Fluid Flow and Solid/Fluid Suspensions Flow in 3-D Packed Beds of Spheres: the ...

• Author(s): Serrenho, Ana ; Miguel, Antonio F
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/3278
• Origin: Repositório Científico da Universidade de Évora
• Subject(s): packed beds; fluid flow; solid/fluid suspensions flow; aerosols; permeability; inertial factor; penetration efficiency; deposition
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

A 3-D numerical study is performed to investigate the effects of periodicity (geometry) on flow of fluid and on flow of solid/fluid suspensions in packing arrangements of fixed beds of spheres. The porosity is fixed at 0.58 and the following packing arrangements are studied: simple cubic, face-centered cubic, hexagonal, rhomboedric hexagonal and tetragonal. Simulations are carried out at Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.1 and 50, and using solid suspensions with different sizes (0.2, 2 and 10 micron) and densities (200 and 2000 kg/m3). The effect of the periodicity on fluid flow characteristics (permeability and inertia parameter) and on the penetration efficiency of solid suspensions within the packed beds is analyzed and quantified.