CFD modelling of wall-particle interactions under turbulent flow conditions

Abstract

The effects of particle roughness and the impact it has on the development of turbulence in non-Newtonian slurry flow remains difficult to predict. The common analytical tools used take only the viscous characteristics of the slurry into account. Homogenous solid-liquid suspensions are often described using different continuum models. Evidence suggests that these models may be inadequate due to the presence of solid particles sharply influencing velocity gradients. Experimental work was conducted using homogenous non-Newtonian slurries. Comparisons were made of wall-particle interactions experienced for slurries with different representative particle sizes. This was subsequently modeled using the FLUENT Computational Fluid Dynamics software to validate these findings. This paper documents these findings and presents a comparison between the experimental and the computational model.