Prediction of turbulent gas-solids flow in curved ducts using the Eulerian-Lagrangian method

The flow of particulate two-phase flow mixtures occur in several components of solid fuel combustion systems, such as the pressurised fluidised bed combustors (PFBC) and suspension-fired coal boilers. A detailed understanding of the mixture characteristics in the conveying component can aid in refining and optimising its design. In this study, the flow of an isothermal, dilute two-phase particulate mixture has been examined in a high curvature duct, which can be representative of that transporting the gas–solid mixture from the hot clean-up section to the gas turbine combustor in a PFBC plant. The numerical study has been approached by utilising the Eulerian–Lagrangian methodology for describing the characteristics of the fluid and particulate phases. By assuming that the mixture is dilute and the particles are spherical, the governing particle momentum equations have been solved with appropriately prescribed boundary conditions. Turbulence effects on the particle dispersion were represented by a statistical model that accounts for both the turbulent eddy lifetime and the particle transit time scales. For the turbulent flow condition examined it was observed that mixtures with small particle diameters had low interphase slip velocities and low impaction probability with the pipe walls. Increasing the particle diameters (>50 μm) resulted in higher interphase slip velocities and, as expected, their impaction probability with the pipe walls was significantly increased. The particle dispersion is significant for the smaller sizes, whereas the larger particles are relatively insensitive to the gas turbulence. The main particle impaction region, and locations most prone to erosion damage, is estimated to be within an outer duct length of two to six times the duct diameter, when the duct radius of curvature to the duct diameter ratio is equal to unity. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.