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Design Optimization of A Venturi PDF
Design Optimization of A Venturi PDF
Design Optimization of A Venturi PDF
Haifeng Lu, Xiaolei Guo, Peng Li, Kai Liu, Xin Gong ∗
Key Laboratory of Coal Gasification and Energy Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanghai Engineering
Research Center of Coal Gasification, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The use of a venturi tube to sustain the pipeline pressure in the dense-phase pneumatic
Received 29 December 2016 conveying of pulverized coal system is promising for its application to the pressurized
Received in revised form 14 entrained-flow coal gasification process, in spite of the limited knowledge of the funda-
February 2017 mentals of the gas–solid flow through the venturi tubes at high-pressure and dense-phase
Accepted 17 February 2017 pneumatic transport conditions. In this paper, a series of experiments were carried out and
Available online 28 February 2017 the geometry parameters of the venturi tube, including the convergent angle, the throat
diameter, the throat length and the diffuser angle were varied at constant flow conditions
Keywords: to evaluate their effect on the conveying properties and on the pressure reduction effects
Venturi tube in the flow of gas–solid mixtures through the venturi tube. The optimum values or ranges
Dense-phase pneumatic conveying of the above mentioned venturi geometrical parameters in the application of venturi tubes
Pulverized coal to dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal are determined in this work. These
Pressure reduction values will provide a useful reference for the design of feeding systems in the pressurized
Entrained-flow gasification entrained-flow coal gasification process.
© 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction feeding. For this purpose it is necessary that the loop is equipped with
the necessary instrumentation to adequately meter the coal mass flow
Reliable feeding of pulverized coal into the gasifier is of great impor- rate and to calibrate and validate the meter itself.
tance for coal gasification with the pressurized entrained-flow process A schematic diagram of the pulverized coal feeding system in
(Guo et al., 2012). During feeding into the gasifier, any fluctuation of the industrial demonstration plant of SE-Gasifier Pulverized Coal
coal mass flow rate will affect the oxygen carbon ratio directly and Entrained-flow Gasification in Jiangsu, China is shown in Fig. 1. The
as a result, affect the index of gasification performance and the final coal, pulverized into a certain particle size distribution, is discharged
product quality consequently (Lu et al., 2012). Dense-phase pneumatic from the storage bunker to the lock hopper, to the feeder hopper, and
conveying technology has been commonly applied to feed the pulver- then fed into the gasifier under a certain pressure difference by the
ized coal into the gasifier for the low consumption of carrier gas and the dense-phase pneumatic convening technology. A three-way valve is
more efficient power utilization (Kus et al., 2016; Cong et al., 2012). The installed in the pipeline to separate the recycle line from the feeding
accuracy of the measurement of the coal mass flow rate, as well as and line. Before the gasifier startup, the pulverized coal has to be adjusted
the stability of the rate control, are prerequisites for stable and long- in the recycle line and will not be switched from the recycle line to the
period operation of the gasifier. In industrial processes, it is beneficial feeding line until the required pipeline pressure and coal mass flow
to adjust the coal transport conditions in a closed loop before feed- rate required by the gasifier are obtained in the closed loop.
ing the pulverized coal into the gasifier. High-pressure (1–5 MPa) and According to the feeding process shown in Fig. 1, the receiver hopper
high-concentration (200–400 kg/m3 ) conveying conditions adequate to which connects the atmospheric storage bunker is operated at atmo-
feed the coal powder into the gasifier have to be attained before coal spheric pressure, while the gasifier served as a pressurized reactor
∗
Corresponding author. Fax: +86 21 6425 1312.
E-mail addresses: gongxin@ecust.edu.cn, luhf@ecust.edu.cn (X. Gong).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2017.02.020
0263-8762/© 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 209
Vent
Nomenclature
Receiver
hopper
Pulverzied coal
D Diameter of conveying pipe, mm Filter
Atmos Recycle line
d10 10th percentile particle diameter, m
d50 Volume median particle diameter, m
Venturi tube
d90 90th percentile particle diameter, m
Storage
dsv Particle Sauter mean diameter, m bunker
dt Throat diameter of venturi tube, mm
EM External moisture content, % Three-way Feeding line
Atmos
valve
L Convergent length of venturi tube, mm
Lt Length of venturi throat section, mm
Lock
M Maximum amplitude of pressure, kPag Vessel
Gasifier
~4MPa
Mg Gas mass flow rate through the venturi tube, 0~5MPa
kg/h Raw coal
Ms Solid mass flow rate, kg/h
P1 Pressure far from venturi upstream, kPag Feeder
Vessel
P2 Pressure at venturi inlet, kPag
~5MPa
P3 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Dry gas
N2 or CO2
P4 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Pulverizer
P5 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Dense-phase pneumatic conveying
P6 Pressure at venturi outlet, kPag
Fig. 1 – Schematic diagram of pulverized coal feeding in
P7 Pressure far from venturi downstream, kPag
pressurized entrained-flow coal gasification process.
