Injection Performance of a Gas-Solid Injector Based on the Particle Trajectory Model

Abstract

Gas-solid injectors are widely used feeding equipment in pneumatic conveying systems. The performance of a gas-solid injector has a significant influence on the type of application it can be employed for. To determine the key factors influencing the injection performance and address clogging problems in a gas-solid injector during a pneumatic conveying process, the particle trajectory model has been utilised as a means to perform simulations. In the particle trajectory model, the gas phase is treated as a continuous medium and the particle phase is treated as a dispersed phase. In this work, numerical and experimental studies were conducted for different nozzle positions in a gas-solid injector. A gas-solid injector test-bed was constructed based on the results of the simulations. The results show that the nozzle position is the key factor that affects the injection performance. The number of extrusive particles first increases and then decreases with the change in the nozzle position from left to right. Additionally, there is an optimum nozzle position that maximises the injection mass and minimises the number of particles remaining in the hopper. Based on the results of this work, the injection performance can be significantly increased and the clogging issues are effectively eliminated.