Particle-Laden Flows: Theory and Engineering Applications

The MOOC, developed in the context of a collaborative research project, will provide an application-oriented yet theoretically rigorous overview of particle-laden flows, i.e., two-phase flows of solid particles within a carrier fluid (liquid or gas). These flows are encountered in many engineering fields, including but not limited to the mining industry, the oil & gas industry, and the hydraulic engineering. Students attending this course will learn how particle-laden flows can be characterized from a physical and engineering point of view, and they will be able to decide the most appropriate approach for handling these flows at the design level, including different techniques for the numerical simulation as well as the physical testing in laboratory setups. After discussing these aspects in a general framework, special attention will be paid to two phenomena of considerable industrial impact, namely, the liquid-solid transport in pipelines and the damage produced by the travelling solids on pipeline components and hydraulic equipment.