True shape modeling of bio-particulate matter flow in an aero-cyclone separator using CFD–DEM simulation

The multi-phase flow of air and bio-particulate matter exists in many biological and environmental systems such as aerodynamic separating devices, fluidized bed combustion, and feed processing machinery. Integration of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) codes was performed to study bio-particle loading ratios' effect on the cyclone device performance. Every individual particle's behavior was captured by a DEM model using Newton’s equations of motion, in which CFD modeled the continuum airflow for every computational cell scale through the Navier–Stokes equation. According to the high turbulence and chaotic behavior of the continuum airflow inside the cyclone separator, Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) was used. The particles used for testing and modeling were conducted on two mixture types of real-heterogeneous particulate matter, namely jojoba seeds and jojoba leaves, without any fly ash. The particles were geometrically modeled using their actual dimensions and shapes, considered the first head start research approach in the cyclonic separation and purification field. The influence of the interacting particle–particle and particle–boundary forces was taken into consideration. The numerical simulation results successfully predicted the cyclone performance at the designed conditions, which showed the best experimental data trend. These data are useful in future studies to modify the cyclone design and optimize bio-systems' operating conditions for separating the macroscopic particulate matter.