Pf Pressure of feeder vessel, kPag
P0 Pressure of receiver vessel, kPag
Pe Effective pressure drop used for solids convey- consuming and costly process. The question that arises is: “How to
ing, kPa determine a proper venturi tube design provided the required range of
coal mass flow rates and the specified gasifier pressure?”
S Standard difference of pressure, kPa
In the last decades, the use of venturi tubes for the measurement
Ug, Inlet gas superficial velocity in the venturi tube,
and the characterization of gas–solid flow has received considerable
m/s
attention and the flow characteristics of gas–solid flow through ven-
turi tubes have been noted by many researchers (Monni et al., 2014;
Greek symbols Giddings et al., 2011; Doss, 1985). However, most of the published
ˇ Throat diameter ratio (throat diameter dt /inlet works are focused on gas–solid in dilute regimes, with low solid load-
diameter D), − ing ratio. For example, Lee and Crowe (1982) investigated the scaling
Angle of repose, ◦ parameters applicable to measuring the mass flow rate of gas–solid sus-
1 Convergent angle of venturi tube, ◦ pensions through the venturi with the solid loading ratio tested from
2 Diffuser angle of venturi tube, ◦ 0 to 1.6 kg/kg. They found that the effect of the throat diameter ratio
b Bulk density, kg/m3 on the pressure drop through the venturi tube was coupled with the
p Particle density, kg/m3 particle Stokes number. Azzopardi et al. (1999) developed a quasi-one-
dimensional model for gas–solid flow through the venturi with solid
loading ratios between 0 and 1.8 kg/kg. Payne and Crowe (1984) studied
on the effect of the solid loading ratios and of the venturi geometry
vessel is usually operated at about 4.0 MPa. It is therefore necessary properties (convergent angle and diffuser angle) on the venturi pres-
to raise the pressure in the closed loop, at the three way valve, to meet sure drops and on the flow metering for solid loading ratios ranging
the pressure requirement to feed the gasifier without altering its oper- between 0.05 and 3 kg/kg.
ating pressure. A viable solution is given by the installation of a venturi The application of venturi tubes in dense-phase pneumatic convey-
tube in the recycle line, which can provide the required pressure drops ing is promising but rarely reported. It is generally known that dense
when the gas-solid flow through (Liang et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2014). flow in pneumatic conveying pipelines is an unsteady, complex, non-
The pressurized entrained-flow gasification of pulverized coal would linear and dynamical system, in which it is not easy to understand
benefit from a proper design of the venturi tube which can be used: the conveying properties and the pressure reduction determined by
(1) to determine the high-pressure and the high-concentration convey- the flow through venturi tubes. Till now, we can only find few reports.
ing conditions necessary to gasifier operation and (2) to provide useful These are due to: (1) Shaffer and Bajura (1990), who provided some
information to provide the environment to meter, calibrate and validate experimental data with solid loading ratios up to 35 kg/kg; (2) Liang
the solid mass flow. The research are also relevant to some other appli- et al. (2015, 2016), who studied the pressure reduction characteristics in
cations, such as blast furnace spurts coal technology and pressurized dense-phase conveying condition without, however, providing detailed
coal combustion etc. information on the solid loading ratios adopted; (3) groups working in
The effects of the venturi tube on the gas pressure reduction and on our laboratory (Liu et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2016, 2011), providing results
the dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal depend on its for solid loading ratios in the range between 20 and 250 kg/kg.
