Developing a Simulation Model for Electrostatic Charging in Gas-Solid Flows

Electrostatic charging can occur when any kind of solid particles, from grains in silos to powders in chemical plants, undergo a lot of collisions through movement or mixing. Particle charging can create some serious challenges – highly charged particles can stick to surfaces and hinder industrial processes, and in some cases can create sparks that lead to dust explosions. A good understanding of electrostatic charging and its effects allows the development of techniques that reduce or control particle charging in gas-solid flow systems. This goal to better understand the phenomenon gave rise to the idea of developing a numerical model for electrostatic charging for use in computer simulations, which are safer and more cost-effective than running large-scale experiments. Thus, this project’s objective is to develop a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation model to be used as a tool by fellow researchers, to study the effects of particle charging in industrial-scale systems.

Faculty Supervisor:

Poupak Mehrani

Student:

Partner:

Iowa State University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Advanced Manufacturing; Technology

University:

University of Ottawa

Program: