Dem-Cfd Analysis of Contact Electrification and Electrostatic Interactions During Powder Handling Processes
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DEM-CFD ANALYSIS OF CONTACT ELECTRIFICATION AND ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTIONS DURING POWDER HANDLING PROCESSES CHUNLEI PEI BEng A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Chemical Engineering University of Birmingham September 2013 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Electrostatic phenomena are pervasive in powder handling processes. In this study, contact electrification and electrostatic interactions during powder handling processes are explored using the discrete element method coupled with computational fluid dynamics (DEM-CFD), in which contact electrification and electrostatic interaction models are developed and implemented. The effects of particle shape on contact electrification are also investigated, for which multi-sphere methods are adapted and implemented into the DEM-CFD. The electrostatic and dynamic behaviours in various powder handling processes are then analyzed, which include contact electrification of spherical particles during fluidization; electrostatic interactions during deposition of mono-charged and bi-charged particles; contact electrification and electrostatic interactions of spherical particles during fluidization; contact electrification of elongated particles in a vibrating container and particles of arbitrary shapes in a rotating drum. It is found that charge accumulation and distribution of particles are caused by contact electrification and dispersion of mono-charged particles and agglomeration of bi-charged particles are induced by electrostatic interactions. The combined effects of contact electrification and electrostatic interactions can alter the dynamic behaviours of particles and the performance of powder handling processes. Non-uniform charge distributions can be induced on particles of irregular shapes and the charge accumulation is also affected by particle shapes. KEYWORDS: contact electrification; electrostatic interactions; discrete element method; computational fluid dynamics; multi-sphere method ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Chuan-Yu (Charley) Wu and Prof. Michael Adams for supervising and mentoring me throughout my PhD study. Their broad knowledge, constructive support and great patience help me to progress in this exciting and amazing research area. I would like to give my great thanks to Dr. Colin Thornton and many fellow researchers including Drs. Yu Guo and Shen Yu. I benefit from the discussions and communications with them during my PhD study. I would like to acknowledge Drs. David England, Harald Berchtold and Stephen Byard, from Sanofi (previously sanofi-aventis), for many excellent and helpful comments and advices. Special thanks to Sanofi (previously sanofi-aventis) for fully funding me this great research project. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their heartful support and encouragement. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Outline of this thesis ........................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 6 2.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Mechanisms of contact electrification ............................................................................. 6 2.2.1. Contact electrification between metals ..................................................................... 7 2.2.2. Contact electrification between metals and polymers ............................................ 10 2.2.3. Contact electrification of insulators ........................................................................ 15 2.2.4. Frictional electrification ......................................................................................... 17 2.2.5. The influence factors of contact electrification ...................................................... 18 2.3. Mechanisms of electrostatic interactions ....................................................................... 20 2.4. Contact electrification and electrostatic interactions in powder handling processes .... 23 2.4.1. Contact electrification in powder handling processes ............................................ 23 2.4.2. Electrostatic interactions in powder handling processes ........................................ 28 2.4.3. Combined effects of electrification and electrostatic interactions ......................... 32 2.5. DEM-CFD for contact electrification and electrostatic interactions ............................. 36 2.5.1. The discrete element method .................................................................................. 37 2.5.2. DEM-CFD method ................................................................................................. 47 2.5.3. DEM-CFD applications .......................................................................................... 50 2.5.4. DEM-CFD analysis of contact electrification and electrostatic interactions ......... 51 2.6. Other numerical methods for contact electrification and electrostatic interactions ...... 59 2.7. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 62 CHAPTER 3 CONTACT ELECTRIFICATION FOR SPHERICAL PARTICLES ...... 63 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 63 3.2. Implementation of electrification into DEM ................................................................. 63 3.2.1. Contact electrification model ................................................................................. 63 3.2.2. Model validation ..................................................................................................... 66 3.2.3. Effect of particle size on contact electrification ..................................................... 70 3.3. Contact electrification of spherical particles during fluidization .................................. 73 3.3.1. Model setup ............................................................................................................ 73 3.3.2. Results .................................................................................................................... 75 3.4. Discussions .................................................................................................................... 81 3.4.1. The effect of particle size on contact electrification during the impact with a substrate ............................................................................................................................ 81 3.4.2. Contact electrification during fluidization .............................................................. 82 3.4.3. Charge relaxation during contact electrification .................................................... 84 3.5. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 84 CHAPTER 4 MODELLING ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTIONS USING DEM-CFD .................................................................................................................................................. 86 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 86 4.2. Electrostatic interaction models..................................................................................... 86 4.2.1. Basic principles ...................................................................................................... 86 4.2.2. Particle impact with electrostatic interactions ........................................................ 88 4.2.3. Direct truncation (DT) and Hybrid particle – cell (HPC) algorithms .................... 91 4.3. Deposition of mono-charged particles ........................................................................... 95 4.3.1. Model setup ............................................................................................................ 95 4.3.2. Deposition behaviour of mono-charged particles ................................................... 97 4.3.3. Radial distribution function .................................................................................. 100 4.3.4. Granular temperature ............................................................................................ 102 4.4. Deposition of bi-charged particles ..............................................................................