geometry and on the gas–solid flow conditions, and these effects are The purpose of this work is to optimize the design procedure for the
necessary for the stability of the gasifier operation and of its products. geometry of venturi tubes to be used in dense-phase pneumatic con-
However, to date, the lack of experiments on the mixed gas–solid flow veying applications. First, an experimental investigation was carried
through venturi tubes at high-pressure and high-concentration did not out to elucidate the effect of venturi tube on dense-phase pneumatic
allow to develop any proven theory nor any design guidelines for ven- conveying streams based on the analysis of the pressure distribution
turi tube operated in the condition of interest for the above described and of pressure drop per unit length in the conveying pipeline. Then, a
application. As a result, empirical design processes are adopted and a series of experiments were carried out to investigate on the role of the
variety of venturi tubes have to be tested before the best design can different geometry parameters of the venturi tube, including the con-
be chosen on the basis of the tested performances. This is a time- vergent angle, the throat diameter, the throat length and the diffuser
210 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
Fig. 4 – Pressure distribution of the conveying system for a gas superficial velocity of 3.2 m/s, a solid mass flow rate of
1076 kg/h and the standard venturi geometry.
212 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
2000 200
1600 180
1200 160
800 140
400 120
0 100
Pipe Venturi Convergence Throat Diffuser 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Convergent angle,e
Fig. 5 – Comparison of pressure drops per unit length in the
different sections of the recycle loop. Fig. 6 – Effect of the convergent angle on the convergent
pressure drop.
intense interactions between gas and particles, particles and parameters in order to obtain the desired features of the
particles, particles and wall all contribute the high pressure dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal.
losses. In the diffuser section, the gas velocity decreases due to
the increase of cross-sectional area while particles most likely 3.2.1. Convergent angle
keep their velocities because of inertia. It should be noted that The convergent angle was varied at constant flow conditions,
in the dense-phase conveying case examined, the pressure keeping the throat diameter at 6 mm, the throat length at
drop per unit length in the diffuser section is still positive and 260 mm, the diffuser angle at 8◦ , the inlet gas superficial veloc-
considerable, differently from the pressure recovery always ity at 4 m/s and the solid mass flow rate at 635 kg/h. The
observed in the dilute flow (Lee and Crowe, 1982). As Doss results in Fig. 6 show that the pressure drop in the conver-
(1985) said, the venturi diffuser section may be quite effective gent (P2 –P3 ) decreases as the convergent angle increases at
in recovering pressure for the cases of no or light solid loading least at the lowest values of the convergent angle tested. This
ratios, but the effectiveness of the pressure recovery dropped result differs form that reported by Giddings and Azzopardi
rather rapidly as the solid loading ratio increased. Our inves- (2007), who pointed out that this pressure drop was not signif-
tigation shows that, in the cases of high solid loading ratios, icantly dependent on the convergent angle or should slightly
the pressure recovery might not lose effectiveness but rather increase as the convergent angle increased. It should be noted
move further downwards of the venturi tube outlet, as shown that the flow conditions in the Giddings report are different
in Fig. 4 where pressure P7 is slightly higher than P6 . from those studied in this work. In fact, the solid loading ratios
are 0.5 kg/kg in the former and 60 kg/kg in the latter. According
to Azzopardi et al. (1999), the presence of solids contributes to
3.2. Optimization design of venturi geometry
the increase of the pressure drop in all sections of the venturi
tube. The dense flow conditions tested in this work provide a
A comprehensive series of experiments were carried out to
significant growth in the particle contribution to the pressure
optimize the geometry of the venturi tube. In particular the
drop that most likely result in intensive interactions between
following conditions were tested: (1) the gas superficial veloc-
particles, between gas and particles and between particles and
ity at the entrance of the venturi tube was changed between
walls in the venturi tube. Apparently, in these conditions, the
2 and 8 m/s; (2) the solid mass flow rate was changed in the
pressure drops are more significant and sensitive to even small
range between 500 and 2600 kg/h; (3) the conveying pressure
changes of the convergent angle.
