A large eddy simulation (LES) study of inertial deposition of particles onto in-line tube-banks

TL;DR

This study uses large eddy simulation to analyze how heavy particles deposit onto in-line tube-banks in turbulent flow, revealing size-dependent deposition patterns and flow structures.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled LES and Lagrangian particle tracking framework to investigate particle deposition and impact on tube-banks in turbulent cross flow.

Findings

Smaller particles tend to deposit more on the back-side of cylinders.

Flow structures and pressure characteristics are characterized across the tube bank.

Deposition efficiency varies with particle size and position.

Abstract

We study deposition and impact of heavy particles onto an in-line tube-banks within a turbulent cross flow through Lagrangian particle tracking coupled with an LES modelling framework. The flow Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter D and flow velocity between the gap of two vertically adjacent cylinders is 33960. We examine the flow structures across the tube bank and report surface pressure characteristics on cylinders. Taking into account particle-wall impact and bounce, we study dispersion and deposition of three sets of particles (St = 0.35, 0.086, 0.0075) based on 107 particles tracked through the turbulent flow resolved by LES. The deposition efficiency for the three sets of particles are reported across the tube-banks. Positions of particle deposited onto tube-banks shows that significantly more of smaller particles deposit onto the back-side of the back-banks. This suggests that the smaller particles are easier to be entrained into the wake and impact onto the back-side of cylinders.