Secondary flows occurring in a whirlpool separator – A study of phenomena – observation, simulation and measurements

Abstract

The whirlpool separator, used for hot trub separation, is prevalent in the brewing industry. It is a kind of a hydrocyclone inside of which a tea leaf effect occurs, which is sediment accumulation into a cone shape at the central part of the tank's bottom. This manner of sediment accumulation is caused by the secondary flow occurring in the so-called Ekman boundary layer. This article is a summary of the research, which has been conducted for many years and involved observation, simulation and experimental research on the recognition and formation of the secondary flow accumulating the sediment cone. Secondary flows occurring in a whirlpool were identified through CFD simulation and PIV experiments, and are presented in this paper. Based on their location and direction, an attempt to determine their impact on the separation process taking place in the whirlpool has been made. The secondary flow identification methods proposed in this paper can be successfully applied in other solutions, e. g. structural ones, which involve rotational-flow-based separation.

Analysis of physical impurities in regenerated solutions used in cleaning brewing systems

“…Thus, in the case of NaOH (F), after cleaning the mash filter the solution is rich in spent grain material . However, the NaOH (T) solution, would be expected to contain more protein and polyphenol ‘hot break’ formed during wort boiling . Therefore, the removal of spent grain and hot break from recovered caustic cleaning solutions poses different challenges during the process of regeneration.…”

Investigation of Low-Frequency Phenomena within Flow Pattern in Standard Mixing Vessel Induced by Pitched Blade Impeller

“…It is obvious that all of these aspects contribute to lowering of mixing expenses (which, globally, reach up to several million dollars yearly). There are both experimental [1][2][3][4][5] and mathematical studies in the literature. The mathematical modelling typically uses the turbulence modelling approach [6], but recently, there are attempts to apply the direct numerical simulation technique [7].…”

“…The time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (hereinafter PIV) method is the natural choice for the applied experimental technique, as we need to study both topology and dynamics of the flow. Several examples of application of this method on mixing process could be found in the literature, e.g., References [4,5,8].…”

Morphodynamics of a sediment bed in a fluid-filled cylinder during spin-down: An experimental study

“…In the natural world, this is the case for dust devils [2,3], rip tides [4,5], and tornadoes [6][7][8]. In industry, the transport of heavy particles by swirling flows toward their core is also relevant, for example, in erosion-measurement devices [9], combusters [10,11], and whirlpool vats [12].…”