Powder Technology 114 2001.

168185
www.elsevier.comrlocaterpowtec

Formation and dispersion of ropes in pneumatic conveying

Ali Yilmaz ) , Edward K. Levy
Energy Research Center, Lehigh Uniersity, 117 ATLSS Drie, Bethlehem, PA 18015-1729, USA
Received 10 March 2000; received in revised form 18 May 2000; accepted 23 May 2000

Abstract
In this study, the solid flow nonuniformities which develop in lean phase upward flow in a vertical pneumatic conveying line
following a horizontal-to-vertical elbow were investigated. Laboratory experiments were conducted in 154 and 203 mm I.D. test sections
using pulverized-coal particles 90% less than 75 mm. for two different 908 circular elbows having pipe bend radius to pipe diameter
ratios of 1.5 and 3.0. The experiments covered a range of conveying air velocities and solids mass loadings. Experimental measurements
of time-average local particle velocities, concentrations, and mass fluxes were obtained using a fiber-optic probe which was traversed
over the cross-section of the pipe. The measurements indicate a continuous rope-like structure forms within the elbow. The rope maintains
its continuous structure until it disintegrates into large discontinuous clusters at downstream locations. Comparisons of the results of CFD
simulations of turbulent gas-particle flow and time-average experimental data were used to explain rope formation and dispersion. The
CFD simulations, based on the Lagrangian particle-source-in-cell method, predict a denser particle rope as the nondimensional radius of
curvature R r D . is increased, agreeing with trends in experimental data. The individual effects of secondary flows and turbulence on
axial dispersion of the rope were studied computationally and the results show both mechanisms are important. q 2001 Elsevier Science
S.A. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Pneumatic conveying; Elbows; Rope flow; Clusters; Fiber optic probe; CFD Modeling of turbulent gas-particle flows

1. Introduction
Pneumatic conveying of solids has wide ranges of
application in the chemical, food processing, pharmaceutical, cement and power industries. In coal-fired boilers,
pulverized coal is pneumatically conveyed in large diameter pipes 400 to 800 mm I.D.. with conveying velocities
of 20 to 30 mrs and with solids loading ratios of 0.33 to 1.
As the mixture of air and pulverized coal make a turn
within an elbow, pulverized-coal particles form a rope-like
structure because of inertial effects. A particle rope, which
carries most of the conveyed material in a small portion of
the pipe cross-section, acts as a third phase in the pneumatic conveying line, with lower particle velocities and
relatively high particle concentration. Roping causes a
variety of operational difficulties in coal-fired boilers and
affects the ability to control NO x emissions and limit
efficiency loss due to unburned carbon in the ash.

Corresponding author. Tel.: q1-610-758-4090.

E-mail address: ay04@lehigh.edu A. Yilmaz..

Research on roping, which goes back to late 1950s and

1960s, includes both field and laboratory measurements.
Early experiments relied on flow visualization and isokinetic sampling. Patterson w40x recorded details of saltation
profiles in large 203304 mm diameter. pulverized-coal
conveying lines. The minimum conveying air velocity was
found to depend on pipe bends in the conveying pipework.
Weintraub w57x, in a discussion of Pattersons paper w40x,
suggested the use of air jets to break up rope flow and
avoid saltation in long horizontal pipes. Whitney w58x
discussed a new burner design which disperses rope flow
and creates better pulverized-coal distribution at the burner
nozzle exit. Zipse w65x investigated the possibility of using
orifice plates and single phase flow conditioners to disperse the rope flow and obtain homogenous gassolids
flow. Cook and Hurworth w8x reported the principal cause
of settlement was rope flow. Particle Image Velocity PIV.
measurements by McCluskey et al. w35x also support the
saltation mechanism described by Cook and Hurworth w8x.
More recently, Huber and Sommerfeld w20x characterized
the degree of segregation in different pipe elements, using
spherical glass beads with a mean diameter of 45 mm. The

0032-5910r01r$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 3 2 - 5 9 1 0 0 0 . 0 0 3 1 9 - 3

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

information on local particle velocity and concentration by

Phase Doppler Anemometry PDA. showed a wall roughness element height comparable to the particle size favors
the dispersion of the rope. Huber and Sommerfeld w20x also
showed the orientation of the elbow plays a strong role in
rope dispersion behavior.
Numerical studies of turbulent gas-particle flows
through pipe bends have been published by Tsuji and
Morikawa w53x, Nobuhisa et al. w37x, Li and Shen w29x, Tu
and Fletcher w55x, Huber and Sommerfeld w21x. Tu and
Fletcher w55x, using a two-fluid model developed by Chen
and Wood w6x, simulated turbulent gas-particle flow through
an elbow with a square cross-section 908 bend, predicting a
particle rope near the outer curve of the bend, similar to
that observed by Kliafas and Holt w26x. The results indicated that particlewall interactions are a controlling factor
for the outer-wall region of the flow.
Computational modeling efforts on gas-particle flows
can be divided into two categories: Lagrangian and multifluid models w1,3,4,9,13,14,25,3032,41,46,47,55x. Both
modeling approaches make use of turbulence closure
schemes to obtain gas phase solutions. However, the Lagrangian approach treats the particles as discrete entities
interacting with turbulent eddies in a Lagrangian coordinate frame while the Eulerian approach treats the particulate phase w10,14x as a continuum having conservation
equations similar to those of the continuous gas phase. The
details and range of applicability of the numerical modeling approaches have been summarized in the literature
quite extensively w1012x. Comparative studies of the two
modeling approaches performed in fully accelerated gas
solids flow in vertical tubes resulted in close agreement on
the predictions of average gas and particle velocity profiles
w1,13x; however, the Lagrangian particle tracking approach
is better suited for modeling dilute phase pneumatic conveying w1012x. Due to the lack of understanding of the
mutual couplings between the gas and particulate phase,
almost all modeling efforts have failed to address the
carrier fluid turbulence modulation due to particles w1x.
Irregular particlewall collisions, particleparticle interactions, the effect of Saffman lift forces on particles close to
the wall, and turbulent dispersion of fine particles were
found to be important features of dilute phase pneumatic
conveying w25,30,46,47x.
The present study includes results on the solid flow
nonuniformities which develop in lean phase upward flow
in a vertical pneumatic conveying line following a horizontal to vertical elbow. Laboratory experiments were conducted in 154 and 203 mm I.D. test sections using pulverized-coal particles 90% less than 75 mm. for two different
908 circular elbows having pipe bend radius to pipe diameter ratios of 1.5 and 3.0. The test conditions covered solids
loading ratios and conveying air velocities within the
ranges of the operating conditions in a typical fuel pipeline
in a pulverized-coal boiler. Experimental measurements of
time-average local particle velocities, concentrations, and

