Predicting the similar profile regime of upflowing gas-solid suspensions

The existence of lean and dense regimes in the fully developed upflow of gas-particle suspension has been extensively investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Self-similar flow patterns, which have been suggested and detected within the lean regime, disappear when the solid loading is increased. The system then switches to the so-called dense regime, and the pressure drop increases more rapidly with increasing the global solid mass flow rate. The predictive capability of the model presented by Ocone et al. (1993; AICHE J 39: 1261), in relation to the features associated with these two regimes, is investigated. Since the existence of such regimes can be predicted theoretically, without making an explicit constitutive assumption on the way the solid phase exchanges momentum, the theoretical and modelling approaches are indeed independent. Consequently, from the computed results an insight can be gained into the mechanisms responsible for the observed behaviour.