On the apparent particle dispersion in granular media

The apparent particle dispersion in a granular medium due to the combined effects of random granular arrangements and interstitial fluid flow was studied. The particle motion was a two-dimensional random walk on the transverse plane. The corresponding dispersion coefficient was found by sampling all possible trajectories with the aid of two granular media models. The theoretical results were verified by numerical simulation data obtained with commercial CFD software. Reasonably good agreement between the theory and simulation suggests that the present theory may be applied to practical granular system applications.