169

mass fluxes were obtained using a fiber-optic probe which

was traversed over the cross-section of the pipe w62x.
In addition to the laboratory experiments, numerical
simulations were performed using a commercial CFD
package, CFX-Flow3D version 4.1c, developed by AEA
Industrial Technology w5x. These used Lagrangian particle
tracking along with a two-equation turbulence model RNG
k y e . to model turbulent gas-particle flows through horizontal-to-vertical 908 circular elbows. The objective of the
numerical simulations was to study rope formation and
dispersion phenomena within circular elbows and to explain the trends observed in the time-averaged experimental data.

2. Experimental
2.1. Pneumatic coneying test facility
The pneumatic conveying test facility consists of two
6.1-m-long horizontal pipes and a 3.35-m-long vertical
pipe as well as two 908 elbows see Fig. 1.. The pipes are
made of schedule 40 carbon steel pipe 0.154 m I.D... A
cyclone is used to separate the coal particles from the air.
The collected coal particles are fed to the hopper by a
rotary airlock. A screw feeder feeds the recycled material
into the pneumatic conveying line. This completes one
cycle in the continuous operation of coal flow in the
system. The air flow leaving the cyclone discharges to the
atmosphere after passing through an Aget Model FT-40
bag filter assembly, where fine particles down to 0.3 mm
are captured. The length of the first horizontal run was
selected by performing an acceleration length calculation
according to Yangs unified theory w60x. As a result, a fully
accelerated gassolid flow prevailed at the inlet to the
horizontal to vertical elbow for all test conditions. The
vertical sections 154 and 203 mm I.D.. were made of
modular parts to make it possible to fit different elbows
into the system. During the experiments for the larger pipe

Fig. 1. Sketch of the pneumatic conveying flow facility.

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

170
Table 1
Particle size distribution of pulverized coal
Diameter mm.

Weight %.

)125
106125
90106
7590
6375
4563
- 45

1.5
11.0
17.9
16.7
13.1
20.1
19.7

size, the vertical test section and part of the horizontal

sections were changed to 203 mm I.D. pipes using reducers in the horizontal sections. The pipe size change was
made 2 m away from the vertical section to avoid flow
disturbances. The modular construction also makes it possible to perform flow visualization studies with specially
designed pipes having Plexiglas windows. The test facility
was properly grounded to reduce the effects of electrostatic
charging.
The conveying air mass flow rate is measured by an
orifice meter designed according to ASME specifications.
An Acrison Model 105Z-N volumetric feeder with a variable speed control was used to meter the coal flow rate.
Coal flow rates of 0.126 to 1.072 kgrs are achievable with
the current feeder configuration, providing a solids loading
ratio m . of between 0.2 and 1. Forty instrumentation
ports were placed along the pipes at appropriate angular
locations on the pipe cross-section.
Pulverized-coal particles with a weight mean diameter
of 75 mm see Table 1. and true particle density of 1680
kgrm3 were used as the conveying material. Due to
continuous circulation of pulverized coal within the loop, it
was necessary to assess the attrition rate of pulverized
coal. In a series of experiments, the loop was run over 100
h without any addition of new material. Pulverized-coal
samples were extracted from the hopper after every 15 h of
operation, which corresponded to discharge and circulation
of the inventory of the material in the hopper approxi-

mately 200 times. Sieve analyses performed on the samples showed no significant attrition for the time period
covered. The weight mean diameters of the pulverized-coal
samples fluctuated in the range of 70 to 76 mm, most
likely due to random variations in sampling and sieving.
2.2. Fiber optic probe
A reflective fiber-optic measurement system was used
to simultaneously measure the particle velocity and mass
concentration. Fig. 2 shows the instrument, which consists
of two similar optical probes, and the detail of a singleprobe configuration used in the present study. Two glass
fibers were used in each probe: one of the fibers is used to
send light from a light emitting diode LED. into the
gas-particle flow region, while the other fiber transfers the
reflected light onto the detector area of a silicon photodiode. Local particle velocities are measured using the
cross-correlation technique; that is, the flight time of particles from the upstream probe to the downstream probe was
estimated using the cross-correlation function:
Ct . s

H u t. u tqt .dt
T 0
1

1.

where the terms u1 t . and u 2 t . are particle flow signal

waveforms obtained from the two fiber-optic probes, which
are aligned in the main flow direction. The flight time of
particles tmax . is the time lag t . where the cross-correlation function becomes maximum. Therefore, local particle
velocity is readily computed from
Up s

tmax

2.

where the term L is the optical distance between the two

fiber-optic probes.
The intensity of the particle flow signal generated by
one of the photodetectors Ip . is used as a measure of the
particle mass concentration Cp .. As described in Ref. w61x,

Fig. 2. Fiber-optic measurement system and detail of fiber-optic probe design.

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

a calibration procedure was developed to convert the particle flow signal intensities Ip . into a particle mass concentration Cp . as follows:
Cp s KIpn

3.

where K and n are calibration constants.

Local particle mass flux is the product of local particle
velocity and local particle mass concentration:
m
Yp s Up Cp

4.

