Study of airflow induced by regular particles in freefall through tubes.

• Effects of particle size and the particle-falling-tube diameter on induced airflow were quantized. • Temporal and spatial distribution of free-falling grain with a particle size range of 3.247–9.223 mm is analyzed. • Semi-empirical equation for calculating induced airflow is established. • Semi-empirical equation is validated by experimental data. Airflow induced by falling particles can be a significant factor in causing dust emission during the conveyance of bulk materials. Heretofore, there have been few experimental studies on the effect of the particle size and the diameter of the tubes through which they are falling on the induced airflow. This study involved the experimental analysis of the correlation between those two factors and the induced airflow. The results were as follows: within the range of the total drag coefficient (0.62–0.94) of the experimental setup, the induced airflow velocity increased with an increment of the mass flow rate of the particles and drop height, and the power exponents of a fitted curve were approximately 0.35 and 1.29, respectively. Within the particle diameter range of 3.247–9.223 mm, the power coefficients and power exponents of a fitted curve for induced airflow velocity increased from 0.224 and 0.269 to 0.458 and 0.384, respectively, with the increase in particle size. As the tube diameter decreased from 200 mm to 120 mm, both the induced airflow velocity and the quantity of specific induced airflow increased, while the quantities decreased when the tube diameter decreased from 120 mm to 75 mm. The semi-empirical equation of the induced airflow velocity was established to predict the quantity of induced airflow under various operation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]