scholarly journals Experimental study of inertial particles clustering and settling in homogeneous turbulence

2019 ◽  
Vol 864 ◽  
pp. 925-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec J. Petersen ◽  
Lucia Baker ◽  
Filippo Coletti

We study experimentally the spatial distribution, settling and interaction of sub-Kolmogorov inertial particles with homogeneous turbulence. Utilizing a zero-mean-flow air turbulence chamber, we drop size-selected solid particles and study their dynamics with particle imaging and tracking velocimetry at multiple resolutions. The carrier flow is simultaneously measured by particle image velocimetry of suspended tracers, allowing the characterization of the interplay between both the dispersed and continuous phases. The turbulence Reynolds number based on the Taylor microscale ranges from $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}\approx 200{-}500$, while the particle Stokes number based on the Kolmogorov scale varies between $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}=O(1)$ and $O(10)$. Clustering is confirmed to be most intense for $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}\approx 1$, but it extends over larger scales for heavier particles. Individual clusters form a hierarchy of self-similar, fractal-like objects, preferentially aligned with gravity and with sizes that can reach the integral scale of the turbulence. Remarkably, the settling velocity of $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}\approx 1$ particles can be several times larger than the still-air terminal velocity, and the clusters can fall even faster. This is caused by downward fluid fluctuations preferentially sweeping the particles, and we propose that this mechanism is influenced by both large and small scales of the turbulence. The particle–fluid slip velocities show large variance, and both the instantaneous particle Reynolds number and drag coefficient can greatly differ from their nominal values. Finally, for sufficient loadings, the particles generally augment the small-scale fluid velocity fluctuations, which however may account for a limited fraction of the turbulent kinetic energy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 822 ◽  
pp. 640-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. G. Oliveira ◽  
C. W. M. van der Geld ◽  
J. G. M. Kuerten

Three-dimensional particle tracking velocimetry is applied to particle-laden turbulent pipe flows at a Reynolds number of 10 300, based on the bulk velocity and the pipe diameter, for developed fluid flow and not fully developed flow of inertial particles, which favours assessment of the radial migration of the inertial particles. Inertial particles with Stokes number ranging from 0.35 to 1.11, based on the particle relaxation time and the radial-dependent Kolmogorov time scale, and a ratio of the root-mean-square fluid velocity to the terminal velocity of order 1 have been used. Core peaking of the concentration of inertial particles in up-flow and wall peaking in down-flow have been found. The difference in mean particle and Eulerian mean liquid velocity is found to decrease to approximately zero near the wall in both flow directions. Although the carrier fluid has all of the characteristics of the corresponding turbulent single-phase flow, the Reynolds stress of the inertial particles is different near the wall in up-flow. These findings are explained from the preferential location of the inertial particles with the aid of direct numerical simulations with the point-particle approach.


Author(s):  
Yoshimichi Hagiwara ◽  
Hideto Fujii ◽  
Katsutoshi Sakurai ◽  
Takashi Kuroda ◽  
Atsuhide Kitagawa

The Stokes number, the ratio of the particle time scale to flow time scale, is a promising quantity for estimating changes in statistics of turbulence due to particles. First, we explored the Stokes numbers in some recent studies. Secondly, we discussed the results of our direct numerical simulation for turbulent flow with a high-density particle in a vertical duct. In the discussion, we defined the particle Reynolds number from the mean fluid velocity in the near-particle region at any time. We evaluated a new local Stokes number for the particle. It is found that the Stokes number is effective for the prediction of the distance between the particle center and one wall. Finally, we carried out experiments for turbulent water flow with aluminum balls of 1 mm in diameter in a vertical channel. The motions of aluminum balls and tracer particles in the flow were captured with a high-speed video camera. We found that the experimental results for the time changes in the wall-normal distance of the ball and the particle Reynolds number for the ball are similar to the predicted results.