An analysis of the cross correlation algorithm and the

error associated with sampling time gave a predicted uncertainty in the local particle velocity measurements of less
than 2.5% w62x. In addition, the local mass flux measurements made by the optical probe were compared to the
measurements by the isokinetic sampling probe. The comparison showed an agreement within 10% between the two
measurement techniques.
To avoid having the probe disturb the flow, the probe
diameter must be sufficiently small. In the present experiments, each probe consisted of two 600 mm diameter
fibers, placed in a 6-mm internal diameter tube. The pipe
blockage, the ratio of the area of the probe surface perpendicular to the flow direction and pipe cross-section area,
for the worst case scenario the probe tip located in the
center of the pipe. was 2.6%. The Stokes number 1 based
on the particle response time 0.12 s for 45 mm particle.
and a particle transit time through the measurement region
12 mm. was anywhere from 50 to 300 depending on the
particle velocity measured 5 mrs to 30 mrs.. Stokes
numbers of this magnitude ensure that the particle response to the drag due to local air velocity changes is
negligible. In another study carried out by the authors, the
Stokes number was made even larger by decreasing the
measuring region to 3 mm. This was accomplished by
designing a smaller diameter fiber-optic probe 1.83 mm
O.D. tube. and by changing the probe tip design to a
parallel fiber arrangement. The pipe blockage for this case
was 0.75% compared to 2.6% with the 6-mm probe design.
The Stokes number increased to between 200 and 1200.
Local particle velocity measurements performed by the
two instruments the 6-mm probe used in this study and
the 1.83-mm probe. agreed to within 2%, which is also the
magnitude of the measurement uncertainty associated with
the cross-correlation technique employed in this study.

cal pipe following two 908 circular, horizontal-to-vertical

elbows RrD s 1.5 and 3.0.. The experiments covered the
range of conveying air velocities from 15 to 30 mrs and
solids loading ratios between 0.33 and 1. Some of the
experiments were performed in a larger pipe diameter
D s 0.2027 m. using an RrD s 1.5 elbow.
Measurements were also performed near the elbow inlet
to characterize the particle concentration and velocity distribution over the pipe cross-section. Since the fiber-optic
probe measures particle velocity and concentration at a
point, it must be traversed over the pipe cross-section to
obtain information on flow nonuniformities. This was done
using measurement ports placed at various locations along
the pipe and around its circumference. Fiber optic probe
measurements were performed at six different axial distances from the elbow exit plane zrD s 1, 3, 5, 9, 13,
and 17. as shown in Fig. 3.
The effect of the solids loading ratio m . on the particle
velocity and concentration profiles at the elbow inlet plane
was studied at a constant conveying air velocity of 20
mrs. Fig. 4a shows the inlet particle velocity profiles did
not change as the solids loading ratio m . increased from
0.33 to 1.0. However, the particle concentration close to
the bottom wall increased with solids loading see Fig. 4b..
Flow visualization of the flow at this location showed a
rope-like structure for m s 0.5 and 1. No rope-like structure was observed for m s 0.33. The formation of a rope in
a horizontal pipe, as the solids loading increased, was also
reported by Cook and Hurworth w8x, Flemmer et al. w16x
and Johnson and Means w24x.
Preliminary measurements at downstream of the elbow
with the fiber-optic probe showed a relatively symmetric
particle concentration distribution within the pipe crosssection. Fig. 5 shows a contour plot of particle concentration in the pipe cross-section at zrD s 3 with the RrD s
1.5 elbow. This contour plot is based on the fiber-optic
probe measurements performed at 32 equal-area points in

3. Experimental results
The majority of the experiments were performed to
understand rope flow dispersion characteristics in the verti-

1
Note: The Stokes number is defned as: St s tA rt t ., where the term
tA rp d p2 .r18m .. is the particle aerodynamic response time and t t is the
particle transit time through the measuring volume.

171

Fig. 3. Sketch of coordinate system used for a 908 circular elbow.

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A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

Fig. 4. Effect of solids loading ratio m .: a. particle velocity profiles, b. particle concentration profiles one pipe diameter upstream of elbow inlet plane.

the pipe cross-section. It is apparent from this contour plot

that particles are conveyed within a rope in a small portion
of the pipe cross-section close to the outer wall xrD s 0..
Since the largest variations in particle concentration occurred in the x direction, most of the experiments were
performed in this direction along the pipe diameter. Although the rope thickness was fairly constant in the x
direction, the rope width in the y direction see Fig. 3. did
change with flow conditions. Flow visualization showed
the rope cross-sectional area increased with an increase in
RrD and m , and with a decrease in Uo see Fig. 6..
Fig. 7a illustrates the radial variations of particle velocity and concentration at different axial locations in the
vertical pipe Uo s 29 mrs and ArF s 1.0.. These profiles, obtained at axial positions zrD ranging from 1 to
17, show the variations of concentration and velocity along
a diameter in the x direction. As they move through the
elbow, the particles are forced to the outer wall xrD s 0.
due to the centrifugal effect of the elbow. The relatively
high particle mass concentrations close to the wall at the
first elevation zrD s 1. show the centrifugal effect. Ropes

Fig. 5. Particle mass concentration for m s1, c p kgrm3 ., following

R r Ds1.5 elbow at z r Ds 3.

formed within the long radius elbow RrD s 3.0. are

denser than the ropes created by the short radius elbow
RrD s 1.5.. Particles lose kinetic energy due to direction
change in the elbow, resulting from inelastic particlewall
and particleparticle collisions. Therefore, particles within
the rope have substantially lower velocities than that of the
conveying air, at zrD s 1. Earlier investigations on roping
phenomena w18,20,35x revealed that the rope velocity is
about half the velocity of the conveying air at the elbow
exit plane. This result is consistent with the findings from
the present study for the RrD s 1.5 elbow, but not with
the rope velocity in a RrD s 3.0 elbow. Lower rope
velocities about 25% of conveying air velocity. for the
RrD s 3 elbow are associated with the higher frictional
losses which occur along the outer wall of the RrD s 3
elbow.
As they move downstream of the elbow in the vertical
direction, the particles in the rope region are accelerated.
Flow visualization downstream of the elbow showed the
rope is unable to maintain its continuous structure during

Fig. 6. Rope width in y direction Ds 0.154 m. at z r Ds1.