that was the pressure of feeder vessel, was changed between 0
Similarly to the above mentioned results reported by
and 1.5 MPag; (4) the solid concentration was changed between
Giddings and Azzopardi (2007), Fig. 6 indicates that the pres-
100 and 400 kg/m3 and (5) the solid loading ratio was changed
sure drop in the convergent does not change significantly
between 10 and 120 kg/kg. Attention should be paid that, the
when the convergent angle is larger than 5◦ . This might be
powder conveying conditions in this work are comparable
explained by the inherent geometrical relation between the
with those used in the industrial pressurized entrained-flow
convergent angle ( 1 ) and the convergent length (L) shown
coal gasification process, though the conveying pressure is
in Eq. (1). When the pipe and throat diameters (D, d) keep
relatively lower because of the limit of the experimental labo-
constant, the decrease in the convergent angle implies the
ratory rig. As a consequence, this research work is intended
extension of the convergent length according to:
to provide some reference guidelines useful for the design
of the coal feeding system in the pressurized entrained-flow D−d
gasification process. L= (1)
2 sin 1
During the experiments, each aspect of the venturi geom-
etry, including the convergent angle, the throat diameter, the Fig. 7 plots the convergent length as a function of the
throat length and the diffuser angle, was changed separately convergent angle according to Eq. (1). It appears that the
and in turn in order to evaluate their effect on the convey- length decreases rapidly at small convergent angles and then
ing properties and on the pressure reduction produced. The changes much less at large angles reproducing a very simi-
purpose was also to find the best value for each of these lar trend to that reported in Fig. 6. This finding might suggest
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 213
0.4 Ms = 0.76(Pf –P0 ) + 353 (R2 = 0.99) P2 –P6 = 0.66(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.99)
0.55 Ms = 1.06(Pf –P0 ) + 578 (R2 = 0.97) P2 –P6 = 0.4(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.97)
0.7 Ms = 1.47(Pf –P0 ) + 590 (R2 = 0.98) P2 –P6 = 0.1(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.87)
1 Ms = 1.53(Pf –P0 ) + 549 (R2 = 0.95)
R-Square 0.89531
3.2.2. Throat diameter ratio
Value Standard The throat diameter ratio, ˇ, defined as the ratio of the throat
180 Intercept 100.4553 9.36874 diameter to the inlet diameter of the venturi (d/D) was adopted
Slope 0.80196 0.15533
in this paper. The effect of the throat diameter ratio was exam-
ined with respect to both the conveying properties and the
160
pressure reduction characteristics of this section.
Fig. 9(a) reports the solid mass flow rate as a function of the
140 conveying pressure drop (Pf –P0 ) with different throat diame-
ter ratios, where ˇ = 1 corresponds to the normal conveying
system without venturi. The solid mass flow rate is one of
120 the most important parameters to evaluate the conveying
performances, which cannot only reflect the gas–solid flow
conditions inside the pipe but is also regarded as a control
100
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 indicator for system operations. The first striking observation
Convergent length, mm is that, the solid mass flow rate increases linearly with the
conveying pressure drop at different throat diameter ratios.
Fig. 8 – Relationship between convergent length and This finding implies that the venturi tube behaves as an addi-
convergent pressure drop. tional resistance component, affecting the conveying capacity
but not the kind of relationship between pressure drop and
that the effect of convergent angle on the pressure drop in mass flow rate. It is found that the smaller the throat diam-
the convergent might be directly related to the change of the eter ratio, the smaller the solid mass flow rate. In Fig. 9(a),
convergent length. the presence of the venturi tube seems ineffective for throat
The above findings suggest plotting the pressure drop in the diameter ratio of 0.7 or larger. Instead, the solid mass flow rate
convergent as a function of the convergent length as reported decreases steeply when the throat diameter ratio decreases to
in Fig. 8. A line approximating these results is found, indicat- 0.55 and to 0.4, providing mass flow rate reductions of about
ing that as the convergent length increases, the corresponding 20% and 45%, respectively. While very large throat diameters
resistance to the gas–solid flow increases accordingly. The might reduce the venturi tube effectiveness, of course it has
equation of the fitting line was expressed as follows, to be considered that very small throat diameters might easily
cause blockage phenomena.
