Flow behaviour of solid-liquid suspensions in horizontal pipes and stirred vessels: insights from positron emission particle tracking and data-driven Lagrangian modelling

Sheikh, Hamzah Ahmed (2023). Flow behaviour of solid-liquid suspensions in horizontal pipes and stirred vessels: insights from positron emission particle tracking and data-driven Lagrangian modelling. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

Preview

Sheikh2023PhD.pdf
Text - Accepted Version
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (60MB) | Preview

Abstract

Chemical, pharmaceutical, food, and petroleum industries are just a few of the mul- titude of sectors that frequently process solid-liquid flows. These slurry mixtures are transported through pipes and often mixed, dispersed, reacted, or involved in heat or mass transfer in stirred vessels.

The motion of solid particles in these flows is an inherently Lagrangian process, and to fully understand the characteristics and behaviours of such systems requires both Lagrangian and Eulerian information of the phases involved. The work described here uses a technique of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) to capture the Lagrangian information in horizontal transient and turbulent solid-liquid pipe flows. An experimental flow apparatus with nearly-neutrally buoyant particles in a 40 mm ID pipe was used to investigate the effects of particle size, concentration, and Reynolds number on the velocity and occupancy profiles. The effect of solid-liquid particle density difference was also tested. As the particles restricted optical access, the PEPT technique was an excellent method to obtain accurate particle and fluid trajectories particularly for high solid loadings.

This non-intrusive technique has previously been used to obtain flow information of solid-liquid mixtures in stirred vessels. Here, the Lagrangian information from solid-liquid stirred vessel PEPT experiments was used to construct and develop three data-driven models; unique computationally-efficient methods with the aim of extending experimental and computational (obtained from Euler-Lagrange CFD) particle trajectories. These novel implementations of relatively simple calculations were successful in capturing the flow characteristics of both the liquid and solid phases in a range of stirred vessel experiments, using as little as 1 min Lagrangian experimental information to construct long-term trajectories of tracer particles.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):