Simulation of swirling gas–particle flows using USM and k–ε–kp two-phase turbulence models

The turbulent swirling gas–particle flows with swirl numbers 0.47 and 1.5 are simulated using a unified second-order moment (USM) (two-phase Reynolds stress equations) and a k–ε–kp two-phase turbulence models. The results are compared with experiments. Both two models can well predict the axial time-averaged two-phase velocities in case of s=0.47, but the USM model is better than the k–ε–kp model in predicting the tangential time-averaged two-phase velocities of strongly swirling flows (S=1.5). The anisotropic two-phase turbulence can well be described only using the USM model. The results give the difference in flow behavior between weakly swirling and strongly swirling gas–particle flows.