Collision of single particle in rotating flow field

The studies on motion and collision of particle in rotating flow field are of great importance for chemical engineering. As the lack of work concerning the single particle, the motion trajectory and collision characteristics of single particle have not been understood. In this article, a coupled discrete element method (DEM) and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method model of a single particle in rotating flow field has been developed and verified by experimental data to investigate the collision characteristics of the particle. The effects of rotation speed and particle diameter on particle motion have been investigated by experiment. In The numerical simulation, the particle motion process has been simulated. The effects of particle density and liquid viscosity on collision and particle collision force have been investigated. Furthermore, the effects of wall and rotating fluid on particle rotation have been discussed and analyzed. The results indicate that the rotation speed of flow field and single particle diameter play significant roles in the particle motion behaviors. In the process of particle motion, the particle has collided with the wall at the bottom of the Y-axis of the trajectory. The selection of an appropriate particle material density and Liquid medium is beneficial for the decreasing of the number of collisions in a fully filled rotating flow field. The plastic deformation of wall will not be caused by collision force. In addition, the particle rotation is significant affected by the particle-wall contact, while it is hardly affected by rotating fluid. They thereby can provide a technical basis for prediction and control of particle motion and maintenance of equipment in centrifugal separation and helical transportation. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers.