chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cherd

Design optimization of a venturi tube geometry in

dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized
coal for entrained-flow gasification

Haifeng Lu, Xiaolei Guo, Peng Li, Kai Liu, Xin Gong ∗
Key Laboratory of Coal Gasification and Energy Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanghai Engineering
Research Center of Coal Gasification, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of a venturi tube to sustain the pipeline pressure in the dense-phase pneumatic
Received 29 December 2016 conveying of pulverized coal system is promising for its application to the pressurized
Received in revised form 14 entrained-flow coal gasification process, in spite of the limited knowledge of the funda-
February 2017 mentals of the gas–solid flow through the venturi tubes at high-pressure and dense-phase
Accepted 17 February 2017 pneumatic transport conditions. In this paper, a series of experiments were carried out and
Available online 28 February 2017 the geometry parameters of the venturi tube, including the convergent angle, the throat
diameter, the throat length and the diffuser angle were varied at constant flow conditions
Keywords: to evaluate their effect on the conveying properties and on the pressure reduction effects
Venturi tube in the flow of gas–solid mixtures through the venturi tube. The optimum values or ranges
Dense-phase pneumatic conveying of the above mentioned venturi geometrical parameters in the application of venturi tubes
Pulverized coal to dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal are determined in this work. These
Pressure reduction values will provide a useful reference for the design of feeding systems in the pressurized
Entrained-flow gasification entrained-flow coal gasification process.
© 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Reliable feeding of pulverized coal into the gasifier is of great impor-
tance for coal gasification with the pressurized entrained-flow process
(Guo et al., 2012). During feeding into the gasifier, any fluctuation of
coal mass flow rate will affect the oxygen carbon ratio directly and
as a result, affect the index of gasification performance and the final
product quality consequently (Lu et al., 2012). Dense-phase pneumatic
conveying technology has been commonly applied to feed the pulver-
ized coal into the gasifier for the low consumption of carrier gas and the
more efficient power utilization (Kus et al., 2016; Cong et al., 2012). The
accuracy of the measurement of the coal mass flow rate, as well as and
the stability of the rate control, are prerequisites for stable and long-
period operation of the gasifier. In industrial processes, it is beneficial
to adjust the coal transport conditions in a closed loop before feed-
ing the pulverized coal into the gasifier. High-pressure (1–5 MPa) and
high-concentration (200–400 kg/m3 ) conveying conditions adequate to
feed the coal powder into the gasifier have to be attained before coal
feeding. For this purpose it is necessary that the loop is equipped with
the necessary instrumentation to adequately meter the coal mass flow
rate and to calibrate and validate the meter itself.
A schematic diagram of the pulverized coal feeding system in
the industrial demonstration plant of SE-Gasifier Pulverized Coal
Entrained-flow Gasification in Jiangsu, China is shown in Fig. 1. The
coal, pulverized into a certain particle size distribution, is discharged
from the storage bunker to the lock hopper, to the feeder hopper, and
then fed into the gasifier under a certain pressure difference by the
dense-phase pneumatic convening technology. A three-way valve is
installed in the pipeline to separate the recycle line from the feeding
line. Before the gasifier startup, the pulverized coal has to be adjusted
in the recycle line and will not be switched from the recycle line to the
feeding line until the required pipeline pressure and coal mass flow
rate required by the gasifier are obtained in the closed loop.
According to the feeding process shown in Fig. 1, the receiver hopper
which connects the atmospheric storage bunker is operated at atmo-
spheric pressure, while the gasifier served as a pressurized reactor

∗
Corresponding author. Fax: +86 21 6425 1312.
E-mail addresses: gongxin@ecust.edu.cn, luhf@ecust.edu.cn (X. Gong).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2017.02.020
0263-8762/© 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 209

Vent

Nomenclature

Receiver
hopper
Pulverzied coal
D Diameter of conveying pipe, mm Filter
Atmos Recycle line
d10 10th percentile particle diameter, ␮m
d50 Volume median particle diameter, ␮m
Venturi tube
d90 90th percentile particle diameter, ␮m
Storage
dsv Particle Sauter mean diameter, ␮m bunker
dt Throat diameter of venturi tube, mm
EM External moisture content, % Three-way Feeding line
Atmos
valve
L Convergent length of venturi tube, mm
Lt Length of venturi throat section, mm
Lock
M Maximum amplitude of pressure, kPag Vessel

Gasifier
~4MPa
Mg Gas mass flow rate through the venturi tube, 0~5MPa
kg/h Raw coal
Ms Solid mass flow rate, kg/h
P1 Pressure far from venturi upstream, kPag Feeder
Vessel
P2 Pressure at venturi inlet, kPag
~5MPa
P3 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Dry gas
N2 or CO2
P4 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Pulverizer
P5 Pressure at venturi throat, kPag Dense-phase pneumatic conveying
P6 Pressure at venturi outlet, kPag
Fig. 1 – Schematic diagram of pulverized coal feeding in
P7 Pressure far from venturi downstream, kPag
pressurized entrained-flow coal gasification process.
Pf Pressure of feeder vessel, kPag
P0 Pressure of receiver vessel, kPag
Pe Effective pressure drop used for solids convey- consuming and costly process. The question that arises is: “How to
ing, kPa determine a proper venturi tube design provided the required range of
coal mass flow rates and the specified gasifier pressure?”
S Standard difference of pressure, kPa
In the last decades, the use of venturi tubes for the measurement
Ug, Inlet gas superficial velocity in the venturi tube,
and the characterization of gas–solid flow has received considerable
m/s
attention and the flow characteristics of gas–solid flow through ven-
turi tubes have been noted by many researchers (Monni et al., 2014;
Greek symbols Giddings et al., 2011; Doss, 1985). However, most of the published
ˇ Throat diameter ratio (throat diameter dt /inlet works are focused on gas–solid in dilute regimes, with low solid load-
diameter D), − ing ratio. For example, Lee and Crowe (1982) investigated the scaling
 Angle of repose, ◦ parameters applicable to measuring the mass flow rate of gas–solid sus-
1 Convergent angle of venturi tube, ◦ pensions through the venturi with the solid loading ratio tested from
2 Diffuser angle of venturi tube, ◦ 0 to 1.6 kg/kg. They found that the effect of the throat diameter ratio
b Bulk density, kg/m3 on the pressure drop through the venturi tube was coupled with the
p Particle density, kg/m3 particle Stokes number. Azzopardi et al. (1999) developed a quasi-one-
dimensional model for gas–solid flow through the venturi with solid
loading ratios between 0 and 1.8 kg/kg. Payne and Crowe (1984) studied
on the effect of the solid loading ratios and of the venturi geometry
vessel is usually operated at about 4.0 MPa. It is therefore necessary properties (convergent angle and diffuser angle) on the venturi pres-
to raise the pressure in the closed loop, at the three way valve, to meet sure drops and on the flow metering for solid loading ratios ranging
the pressure requirement to feed the gasifier without altering its oper- between 0.05 and 3 kg/kg.
ating pressure. A viable solution is given by the installation of a venturi The application of venturi tubes in dense-phase pneumatic convey-
tube in the recycle line, which can provide the required pressure drops ing is promising but rarely reported. It is generally known that dense
when the gas-solid flow through (Liang et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2014). flow in pneumatic conveying pipelines is an unsteady, complex, non-
The pressurized entrained-flow gasification of pulverized coal would linear and dynamical system, in which it is not easy to understand
benefit from a proper design of the venturi tube which can be used: the conveying properties and the pressure reduction determined by
(1) to determine the high-pressure and the high-concentration convey- the flow through venturi tubes. Till now, we can only find few reports.
ing conditions necessary to gasifier operation and (2) to provide useful These are due to: (1) Shaffer and Bajura (1990), who provided some
information to provide the environment to meter, calibrate and validate experimental data with solid loading ratios up to 35 kg/kg; (2) Liang
the solid mass flow. The research are also relevant to some other appli- et al. (2015, 2016), who studied the pressure reduction characteristics in
cations, such as blast furnace spurts coal technology and pressurized dense-phase conveying condition without, however, providing detailed
coal combustion etc. information on the solid loading ratios adopted; (3) groups working in
The effects of the venturi tube on the gas pressure reduction and on our laboratory (Liu et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2016, 2011), providing results
the dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal depend on its for solid loading ratios in the range between 20 and 250 kg/kg.
geometry and on the gas–solid flow conditions, and these effects are The purpose of this work is to optimize the design procedure for the
necessary for the stability of the gasifier operation and of its products. geometry of venturi tubes to be used in dense-phase pneumatic con-
However, to date, the lack of experiments on the mixed gas–solid flow veying applications. First, an experimental investigation was carried
through venturi tubes at high-pressure and high-concentration did not out to elucidate the effect of venturi tube on dense-phase pneumatic
allow to develop any proven theory nor any design guidelines for ven- conveying streams based on the analysis of the pressure distribution
turi tube operated in the condition of interest for the above described and of pressure drop per unit length in the conveying pipeline. Then, a
application. As a result, empirical design processes are adopted and a series of experiments were carried out to investigate on the role of the
variety of venturi tubes have to be tested before the best design can different geometry parameters of the venturi tube, including the con-
be chosen on the basis of the tested performances. This is a time- vergent angle, the throat diameter, the throat length and the diffuser
210 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217

