Three-dimensional turbulent swirling flow in a cylinder: Experiments and computations

Dynamics of the three-dimensional flow in a cyclone with tangential inlet and tangential exit were studied using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) and a three-dimensional computational model. The PTV technique is described in this paper and appears to be well suited for the current flow situation. The flow was helical in nature and a secondary recirculating flow was observed and well predicted by computations using the RNG k–ε turbulence model. The secondary flow was characterized by a single vortex which circulated around the axis and occupied a large fraction of the cylinder diameter. The locus of the vortex center meandered around the cylinder axis, making one complete revolution for a cylinder aspect ratio of 2. Tangential velocities from both experiments and computations were compared and found to be in good agreement. The general structure of the flow does not vary significantly as the Reynolds number is increased. However, slight changes in all components of velocity and pressure were seen as the inlet velocity is increased. By increasing the inlet aspect ratio it was observed that the vortex meandering changed significantly.