Descripción del proyecto
Los «polvorines» son cosa del pasado
Más del 70 % de los polvos procesados en las plantas industriales son combustibles. El potencial de que se produzcan explosiones e incendios plantea unos riesgos importantes, no solo de pérdidas económicas, sino de lesiones y muertes. Incluso la harina y el polvo de grano han causado explosiones catastróficas en molinos, con frecuencia debido a descargas electrostáticas. Sin embargo, la caracterización y cuantificación de la velocidad a la que se carga el flujo de polvo sigue suponiendo un gran reto. El proyecto PowFEct, financiado con fondos europeos, se basa en las primeras simulaciones que combinaron la mecánica de fluidos, la ciencia de superficies y la electrostática, y consiguieron descubrir que los diferentes mecanismos de flujos determinan el régimen de carga del polvo. Las investigaciones actuales mejorarán significativamente nuestra comprensión de estos procesos a través de un ciclo de metodologías experimentales y teóricas que permitirán desarrollar un modelo teórico y una herramienta de código abierto que respaldarán un procesamiento de polvo más seguro en diferentes aplicaciones industriales.
Objetivo
The electrification of powder flows is one of the most pervasive phenomena in environmental processes and of tremendous importance for technical applications. In industrial plants, excessive electrostatic charges can even lead to hazardous sparks, which have caused numerous catastrophic dust explosions in the past. However, despite its long history of investigation, it is not currently possible to predict the buildup, transport, and accumulation of charge.
Starting from 2015, I developed a numerical approach with the important capability to couple the involved scientific disciplines – fluid mechanics (turbulent carrier flow), surface science (triboelectric particle charging), and electrostatics (forces between charges). The first ever fully-resolved simulations revealed that the occurrence of distinct physical flow mechanisms determines the charging rate of powder. This knowledge opens a new way to control the electrification through triggering these mechanisms and, thus, to solve the problem finally. To this end, this proposal aims to develop a novel interdisciplinary computational tool. This task includes establishing several new numerical concepts, such as a single-particle charging model. Beyond the state-of-the-art single-particle and powder flow electrification experiments which both employ innovative measurement methodologies will support the theoretical efforts. The proposed test set-ups will bring about a paradigm shift by quantifying, for the first time, reproducible, facility independent data, tailored specifically to complement the model formulation.
The successful project will provide an open-source tool that enables the prediction, evaluation, and limitation of electrostatic charges. To this respect, the research aims not only to prevent accidents in industrial facilities but also to understand the physics of other kinds of electrifying powder flows and to solve a long-standing scientific riddle.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
38116 Braunschweig
Alemania