A numerical investigation into the heat transfer performance and particle dynamics of a compressible, highly mass loaded, high reynolds number, particle laden flow

In this work, we study the heat transfer performance and particle dynamics of a highly mass loaded, compressible, particle-laden flow in a horizontally-oriented pipe using an Eulerian-Eulerian (two-fluid) computational model. An attendant experimental configuration [1] provides the basis for the study. Specifically, a 17 bar co-flow of nitrogen gas and copper powder are modeled with inlet Reynolds numbers of 3x10⁴, 4.5x10⁴, and 6x10⁴ and mass loadings of 0, 0.5, and 1.0. Eight binned particle sizes were modeled to represent the known powder properties. Significant settling of all particle groups are observed leading to asymmetric temperature distributions. Wall and core flow temperature distributions are observed to agree well with measurements. In high Reynolds number cases, the predictions of the multiphase computational model were satisfactorily aligned with the experimental results. Low Reynolds number model predictions were not as consistent with the experimental measurements.