The experimental rig was the facility of dense-phase

Table 1 – Physical properties of pulverized coal.
pneumatic conveying system at the Key Laboratory of Coal
d10 d50 d90 dsv EM p b 
Gasification and Energy Chemical Engineering of Ministry of
(␮m) (␮m) (␮m) (␮m) (wt. %) (kg m−3 ) (kg m−3 ) (deg)
Education in Shanghai of China. As shown in Fig. 2, the whole
1.9 19.7 109.4 5.2 1.9 1532 419 45.7 system consists of an air source, a feeder and a receiver ves-
sel, connecting pipelines, a venturi tube, a dust remover and
a data acquisition system. The test rig is described in detail
angle. These parameters were changed at constant flow conditions in elsewhere (Liu et al., 2014). The venturi tube was inserted
order to evaluate their effect on the conveying properties and the pres- into the closed loop pipeline in the vertical riser section. The
sure reduction characteristics of the gas-solid flow through the venturi venturi tube was designed in modular form to ease the sub-
tube.
stitution of its components. In particular, the inlet section,
the throat and the exit section were made as separate parts
2. Experimental set-up held together with a longitudinal clamp to be mounted in
the pipeline. Particular attention was paid to the connections
Pulverized coal (Beisu bituminite coal) from the pilot-scale between the venturi sections and between the venturi tube
plant of the entrained-flow gasification in Shandong province and the upstream and the downstream pipes in order to avoid
of China was used as the experimental test material. The phys- machining faults that could affect the accuracy of measure-
ical properties of this powder are provided in Table 1. Particle ments. Seven pressure taps (P1 – P7 ) were installed along the
size distribution was measured by a Malvern Mastersizer 2000 conveying pipeline. In particular, the tap P1 was located 213-D
with a wet dispersion unit. Measurements indicate that the upstream the venturi tube, which is 213 times the pipe diam-
powder provides a small particle size with the Sauter mean eter (D). The tap P2 was placed a short distance 2-D upstream
diameter, dsv , of about 5.2 ␮m. The powder moisture content the venturi inlet. Pressure taps P3 , P4 and P5 were placed along
was measured by an infrared moisture analyzer MA150 (Sar- the venturi throat, at the inlet, in the middle and at the outlet.
torius) according to the National Standards of the People’s Pressure tap P6 was placed at a short distance 2-D downstream
Republic of China (GB/T 211-1996, 1996). The detected external the diffuser end. The tap P7 was placed 53-D downstream the
moisture content, EM, was very small, lower than 2%, sug- venturi tube. All the pressures reported in this paper were
gesting a limited influence of moisture on the powder flow gauge pressures.
characteristics that it is possible to be ignored. The particle The tests were carried out by maintaining atmospheric
density, p , was determined by mercury intrusion picnome- pressure at the receiver vessel (P0 ) and increasing the gas flow
try (GB/T 217-1996, 1996). Powder was further characterized rate (Mg ) to increase the pressure of feeder vessel (Pf ). Part of
with a PT-X tester by measuring the bulk density, b , and the the carrier gas was supplied into the top of the feeder ves-
angle of repose, . According to Carr’s classification on angle sel to control the conveying pressure, part into the bottom of
of repose (Carr, 1965), the pulverized coal used in this work is the feeder vessel to fluidize the pulverized coal, and the rest
characterized by poor flowability and certain cohesive forces.

Fig. 2 – Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
Fig. 3 – Schematic diagram of a venturi tube.
Table 2 – Geometry parameters of venturi used for
optimum design.
Parameter Default value Modified values
D (mm) 15 – sel is around 1000 kPag and the receiver vessel is kept under
d (mm) 6 8.2, 10.5
 1 (◦ ) 5 2.5, 9, 13
Lt (mm) 260 140, 480
 2 (◦ ) 8 2.5, 5, 13
was introduced into the front end of the conveying pipe. The
pulverized coal was conveyed from the feeder vessel to the
receiver vessel along a 35-m-long pipeline (L) with a 15 mm
internal diameter (D). Gas and solids were separated in the
receiver hopper, where the gas was discharged to atmosphere
through the filter and the solids were retained in the receiver
vessel for recirculation.
A schematic diagram of the venturi tube was provide in
Fig. 3. At each given conveying condition, the geometry param-
eters of the venturi tube were first set to the default values
according to Table 2 and then varied one by one to each
of the modified value, presented in the same table, leaving
all the other to the standard values. In this work, weighing
cells (Mettler Toledo Weigh Modules) were installed in the
receiver hopper to monitor the mass variation of pulverized
coal. The frequency of measurement is 40 Hz. This instrument
needs to be calibrated before put into use. The solid mass
flow rate (Ms ) was determined from the weight time series of
the receiver vessel, which produced the measurement errors
generally lower than ±3%. Pressures were measured by the
pressure sensors (Keller, Series 35X) installed on the pressure
taps, which produced the measurement errors generally lower
than ±0.05% with the measurement frequency of 400 Hz. All
signals were acquired at the frequency of 1 Hz by a computer
by means of a data acquisition board.
Fig. 4 – Pressure distribution of the conveying system for a gas superficial velocity of 3.2 m/s, a solid mass flow rate of
1076 kg/h and the standard venturi geometry.
211
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effect of venturi on conveying system
The flow of high concentration gas–solid mixtures through the
venturi tube involves the interactions between gas and solids,
and the corresponding exchanges of momentum and energy.
These circumstances determine significant pressure losses in
the venturi tube. Typical pressure distribution measured in the
conveying system is reported in Fig. 4. Pressures appearing in
this figure were measured and recorded by sensors Pf , P1 –P7
and P0 while the gas–solid mixtures flowed along the 35-m-
long conveying pipeline. In this presented case, the venturi
geometry is set to the default values of Table 2, the inlet gas
superficial velocity in the venturi tube is 3.2 m/s and the solid
mass flow rate is 1076 kg/h. The pressure of the feeder ves-
atmospheric pressure. The pressure loss through the pipeline
and the venturi tube makes up the whole system pressure
drop. It appears that the venturi contributes at the major
part of the pressure loss. In fact, it can be seen clearly that a
sharp decrease in pressure occurs between P2 and P7 (around
700 kPag), indicating that the venturi tube, providing an impor-
tant resistance to flow, is able to keep a high pressure in the
upstream pipeline. It should be noted that, in the pressurized
entrained-flow coal gasification process the feed pressure is
usually expected to be 4.0 MPa. This pressure can be achieved
with the venturi tube in the recycle line by adopting the appro-
priate design of the venturi tube, so that at required gas–solid
flow conditions the system can produce the desired pressure
in the feed point.
Pressure drops per unit length obtained in the different
sections of the transport loop are compared in Fig. 5. This fig-
ure shows that the pressure drop per unit length in the pipe
(<10 kPa/m) is less than one hundredth of the average value
provided by the venturi tube (>1000 kPa/m). Further inspec-
tion of Fig. 5 reveals also the different values of the pressure
drop of unit length in the different sections of the venturi tube.
It appears clearly that the convergent section in the venturi
tube has the highest pressure drop per unit length, while the
throat and the diffuser have lower values not much different
from each other. In the convergent section, the decrease of the
cross-sectional area results in the increase of the gas veloc-
ity, which requires the acceleration of particles that, in turn,
results in the high pressure loss. In the throat section, gas and
particles have high velocities and the dissipations due to the
212
2000
Pressure drop per unit length, kPa/m
1600
1200
800
400
0 100
Pipe Venturi Convergence Throat
Fig. 5 – Comparison of pressure drops per unit length in the
different sections of the recycle loop.
intense interactions between gas and particles, particles and
particles, particles and wall all contribute the high pressure
losses. In the diffuser section, the gas velocity decreases due to
the increase of cross-sectional area while particles most likely
keep their velocities because of inertia. It should be noted that
in the dense-phase conveying case examined, the pressure
drop per unit length in the diffuser section is still positive and
considerable, differently from the pressure recovery always
observed in the dilute flow (Lee and Crowe, 1982). As Doss
(1985) said, the venturi diffuser section may be quite effective
in recovering pressure for the cases of no or light solid loading
ratios, but the effectiveness of the pressure recovery dropped
rather rapidly as the solid loading ratio increased. Our inves-
tigation shows that, in the cases of high solid loading ratios,
the pressure recovery might not lose effectiveness but rather
move further downwards of the venturi tube outlet, as shown
in Fig. 4 where pressure P7 is slightly higher than P6 .
3.2. Optimization design of venturi geometry
A comprehensive series of experiments were carried out to
optimize the geometry of the venturi tube. In particular the
following conditions were tested: (1) the gas superficial veloc-
ity at the entrance of the venturi tube was changed between
2 and 8 m/s; (2) the solid mass flow rate was changed in the
range between 500 and 2600 kg/h; (3) the conveying pressure
that was the pressure of feeder vessel, was changed between 0
and 1.5 MPag; (4) the solid concentration was changed between
100 and 400 kg/m3 and (5) the solid loading ratio was changed
between 10 and 120 kg/kg. Attention should be paid that, the
powder conveying conditions in this work are comparable
with those used in the industrial pressurized entrained-flow
coal gasification process, though the conveying pressure is
relatively lower because of the limit of the experimental labo-
ratory rig. As a consequence, this research work is intended
to provide some reference guidelines useful for the design
of the coal feeding system in the pressurized entrained-flow
gasification process.
During the experiments, each aspect of the venturi geom-
etry, including the convergent angle, the throat diameter, the
throat length and the diffuser angle, was changed separately
and in turn in order to evaluate their effect on the convey-
ing properties and on the pressure reduction produced. The
purpose was also to find the best value for each of these
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
200
Pressure drop in the convergent, kPa
180
160
140
120
Diffuser 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Convergent angle,e
Fig. 6 – Effect of the convergent angle on the convergent
pressure drop.
parameters in order to obtain the desired features of the
dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal.
3.2.1. Convergent angle
The convergent angle was varied at constant flow conditions,
keeping the throat diameter at 6 mm, the throat length at
260 mm, the diffuser angle at 8◦ , the inlet gas superficial veloc-
ity at 4 m/s and the solid mass flow rate at 635 kg/h. The
results in Fig. 6 show that the pressure drop in the conver-
gent (P2 –P3 ) decreases as the convergent angle increases at
least at the lowest values of the convergent angle tested. This
result differs form that reported by Giddings and Azzopardi
(2007), who pointed out that this pressure drop was not signif-
icantly dependent on the convergent angle or should slightly
increase as the convergent angle increased. It should be noted
that the flow conditions in the Giddings report are different
from those studied in this work. In fact, the solid loading ratios
are 0.5 kg/kg in the former and 60 kg/kg in the latter. According
to Azzopardi et al. (1999), the presence of solids contributes to
the increase of the pressure drop in all sections of the venturi
tube. The dense flow conditions tested in this work provide a
significant growth in the particle contribution to the pressure
drop that most likely result in intensive interactions between
particles, between gas and particles and between particles and
walls in the venturi tube. Apparently, in these conditions, the
pressure drops are more significant and sensitive to even small
changes of the convergent angle.
Similarly to the above mentioned results reported by
Giddings and Azzopardi (2007), Fig. 6 indicates that the pres-
sure drop in the convergent does not change significantly
when the convergent angle is larger than 5◦ . This might be
explained by the inherent geometrical relation between the
convergent angle ( 1 ) and the convergent length (L) shown
in Eq. (1). When the pipe and throat diameters (D, d) keep
constant, the decrease in the convergent angle implies the
extension of the convergent length according to:
D−d
L= (1)
2 sin 1
Fig. 7 plots the convergent length as a function of the
convergent angle according to Eq. (1). It appears that the
length decreases rapidly at small convergent angles and then
changes much less at large angles reproducing a very simi-
lar trend to that reported in Fig. 6. This finding might suggest

