The Effect of Phase Interaction Forces and Particle Rotation on Solid Particle Erosion in Liquid-Solid and Liquid-Gas-Solid Flows

Abstract Forces acting on both gas and particle phases and the interaction between them and the liquid phase in liquid-gas-solid flow are examined via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the results are compared with experimental data. A simplified methodology to simulate multiphase flow is proposed using the Eulerian-Eulerian-Lagrangian approach. The proposed modeling approach for the liquid-gas interaction forces and particle rotation is compared with experimental erosion data for two elbows in series. For the experiments, a 50.8 mm inner diameter pipe vertical facility with water, air, and sand particles is used to collect wall thickness loss data in two elbows in series: one elbow vertical to horizontal and another horizontal to vertical downward. The particle rotation forces in these highly rotational flows with liquid-solid flows are considered in this investigation. In addition, interphase forces between liquid and gas for dispersed-bubble flow, such as drag, surface tension, turbulent dispersion, turbulence interaction, virtual mass, and wall lubrication, were investigated. Lastly, the simulated effect of the forces on fluid velocity, particle velocity, and erosion rates are presented and discussed. The results show that rotation of particles and Magnus lift force do not significantly impact particle trajectory for liquid-solid flows. However, the Magnus lift force exerts an increase in erosion in both elbows. Overall, for liquid-gas-solid flow, interphase forces separately do not significantly impact erosion (presenting on average 24% higher erosion than experimental data). The greater change is observed when drag, virtual mass, wall lubrication, and surface tension are applied together, increasing erosion considerably (83% higher than experimental data).