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

173

Fig. 7. a. Effect of elbow radius of curvature and b. effect of solids loading ratio m . on local particle velocity and concentration profiles along the pipe
diameter in the x direction at zrD s 1, 5, 9, and 17 for two 908 circular elbows. Results obtained using fiber-optic probe.

the acceleration and disintegrates into discontinuous large

clusters w63x. Breaking of the rope into large clusters took
place at around zrD s 5. As can be seen from Fig. 7a, the
rope dispersed at a relatively slow rate from zrD s 1 to 5.
In addition, the rope created by the RrD s 3.0 elbow
remained attached to the outer wall in the vertical pipe and
its dispersion rate was low compared to the dispersion rate
of the RrD s 1.5 elbow.
Fig. 7b compares particle velocity and concentration
profiles, prevailing in the vertical pipe downstream of the
RrD s 3.0 elbow, for different solids loading ratios at a
constant conveying velocity of 20 mrs. A denser particle
rope was formed for high solids loading ratios, while the
rope flow dispersed at a faster rate for the low values of
solids loading ratios. Depending on the solids loading, the
effects of conveying air velocity on rope formation and
dispersion characteristics change. When the solids loading
ratio m is equal to 1, there seems to be no effect of
conveying air velocity on rope formation and dispersion
see Fig. 8.. Fig. 9 shows the plots of the maximum
particle mass concentration values in the pipe cross-section
as a function of axial nondimensional distance zrD at
different flow conditions and elbow geometries. The plots
in Fig. 9 also show the relatively slow dispersion of the
rope flow for the RrD s 3 elbow.
Limited experiments with a larger pipe diameter I.D.s
203 mm. showed that rope flow formation and dispersion

behavior are similar over the range of pipe diameters see

Fig. 10.. However, more data are needed to fully assess the
diameter effect on rope formation and dispersion.

4. Numerical modeling
Lagrangian particle tracking along with a Renormalization Group RNG. k y e turbulence model was used to
simulate turbulent gas-particle flows through the elbows.
The objective of the numerical simulations was to study
rope formation and dispersion phenomena and compare the
numerical results with trends observed in the time-averaged experimental data.
In the Lagrangian particle tracking approach, the interaction between the gas phase and particulate phase is
treated using the particle-source-in-cell method of Crowe
et al. w9x. This method was founded on the idea of treating
particles as sources of mass, momentum, and energy to the
gaseous phase w36x. For the present study, only the momentum source term due to the particles is considered. After
particles are randomly injected at the inlet with a finite
number of starting locations and with a finite number of
particle sizes at each starting location, Newtons second
law of motion is used to find the velocity of every particle
in the flow domain. Integration of the particle velocities

174

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

lence models are based on the eddy viscosity hypothesis,

i.e. standard k y e and renormalization group based RNG
k y e turbulence models w59x. The RNG k y e model was
used to predict turbulent quantities within the flow field
due to its better performance over the standard k y e
model in predicting the streamwise and radial velocity
components and Reynolds shear stresses within a 908
circular pipe bend w64x. The RNG model, which is derived
from a renormalization group analysis of the NavierStokes
equations, differs from the standard model through a modification to the equation for C and the use of a different set
of model constants. The RNG theory cannot be extended
to viscosity dominated flow regions like the viscous sublayer of a turbulent boundary layer. Therefore, CFXFlow3D implements the wall function approach to bridge
the viscous sublayer w44x.
The gas phase flow solution is obtained with a set of six
partial differential equations which consists of Reynolds
averaged NavierStokes equations RANS. and two equations for turbulence modeling. These equations can be
written in a generic transport form
E
E
Ef
Gf
q Sf q Sf ,p
r Ui f . s
5.
E xi
E xi
E xi
where the terms Ui are mean velocity components U, V,
W .. The parameter f represents the variables U, V, W, k,
e .. The quantity Gf is the effective viscosity. The terms
Sf are source terms for the gas phase. Eq. 5. also contains
the additional source term Sf,p which represents the net
efflux of f into the gas phase owing to gasparticle
interactions through the viscous drag force w13x. These
source terms are calculated by finding the particle trajectories and particle velocities along the particle path.
In the Lagrangian approach implemented by CFXFlow3D, the particulate phase is represented by computational particles whose trajectories are computed by simultaneously integrating

Fig. 8. Effect of conveying air velocity on particle velocity and particle

concentration profiles along the pipe diameter in the x direction at
z r Ds1, 3, 9, and 17 for R r Ds1.5, m s1.0.

with respect to time gives the particle trajectories, so the

particle velocities and locations can be used to obtain the
momentum source terms for each computational cell.
The mutual interphase coupling is introduced with an
iterative process which is known as Atwo-wayB coupling.
The influence of fluid turbulence on the particles is modeled by a stochastic method proposed by Gosman and
Ioannides w17x who modeled the turbulent flow by a sequence of individual eddies which interact with particles.
The interactions between particles and the wall are modeled using a coefficient of restitution, which is the ratio of
normal velocities before and after the particlewall collision. In addition, the tangential particle velocity is assumed to be constant during a particlewall interaction.
The influence of the particles on fluid turbulence is not
modeled. Furthermore, it is assumed there are no
particleparticle interactions.
4.1. Goerning equations
CFX-Flow3D uses the finite volume approach and a
generalized non-orthogonal body-fitted coordinate system
to discretize the governing equations. CFX-Flow3D release 4.1c. w5x offers two turbulence models for use with
the Lagrangian particle tracking approach. These turbu-

d
xp

s Up
6.
dt
and the equation of particle motion which is generally
written as w7x

mp

dUp

s FD q FB q FOTHERS

7.
dt
Eq. 7. describes the balance of forces acting on the
particle as it moves along its trajectory. The term on the
left side is the inertia force acting on the particle due to its
acceleration and the right-hand side terms are the external
forces acting on the particle. The most influential
force
acting on the particle is the viscous drag force FD exerted
by the continuous phase. This force is predicted with the
aid of the standard drag coefficient C D and relative
velocity between the particle and the carrier fluid UR ;
1

FD s p d p2 r C D < UR < UR
8.
8

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

175

Fig. 9. Axial variation of a. peak particle concentration in pipe cross-section and b. particle velocity at locations where peak particle concentration
prevails for RrD s 1.5 and 3.0 elbows D s 0.154 m..

where the following standard drag coefficient by Torobin

and Gauvin w52x is used:
CD s

24
Re p

1 q 0.15Rep0.687 .

for Re p F 1000

9.

Particle Reynolds number is defined by

Re p s

r < UR < d p
m

10 .

Here, d p is the particle diameter, and r and m are

the
density and viscosity of the carrier fluid. The force FB , the

buoyancy force due to gravitational acceleration

g, is
given as follows:
1
FB s p d 3 r p y r .
g
11 .
6
The other external forces that can play important roles in
calculating trajectories for some gas-particle flows are
given in Ref. w49x. They are the Basset force, which
accounts for the history effects of the motion, the addedmass term due to the acceleration of carrier fluid in the
vicinity of the particle, and the pressure gradient force. For
gas-particle flows where the density ratio rprr is of the

Fig. 10. Comparison of rope dispersion behaviors for two different pipe diameters D s 0.154 and 0.2027 m. RrD s 1.5 and comparable flow
conditions..

