Estimating Scaled Cloud Height in Pulse Jet Mixed Vessels

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/IMECE2024-143209· OSTI ID:2565927

Pease, Leonard F. ^[1]; Bamberger, Judith A. ^[1]; Daniel, Richard C. ^[1]; Minette, Michael J. ^[1]

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1. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)

To suspend and mix radioactive slurries without pumps or impellers, the performance of pulsed jet mixed vessels has been investigated. The slurry in the pulse tubes is expelled impinging upon the vessel floor and lifting solids to a “cloud height” in a cyclic process. Experiments measuring cloud height for a variety of waste simulants have been conducted for vessel configurations that varied vessel diameter, fill height and pulse tube number, volume, and nozzle diameter. The elevation to which suspended particles rise is termed the cloud height and derives from a balance between the fluid forces of the jet and the gravitational forces acting on the particle ensemble. Here we use scaling to estimate the cloud height based on conservation of mass and momentum and jet similarity. We find that the cloud height varies with the nozzle exit velocity to the 2/3 power in agreement with observations.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 2565927
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-198437
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

cloud height
effective cleaning radius
effective clearing radius
critical suspension velocity