The study described in this paper concerns the simulation of a particle-laden turbulent channel flow at high mass loadings, with and without the presence of gravity. Large eddy simulation (LES) is used to simulate the fluid phase, with solutions combined with a Lagrangian particle tracker to model the particle phase. Particle-particle interactions are detected using an algorithm based on a deterministic collision treatment (hard-sphere collision model), and particle agglomeration is based on the use of a particle restitution coefficient, energy balance and the sum of the van der Waals’ force on each colliding particle. In order to establish the validity of the treatment, results are compared with those based on a DNS, with good agreement being found. Subsequent runs for colliding and agglomerating particles in a channel flow demonstrate that the rate of particle agglomeration peaks towards the channel walls due to increased particle concentrations and turbulence levels in these regions. Agglomeration is also greatly influenced by the presence of gravity, with this effect accentuated on the lower wall of the channel.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)