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

176

order of 10 3, these forces are negligibly small compared to

the drag force.
The effect of turbulence is included within the particle
transport model by using the instantaneous velocity of the
carrier fluid in Eqs. 7. and 8. as

UR s  U q
u 4 y Up

12 .

Following the method of Gosman and Ioannides w17x, the

motion of particles is tracked as they interact with a
succession of discrete turbulent eddies. Eddies are assumed
to have constant velocity, length and time scales during the
interaction with particles. A particle is assumed to interact
with an eddy for a time which is the smaller of either the
eddy life time or the transit time required for the particle to
cross the eddy. These times are estimated by assuming that
the characteristic size of an eddy is the dissipation length
scale w17x
Le s Cm3r4 k 3r2re

13 .

where Cm is a turbulence model constant, k is the turbulent kinetic energy, and e is the energy dissipation rate.
The eddy life time is computed in a manner similar to
Shuen et al. w45x by
1

te s Ler 2 kr3 .

14 .

The transit time of a particle is found using the linearized

equation of motion for a particle in a uniform flow

t tr s yt ln 1 y Ler t < UR <

//

15 .

where the particle relaxation time t is given by

ts

rp d p

<C
3 r <U
R
D

16 .

4.2. Boundary conditions

The transport equations RANS. are elliptic in space
coordinates and, hence, require that values or gradients of
transported variables are defined all around the flow geometry. Two different flow domains are modeled in this
study. For studying rope formation and dispersion within a
horizontal-to-vertical elbow, the flow geometry consisted
of a horizontal pipe with a length of 5 pipe diameters, the
elbow section, and a vertical pipe with a length of 20 pipe
diameters. Fully developed turbulent flow was assumed at
the inlet to the horizontal section. The velocity profile for
fully-developed turbulent flow was approximated by the
1r7th power law relation given by
Uinlet
Uc

s 1y

2r
D

1r7

17 .

Turbulence quantities were calculated using the following

relations
k inlet s

e inlet s

3 Uinlet
2

18 .

10

3r2
k inlet

19 .

0.3 D

Eq. 18. assumes that characteristic turbulent eddy velocity

at the inlet is 10% of the mean flow velocity. At the outlet,
Neumann boundary conditions were imposed on all transport variables except the velocity, which was given a
constant normal gradient. The value of that constant is
internally determined by the code such that the total flow
rate out of the domain remains equal to the total flow into
the domain at all stages of the solution. This constant is
generally close to zero. It is exactly equal to zero for fully
developed outlet flows: the vertical pipe length was chosen
long enough to satisfy that approximation. Finally, zero-slip
was prescribed at the wall surfaces for the gas phase.
In the simulations, trajectory calculations were performed for 2500 to 5000 computational particles, each
carrying the same solids mass flow rate. To limit the
number of trajectory calculations, a single computational
particle represented on the order of 10 5 real particles. The
initial particle velocities were set to the average conveying
air velocity Uo .. The particle trajectory calculations were
begun at 125 locations at the inlet, whose coordinates were
randomly sampled. Therefore, 20 to 40 computational
particles were tracked at each starting location. The diameters of the computational particles at each starting location
were stochastically sampled from a Rosin Rammler distribution function
Prob Dia.) d . s exp y

/
dm

20 .

The term d m is the mean diameter of the distribution and

the exponent represents the spread of the data from the
mean. The parameters d m and n were found to be 75 mm
and 2.33, respectively, from the particle-size distribution
information of pulverized-coal particles used in the experiments see Table 1..
Particlewall collisions were modeled through a coefficient of restitution, e, which is the ratio of normal velocities of the particle before and after the collision. The
tangential velocity component of the particle during the
particlewall interaction was assumed to be constant. The
coefficient of restitution, e, was set equal to 0.9 for all the
simulations performed in this study. The coefficient of
restitution used in the present study comes from data
presented by Tabakoff and Malak w50x for the particlewall
collision process between fly ash particles and stainless
steel. Tabakoff and Malaks data w50x show that for collision angles lower than 158 the normal coefficient of restitution changes between 0.95 and 0.8 while the tangential

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

177

cess occurring between non-spherical coal particles and

carbon steel pipe wall.
4.3. Numerical solution procedures

Fig. 11. a. Numerical grid for a 908 circular elbow and b. detail of
numerical grid for pipe cross-section.

coefficient of restitution changes between 1 and 0.9. In the

present study, the motion of relatively small particles is
controlled by fluid motion and turbulent dispersion; thus,
the influence of particlewall interaction is less important
away from the wall since the particles promptly follow the
carrier fluid. The influence of improper modeling of particlewall collision can be seen very close to the wall
region. In fact, the CFD predictions of particle velocities
and concentrations close to the outer wall of the elbow
differed from the experimental measurements see Fig. 17
in the present study.. This is an indication that the present
particlewall collision model does not produce realistic
results within the elbow, where heavy particle wall collisions occur.
In addition, the present particlewall collision model
does not account for irregular particle wall collision occurring between non-spherical coal particles and a rough wall.
Recently, some researchers performed particlewall collision experiments for a rough wall whose characteristic
dimension is comparable to particle diameter. Using Particle Tracking Velocimetry PTV., Massah et al. w33x presented experimental data on the particlewall collisions of
FCC particles and a rough CFB reactor wall. Sommerfeld
w48x studied particle wall interaction of glass beads and
rough wall. These experimental data show the diffuse
nature of the particlewall collision, requiring a Monte
Carlo method to realistically model the particlewall collision process. Rebound angles for a fixed collision angle
had a very broad distribution, indicating the effect of
roughness on particle wall collision when particle diameter
is comparable to the wall roughness element size. In both
the Massah et al. w33x and Sommerfeld w48x experiments,
the normal coefficient of restitution was found to be larger
than 1 for an approach angle of about 258 while the
tangential coefficient of restitution were lower ; 0.7..
The authors believe that further experimental study is
needed to properly model the particlewall collision pro-

