Effects of finite-size neutrally buoyant particles on the turbulent channel flow at a Reynolds number of 395

A direct-forcing fictitious domain(DFFD) method is used to perform fully resolved numerical simulations of turbulent channel flows laden with large neutrally buoyant particles. The effects of the particles on the turbulence(including the mean velocity,the root mean square(RMS) of the velocity fluctuation, the probability density function(PDF) of the velocity, and the vortex structures) at a friction Reynolds number of 395 are investigated. The results show that the drag-reduction effect caused by finite-size spherical particles at low particle volumes is negligibly small. The particle effects on the RMS velocities at Re_τ = 395 are significantly smaller than those at Re_τ = 180, despite qualitatively the same effects, i.e., the presence of particles decreases the maximum streamwise RMS velocity near the wall via weakening the large-scale streamwise vortices,and increases the transverse and spanwise RMS velocities in the vicinity of the wall by inducing smaller-scale vortices. The effects of the particles on the PDFs of the fluid fluctuating velocities normalized with the RMS velocities are small, regardless of the particle size, the particle volume fraction, and the Reynolds number.

Hydrodynamics characterization of a choanoid fluidized bed bioreactor used in the bioartificial liver system： Fully resolved simulation with a fctitious domain method

Choanoid fluidized bed bioreactors （CFBBs） are newly developed core devices used in bioartificial liver- support systems to detoxify blood plasma of patients with microencapsulated liver cells. Direct numerical simulations （DNS） with a direct-forcing/fictitious domain （DF/FD） method were conducted to study the hydrodynamic performance of a CFBB. The effects of particle-fluid density ratio, particle number, and fil- ter screens preventing particles flowing out of the reactor were investigated. Depending on density ratio, two flow patterns are evident： the circulation mode in which the suspension rises along one sidewall and descends along the other sidewall, and the non-circulation mode in which the whole suspension roughly flows upward. The circulation mode takes place under non-neutral-buoyancy where the particle sedimentation dominates, whereas the non-circulation mode occurs under pure or near-neutral buoy- ancy with particle-fluid density ratios of unity or near unity. With particle-fluid density ratio of 1.01, the bioartificial liver reactor performs optimally as the significant particle accumulation existing in the non-circulation mode and the large shear forces on particles in the circulation mode are avoided. At higher particle volume fractions, more particles accumulate at the filter screens and a secondary counter circulation to the primary flow is observed at the top of the bed. Modelled as porous media, the filter screens play a negative role on particle fluidization velocities; without screens, particles are fluidized faster because of the higher fluid velocities in the jet center region. This work extends the DF/FD-based DNS to a fluidized bed and accounts for effects from inclined side walls and porous media, providing some hydrodynamics insight that is important for CFBB design and operation optimization.