Effects of cohesion on the flow patterns of granular materials in spouted beds

Two-dimensional spouted bed, capable to provide both dilute granular gas and dense granular solid flow patterns in one system, was selected as a prototypical system for studying granular materials. Effects of liquid cohesion on such kind of complex granular patterns were studied using particle image velocimetry. It is seen that the addition of liquid oils by a small fraction of 10(-3)-10(-2) causes a remarkable narrowing (about 15%) of the spout area. In the dense annulus, as the liquid fraction increases, the downward particle velocity gradually decreases and approaches a minimum where, at a microscopic grain scale, the liquid bridge reaches spherical regimes with a maximum capillarity. Viscous lubrication effect is observed at a much higher fraction but is really weak with respect to the capillary effect. In the dilute spout, in contrast to the dry grains, the wet grains have a lightly smaller acceleration in the initial 1/3 of the spout, but have a dramatically higher acceleration in the rest of the spout. We attribute the former to the additional work needed to overcome interparticle cohesion during particle entrainment at the spout-annulus interface. Then, using mass and momentum balances, the latter is explained by the relative higher drag force resulting from both higher gas velocities and higher voidages due to spout narrowing in the wet system. The experimental findings will provide useful data for the validation of discrete element simulation of cohesive granular-fluid flows.