ALBERT

Description: The acceleration of an inertial particle in a gas-solid flow arises from the particle's interaction with the gas and from interparticle interactions such as collisions. Analytical treatments to derive a particle acceleration model are difficult outside the Stokes flow regime, but for moderate Reynolds numbers (based on the mean slip velocity between gas and particles) particle-resolved direct numerical simulation (PR-DNS) is a viable tool for model development. In this study, PR-DNS of freely-evolving gas-solid suspensions are performed using the particle-resolved uncontaminated-fluid reconcilable immersed-boundary method (PUReIBM) that has been extensively validated in previous studies. Analysis of the particle velocity variance (granular temperature) equation in statistically homogeneous gas-solid flow shows that a straightforward extension of a class of mean particle acceleration models (drag laws) to their corresponding instantaneous versions, by replacing the mean particle velocity with the instantaneous particle velocity, predicts a granular temperature that decays to zero, which is at variance with the steady particle granular temperature that is obtained from PR-DNS. Fluctuations in particle velocity and particle acceleration (and their correlation) are important because the particle acceleration-velocity covariance governs the evolution of the particle velocity variance (characterized by the particle granular temperature), which plays an important role in the prediction of the core annular structure in riser flows. The acceleration-velocity covariance arising from hydrodynamic forces can be decomposed into source and dissipation terms that appear in the granular temperature evolution equation, and these have already been quantified in the Stokes flow regime using a combination of kinetic theory closure and multipole expansion simulations. From PR-DNS data we show that the fluctuations in the particle acceleration that are aligned with fluctuations in the particle velocity give rise to a source term in the granular temperature evolution equation. This approach is used to quantify the hydrodynamic source and dissipation terms of granular temperature from PR-DNS results for freely-evolving gas-solid suspensions that are performed over a wide range of solid volume fraction (0.1≤φ≤0.4), Reynolds number based on the slip velocity between the solid and the fluid phase (10≤Rem≤100) and solid-to-fluid density ratio (100≤ρp/ρf≤200). The straightforward extension of drag law models does not give rise to any source in the granular temperature due to hydrodynamic effects. This motivates the development of better Lagrangian particle acceleration models that can be used in Lagrangian-Eulerian formulations of gas-solid flow. It is found that a Langevin equation for the increment in the particle velocity reproduces PR-DNS results for the stationary particle velocity autocorrelation in freely-evolving suspensions. Based on the data obtained from the simulations, the functional dependence of the Langevin model coefficients on solid volume fraction, Reynolds number and solid-to-fluid density ratio is obtained. This new Lagrangian particle acceleration model reproduces the correct steady granular temperature and can also be adapted to gas-solid flow computations using Eulerian moment equations. © 2016 Cambridge University Press.

Description: Fluctuations in the gas-phase velocity can contribute significantly to the total gas-phase kinetic energy even in laminar gas-solid flows as shown by Mehrabadi et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 770, 2015, pp. 210-246), and these pseudo-turbulent fluctuations can also enhance heat transfer in gas-solid flow. In this work, the pseudo-turbulent heat flux arising from temperature-velocity covariance, and average fluid-phase conduction during convective heat transfer in a gas-solid flow are quantified and modelled over a wide range of mean slip Reynolds number and solid volume fraction using particle-resolved direct numerical simulations (PR-DNS) of steady flow through a random assembly of fixed isothermal monodisperse spherical particles. A thermal self-similarity condition on the local excess temperature developed by Tenneti et al. (Intl J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 58, 2013, pp. 471-479) is used to guarantee thermally fully developed flow. The average gas-solid heat transfer rate for this flow has been reported elsewhere by Sun et al. (Intl J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 86, 2015, pp. 898-913). Although the mean velocity field is homogeneous, the mean temperature field in this thermally fully developed flow is inhomogeneous in the streamwise coordinate. An exponential decay model for the average bulk fluid temperature is proposed. The pseudo-turbulent heat flux that is usually neglected in two-fluid models of the average fluid temperature equation is computed using PR-DNS data. It is found that the transport term in the average fluid temperature equation corresponding to the pseudo-turbulent heat flux is significant when compared to the average gas-solid heat transfer over a significant range of solid volume fraction and mean slip Reynolds number that was simulated. For this flow set-up a gradient-diffusion model for the pseudo-turbulent heat flux is found to perform well. The Péclet number dependence of the effective thermal diffusivity implied by this model is explained using a scaling analysis. Axial conduction in the fluid phase, which is often neglected in existing one-dimensional models, is also quantified. As expected, it is found to be important only for low Péclet number flows. Using the exponential decay model for the average bulk fluid temperature, a model for average axial conduction is developed that verifies standard assumptions in the literature. These models can be used in two-fluid simulations of heat transfer in fixed beds. A budget analysis of the mean fluid temperature equation provides insight into the variation of the relative magnitude of the various terms over the parameter space. © 2016 Cambridge University Press.