Semianalytical model for solid concentration in turbulent pipe flows with dispersed particles

This paper presents a semianalytical model for the radial distribution of the solid concentration in a fully developed vertical turbulent pipe two-phase flow. A simplified momentum equation in the radial direction for solid phase in a two-phase flow with dilute suspended particles was first obtained. A linear empirical closure relation for the mean gas and solid velocities along the pipe direction was constructed using published experimental data. By incorporating the closure relation, an analytical solution to the simplified solid momentum equation with the appropriate boundary conditions at the pipe center and wall was obtained. The results from this semianalytical model are able to describe the core-annulus phenomenon commonly in two-phase turbulent pipe flows. Very good agreements were found between the model predictions and published experimental data.