Eulerian models and kinetic theory closures for triboelectric charging in dense granular and gas-particle flows
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Abstract
Understanding triboelectrification is essential for predicting wall fouling and hazardous conditions in industrial systems. Simulating charge transport in gas-solid flows was confined to CFD-DEM approaches which treated particle phases as Lagrangian phases. As these simulations are computationally very expensive, there is a need for treating the particle phase as a Eulerian phase. For this purpose, transport equations for advection and diffusion of charge were derived based on Kinetic Theory of Granular Flows. The transport equations were subsequently implemented in OpenFOAM in conjunction with the existing two-fluid model libraries. Simulations of monodisperse fluidized beds were able to predict wall fouling and showed that particles of larger sizes have a lower affinity to form stable layers. The model was further developed for a generalized bi-disperse scenario which was shown to be capable of predicting bipolar charging in particle systems made up of the same material. A review was further conducted to identify shortcomings which need to be addressed to improve dependability and accuracy of current models being pursued.