Back to results

Virginia Tech

Turbulence Modulation of Polydisperse Particles in a Square Particle-Laden Jet: Numerical Investigation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the turbulence modulation of polydisperse particles in a square particle-laden jet. Turbulence modulation describes the effects of fluctuating velocity and intensity when the particles and continuous fluid interact in a turbulent flow field. The rate at which turbulence modulation is altered is dependent upon parameters such as particle size, mass loading, Stokes number, coupling, volume fraction and mechanisms of turbulence modulation. This study modifies the analytical model developed by Yarin and Hetsroni (1993) to account for the transitional drag regime for coarse polydisperse particles. The particles under study are dilute, inert and spherical, with relatively high Stokes numbers, and classified as having two-way coupling with the fluid. The new analytical model is compared to numerical results using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT (ANSYS, Inc.). The turbulence model employed is the standard k-ε model. This study will analyze the effects of varying mass content and particle ratios to investigate how turbulence modulation is influenced. The new model and the CFD results show good agreement in the cases where the mass contents of each particle size are equal. This study will also look into the effects of polydispersion, and the concentration distribution, for indoor air applications. It was found that, in certain cases, the monodisperse assumption slightly over-predicts the concentration distribution in the enclosed region.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2012

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Gray, Sandria Lutrica
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Ball, Kenneth S.
  • Kasarda, Mary E.
Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Battaglia, Francine

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-06052012-162624
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33445

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Gray, Sandria Lutrica. Turbulence Modulation of Polydisperse Particles in a Square Particle-Laden Jet: Numerical Investigation. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33445