Flow regimes leading to clogging of pipes exist for most multiphase flows with cohesive particles. Although plugging is critical in many industrial and medical applications, there are few records describing the details of the process. To address the problem, we conduct a computed tomography (CT) study of plugging in a cohesive ice slurry. We run experiments for ice concentration of 15%, Re∼3500, particle size 0.2-0.4 mm, and their surface energy ∼150 mJ/m. The CT scans, combined with experimental logs of the main flow parameters, revealed the formation of deposits around the orifice inserted into the pipe, with a complete blockage formed downflow the orifice. The deposition efficiency of ice was relatively low ∼ 10. Reproducing the experimental deposition efficiency with the Lagrangian CFD model, we extracted the probability of particle capture at the orifice, which was about 0.5%. The simulation results illustrated how inter-particle interactions hindered the plugging.

中文翻译：

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粘性颗粒堵塞管道。计算机断层扫描研究和理论分析

大多数含有粘性颗粒的多相流都存在导致管道堵塞的流态。尽管堵塞在许多工业和医疗应用中至关重要，但描述该过程细节的记录却很少。为了解决这个问题，我们对粘性冰浆的堵塞进行了计算机断层扫描 (CT) 研究。我们对冰浓度为 15%、Re∼3500、粒径 0.2-0.4 mm、表面能∼150 mJ/m 进行了实验。 CT 扫描与主要流动参数的实验记录相结合，显示插入管道的孔口周围形成了沉积物，并在孔口下游形成了完全堵塞。冰的沉积效率相对较低~ 10。用拉格朗日CFD模型再现实验沉积效率，我们提取了孔口处颗粒捕获的概率，约为0.5%。模拟结果说明了颗粒间相互作用如何阻碍堵塞。