An Investigation into Numerical Modeling of Gas-Solids Flow in Fluidized Dense Phase Pneumatic Conveying

Abstract

Dense phase pneumatic conveying systems have been associated in numerous mechanical industries for conveying bulk solids through an enclosed conveying line. Dense phase conveying offers potential advantages such as lower energy utilization, decreased particle degradation and pipeline wear as compared to conventional dilute phase conveying. Fine powders belonging to Geldart group A such as fly-ash, cement, flour etc. are the potential candidates for dense phase pneumatic conveying because they have low de-aeration characteristics. The flow is a highly concentrated dense flow at the bottom of the pipe and dispersed flow at the top of the cross-section. In the present study, a two layer model is being developed inside a horizontal pipe ignoring the variation of cross-section of the two layers along the length of the pipe. Conservation equations (based on mass and momentum) are solved for both the gas and solid phases by using appropriate coupling parameters. Equations have been solved numerically using Runge –Kutta method and the evolution equations are solved for the flow variables. The flow parameters are calculated along the midpoint sections of the pipeline by ode 45 solver.