Optimized design of a high-solid-content liquid elbow: an anti-erosion 3D twisted swirl plate structure

Abstract

This study addresses the critical issue of erosion in slag discharge pipelines caused by uneven particle distribution due to particle deposition. To address this issue, a novel 3D twisted swirl plate (PRSS) was designed based on the principle of adjusting particle positions within a swirling flow field to achieve a uniform distribution. Comparative analysis showed that the new 3D twisted swirl plate outperformed similar designs, significantly reducing erosion caused by non-uniformly distributed small particles. Furthermore, response surface analysis combined with genetic algorithms enabled the dual-objective optimization of the swirl plate structure. The optimization yielded two optimal designs: the first achieved a 45% reduction in the maximum erosion rate (MER) and a 1043 Pa increase in the pressure drop (DP) for 50 µm particles, while the second optimal design reduced MER by 36% and increased DP by 659 Pa. These findings highlight the enhanced performance of the proposed design over conventional elbow pipes, demonstrating its potential for mitigating erosion in high-solid-content flow systems.