Fig. 7 – Convergent length plotted as a function of the
convergent angle.
200
Equation y=a+b*x
Pressure drop in the convergent, kPa
R-Square 0.89531
180 Intercept
Slope
160
140
120
100
0 20 40
Convergent length, mm
Fig. 8 – Relationship between convergent length and
convergent pressure drop.
that the effect of convergent angle on the pressure drop in
the convergent might be directly related to the change of the
convergent length.
The above findings suggest plotting the pressure drop in the
convergent as a function of the convergent length as reported
in Fig. 8. A line approximating these results is found, indicat-
ing that as the convergent length increases, the corresponding
resistance to the gas–solid flow increases accordingly. The
equation of the fitting line was expressed as follows,
P = 100.5 + 0.8Lt R2 = 0.90
In the convergent section, the gas velocity increases due
to the decrease of the cross-sectional area and particles are
accelerated by the gas drag force. The convergent length deter-
mines the distances covered by the gas–solid mixture, as well
as the acceleration process of both gas and particles, all affect-
ing the pressure loss produced.
Summarizing the discussion above, the effect of conver-
gent angle is mostly manifested by the convergent length.
When the convergent angle exceeds few degrees, the change
of the convergent length is limited as its effects on the pres-
sure drops. However, on the one hand, a high convergent angle
is expected to be detrimental for a smooth gas–solid flow. In
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 213
Table 3 – Correlations of conveying properties at
different throat diameter ratios.
ˇ Correlation Correlation
0.4 Ms = 0.76(Pf –P0 ) + 353 (R2 = 0.99) P2 –P6 = 0.66(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.99)
0.55 Ms = 1.06(Pf –P0 ) + 578 (R2 = 0.97) P2 –P6 = 0.4(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.97)
0.7 Ms = 1.47(Pf –P0 ) + 590 (R2 = 0.98) P2 –P6 = 0.1(Pf –P0 ) (R2 = 0.87)
1 Ms = 1.53(Pf –P0 ) + 549 (R2 = 0.95)
particular, Giddings and Azzopardi (2007) in their report sug-
gested to avoid the use of convergent angle around 25◦ because
this would provide the maximum wearing effect produced by
coal particles. On the other hand, too small convergent angles
would result in long convergent sections and, therefore, result
in high pressure drops as well as to a certain increase of the
manufacture cost for the venturi tube. In order to balance the
two aspects above and to ensure the correct pipeline pressure,
a convergent angle of 5◦ was selected, corresponding to the
minimum value of the angle to maintain the smooth flow and
to avoid the excessively high pressure drop.
3.2.2. Throat diameter ratio
Value Standard The throat diameter ratio, ˇ, defined as the ratio of the throat
100.4553 9.36874 diameter to the inlet diameter of the venturi (d/D) was adopted
0.80196 0.15533
in this paper. The effect of the throat diameter ratio was exam-
ined with respect to both the conveying properties and the
pressure reduction characteristics of this section.
Fig. 9(a) reports the solid mass flow rate as a function of the
conveying pressure drop (Pf –P0 ) with different throat diame-
ter ratios, where ˇ = 1 corresponds to the normal conveying
system without venturi. The solid mass flow rate is one of
the most important parameters to evaluate the conveying
performances, which cannot only reflect the gas–solid flow
conditions inside the pipe but is also regarded as a control
60 80 100 120 indicator for system operations. The first striking observation
is that, the solid mass flow rate increases linearly with the
conveying pressure drop at different throat diameter ratios.
This finding implies that the venturi tube behaves as an addi-
tional resistance component, affecting the conveying capacity
but not the kind of relationship between pressure drop and
mass flow rate. It is found that the smaller the throat diam-
eter ratio, the smaller the solid mass flow rate. In Fig. 9(a),
the presence of the venturi tube seems ineffective for throat
diameter ratio of 0.7 or larger. Instead, the solid mass flow rate
decreases steeply when the throat diameter ratio decreases to
0.55 and to 0.4, providing mass flow rate reductions of about
20% and 45%, respectively. While very large throat diameters
might reduce the venturi tube effectiveness, of course it has
to be considered that very small throat diameters might easily
cause blockage phenomena.
(2) Table 3 reports the line correlations obtained from Fig. 9, all
of which show high correlation coefficients. Taking both the
conveying pressure drop and the venturi throat diameter into
account, a general correlation for solid mass flow rate can be
obtained as shown in Eq. (3), which produces errors that are
generally lower than ±20%.
Ms = (1.2838ˇ + 0.3545)(Pf − P0 ) + 518 (3)
The large pressure drops occupied by the venturi tube
should be responsible for the significant decrease of the solid
mass flow rate. It is considered that when a venturi is inserted
into the pipeline, its contribution (P2 –P6 ) should be deducted
from the conveying pressure drop (P0 –Pf ) and only the
214 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217

