Efficient simulation of particle-laden turbulent flows with high mass loadings using LES

The paper is concerned with the simulation of particle-laden two-phase flows based on the Euler-Lagrange approach. The methodology developed is driven by two major requirements: (i) the necessity to tackle complex turbulent flows by eddy-resolving schemes such as large-eddy simulation; (ii) the demand to predict dispersed multiphase flows at high mass loadings. First, a highly efficient particle tracking algorithm was developed working on curvilinear, block-structured grids. Second, to allow the prediction of dense two-phase flows, the fluid-particle interaction (two-way coupling) as well as particle-particle collisions (four-way coupling) had to be taken into account. For the latter instead of a stochastic collision model, in the present study a deterministic collision model is considered. Nevertheless, the computational burden is minor owing to the concept of virtual cells, where only adjacent particles are taken into account in the search for potential collision partners. The methodology is applied to different test cases (plane channel flow, combustion chamber flow). The computational results are compared with experimental measurements and good agreement is found. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.