Sand storms: CFD analysis of Reynolds stress and collision stress of particles near sand bed

Sand storm is a serious environmental threat to humans. Sand particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil erosion in one place and deposition in another. In order to prevent and predict sand storms, the causes and the manners of particle motions must be studied in detail. In this paper a standard k-epsilon model is used for the gas phase simulation and the discrete element method (DEM) is used to predict the movements of particles using an in-house procedure. The data are summarized in an Eulerian-Eulerian regime after simulation to get the statistical particle Reynolds stress and particle collision stress. The results show that for the current case the Reynolds stress and the air shear stress predominate in the region 20-250 mm above the initial sand bed surface. However, in the region below 3 mm, the collision stress must be taken into account in predicting particle movement. (C) 2010 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Large-scale recovery of C-phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis using expanded bed adsorption chromatography

C-phycocyanin was purified on a large scale by a combination of expanded bed adsorption, anion-exchange chromatography and hydroxyapatite chromatography from inferior Spirulina platensis that cannot be used for human consumption. First, phycobiliproteins were extracted by a simple, scaleable method and then were recovered by Phenyl-Sepharose chromatography in an expanded bed column. The purity (the A(620)/A(280) ratio) of C-phycocyanin isolated with STREAMLINE (TM) Column was up to 2.87, and the yield was as high as 31 mg/g of dried S. platensis. After the first step, we used conventional anion-exchange chromatography for the purification steps, with a yield of 7.7 mg/g of dried S. platensis at a purity greater than 3.2 and with an A(620)/A(650) index higher than 5.0. The fractions from anion-exchange chromatography with a level of purity that did not conform to the above standard were subjected to hydroxyapatite chromatography, with a C-PC yield of 4.45 mg/g of dried S. platensis with a purity greater than 3.2. The protein from both purification methods showed one absolute absorption peak at 620 nm and a fluorescence maximum at 650 nm, which is consistent with the typical spectrum of C-phycocyanin. SDS-PAGE gave two bands corresponding to 21 and 18 kDa. In-gel digestion and LC-ESI-MS showed that the protein is C-phycocyanin. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scour of the seabed under a pipeline in oscillating flow

The scour of the seabed under a pipeline is studied experimentally in this paper. Tests are carried out in a U-shaped oscillatory water tunnel with a box imbedded in the bottom of the test section. By use of the standard sand, clay and plastic grain as the seabed material, the influence of the bed material on the scour is studied. The relationship between the critical initial gap-to-diameter ratio above which no scour occurs and the parameters of the oscillating flow is obtained. The self-burial phenomenon. which occurs for the pipeline not fixed to two sidewalls of the test section, is not observed for the Bred pipeline. The effect of the pipe on sand wave formation is discussed. The maximum equilibrium scour depths For different initial gap-to-diameter ratios, different Kc numbers and different bed sands are also given in this paper.

Shock-Induced Near-Wall Two-Phase Flow Structure Over a Micron-Sized Particles Bed

The present paper studies numerical modelling of near-wall two-phase flows induced by a normal shock wave moving at a constant speed, over a micronsized particles bed. In this two-fluid model, the possibility of particle trajectory intersection is considered and a full Lagrangian formulation of the dispersed phase is introduced. The finiteness of the Reynolds and Mach numbers of the flow around a particle as well as the fineness of the particle sizes are taken into account in describing the interactions between the carrier- and dispersed- phases. For the small mass-loading ratio case, the numerical simulation of flow structure of the two phases is implemented and the profiles of the particle number density are obtained under the constant-flux condition on the wall. The effects of the shock Mach number and the particle size and material density on particle entrainment motion are discussed in detail.The obtained results indicate that interphase non-equilibrium in the velocity and temperature is a common feature for this type of flows and a local particle accumulation zone may form near the envelope of the particle trajectory family.

Numerical Simulation of Pulsed Liquid Fluidized Bed and Its Experimental Validation

The pulsed liquid fluidized bed was studied using numerical simulation and experimental methods, The area-averaged two-fluid model (TFM) was used to simulate the pulsed fluidization. The bed expansion and collapse processes were simulated first and the phenomena obtained from the calculation were consistent with our previous experiments and observations. In the pulsed fluidization, the variation of bed height, the variations of particle velocity and concentration distribution were obtained and analyzed. Experiments were carried out to validate the simulation results. The pressure variation with time at different locations was measured using pressure transducers and compared with the simulated results. The variations of bed height and particle concentration distribution were recorded using a digital video camera recorder. The results were consistent with the simulation results as a whole.

