Numerical modeling of granular biomass material flow in handling operations is indispensable to decipher flow upsets, commonly manifested as clogging and jamming in hoppers and augers. With a computational tool developed based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), we simulated the hopper flow and auger feeding of six granular biomass materials. The good agreement between the experimental and numerical flow rates demonstrated the capability of the developed SPH solver in modeling the complicated flow of granular biomass materials. Further, the impact of physical and numerical parameters is investigated, and the major results show that the hopper flow pattern is controlled by shear band evolution; hopper clogging is collectively influenced by the opening size, wall friction, and material packing, and the impact of material compressibility on the auger feed rate is minimal. These parametric studies validate the solver’s robustness in simulating biomass flow in handling equipment and demonstrate that the SPH computational tool can provide insights about granular flow mechanics to facilitate handling equipment design and optimize handling operations.
@article{osti_2337908,
author = {Zhao, Yumeng and Jin, Wencheng and Ikbarieh, Abdallah and Klinger, Jordan L. and Saha, Nepu and Dayton, David C. and Dai, Sheng},
title = {SPH Modeling of Biomass Granular Flow: Engineering Application in Hoppers and Augers},
annote = {Numerical modeling of granular biomass material flow in handling operations is indispensable to decipher flow upsets, commonly manifested as clogging and jamming in hoppers and augers. With a computational tool developed based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), we simulated the hopper flow and auger feeding of six granular biomass materials. The good agreement between the experimental and numerical flow rates demonstrated the capability of the developed SPH solver in modeling the complicated flow of granular biomass materials. Further, the impact of physical and numerical parameters is investigated, and the major results show that the hopper flow pattern is controlled by shear band evolution; hopper clogging is collectively influenced by the opening size, wall friction, and material packing, and the impact of material compressibility on the auger feed rate is minimal. These parametric studies validate the solver’s robustness in simulating biomass flow in handling equipment and demonstrate that the SPH computational tool can provide insights about granular flow mechanics to facilitate handling equipment design and optimize handling operations.},
doi = {10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c08090},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2337908},
journal = {ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering},
issn = {ISSN 2168-0485},
number = {10},
volume = {12},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Chemical Society (ACS)},
year = {2024},
month = {02}}
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 356, Issue 1747https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1998.0291