Impact of reattachment surface characteristics on the flow field generated by slot jet reattachment nozzle - A numerical study

Slot jet reattachment (SJR) nozzle is a novel nozzle design that overperforms the regular impingement nozzles or perforated plates for heat transfer and drying, heating or cooling applications of moist materials. The SJR nozzle is a viable design to dry fragile products such as food and paper. Mesh-type conveyor belts are commonly used in the food industry. There is a need for understanding how the SJR nozzle performs with mesh-type conveyor belts because prior studies have solely considered solid surfaces. Therefore, an extensive numerical study is performed to solve the flow field of the SJR nozzle with an exit angle of +45 degrees on top of a mesh-type belt with and without products using COMSOL Multiphysics (R) without including heat transfer. Turbulent fluid flow is theoretically modeled using the k-e turbulence model for the SJR nozzle. The numerical predictions are validated with experimental data for stationary surface. Six different cases are studied to capture the effects of the presence of products on the belt and the conveyor belt speed. Additionally, the presence of an SJR nozzle on the bottom of the belt with and without a lateral offset is studied. The mass flow rate escaping underneath the belt is compared to the total mass flow rate at the nozzle exit, shear stresses are compared at three different surface velocities, and maximum force magnitudes as product travels are reported. The results show that the flow can reattach to the product surface regardless of surface motion, but reattachment characteristics depend on product orientation with respect to the SJR nozzle. Although significant mass flow escapes through the belt, the presence of products mitigates this loss. In addition, doubling the belt speed increases the shear stresses applied by the surface and decreases the average mass flow loss. Also, an additional SJR nozzle on the bottom of the belt almost cancels this mass flow loss even when there is a lateral offset between the nozzles.