Hydrodynamic force and torque models for cylindrical particles in a wide range of aspect ratios

Abstract

During the pneumatic conveyance of biomass in a coal-fired power station boiler, biomass particles have cylindrical shapes with different aspect ratios. They move through the fluid at any angle and rotate strongly. However, highly accurate and general models of the drag, lift, and torque coefficients (CD, CL, and CT) for biomass particles in a wide range of aspect ratios, especially the CT model and the high aspect ratios, are currently lacking. This paper presents detailed direct numerical simulations of the flow around cylindrical cylinders with varying aspect ratios (6 ≤ AR ≤ 22), Reynolds numbers (100 ≤ Re ≤ 2000), and angles of incidence (0° ≤ θ ≤ 90°). The simulation was conducted using the OpenFOAM solver with the body-fitted mesh method. The flow characteristics and force coefficients of cylindrical particles with different AR were systematically analyzed. New functional correlations between CD, CL, and CT and AR, Re, and θ values were established. The mean squared errors for CD, CL, and CT were 8.8 × 10–2, 2.4 × 10–2, and 4.7 × 10–2, with average relative errors of 5.8%, 3.5%, and 8.17%, respectively. A comparison of the results with other experimental and simulation data in previous literatures showed that the new CD and CL models have considerable higher predictive ability. The generality of the new CD model expanding to low ARs of 1.5 and 3 is verified finally. The new force and torque models are expected to improve the accuracy of Eulerian–Lagrangian simulations of various cylindrical particle-laden flows in the utility of biomass energy.