An experimental and numerical study of turbulent swirling flow in gas cyclones

✍ Scribed by A.J. Hoekstra; J.J. Derksen; H.E.A. Van Den Akker

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 339 KB
• Volume: 54
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/s0009-2509(98)00373-x

✦ Synopsis

Experimental results on the turbulent, strongly swirling #ow "eld in a reverse #ow gas cyclone separator are presented, and used to evaluate the performance of three turbulence closure models. Mean and #uctuating velocity components were measured for gas cyclones with di!erent geometric swirl numbers by means of laser-Doppler velocimetry. The experimental data show the strong e!ect of the geometric swirl number on mean #ow characteristics, in particular with respect to vortex core size and the magnitude of the maximum tangential velocity. It is shown that the forced vortex region of the #ow is dominated by the so-called precessing vortex core. Numerical calculation of the cyclonic #ow shows that turbulence models based on the eddy-viscosity approach fail to predict the combined vortex observed experimentally. Predictions with the Reynolds stress transport model are in reasonable agreement with measured pro"les for all three swirl numbers, though the turbulent normal stresses are generally overpredicted.