Solid particle erosion in gradual contraction geometry for a gas-solid system

Numerical approaches have been used extensively for predicting solid particle erosion in various industrial applications. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based erosion calculation procedure is a powerful tool that can be used to track solid particles and determine their impact speed, angle and frequency. Then, various wear models are used to calculate erosion caused by solid particles. This approach offers some flexibility for engineering estimation of erosion in many complex geometries for practical applications. However, there are some geometries and operating conditions including gas-solid flows, which demand a more detailed selection and evaluation of various parameters that are available in this approach. In this investigation, CFD has been utilized to calculate erosion rates in a gradual contraction geometry with gas-solid flow. Various flow models and particle tracking approaches were employed to evaluate the accuracy of predicted erosion magnitude and pattern. This revealed the importance of utilizing a suitable particle-wall interaction model for such cases in order to avoid non-physical results as the accuracy of various models are examined by comparison to available experimental data. Furthermore, taper angle and contraction ratio effects on small and large particles' trajectories and consequently, erosion pattern were also examined. This work aims to classify challenges of erosion calculation for the gradual contraction geometry with gas-solid flow and add complementary steps to the available guideline developed in the literature for predicting solid particle erosion in gas-solid flows.