Effects on Dense-phase Zone Temperature of Fluidized Bed with Uneven Air Distribution

由于采用非均匀布风,内旋流流化床的移动区空气量不足,导致燃烧不充分,温度较低。当移动区未流化时,密相区内存在较明显的温度不均匀性。随着移动区流速的提高,温度差迅速减小。当移动区流速超过2.0#mu#m后,密相区温度基本均匀一致。流动区流速对密相区温度均匀有一定的影响,流速越高,温度越均匀。

Wind Tunnel Experimental Investigation Of Sand Velocity In Aeolian Sand Transport

Sand velocity in aeolian sand transport was measured using the laser Doppler technique of PDPA (Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer) in a wind tunnel. The sand velocity profile, probability distribution of particle velocity, particle velocity fluctuation and particle turbulence were analyzed in detail. The experimental results verified that the sand horizontal velocity profile can be expressed by a logarithmic function above 0.01 in, while a deviation occurs below 0.01 m. The mean vertical velocity of grains generally ranges from -0.2 m/s to 0.2 m/s, and is downward at the lower height, upward at the higher height. The probability distributions of the horizontal velocity of ascending and descending particles have a typical peak and are right-skewed at a height of 4 turn in the lower part of saltation layer. The vertical profile of the horizontal RMS velocity fluctuation of particles shows a single peak. The horizontal RMS velocity fluctuation of sand particles is generally larger than the vertical RMS velocity fluctuation. The RMS velocity fluctuations of grains in both horizontal and vertical directions increase with wind velocity. The particle turbulence intensity decreases with height. The present investigation is helpful in understanding the sand movement mechanism in windblown sand transport and also provides a reference for the study of blowing sand velocity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Experimental Study Of Vortex-Induced Vibrations Of A Pipeline Near An Erodible Sandy Seabed

Based on similarity analyses, a series of experiments have been conducted with a newly established hydro-elastic facility to investigate the transverse vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of a submarine pipeline near an erodible sandy seabed under the influence of ocean currents. Typical characteristics of coupling processes between pipe vibration and soil scour in the currents have been summarized for Case 1: pipe is laid above seabed and Case 11: pipe is partially embedded in seabed on the basis of the experimental observations. Pipe vibration and the corresponding local scour are usually two coupled physical processes leading to an equilibrium state. The influence of initial gap-to-diameter ratio (e(0)/D) on the interaction between pipe vibration and local scour has been studied. Experimental results show that the critical values of V-r for the initiation of VIVs of the pipe near an erodible sand bed get bigger with decreasing initial gap-to-diameter ratio within the examined range of e(0)/D (-0.25 < e(0)/D < 0.75). The comparison of the pipe vibrations near an erodible soil with those near a rigid boundary and under wall-free conditions indicates that the vibration amplitudes of the pipe near an erodible sand bed are close to the curve fit under wall-free conditions; nevertheless, for the same stability parameter, the maximum amplitudes for the VIV coupled with local scour increase with the increase of initial gap-to-diameter ratio. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microstructure and high-temperature wear and oxidation resistance of laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings on gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy

There are very strong interests in improving the high-temperature wear resistance of the y-TiAl intermetallic alloy, especially when applied as tribological moving components. In this paper, microstructure, high-temperature dry sliding wear at 600 degrees C and isothermal oxidation at 1000 degrees C on ambient air of laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings with different constitution of Ni-Cr-W-C precursor mixed powders on TiAl alloy substrates have been investigated. The results show that microstructure of the laser fabricated composite coatings possess non-equilibrium microstructure consisting of the matrix of nickel-base solid solution gamma-NiCrAl and reinforcements of TiC, W2C and M23C6 carbides. Higher wear resistance than the original TiAl alloy is achieved in the composite coatings under high-temperature wear test conditions. However, the oxidation resistance of the laser clad gamma/W2C/TiC composite coatings is deceased. The corresponding mechanisms resulting in the above behaviors of the laser clad composite coatings are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theoretical analysis for mechanical erosion of carbon-base materials in ablation

This article derives and provides a theoretical analysis for the mechanical erosion of carbon-base materials in ablation. The theory of mechanical erosion based on a nondimensional critical roughness parameter is proposed, The important parameters in this analytical method are independent of the test, The analysis accounts for the heating, pressure, and shear forces acting on material particles exposed to the boundary-layer flow. For the validity of a theoretical analytical method a computational example is given. The theoretical results agree fairly with the experimental data.

