Lagrangian model for predicting the dynamic behavior of cohesive particles in a fluidized confined environment

Abstract

Titanium dioxide, TiO2, is one of the most important raw materials in the paint production process; also TiO2 is classified as a Geldart C solid type, and it makes its storage and handling more than important not only because of its importance to the process but also because of its complicated nature -- Most common problems encountered handling and storing TiO2 come from the cohesive nature of the solid, which benefits the formation of agglomerates leading to clogging in pipes and storage vessels -- Attempting to simulate TiO2’s handling and storage, a Lagrangian particle simulation began by using a Discrete Element Model -- Understanding the interactions and forces acting on solids when they are dispersed in a gas and then stored, and the agglomerate formation due to cohesive forces were the main purposes of this work -- The particle motion under the influence of gravity and a fluid in motion was simulated with the BBO equation for each of the particles -- The wall-particle collisions were simulated with the equations for exchange of momentum and energy; the particle-particle collisions were simulated with the hard sphere model using as well the equations for exchange of momentum and energy and the agglomerate formation considered the collision model and a cohesion parameter -- Three hypotheses were proposed for the analysis of the interactions acting on the particles and their behavior was compared with results from various authors to conclude on the final validation of the DEM here proposed