3000 1000
£=1 £=0.7 75%
Solid mass flow rate, kg/h
£=0.7 £=0.55
2500

Venturi pressure drop, kPa

£=0.55 800 £=0.4 50%
£=0.4
2000
600

1500
400
1000 25%
200
500

0 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 0 300 600 900 1200 1500
Conveying pressure drop, kPa Conveying pressure drop, kPa

(a) (b)
Fig. 9 – Effect of throat diameter ratio on some of the conveying characteristics of pulverized coal: (a) relationship between
solid mass flow rate and conveying pressure drop; (b) relationship between venturi pressure drop and conveying pressure
drop.

remaining part [(P0 –Pf ) − (P2 –P6 )] can effectively contribute to 1200
the powder transport. Fig. 9(b) reports the conveying pressure
Inlet pressure of venturi, kPag

drop as a function of the venturi pressure drop, where three

1000
dotted lines represent 75%, 50% and 25% of the total conveying
pressure drop. In accordance with Fig. 9(a), the smaller throat
diameter ratio corresponds to the larger fractional contribu- 800
tion of the venturi pressure drop to the conveying pressure
drop. Correspondingly, the smaller mass flow rate of the solids 600
was obtained.
Similarly to Eq. (3), unified relationship between the con- 400
veying pressure drop, the venturi pressure drop and the throat
diameter ratio can be expressed as:
200

P2 − P6 = (1.4098 − 1.8653ˇ)(Pf − P0 ) (4)

0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Consequently, the effective pressure drop available for
solids conveying is:
Throat diameter ratio, -
Fig. 10 – Effect of throat diameter ratio on inlet pressure of
Pe = (Pf − P0 ) − (P2 − P6 ) = (1.8653ˇ − 0.4098)(Pf − P0 ) (5) the venturi tube.

In the process of pneumatic conveying, particles move in
virtue of gas flow along the pipeline, where the energy for
the particle movement is supplied by the effective conveying
pressure drop. Therefore, according to Eq. (5) a value of 0.22
for the throat diameter ratio seems the minimum for a viable
operation.
The effect of throat diameter ratio on pressure reduction
was also examined by keeping an inlet gas superficial velocity
of 5 m/s and a solid mass flow rate of 1200 kg/h. The result
are reported in Fig. 10, which shows that the inlet pressure
rises steeply when the throat diameter ratio used is below 0.7.
On the contrary, above this value, the throat diameter ratio
is almost ineffective. This finding agrees well with the results
shown in Fig. 9 and confirms that idea that venturi tubes with
small throat diameter ratios can produce very high pressure
drops in the flow of gas-solid mixtures, producing significant
increases of the pressure upstream the venturi tube. From this
standpoint, the throat diameter ratio should be less than 0.7
in order to maintain high upstream pressures.
With respect to the application of the venturi tube in feed
loop of the pressurized entrained-flow coal gasification, for
which a smooth conveying of pulverized coal is required and
a high pipeline pressure at the venturi upstream is expected,
the appropriate range for throat diameter ratio seems to fall
into the range between 0.22 and 0.7.
3.2.3. Throat length
The optimization of the throat length was carried out by
analyzing the pressure data along the venturi. The pressure
distribution was plotted since it can directly describe the flow
characteristics. Fig. 11 shows the pressure along the venturi
for an inlet gas superficial velocity of about 3.8 m/s and a solid
mass flow rate of about 756 kg/h. The pressures are those taken
by the pressure sensors installed along the venturi (P2 , P3 , P4 ,
P5 and P6 ) as reported in Section 2. In Fig. 11, a gradual decrease
of the pressure is observed when gas–solid flows through the
venturi.
Fig. 12 reports the average longitudinal pressure gradients,
calculated as the ratio of the pressure reduction (between ven-
turi inlet and the corresponding location) to the distance. As it
can be seen from the picture, the pressure gradient decreases
with the distance first and then gradually inclines to a stable
value of about 0.75 kPa/mm. Further, the average points of the
histograms were used in couples (the first two and the latter