Stratification by solid particle suspensions

Turbulence was generated by an oscillating grid above a bed of sediment of spherical glass beads. As expected, part of the sediment was lifted up by the grid action and a suspension layer of depth D formed above the grid. This depth was found remaining independent of grid action but varying with the sediment layer depth when the grid action was kept constant. Volume concentration measurements show the existence of only weak concentration gradients over the layer depth with a rapid fall off in concentration at the outer edge. The theoretical analysis based on a concentration flux model is in good qualitative agreement with observations.

Structures on sliding base subject to horizontal and vertical motions

In this paper particular investigation is directed towards the combined effects of horizontal and vertical motions of real earthquakes to structures resting on sliding base. A simplified method is presented to treat the nonlinear effects of time dependent frictional force of the sliding base as a function of the vertical reaction produced by the foundation. As an example, the El Centro 1940 earthquake record is used on a structural model to show the structural responses due to a sliding base with different frictional and stiffness characteristics. The study shows that vertical ground motion does affect both the superstructure response and the base sliding displacement. Nevertheless, the sliding base isolator is shown to be effective for the reduction of seismic response of a superstructure.

Release of Sulfur and Chlorine during Cofiring RDF and Coal in an Internally Circulating Fluidized Bed

An internally circulating fluidized bed (ICFB) was applied to investigate the behavior of chlorine and sulfur during cofiring RDF and coal. The pollutant emissions in the flue gas were measured by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry (Gasmet DX-3000). In the tests, the concentrations of the species CO, CO2, HCl, and SO2 were measured online. Results indicated when cofiring RDF and char, due to the higher content of chlorine in RDF, the formation of HCl significantly increases. The concentration of SO2 is relatively low because alkaline metal in the fuel ash can absorb SO2. The concentration of CO emission during firing pure RDF is relatively higher and fluctuates sharply. With the CaO addition, the sulfur absorption by calcium quickly increases, and the desulfuration ratio is bigger than the dechlorination ratio. The chemical equilibrium method is applied to predict the behavior of chlorine. Results show that gaseous HCl emission increases with increasing RDF fraction, and gaseous KCl and NaCl formation might occur.

Modeling of Ammonothermal Growth of Gallium Nitride Single Crystals

Ammonothermal growth of GaN crystals with a retrograde solubility has been modeled and simulated here using fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer models. The nutrient is considered as a porous media bed and the flow in the porous charge is simulated using the Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer model. The resulting governing equations are solved using the finite volume method. For the case of retrograde solubility, the charge is put above the baffle. The temperature difference between the dissolving zone and growth zone is found smaller than that applied on the sidewall of autoclave. The baffle opening has a strong effect on the nutrient transport and supersaturation of GaN species in the growth zone.

Laser Guiding in the Randomicity of Discrete Surface Strengthening by Arc Discharge

Several discharge areas by laser-guided discharge (LGD) were compared with those by common arc discharge. The randomicity of discharge areas by common arc discharge was controlled by laser guiding on two scales: large scale (the spacing of the discharge areas) and small scale (the inside of the discharge area). The position of the discharge area overlapped completely with a laser focus; therefore, the distribution and surface shape of the discharge areas were controlled. The stochastic movement of anode spot in the discharge area was controlled by laser guiding. As such, the repetitive melting and solidifying of microstructures in the discharge area was constrained. The tempered microstruc- tures in the discharge area were voided, the utilization efficiency of input energy was improved, and the strengthened depth of the discharge areas was increased. The regularity of cross-sectional shape of the discharge area was also improved. The hardness of microstructures in both discharge areas is greater than that of the base material. The highest level of hardness of microstructures in both discharge areas measures above 1000 HV. In summary, the hardness ofmicrostructures in the discharge area by LGD is larger and more discrete than that by common arc discharge.