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CFD study on the effect of gas temperature on the separation efficiency of square cyclones

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Abstract

Square cyclone was designed for Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler technology and was found to be one of the most effective devices for cleaning high-temperature gases. However, the performance of a square cyclone under extreme operating conditions was not thoroughly studied before. The present study fills this knowledge gap by performing a comprehensive numerical simulation that uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique to assess the gas temperature impact on square cyclone performance. The Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations combined with the Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSTM) were solved to simulate the gas flow. The Lagrangian method was used for particle trajectory analysis. The CFD simulations were implemented over various temperature ranges (from 293 to 700 K). Computational findings showed that particle separation efficiency decreased dramatically with increasing inlet gas temperature because of weaker swirling flow through the cyclone. As the inlet temperature increased, the centrifugal force decreased noticeably, resulting in a larger 50% cut size. The 50% cut size increased by about 10% as the inlet temperature rose from 293 to 700 K at 12 m/s inlet velocity.

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Abbreviations

C D :

Drag coefficient

\(\nu\) :

Gas kinematic viscosity (m2/s)

K :

Fluctuating kinetic energy (m2/s2)

\({u}_{i}\) :

Gas velocity in i-direction (m/s)

g i :

Gravitational acceleration in i-direction (m/s2)

\({P}_{f}\) :

Fluctuating energy production (m2/s3)

\(\mu\) :

Gas dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)

ρ :

Gas density (kg/m3)

\({\rho }_{p}\) :

Particle density (kg/m3)

R ij :

Reynolds stress tensor

\({u}_{pi}\) :

Particle velocity in i direction (m/s)

t :

Time (s)

\(\varepsilon\) :

Turbulence dissipation rate (m2/s3)

v :

Velocity (m/s)

\({d}_{p}\) :

Particle diameter (μm)

\({Re}_{p}\) :

Relative Reynolds number

P :

Pressure (Pa

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran

    Ebrahim Hosseini

  2. School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

    Hossein Fatahian & Esmaeel Fatahian

  3. Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, 13699-5725, USA

    Goodarz Ahmadi

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran

    Majid Eshagh Nimvari

Authors
  1. Ebrahim Hosseini
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  2. Hossein Fatahian
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  3. Goodarz Ahmadi
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  4. Majid Eshagh Nimvari
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  5. Esmaeel Fatahian
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Correspondence to Ebrahim Hosseini.

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Technical Editor: Monica Carvalho.

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Hosseini, E., Fatahian, H., Ahmadi, G. et al. CFD study on the effect of gas temperature on the separation efficiency of square cyclones. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 43, 439 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03165-4

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