CFX-Flow3D uses the finite volume approach to obtain

numerical solutions at discrete points of a grid that encompasses a sequence of elemental control volumes. The
computational mesh generated by CFX-Flow3D is characterized as boundary fitted, multi-block, structured and
non-staggered. CFX-Flow3D uses the RhieChow algorithm w42,43x that allows for the implementation of the
SIMPLE-based algorithms w38,39x on non-staggered grids,
while avoiding the problems of checker-board oscillations
in pressure and velocity, traditionally associated with the
incorrect use of non-staggered grids.
As reported by Holm et al. w19x, a single block H-grid
creates instabilities when using the k y e turbulence model,
due to highly distorted cells close to the wall region.
Therefore, the flow domain was discretized by using 15
blocks in order to distribute grids as orthogonally as
possible see Fig. 11.. A combination of five blocks for the
pipe cross-section as shown in Fig. 11b provided grids that
were near orthogonal close to the wall region and orthogonal in the pipe center. Table 2 summarizes the number of
grids along the flow direction for the simulation domains:
horizontal section NH , pipe bend NB , and vertical section
NV and for the pipe cross-section NCR .
All terms in Eq. 5. except the convection terms are
discretized in space using second-order centered differencing. A third-order accurate QUICK algorithm was used for
the convection terms. To handle the nonlinearity of the
equations, the treatment of all transported variables involved two nested levels of iterations referred to as inner
and outer iterations. Pressure was handled by a special
procedure, the velocitypressure coupling algorithm SIMPLEC w56x.
Outer iterations were repeated until the problem satisfied a convergence criterion. For the simulations performed in this study, the convergence of outer iteration
was judged by how accurately the continuity equation was
satisfied by the current values of the dependent variables.
The solution procedure was considered converged when
the ratio of the summation of absolute mass source residu-

Table 2
Numerical grid resolution
Geometry
Elbow R r Ds1.5.
Elbow R r Ds 3.0.
Elbow R r Ds 5.0.
Vertical pipe

Grid1
Grid2

NH

NB

NV

NCR

NTOTAL

20
40
40
40

18
22
44
60

80
110
110
110
110

224
333
333
333
333

26,432
57,276
64,602
69,930
36,630

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

178

Fig. 12. History of changes in mass source residuals for two simulations performed for RrD s 1.5 and 3.0 elbows..

als to the total rate of mass inflow fell below a prescribed

tolerance.

process of two-way coupling were also observed in the

work of Kohnen et al. w27x. One of the reasons for the
fluctuations in the residuals is the stochastic process contained within the turbulent particle dispersion model. The
fluctuations might also be due to the limited number of
computational particles modeled. The height of this jump
in the residuals depends on the solids loading and on the
under-relaxation factor for particle source terms g .. The
under-relaxation factor g , which can be given values between 0 and 1, is used to prevent divergence of the
gas-particle flow solution and is defined as follows

Ncell

< R M ,i <
is1

m
air

Fd

21 .

The parameter, d , was taken equal to 1 = 10y6 for the

simulations performed in this study.
The convergence of the gas-particle flow solution was
judged by monitoring the history of the residuals of the U,
V, and W momentum equations and of the continuity
equation during the two-way coupling process. Fig. 12
shows the history of the mass source residuals residuals of
continuity equation. for two simulations performed in this
study. As can be seen from Fig. 12, the mass source
residuals fluctuate during the two-way coupling process
even though the single-phase solutions converge to a prescribed tolerance for every coupling. Momentum source
residuals show the same kind of fluctuations. The fluctuations or jumps of the residuals during the momentum
coupling of the two phases level out to a constant value
after about 14 couplings for the simulations performed in
this study. Similar fluctuations in the residuals during the

S iq1,S i

i
iq1
Sfiq1
,p s Sf ,p P 1 y g . q Sf ,pcalculated . P g

22 .

where the terms f , p f , p are the particle momentum

source terms w13x at
i q 1 and i, respec coupling iterations
tively. The term Sfiq1
is
the
particle
momentum
, p c al cu l at e d .
source term evaluated during the particle tracking procedure.
The gas-particle flow solution diverged for the case of
an elbow with RrD s 3.0 when an under-relaxation factor
of 0.5 was used for the particle source terms. However, it
was possible to obtain a converged solution for an underrelaxation factor of 0.35. This indicates that the appropri-

Table 3
Geometries and physical properties for the simulations
Case

Simulation geometry
Type

1
908 Elbow
2
908 Elbow
3
908 Elbow
4
Vertical pipe
D: Inside pipe diameter
R: elbow radius of curvature

Particles

Air

D m.

RrD

L H rD

L V rD

Density kgrm3 .

Temp. K.

0.154
0.154
0.154
0.154

1.5
3.0
5.0

5
5
5

20
20
20
20

1680
300
1680
300
1680
300
1680
300
L H : Length of horizontal pipe
L V : Length of vertical pipe

Pressure kPa.
2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

179

Fig. 13. Secondary flow patterns for RrD s 1.5 elbow at zrD s 0.5: a. single-phase flow solution, b. gas-particle flow solution Uo s 30 mrs and
m s 0.33..

ate under-relaxation factor must be used to obtain a converged solution. The convergence strategy employed in
this study is a global one and it does not guarantee a
converged solution at all local points in the flow geometry.
4.4. CFD results and discussions
CFD simulations were performed for three different
elbow geometries with nondimensional elbow radii of
curvature RrD of 1.5, 3.0, and 5.0 and conveying air
velocities Uo of 20 and 30 mrs. All of the simulations
were for the lowest solids loading case m s 0.33. for
which experimental measurements were available for comparison. The CFD simulations were used to study both the
rope formation process and the individual effects of secondary flows and flow turbulence on rope dispersion
downstream of the elbow exit. Table 3 summarizes the
information on the flow geometries and on the air and
particle physical properties.

In curved pipes, the more rapidly flowing central parts

of the flow are forced outwards by centrifugal action,
while the slower parts along the wall are forced inwards
where the pressure is less, and a so-called Asecondary
flowB develops at right angles to the main flow w23x. The
single-phase simulations grid size independent solutions.
predicted the formation of these vortices. The analysis of
the equations describing laminar flow through curved pipes
shows that two parameters characterize the flow; the radius
ratio, 2DR and the Dean number, De s 2DR Re w2x. Since
the Dean number is equal to the ratio of the square root of
the product of the inertia and centrifugal forces to the
viscous force, it provides a measure of the intensity of the
secondary flow w22x. Single-phase CFD predictions showed
an increased intensity of the secondary flows as the Dean
number increased.
The numerical predictions of turbulent gas-particle flow
through an elbow show the single-phase solutions are
modified by the momentum transfer between the gas phase

' k . in the x direction: comparison of CFD results for two elbows RrD s 1.5 and 3.0..

