Characterization of particulated flow induced erosion in elbow geometry

Particulated multiphase flow is a complex phenomenon analyzed using computational and experimental methods for elbow geometry. The flow behavior in the elbow region is important as the velocity of particles impacting the wall can cause severe damage to the inner surface of the elbow. The particle impact behavior is influenced by fluid velocity, solid particle size, concentration due to spatial distribution of the particles. Computational and mechanistic erosion models are currently used to predict the potential failure modes and erosional damage to the wall. CFD prediction of erosion and flow behaviors in elbow geometry at three different velocities are presented. Velocities in the elbow region have been measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) in particle laden flows. PIV technique measures the instantaneous velocity field within an illuminated plane of fluid by scattering light from particles in the fluid. The particle and flow velocities near the wall region can provide better understanding of the fluid and wall interactions. The predicted velocity profiles are compared with PIV results showing reasonably good agreement. Further investigation will be performed to provide more quantitative comparison of the velocities.