400
Convergent
300
Pressure, kPag
200
Upstream
100
0
0 100
Distance from the venturi inlet, mm
Fig. 11 – Pressure distribution along the venturi.
1.2
relative to the venturi inlet, kPa/mm
1.1
Rate of pressure change
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0 100
Distrance from the venturi inlet, mm
Fig. 12 – Pressure gradients along the venturi: histograms
report averages.
two) to draw the two dotted lines. These two lines identifies a
transition point located at 220 mm from the venturi inlet.
For gas–solid two-phase flow, particles passing through a
venturi will take a finite time to accelerate to the gas veloc-
ity. This time is associated with particle properties, venturi
geometries and gas–solid interactions. Apparently, the differ-
ence of gas–solid velocity will decrease gradually as the throat
length increases. If the throat length is long enough, the par-
ticles have sufficient time to reach near-velocity equilibrium
with the gas, in which condition the gas–solid mixture can be
regarded as a single phase fluid with modified properties. It
is assumed that the smaller the velocity difference, the lower
the pressure fluctuation and the steadier the gas–solid flow
(Wang et al., 1989). Generally, in order to measure the pressure
reliably, the pressure sensor should be mounted on measuring
points with lower pressure gradient and fluctuation. From this
standpoint, the throat length is expected to be long enough
to allow the velocity profile to fully develop. With respect to
what is reported in Fig. 12, the distance from the venturi inlet
to the throat end should be no less than 220 mm to approach
the relatively stable and small pressure gradient. However, too
long throats certainly will increase the cost and the complexity
of manufacturing and maintaining the venturi tube. In addi-
tion, our previous study (Lu et al., 2011) indicated that the
venturi pressure drop was not significantly dependent on the
chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217 215
350
© e
Pressure at venturi outlet, kPag
300 © e
© e
250 © e
Throat
Downstream
200
Diffuser
150
100
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
200 300 400 500 Time, s
Fig. 13 – Time series of pressure at the venturi outlet.
throat length, which had a relatively less effect compared to
other parameters such as the convergent angle and the throat
diameter. In fact, when the throat length exceeds a certain
value, the gas–solid interactions are growing weaker. Such sit-
uation is somewhat similar to the flow in the straight pipeline,
where the pressure drop is much smaller as reported in Fig. 5.
Therefore, too long throats are actually not necessary for their
limited contribution to the whole venturi pressure drop.
The discussion above as well as that reported in Fig. 5 indi-
cates that, the distance from the venturi inlet to the throat of
220 mm can be considered optimal. Excluding the contribution
of convergent length, the optimal value of the throat length is
140 mm ≈ 23.3dt . It should be further considered that, for the
relatively fine particles, the throat length can be somewhat
shortened because fine particles are easily accelerated and
200 300 400 500
can catch up with the gas velocity in small distances. Instead;
for coarser particles, the throat length should be somewhat
extended to allow the particle acceleration (Lu et al., 2016).
3.2.4. Diffuser angle
Usually, for dilute flows, the optimization of the diffuser angle
consists in finding the best pressure recovery in the diffuser
section. However, the pressure distribution in Fig. 4 indicates
in the diffuser a pressure loss instead of a pressure recov-
ery. This finding can be attributed to the high solid loading
ratio used in this work and particle-particle interaction can be
viewed as a loss mechanism which leads to a degraded diffuser
pressure recovery.
It is considered that, pressure fluctuations contain a lot
of information regarding the gas-solid flow and can be used
to identify flow stability in real time. In Fig. 13, the effect of
diffuser angle on gas–solid flow was examined with an inlet
gas superficial velocity around 4 m/s and a solid mass flow
rate of 725 kg/h. Time series of pressure at the venturi out-
let (P6 ) for different diffuser angles (2.5◦ , 5◦ , 8◦ and 13◦ ) were
compared. In the picture, the pressure increases quickly in
the initial stage, tends towards stable conditions during the
solid conveying phases and then fluctuates widely at the last
stage corresponding to the complete emptying of the feeder
vessel. Since this work aims at providing reference condition
for a reliable feeding procedure of the pressurized entrained-
flow coal gasification process, we only focus on data regarding
solids conveying in the middle of the time series (50–200 s)
and ignore the very short initial (<50 s) and last stages (>200 s).
Then comparison in Fig. 13 seems to indicate little difference
216 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217

3.2 22 4. Conclusion
Standard difference

Maximum amplitude of P5, kPa

Maximum amplitude
Standard difference of P5, kPa

This paper deals with optimization design of a venturi tube

20
3.0 geometry in dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized
coal for entrained-flow gasification. A series of experiments
18 were carried out with gas and solid flow rates representative
2.8 of the dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal
where the solid loading ratios used are in line with those used
16
to feed the entrained-flow gasifier. Each aspect of the venturi
geometry, including the convergent angle, the throat diame-
2.6
14 ter, the throat length and the diffuser angle, was separately
investigated to evaluate their effect on the loop conveying
properties and on the attained pressure reductions. The val-
2.4 12
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 ues or ranges of these parameters optimal for the venturi tube
application to dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulver-
Diffuser angle,e ized coal were determined.
The convergent angle  1 = 5◦ , the throat diameter ratio
Fig. 14 – Effect of diffuser angle on standard difference and
ˇ = 0.22–0.7, the throat length Lt = 23.3dt and the diffuser angle
maximum amplitude of pressure.
 1 = 8◦ were selected for the venturi tube in the specific appli-
cation. These values can be considered as a reference for the
design of venturi tubes to be used in the feeding system of
the entrained-flow coal gasification process. Further work is
among small diffuser angles (2.5◦ , 5◦ and 8◦ ) but a significant required to verify the research results at higher-pressures up
difference when the diffuser angle of 13◦ is adopted where to 1.5–5 MPag to better fulfill the gasifier operational needs.
there are several major fluctuations.
To quantitatively compare the fluctuation characteristic, Acknowledgements
standard difference (S) and maximum amplitude (M) of P6 were
calculated by Eqs. (6) and (7), This work was supported by the National Natural Sci-
ence Foundation of China (21206041) and the Fundamental

 Research Funds for the Central Universities.
 1 
n
S=
2
(Pi − P̄) (6)
n−1 References
i=1