Fig. 14. a. Secondary velocities and b. rms fluid velocities

2
3

180

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

and particulate phase. The secondary flow patterns are also

modified, resulting in four vortices in the pipe cross-section instead of the two large vortices present in single-phase
flow. Fig. 13 compares these two different secondary flow
patterns for an RrD s 1.5 elbow at zrD s 0.5. The secondary flow patterns exhibit a flow current away from the
outer wall towards the pipe center. This flow pattern
provides the mechanism for removal of particles from
within the rope to particle-free regions in the pipe crosssection. At the elbow exit plane, the secondary flows are
stronger for the short radius bend RrD s 1.5. as shown
in Fig. 14a. The turbulence fluctuation velocities 23 k . are
also shown in Fig. 14b at the elbow exit plane zrD s 0.0.
for two elbows with RrD s 1.5 and 3.0.

4.5. Rope formation

The formation of a rope is closely related to the migration of particles towards the outer wall of the elbow due to
centrifugal forces and to particlewall and particleparticle interactions. The predicted particle concentration variation along the outer wall of the three elbows are shown in
Fig. 15 using the coordinate system defined in Fig. 3. The
centrifugal force, which is proportional to Uo2rR, does not
seem to be the controlling parameter for the rope formation process for the range of flow conditions and elbow
geometries considered. Instead, the average residence time
within the elbow plays a stronger role. The longer the
particles experience the inertial effect within the elbow, the
stronger the rope i.e. larger peak rope concentration. is at
the bend exit. Fig. 16 shows peak concentration values in
the pipe cross-section at zrD s 1.0 as a function of
average particle residence time in the elbow t R s
p Rr2Uo .. and compares CFD predictions with experimental data. The CFD results overpredict peak particle
concentration within the rope at elbow exit, most likely
due to the absence of particleparticle interactions in the

Fig. 15. Numerical simulation results showing the rope formation within
three 908 circular elbows with R r Ds1.5, 3.0, and 5.0.

Fig. 16. Rope peak concentration at z r Ds1 as a function of average

residence time of particles t R . within elbow.

CFD model w21x. Fig. 17 compares CFD results and experimental data on particle concentration profiles in the x
direction at different angular positions from the elbow
inlet. The particle concentration progressively increases at
the outer wall with increasing u for the case of CFD
results. However, experimental data show that peak particle concentration reaches a maximum somewhere around
u s 678, agreeing LDV measurements performed by Kliafas and Holt w26x.
4.6. Rope dispersion
A particle rope created by an elbow starts dispersing
once it exits the elbow due to secondary flows and turbulence and possibly due to gas-particle flow instabilities.
CFD predictions showed rather rapid rope dispersion within
three to four pipe diameters downstream of the elbow exit

Fig. 17. Particle concentration profiles within R r Ds1.5 elbow.

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

Fig. 18. Comparison of CFD simulation results with experimental data on

rope formation and dispersion for R r Ds1.5 elbow.

plane zrD s 0.. This dispersion characteristic is accompanied by a rapid decrease in the intensity of secondary
flows and turbulence levels between zrD s 0 and 5. Fig.
18 compares CFD predictions with experimental data on
the rope formation and dispersion processes for the RrD
s 1.5 elbow. Fig. 18 also shows the effects of grid resolution and number of computational particles modeled on the
CFD results. Increasing the grid resolution and number of
computational particles did not change the overall rope
dispersion behavior.
Rope dispersion characteristics were found to be very
different for the RrD s 1.5 and 3.0 elbows as discussed in
the experimental part of this study. Ropes formed within
the RrD s 1.5 elbow moved towards the center of pipe

181

and dispersed at a faster rate compared to the cases for the

RrD s 3.0 elbow. The CFD predictions did not show this
same behavior. For all values of RrD, the dispersion
process predicted by the CFD simulations was similar to
the one experimentally observed for the RrD s 3.0 elbow:
the rope flow stayed close to the outer wall and its rate of
dispersion was relatively slow.
Fig. 19 compares the CFD results and experimental data
on rope dispersion behavior of the RrD s 1.5 and 3.0
elbows, showing particle velocity and particle concentration profiles in the x direction at different zrD distances.
The predicted particle concentration contours are also
shown in Fig. 20 at zrD s 1 and 9 for two elbows
RrD s 1.5 and 3.0.. CFD simulations performed for
lower conveying velocities Uo s 20 mrs. did not show
any effect of conveying air velocity on the rope dispersion
process.
4.7. Mechanism of rope dispersion
The actual particle dispersion phenomenon in a turbulent flow is a complicated process due to the very large
number of time and length scales. The individual effects of
secondary flows and flow turbulence on particle rope
dispersion in the vertical pipe was studied using CFXFlow3D. Two simulations were performed in a vertical
pipe assuming a particle rope was present at the inlet. This
particle rope was the one created by the short radius elbow
RrD s 1.5.. The transverse particle velocities within this
rope were set to zero. Using the secondary flow patterns
from the single-phase solution for the short radius elbow

Fig. 19. Comparison of CFD results and experimental data on rope dispersion for a. RrD s 1.5 and b. RrD s 3.0 elbows at different zrD distances.

182

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

Fig. 20. Predicted particle concentration contours for two elbows: a.

R r Ds1.5 and b. R r Ds 3.0 at z r Ds1.0 and 9.0 for Uo s 30 mrs
and m s 0.33.

RrD s 1.5. as an inlet condition and turning off the

turbulent dispersion model in CFX-Flow3D made it possible to study the effect of secondary flows on rope dispersion. In the second case, a uniform air velocity was
assumed at the inlet of the vertical pipe and the simulation
was run with the particle dispersion model turned on. The
same rope was used as an inlet condition, but with no
transverse velocities present in either the gas or solid
phase. The gas phase turbulence quantities at the inlet were
taken from the single-phase solution for the RrD s 1.5
elbow.

