On shock wave propagation in a branched channel with particles

The problem of wave propagation in a dust–air mixture inside a branched channel has not been studied widely in literature, even though this topic has many important applications especially in process safety (dust explosions). In this paper, a shock wave interaction with a cloud of solid particles, and the further behaviour of both gas and particulate phases were studied using numerical techniques. The geometry mimicked a real channel where bends or branches are common. Two numerical approaches were used: Eulerian–Eulerian and Eulerian–Lagrangian. Using Eulerian-Lagrangian simulation, it was possible to include the effects of particle–particle and particle–wall collisions in a realistic and direct manner. Results are mainly shown as snap-shots of particle positions during the simulations and statistics for the particle displacement. The results show that collisions significantly influence the process of particle cloud formation. PACS47.40.Nm, 02.60.Cb, 47.55.kf