Avaliação numérica da influência das propriedades físicas granulares e fluídas no transporte pneumático em trechos horizontais e verticais

Abstract

Pneumatic transportation is a method involving the displacement of bulk particulate materials through pipelines in either horizontal or vertical orientation, propelled by a gas stream generated by a fan, blower, or compressor due to pressure difference. In industries such as chemicals and energy, for instance, this procedure has been extensively utilized to convey biomass, enabling the pneumatic transfer of particulate material to storage silos, reactors, gasifiers, or boilers. In most cases, atmospheric air is commonly used as the fluid due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of handling, and non-toxicity. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate pneumatic transportation, focusing on the transport line, through sensitivity analysis of the physical parameters of the gas-fluid system and exploring operational parameters ensuring efficient material conveyance. Computational simulations were conducted and evaluated based on the fluid-dynamic behavior of the gas-solid system, considering transportation mode classifications and flow regime, alongside the characteristics of particulate material such as specific mass and particle size distribution. Pneumatic bed simulations were performed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with the OpenFoam open-source software, employing the Eulerian approach. Quantitative and qualitative analysis demonstrated the significant relevance of air velocity, granular phase concentration, operational conditions, and material properties in system performance, derived from simulation data. The study contributed to advancing understanding of neumatic transportation, providing insights into the influence of granular and fluid physical properties on pneumatic transport in both horizontal and vertical sections, considering variations in gas-fluid arameters for optimizing industrial processes involving biomass.