The predicted particle concentration distributions in the

pipe cross-section at different axial distances from the inlet
are shown in Fig. 21. These contours show the secondary
flows carry the particles around the pipe circumference
through the particle-free regions, resulting in a spreading
of the particles from within the rope. The results also show
that turbulence does not spread the particles, but instead
creates a more homogenous distribution by localized particle mixing into the region immediately adjacent to the
rope. In addition, relatively large peak particle concentration values in the pipe cross-section prevail when the
turbulent particle dispersion model was not implemented
see Fig. 21b..
The present study demonstrates that organized large
scale fluid motions such as secondary flows created in
elbows contribute to the dispersion of particle ropes. As
discussed in the review paper written by Eaton and Fessler
w15x, particles interact strongly with organized fluid structures when the Stokes number based on characteristic time
scale of organized large scale motion and the particle
response time is on the order of unity. The Eaton and
Fessler paper w15x focused on the centrifuging effect caused
by turbulence structures in the flow. In contrast, the present study shows that both turbulence and secondary flows
disperse the particle ropes created in the elbow. The Stokes
number calculated from the turnover time of a secondary
flow structure and particle response time is on the order of
unity. Furthermore, the CFD simulation results show the
Stokes number calculated from the eddy life time predicted
by the k y e turbulence model is also on the order of
unity.

Fig. 21. Particle concentration contours showing the effects of a. turbulence and b. secondary flows on particle dispersion RrD s 1.5, Uo s 30 mrs and
m s 0.33..

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

5. Summary and conclusions

Elbows commonly used in pneumatic conveying systems create solids flow nonuniformities leading to a structure referred to as a rope. The present paper combines
experimental and numerical results to describe the mechanisms involved in rope formation and dispersion in vertical
pneumatic conveying line following horizontal-to-vertical
elbows. The formation and dispersion of a particle rope
flow is strongly dependent on the pipe bend radius and to a
lesser extent on the conveying air velocity and solids
loading.
The experiments showed that ropes formed within the
RrD s 1.5 elbow moved towards the center of pipe and
dispersed at a faster rate compared to the cases for the
RrD s 3.0 elbow. The CFD predictions did not show this
same behavior. For all values of RrD, the dispersion
process predicted by the CFD simulations was similar to
the one experimentally observed for the RrD s 3.0 elbow:
the rope flow stayed close to the outer wall and its rate of
dispersion was relatively slow. The CFD results overpredict peak particle concentrations within the rope at the
elbow exit, most likely due to the absence of particleparticle interactions in the CFD model.
The individual effects of secondary flows and turbulence on rope dispersion were identified and explained
with the aid of CFD simulations. The results show secondary flows disperse the rope by carrying particles around
the pipe circumference while turbulence disperses the rope
by localized mixing of particles.
List of
A
C t .
CD
cp

symbols
Pipe cross-section area m2 .
Cross correlation function V 2 .
Standard drag coefficient .
Particle mass concentration c p s rp 1 y e ..,
kgrm3 .
c p,max Max. particle concentration within pipe cross-section kgrm3 .
c po
Average particle concentration c po s m
Yp orUo .,
3
kgrm .
dp
Weight mean particle diameter m.
D
Inside pipe diameter m.
De
Dean number De s 2DR Re ., .
e
Coefficient of restitution .
f
Sampling frequency Hz.
Io
Mean signal intensity without particles V .
Mean signal intensity with particles V .
Im
Ip
Mean signal intensity difference Im y Io ., V .
k
Turbulence kinetic energy m2rs 2 .
K, n
Particle concentration calibration constants c p s
K Ip . n .
L
Optical distance between fiber-optic probes m.
LrD
Axial dimensionless distance to the inlet of elbow
.

Le
m
a
m
p
m
Yp
m
Yp o
N
Ncell
P
R
R M, i
Re p
s

Sf
Sf , p
St
te
tR
t tr
T
uX
< uX <
< uXp <
u1 , u 2
U
Up
U
o
UR
V
W
xrD
x, y
z
zrD

183

Characteristic size of an eddy m.

Air mass flow rate kgrs.
Solids mass flow rate kgrs.
Local solids mass flux kgrm2 s.
Average solids mass flux m
Yp o s m prA., kgrm2
s.
Number of samples
Number of computational cell
Pressure Pa.
Pipe bend radius m.
Absolute mass source residual for computational
cell i kgrs.

Particle Reynolds number Re p s r < UR < d prm .

Distance along the outer wall of the elbow from
the inlet m.
Gas phase momentum source terms Nrm3 .
Particle momentum source terms Nrm3 .
Stokes number St s tA rt t ., .
Eddy life time s.
Particle residence time in the elbow t R s
p Rr2Uo .., s.
Transit time of a particle through an eddy s.
Sampling period s.
Fluctuating velocity mrs.
2
rms fluid velocity < uX < s uX 2 s
k ., mrs.
3
rms particle velocity < uXp < s uXp2 ., mrs.
Voltage wave forms at two locations in the gassolid flow V .
Local fluid velocity in x direction mrs.
Particle velocity mrs.
mrs.
Conveying air velocity

Relative velocity U y Up ., mrs.
Local fluid velocity in y direction mrs.
Local fluid velocity in z direction mrs.
Dimensionless transverse distance from outer wall
of elbow m.
Transverse distances in pipe cross-section m.
Axial distance m.
Axial dimensionless distance downstream of the
elbow exit m.

Greek Letters
d
Convergence tolerance Eq. 21., .
e
Turbulence dissipation rate m2rs 3 . and Voidage
e s 1 y VprVT ., .
1 y e . Particle volume concentration c p s rp 1 y e ..,
.
g
Under-relaxation factor for particle source terms
.
m
Fluid viscosity kgrm s. and solids loading ratio
.
mt
Turbulence viscosity kgrm s.
r
Gas phase density kgrm3 .
ra
Air density kgrm3 .

A. Yilmaz, E.K. Ley r Powder Technology 114 (2001) 168185

184

rp
s
s2
t

tA
tmax
tt
u

Apparent true. particle density kgrm3 .

Standard deviation
Variance
Time lag in cross-correlation function s. and
Particle relaxation time

t s 4r3. rp d pr r < UR < C D .., s.

Particle aerodynamic response time
tA s rp d p2r18 m .., s.
Time lag where cross-correlation function has a
maximum s.
Particle transit time through the optical probe
measuring volume s.
Angular position from the elbow inlet 8.

w20x

w21x

w22x

w23x
w24x

w25x

w26x

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