Bend pressure drop experiments compared with Fluent

In the present study, experimental data for bend pressure drop were collected from a pilot plant test loop with a pipe diameter of 53 mm. The experiments were performed at three different efflux volumetric concentrations (0%, 3·94% and 8·82%) of 448·5μm silica sand particles and for each concentration the flow velocity was varied from 1·78 to 3·56 m/s. Pressure drops were measured using a multi-tube inverted U-tube manometer assembly, with separation chambers to prevent blockage of the connecting tubes. It was observed that pressure drop along the pipe bend increases with flow velocity and particle concentration. The experimental data for bend pressure drop collected in the present study have been compared with threedimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling by running the commercial CFD code Fluent, and show good agreement (within a percentage deviation of ±10%). Modelling results indicate that the velocity and concentration distribution of solids become more uniform downstream, and the pressure at the outer wall is greater than that at the inner wall in the bend.