P = 100.5 + 0.8Lt R2 = 0.90 (2) Table 3 reports the line correlations obtained from Fig. 9, all
of which show high correlation coefficients. Taking both the
In the convergent section, the gas velocity increases due conveying pressure drop and the venturi throat diameter into
to the decrease of the cross-sectional area and particles are account, a general correlation for solid mass flow rate can be
accelerated by the gas drag force. The convergent length deter- obtained as shown in Eq. (3), which produces errors that are
mines the distances covered by the gas–solid mixture, as well generally lower than ±20%.
as the acceleration process of both gas and particles, all affect-
ing the pressure loss produced. Ms = (1.2838ˇ + 0.3545)(Pf − P0 ) + 518 (3)
Summarizing the discussion above, the effect of conver-
gent angle is mostly manifested by the convergent length. The large pressure drops occupied by the venturi tube
When the convergent angle exceeds few degrees, the change should be responsible for the significant decrease of the solid
of the convergent length is limited as its effects on the pres- mass flow rate. It is considered that when a venturi is inserted
sure drops. However, on the one hand, a high convergent angle into the pipeline, its contribution (P2 –P6 ) should be deducted
is expected to be detrimental for a smooth gas–solid flow. In from the conveying pressure drop (P0 –Pf ) and only the
214 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
3000 1000
£=1 £=0.7 75%
Solid mass flow rate, kg/h
£=0.7 £=0.55
2500
1500
400
1000 25%
200
500
0 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 0 300 600 900 1200 1500
Conveying pressure drop, kPa Conveying pressure drop, kPa
(a) (b)
Fig. 9 – Effect of throat diameter ratio on some of the conveying characteristics of pulverized coal: (a) relationship between
solid mass flow rate and conveying pressure drop; (b) relationship between venturi pressure drop and conveying pressure
drop.
remaining part [(P0 –Pf ) − (P2 –P6 )] can effectively contribute to 1200
the powder transport. Fig. 9(b) reports the conveying pressure
Inlet pressure of venturi, kPag
In the process of pneumatic conveying, particles move in a high pipeline pressure at the venturi upstream is expected,
virtue of gas flow along the pipeline, where the energy for the appropriate range for throat diameter ratio seems to fall
the particle movement is supplied by the effective conveying into the range between 0.22 and 0.7.
pressure drop. Therefore, according to Eq. (5) a value of 0.22
for the throat diameter ratio seems the minimum for a viable 3.2.3. Throat length
operation. The optimization of the throat length was carried out by
The effect of throat diameter ratio on pressure reduction analyzing the pressure data along the venturi. The pressure
was also examined by keeping an inlet gas superficial velocity distribution was plotted since it can directly describe the flow
of 5 m/s and a solid mass flow rate of 1200 kg/h. The result characteristics. Fig. 11 shows the pressure along the venturi
are reported in Fig. 10, which shows that the inlet pressure for an inlet gas superficial velocity of about 3.8 m/s and a solid
rises steeply when the throat diameter ratio used is below 0.7. mass flow rate of about 756 kg/h. The pressures are those taken
On the contrary, above this value, the throat diameter ratio by the pressure sensors installed along the venturi (P2 , P3 , P4 ,
is almost ineffective. This finding agrees well with the results P5 and P6 ) as reported in Section 2. In Fig. 11, a gradual decrease
shown in Fig. 9 and confirms that idea that venturi tubes with of the pressure is observed when gas–solid flows through the
small throat diameter ratios can produce very high pressure venturi.
drops in the flow of gas-solid mixtures, producing significant Fig. 12 reports the average longitudinal pressure gradients,
increases of the pressure upstream the venturi tube. From this calculated as the ratio of the pressure reduction (between ven-
standpoint, the throat diameter ratio should be less than 0.7 turi inlet and the corresponding location) to the distance. As it
in order to maintain high upstream pressures. can be seen from the picture, the pressure gradient decreases
With respect to the application of the venturi tube in feed with the distance first and then gradually inclines to a stable
loop of the pressurized entrained-flow coal gasification, for value of about 0.75 kPa/mm. Further, the average points of the
which a smooth conveying of pulverized coal is required and histograms were used in couples (the first two and the latter
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 215
400 350
Convergent
© e
Downstream
200
200
Diffuser
150
100
Upstream
100
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 Time, s
Distance from the venturi inlet, mm
Fig. 13 – Time series of pressure at the venturi outlet.
Fig. 11 – Pressure distribution along the venturi.
throat length, which had a relatively less effect compared to
1.2
other parameters such as the convergent angle and the throat
diameter. In fact, when the throat length exceeds a certain
relative to the venturi inlet, kPa/mm
1.1 value, the gas–solid interactions are growing weaker. Such sit-
uation is somewhat similar to the flow in the straight pipeline,
Rate of pressure change
3.2 22 4. Conclusion
Standard difference
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