gas distribution is very important for the proper design and scale-up of fluidized bed reactors. In this paper, rather than attempting a comprehensive survey, we concentrate on examining some important positive and negative impacts of particle sizes, bubbles, clusters and column walls on the physical and chemical aspects of chemical reactor performance from the engineering application point of view with the aim of forming an adequate concept for guiding the design of multiphase fluidized bed chemical reactors.One unique phenomenon associated with particle size is that fluidized bed behavior does not always vary monotonically with changing the average particle size. Different behaviors of particles with difference sizes can be well understood by analyzing the relationship between particle size and various forces. For both fine and coarse particles, too narrow a distribution is generally not favorable for smooth fluidization. A too wide size distribution, on the other hand, may lead to particle segregation and high particle elutriation. Good fluidization performance can be established with a proper size distribution in which inter-particle cohesive forces are reduced by the lubricating effect of fine particles on coarse particles for Type A, B and D particles or by the spacing effect of coarse particles or aggregates for Type C powders.Much emphasis has been paid to the negative impacts of bubbles, such as gas bypassing through bubbles, poor bubble-to-dense phase heat & mass transfer, bubble-induced large pressure fluctuations, process instabilities, catalyst attrition and equipment erosion, and high entrainment of particles induced by erupting bubbles at the bed surface. However, it should be noted that bubble motion and gas circulation through bubbles, together with the motion of particles in bubble wakes and clouds, contribute to good gas and solids mixing. The formation of clusters can be attributed to the movement of trailing particles into the low-pressure wake region of leading particles or clusters. On one hand, the existence of down-flowing clusters induces strong solid back-mixing and non-uniform radial distributions of particle velocities and holdups, which is undesirable for chemical reactions. On the other hand, the formation of clusters creates high solids holdups in the riser by inducing internal solids circulations, which are usually beneficial for increasing concentrations of solid catalysts or solid reactants.Wall effects have widely been blamed for complicating the scale-up and design of fluidized-bed reactors. The decrease in wall friction with increasing the column diameter can significantly change the flow patterns and other important characteristics even under identical operating conditions with the same gas and particles. However, internals, which can be considered as a special wall, have been used to improve the fluidized bed reactor performance.Generally, desirable and undesirable dual characteristics of interaction between particles and fluid are one of the important natures of multiphase flow. It is shown that there exists a critical balance between those positive and negative impacts. Good fluidization quality can always be achieved with a proper choice of right combinations of particle size and size distribution, bubble size and wall design to alleviate the negative impacts.     

Mixing of high speed coaxial jets

In this study, five different supersonic nozzles – conical, elliptical, tabbed, radially lobed and two-dimensional lobed – are compared experimentally for their mixing performance. With the background of studies by various groups conducted on the above nozzles, the present paper aims to provide an experimental comparison of their respective mixing performances with that of a conventional conical nozzle under identical operating conditions. The mixing of the supersonic stream coming from such nozzles with a coaxial sonic stream is investigated. The investigation is performed non-intrusively, using digital image processing of planar Mie-scattering images of the flow field. The results of these investigations reveal the superiority of mixing performance of the two-dimensional lobed nozzle over conventional circular and other non-conventional nozzles. Received: 15 July 1999/Accepted: 3 July 2000     

A procedure for the design of nozzles used for the production of turbulent liquid jets

Where turbulent liquid jets are used for cutting and mining purposes the pressure generated by impact must be maximized. Initial jet behaviour has an important influence on subsequent jet impact pressures at medium range. Nozzle wall boundary layer history has a strong influence on the initial jet, and certain boundary layer features can be linked to poor jet performance. The procedure outlined in this paper was developed to eliminate new nozzle designs or changes in operating conditions on the grounds of badly behaved nozzle boundary flow. The design procedure consists of a potential flow analysis and a boundary layer analysis coupled to empirical correlations for boundary layers in accelerated flows. The procedure is exemplified by application to the design of a nozzle to be used for the specific purpose of mining china clay.