2016 ◽  
Vol 802 ◽  
pp. 359-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Li ◽  
Kun Luo ◽  
Jianren Fan

Direct numerical simulations of particle-laden spatially developing turbulent boundary layers over a flat plate have been performed to investigate the effect of inertial particles on turbulence modulation, using the Eulerian–Lagrangian point-particle approach with two-way coupling. The particles are smaller than the Kolmogorov length scale of the dilute flow, and inter-particle collisions are not considered. The simulation results show that the addition of small solid particles increases the mean streamwise fluid velocity, which in turn leads to a reduction in the boundary layer integral parameters and an increase in the skin-friction drag. These effects become more pronounced as the particle Stokes number and mass loading increase. The streamwise turbulence intensity is slightly enhanced in the close vicinity of the wall but damped in the outer layer. In contrast, the Reynolds stress and the turbulence intensities in the wall-normal and spanwise directions are substantially attenuated across the entire boundary layer, and the levels of attenuation increase monotonically with both particle Stokes number and mass loading. The exchange of kinetic energy between particles and fluid indicates that particle–fluid interactions cause extra energy dissipation, which plays a crucial role in turbulence modulation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 441-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Maxey

The average settling velocity in homogeneous turbulence of a small rigid spherical particle, subject to a Stokes drag force, is shown to depend on the particle inertia and the free-fall terminal velocity in still fluid. With no inertia the particle settles on average at the same rate as in still fluid, assuming there is no mean flow. Particle inertia produces a bias in each trajectory towards regions of high strain rate or low vorticity, which affects the mean settling velocity. Results from a Gaussian random velocity field show that this produces an increased settling velocity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 845 ◽  
pp. 499-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Capecelatro ◽  
Olivier Desjardins ◽  
Rodney O. Fox

Turbulent wall-bounded flows exhibit a wide range of regimes with significant interaction between scales. The fluid dynamics associated with single-phase channel flows is predominantly characterized by the Reynolds number. Meanwhile, vastly different behaviour exists in particle-laden channel flows, even at a fixed Reynolds number. Vertical turbulent channel flows seeded with a low concentration of inertial particles are known to exhibit segregation in the particle distribution without significant modification to the underlying turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). At moderate (but still low) concentrations, enhancement or attenuation of fluid-phase TKE results from increased dissipation and wakes past individual particles. Recent studies have shown that denser suspensions significantly alter the two-phase dynamics, where the majority of TKE is generated by interphase coupling (i.e.  drag) between the carrier gas and clusters of particles that fall near the channel wall. In the present study, a series of simulations of vertical particle-laden channel flows with increasing mass loading is conducted to analyse the transition from the dilute limit where classical mean-shear production is primarily responsible for generating fluid-phase TKE to high-mass-loading suspensions dominated by drag production. Eulerian–Lagrangian simulations are performed for a wide range of particle loadings at two values of the Stokes number, and the corresponding two-phase energy balances are reported to identify the mechanisms responsible for the observed transition.


Author(s):  
Lionel Thomas ◽  
Benoiˆt Oesterle´

The dispersion of small inertial particles moving in a homogeneous, hypothetically stationary, shear flow is investigated using both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, under one-way coupling approximation. In the theoretical approach, the previous studies are extended to the case of homogeneous shear flow with a corresponding anisotropic spectrum. As it is impossible to obtain a closed theoretical solution without some drastic simplifications, the motion of dispersed particles is also investigated using kinematic simulation where random Fourier modes are generated according to a prescribed anisotropic spectrum with a superimposed linear mean fluid velocity profile. The combined effects of particle Stokes number and dimensionless drift velocity (magnitude and direction) are investigated by computing the statistics from Lagrangian tracking of a large number of particles in many flow field realizations, and comparison is made between the observed effects in shear flow and in isotropic turbulence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 003685041989724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Zhang ◽  
JiaWei Zhou ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Wei Gong

Erosion in pipeline caused by solid particles, which may lead to premature failure of the pipe system, is regarded as one of the most important concerns in the field of oil and gas. Therefore, the Euler–Lagrange, erosion model, and discrete phase model are applied for the purpose of simulating the erosion of water–hydrate–solid flow in submarine hydrate transportation pipeline. In this article, the flow and erosion characteristics are well verified on the basis of experiments. Moreover, analysis is conducted to have a good understanding of the effects of hydrate volume, mean curvature radius/pipe diameter ( R/ D) rate, flow velocity, and particle diameter on elbow erosion. It is finally obtained that the hydrate volume directly affects the Reynolds number through viscosity and the trend of the Reynolds number is consistent with the trend of erosion rate. Taking into account different R/ D rates, the same Stokes number reflects different dynamic transforms of the maximum erosion zone. However, the outmost wall (zone D) will be the final erosion zone when the value of the Stokes number increases to a certain degree. In addition, the erosion rate increases sharply along with the increase of flow velocity and particle diameter. The effect of flow velocity on the erosion zone can be ignored in comparison with the particle diameter. Moreover, it is observed that flow velocity is deemed as the most sensitive factor on erosion rate among these factors employed in the orthogonal experiment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 865 ◽  
pp. 1085-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaro Motoori ◽  
Susumu Goto

