Numerical Simulation of Flushing Deposits in Pipelines

Authors

Joseph S. Coverston, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Major/Program

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor's Name

George S. Dulikravich

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Dwayne McDaniel

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Seung Jae Lee

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Cheng-Xian Lin

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

aerodynamics and fluid mechanics

Date of Defense

2-8-2019

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to reduce the amount of waste generated in Department of Energy nuclear cleanup efforts currently underway. Due to the highly radioactive nature of the waste, any fluid that contacts the waste must then be treated and processed as waste. To minimize the fluids contaminated during flushing, this research aims to provide a basis for the flushing of High Level Waste (HLW) pipelines. Edgar Plastic Kaolin (EPK) with solid particles of a nominal diameter of 1 micron was used as a simulacrum for HLW. An Eulerian-Eulerian simulation built in StarCCM+ software, with a k-ω turbulence model, and a drag coefficient to connect the solid EPK phase with the liquid phase, was used to simulate the flushing of pipelines. Velocities from 3 ft/s to 10 ft/s were investigated to find the highest volumetric efficiency, and it was determined that 10 ft/s was the optimal flushing velocity.

Identifier

FIDC007695

Recommended Citation

Coverston, Joseph S., "Numerical Simulation of Flushing Deposits in Pipelines" (2019). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3951.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3951