Particle-laden Swirling Flows

We performed LES of particle-laden, swirling flow in a coaxial-jet combustor. A mixture of air and lightly loaded, spherical glass beads with a prescribed size-distribution enters the primary jet, while a swirling stream of air flows through the annulus. Particles are treated as point sources. The particle-dispersion characteristics are examined in detail; in particular the dependence of particle trajectories and residence times upon particle sizes is emphasized. The predictions of mean and RMS velocity components for the gaseous and dispersed phases are in good agreement with the experimental data of Sommerfeld and Qiu (1991). This was the first LES prediction of swirling, particle-laden flows in coaxial geometries using an unstructured grid solver (CDP).

Apte, S.V., Mahesh, K., Moin, P., & Oefelein, J.C., “Large-eddy simulation of swirling particle-laden flow in a coaxial combustor,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 29, pp. 1311-1331, 2003.