Clogging of non-cohesive suspensions through constrictions using an efficient unresolved CFD-DEM solver

TL;DR

This paper investigates how liquid flow influences the clogging of non-cohesive suspensions passing through constrictions, using an efficient CFD-DEM solver to compare numerical results with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces an advanced CFD-DEM solver combined with an approximate liquid drag model to study suspension clogging, addressing gaps in understanding liquid flow effects.

Findings

Liquid flow can both improve and worsen particle transport through constrictions.

Numerical results align with experimental data, validating the model.

The study provides insights into the complex role of liquid flow in suspension clogging.

Abstract

When objects are forced to flow through constrictions their transport can be frustrated temporarily or permanently due to the formation of arches in the region of the bottleneck. While such systems have been intensively studied in the case of solid particles in a gas phase being forced by gravitational forces, the case of solid particles suspended in a liquid phase, forced by the liquid itself, has received much less attention. In this case, the influence of the liquid flow on the transport efficiency is not well understood yet, leading to several apparently trivial, but yet unanswered questions, e.g., would an increase of the liquid flow improve the transport of particles or worsen it? Although some experimental data is already available, it lacks enough detail to give a complete answer to such a question. Numerical models would be needed to scrutinize the system deeper. In this paper, we study this system making use of an advanced discrete particle solver (MercuryDPM) and an approximated numerical model for the liquid drag and compare the results with experimental data.