Azzopardi, B.J., Teixeira, S.F.C.F., Pulford, C.T., 1999. A

M = max(Pi ) − min(Pi ) (7) quasi-one-dimensional model for gas/solids flow in venturis.
Powder Technol. 102, 281–288.
Carr, R.L., 1965. Evaluating flow properties of solids. Chem. Eng.
where Pi represents the time series of pressure signals 72, 163–167.
obtained from pressure sensor (P6 ). The value calculated for Cong, X., Guo, X., Lu, H., Gong, X., Liu, K., Xie, K., Sun, X., 2012.
Flow pattern characteristics in vertical dense-phase
S and M are plotted in Fig. 14 as a function of the diffuser
pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal using electrical
angle. It can be seen that both parameters increase as the dif-
capacitance tomography. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 51,
fuser angle increases. In particular, Fig. 14 indicates a rapid 15268–15275.
deterioration of the gas–solid flow stability at large diffuser Doss, E.D., 1985. Analysis and application of solid–gas flow inside
angles. In consideration of the structural features of the dif- a venturi with particle interaction. Int. J. Multiph. Flow 11,
fuser section of the venturi tube, one can argue that at small 445–458.
diffuser angles, the flow channels change smoothly which GB/T 211-1996, 1996. Determination of total moisture in coal,
Beijing.
ensure the gas–solid flow stability but will produce significant
GB/T 217-1996, 1996. Determination of true relative density of
pressure loss since the effect of venturi length becomes impor-
coal, Beijing.
tant, similarly to those discussed above in the convergent Giddings, D., Azzopardi, B.J., 2007. Absolute measurement of
section. On the other hand, large diffuser angles correspond pneumatically conveyed powder using a single long throat
to short diffuser sections and small friction losses, but can venturi. Powder Technol. 172, 149–156.
produce significant energy losses due to the boundary layer Giddings, D., Azzopardi, B.J., Aroussi, A., Pickering, S.J., 2011.
separation and the consequent eddy formation. Therefore, it Optical investigation of a long throated venturi conveying
inert spherical particulate with size range similar to
can be concluded that the findings in Fig. 14 agree well with
pulverised coal. Powder Technol. 207, 370–377.
the physical interpretation of the effect of the diffuser angle Guo, X., Lu, W., Dai, Z., Liu, H., Gong, X., Li, L., Zhang, H., Guo, B.,
reported above, regarding the boundary layer separation and 2012. Experimental investigation into a pilot-scale
eddy effects induced by large diffuser angles, with the sug- entrained-flow gasification of pulverized coal using CO2 as
gestion that too large angles may deteriorate the quality of carrier gas. Energy Fuels 26, 1063–1069.
gas–solid flow. Kus, F.T., Duchesne, M.A., Champagne, S., Hughes, R.W., Lu, D.Y.,
Mcchi, A., Mehrani, P., 2016. Pressurized pneumatic conveying
Based on the discussion above and with the objective
of pulverized fuels for entrained flow gasification. Powder
in mind of minimizing the space requirements as well as
Technol. 287, 403–411.
enhancing the flow stability of gas–solid flow through the Lee, J., Crowe, C.T., 1982. Scaling laws for metering the flow of the
venturi diffuser section, the diffuser angle of 8◦ is therefore gas-particle suspensions through venturis. Trans. ASME 104,
selected. 88–91.
 chemical engineering research and design 1 2 0 ( 2 0 1 7 ) 208–217
Liang, C., Grace, J.R., Shen, L., Yuan, G., Chen, X., Zhao, C., 2015.
Experimental investigation of pressure letdown flow
characteristics in dense-phase pneumatic conveying at high
pressure. Powder Technol. 277, 171–180.
Liang, C., Hu, J., Liu, H., Shen, L., Yuan, G., Chen, X., Zhao, C., 2016.
Resistance characteristics of pressure letdown in dense-phase
pneumatic conveying. J. Chem. Eng. Jpn. 49, 511–518.
Liu, K., Lu, H., Guo, X., Sun, X., Tao, S., Gong, X., 2014.
Experimental study on flow characteristics and pressure drop
of gas–coal mixture through venturi. Powder Technol. 268,
410–411.
Lu, H., Guo, X., Huang, W., Liu, K., Gong, X., 2011. Flows
characteristic and pressure drop across the laval nozzle in
dense phase pneumatic conveying of the pulverized coal.
Chem. Eng. Process. 50, 702–708.
Lu, H., Guo, X., Cong, X., Liu, K., Sun, X., Xie, K., Gong, X., Lu, J.,
2012. The discharge of pulverized coal from a pressurized
aerated hopper. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 51, 13839–13845.
217
Lu, H., Guo, X., Liu, Y., Li, P., Gong, X., 2016. Solid-mass flow-rate
prediction in dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized
coal by a venturi device. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 55, 10455–10464.
Monni, G., De Salve, M., Panella, B., 2014. Two-phase flow
measurements at high void fraction by a venturi meter. Prog.
Nucl. Energy 77, 167–175.
Payne, A.L., Crowe, C.T., 1984. Experimental and numerical study
of total pressure drop for gas–solid flows in a venturi. ASME
Fluids Eng. Div. 17, 49–53.
Shaffer, F.D., Bajura, R.A., 1990. Analysis of venturi performance
for gas-particle flows. J. Fluids Eng. 112, 121–127.
Wang, W., Hou, M., Yu, R., 1989. Measurement of gas–solid flows
rate with an extended-throat venturi meter. J. Southeast Univ.
(China) 19, 82–87.