To understand the generation mechanism of a hierarchy of multiscale vortices in a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer, we conduct direct numerical simulations and educe the hierarchy of vortices by applying a coarse-graining method to the simulated turbulent velocity field. When the Reynolds number is high enough for the premultiplied energy spectrum of the streamwise velocity component to show the second peak and for the energy spectrum to obey the$-5/3$power law, small-scale vortices, that is, vortices sufficiently smaller than the height from the wall, in the log layer are generated predominantly by the stretching in strain-rate fields at larger scales rather than by the mean-flow stretching. In such a case, the twice-larger scale contributes most to the stretching of smaller-scale vortices. This generation mechanism of small-scale vortices is similar to the one observed in fully developed turbulence in a periodic cube and consistent with the picture of the energy cascade. On the other hand, large-scale vortices, that is, vortices as large as the height, are stretched and amplified directly by the mean flow. We show quantitative evidence of these scale-dependent generation mechanisms of vortices on the basis of numerical analyses of the scale-dependent enstrophy production rate. We also demonstrate concrete examples of the generation process of the hierarchy of multiscale vortices.


2015 ◽  
Vol 766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niranjan Reddy Challabotla ◽  
Lihao Zhao ◽  
Helge I. Andersson

AbstractThe translational and rotational dynamics of oblate spheroidal particles suspended in a directly simulated turbulent channel flow have been examined. Inertial disk-like particles exhibited a significant preferential orientation in the plane of the mean shear. The rotational inertia about the symmetry axis of the disk-like particles hampered the spin-up of the flattest particles to match the mean flow vorticity. The influence of the particle shape on the orientation and rotation diminished as the translational inertia increased from Stokes number 1 to 30. An isotropization of both orientation and rotation could be observed in the core region of the channel. The translational motion of the oblate spheroids had a weak dependence on the aspect ratio. We therefore concluded that inertial particles sample nearly the same flow field irrespective of shape. Nevertheless, the orientation and rotation of disk-like particles turned out to be qualitatively different from the dynamics of fibre-like particles.


2016 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
pp. 869-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ari Frankel ◽  
H. Pouransari ◽  
F. Coletti ◽  
A. Mani

We study the case of inertial particles heated by thermal radiation while settling by gravity through a turbulent transparent gas. We consider dilute and optically thin regimes in which each particle receives the same heat flux. Numerical simulations of forced homogeneous turbulence are performed taking into account the two-way coupling of both momentum and temperature between the dispersed and continuous phases. Particles much smaller than the smallest flow scales are considered and the point-particle approximation is adopted. The particle Stokes number (based on the Kolmogorov time scale) is of order unity, while the nominal settling velocity is up to an order of magnitude larger than the Kolmogorov velocity, marking a critical difference with previous two-way coupled simulations. It is found that non-heated particles enhance turbulence when their settling velocity is sufficiently high compared to the Kolmogorov velocity. Energy spectra show that the non-heated particle settling impacts both the very small and very large flow scales, while the intermediate scales are weakly affected. When heated, particles shed plumes of buoyant gas, further modifying the turbulence structure. At the considered radiation intensities, clustering is strong but the classic mechanism of preferential concentration is modified, while preferential sweeping is eliminated or even reversed. Particle heating also causes a significant reduction of the mean settling velocity, which is caused by rising buoyant plumes in the vicinity of particle clusters. The turbulent kinetic energy is affected non-monotonically as the radiation intensity is increased due to the competing effects of the downward gravitational force and the upward buoyancy force. The thermal radiation influences all scales of the turbulence. The effects of settling and buoyancy on the turbulence anisotropy are also discussed.


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