Investigation of erosion in an industrial cyclone preheater by CFD simulations

The Dense Discrete Phase Model, DDPM, was used to investigate erosion, caused by the impacts of solid particles, in an industrial cyclone preheater by application of Oka's erosion model. The model predictions of flow pattern and temperature profile were validated by measurements in an industrial cyclone preheater. Then, the erosion model was tested against the results in a lab-scale cyclone reported in the literature. Furthermore, the erosion patterns in the industrial cyclone preheater were predicted by the model. The predicted results were qualitatively matching with the erosion observed in the cyclone. In addition, parametric studies on key operating conditions were performed and the impacts on erosion as well as pressure drop and heat transfer rate were evaluated. The results indicate that gas flow rate and inlet temperature have the greatest influence on erosion. The erosion rate is largely unaffected by solid flow rate and particle size in the studied range.

Automated summary

The Dense Discrete Phase Model (DDPM) was used with Oka's erosion model to investigate erosion caused by solid particle impacts in an industrial cyclone preheater. The model's predictions of flow pattern and temperature profile were validated with measurements in an industrial cyclone preheater, as well as against results from a lab-scale cyclone in the literature. The model also successfully predicted the erosion patterns observed in the industrial cyclone preheater, and parametric studies showed that gas flow rate and inlet temperature had the greatest impact on erosion.