2018 Volume 35 Issue 3 Pages 151-
We proposed erythritol slurry as a heat transfer medium for medium/low temperature thermal utilization. We investigated the blockage condition of erythritol slurry flowing in cooled pipe, to avoid the blockage in the pipe transportation of erythritol slurry. As the results of the experiment, we clarified the following tendencies. When Reynolds number is less than 1100, erythritol crystals sinks the bottom of the pipe, and it causes blockage because of accumulation of sinking crystals. When Reynolds number is over 1100 and it forms heterogeneous flow, erythritol crystals adheres on the top of the pipe. The adhering crystals cause accumulation of the other crystals, and eventually it results in the blockage. When Reynolds number is larger and it forms homogeneous flow, the accumulation of the crystals does not occur even after crystal adhesion, and the erythritol slurry can flow continuously. The transition Reynolds number from heterogeneous flow to homogeneous flow is strongly affected by the solid fraction of erythritol slurry. As a result, it can be said that the blockage condition depends on not only flow velocity and cooling temperature but also flow pattern.
