Fluid–particle interaction from lattice Boltzmann simulations for flow through polydisperse random arrays of spheres

Fluid–solid drag force correlations, such as the Ergun relation, are widely used in many areas of chemical engineering. In many practical applications, the solid phase consist of an assembly of spheres which are, more often than not, polydisperse. In this paper we report on a study of the fluid–particle interaction by fully resolved DNS-type simulations (lattice Boltzmann) of flow through polydisperse random arrays of spheres, both for log-normal and Gaussian size distributions. In a recent paper [Van der Hoef, M.A., Beetstra, R., Kuipers, J.A.M., 2005. Lattice Boltzmann simulations of low Reynolds number flow past mono- and bidisperse arrays of spheres: results for the permeability and drag force. J. Fluid Mech. 528, 233] we have shown that a correction factor should be applied to the monodisperse drag force relations, when used for bidisperse systems. On the basis of the data reported in this paper, we conclude that the correction factor also applies to general polydisperse systems.