Diffusive separation of particles by diffusion in swirled turbulent flows

An analysis of the dynamics of turbulent flow and diffusive separation of solid particles in a centrifugal air separator (consisting of two flat disks rotating at the same angular velocity) is presented. A closed set of balances for all the components of the tensor of turbulent stresses, extended to the entire flow region, is employed in the numerical analysis of transition and turbulent air flows between the rotating disks. The analytical relationships obtained for the case of the mixed flow for the various components of the average velocity, energy of fluctuations, and turbulence level in the circumferential direction agreed well with the theoretical and experimental distributions of Bakke et al. (1973). It is shown that at high Reynolds numbers the flow is isotropic, the dependence of the circumferential component of the average velocity obeys a power law, and the generation of the radial component is controlled by the local centrifugal field. The sharpness of particle separation was calculated by the eddy diffusion equation and was found to depend on the geometry and the operating conditions.