Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Slug flow dense phase pneumatic conveying can be a most reliable, efficient method for handling a remarkably wide range of dry bulk solids. Models for pressure drop over slugs in the low-velocity slug-flow pneumatic conveying by many researchers only took the force balance into account with the pressure drop. However, the nature of the slug flow pneumatic conveying is discontinuous and seldom becomes steady during the conveying period which requires further investigation. The fundamental understanding to gas/slug interaction in this thesis is that, by being a dynamic system, the faster a slug moves at a speed, the larger the space is left behind the slug. The gas feeding into the conveying system has to fill the increased space first then permeates through the slug and provides a push force on the slug. With gas permeation rate defined by the permeability factor, the derivative of the upstream pressure based on the air mass conservation law has been developed. For a given conveying system, the pressure in the pneumatic conveying system can be solved for steady conditions or numerically simulated for unsteady conditions. Parametric analysis have been conducted for pressure drop factors and found that slug velocity is the major reason causing the pressure fluctuation in the pneumatic conveying system. To verify the pressure drop model, this model has been applied to single slug cases and compared with experimental results for five different bulk materials, showing good results. Three distinct zones, i.e. Fixed Bed Zone, Initial Slug Zone and Reliable Slug Zone, have been found to exist in the relationship between slip velocity and pressure gradient. Lastly this model has also been applied to a multiple slug system under uniform conditions. In all, the fundamental gas pressure/pressure drop model developed in this thesis approaches slug flow conveying from a different viewpoint from the traditional momentum and material stress models developed by previous researchers, and provides a way of assessing the non-steady flow behaviour in granular dense phase pneumatic conveying. This model not only attains a better understanding of slug flow behaviour but also increases the accuracy of predicting the parameters.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Slug flow dense phase pneumatic conveying can be a most reliable, efficient method for handling a remarkably wide range of dry bulk solids. Models for pressure drop over slugs in the low-velocity slug-flow pneumatic conveying by many researchers only took the force balance into account with the pressure drop. However, the nature of the slug flow pneumatic conveying is discontinuous and seldom becomes steady during the conveying period which requires further investigation. The fundamental understanding to gas/slug interaction in this thesis is that, by being a dynamic system, the faster a slug moves at a speed, the larger the space is left behind the slug. The gas feeding into the conveying system has to fill the increased space first then permeates through the slug and provides a push force on the slug. With gas permeation rate defined by the permeability factor, the derivative of the upstream pressure based on the air mass conservation law has been developed. For a given conveying system, the pressure in the pneumatic conveying system can be solved for steady conditions or numerically simulated for unsteady conditions. Parametric analysis have been conducted for pressure drop factors and found that slug velocity is the major reason causing the pressure fluctuation in the pneumatic conveying system. To verify the pressure drop model, this model has been applied to single slug cases and compared with experimental results for five different bulk materials, showing good results. Three distinct zones, i.e. Fixed Bed Zone, Initial Slug Zone and Reliable Slug Zone, have been found to exist in the relationship between slip velocity and pressure gradient. Lastly this model has also been applied to a multiple slug system under uniform conditions. In all, the fundamental gas pressure/pressure drop model developed in this thesis approaches slug flow conveying from a different viewpoint from the traditional momentum and material stress models developed by previous researchers, and provides a way of assessing the non-steady flow behaviour in granular dense phase pneumatic conveying. This model not only attains a better understanding of slug flow behaviour but also increases the accuracy of predicting the parameters.

Rising global energy demands have led to an increase in demand for clean, sustainable energy. A leading technology for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission for existing coal-power infrastructure is gasification, which has sparked an interest in reactor modelling for design and performance analysis. Reduced order models (ROMs) have seen an increase in popularity for entrained flow gasifiers, as they offer a low-computational alternative to conventional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling while maintaining the integrity of important operational parameters, such as carbon conversion and syngas yield. However, ROMs require more physical parameter inputs than are normally required for CFD modelling, such as the geometry of the gas-solid jet (specifically the jet half-angle). Experiments were conducted to understand the relation between the required input parameters for ROMs, such as fuel flow rate, transport gas flow rate, and jet half-angle, and develop useful correlations for ROM systems. A new configuration for pneumatic conveying was developed and tested at the pilot-scale system at NRCan CanmetENERGY. It was used to study the pneumatic conveying of pulverized fuels, specifically the influence of operating parameters such as pressure drop and gas flow rates on the fuel flow rate, and the geometry of the gas-solid fuel jet (notably the jet half-angle) injected into the gasifier. The mean fuel flow rate of pulverized fuels was shown to increase with increasing pressure drop and with decreasing gas flow rates in the fuel transfer line. The jet half-angle was shown to increase as the solid loading ratio in the jet core was decreased. Finally, the relative fuel flow variability was observed to be significantly influenced by the design of the pneumatic conveying system, with the fluctuations increasing with increasing pressure drop and with decreasing gas flow rate, similar to the mean flow rate.

O transporte pneumático de sólidos constitui uma aplicação comum em processos industriais petroquímicos, de mineração, de alimentos e agrícola. Entretanto, devido a limitações de ordem prática, a maioria das aplicações existente envolve o transporte de 1 a 400 toneladas por hora, através de distâncias de até 1000 m. Entre estas limitações, o consumo de potência provavelmente é a mais severa. Um sistema de transporte seguro e que apresente uma redução no consumo de potência pode ser implementado com técnicas não convencionais de controle. Este trabalho descreve a implementação de um controlador difuso em um circuito experimental de 45 mm de diâmetro interno utilizado para transportar sementes de Setaria Itálica ao longo de 21 metros. Informações obtidas com um estudo prévio de identificação de regimes gás - sólido através de redes neurais auto-organizáveis foram utilizadas no projeto do controlador. Os resultados mostraram uma redução significativa de 41%, em média, no consumo de potência requerida para o transporte de uma mesma carga de sólido. / The pneumatic conveying of solids in a gas stream is a recurrent process in petrochemical industries as well as in agricultural, food and mining. However, due to practical limitations the majority of existing systems have capacities ranging from 1 to 400 tones per hour over distances less than 1000 m, mainly because of a high power consumption per transported unit mass. A safe circuit with reduced power consumption can be designed using non-conventional control techniques. This work describes a fuzzy controller implementation for a 45 mm i.d. pneumatic conveying system used to transport Setaria Italica seeds over a distance of 21 m. Data obtained in a previous study about gas-solid flow regime identification through a self-organizing neural network were used in the controller design. The results show that reduction in power consumption can reach 41% when compared with classical non controller transport.

The air seeding cart is an important piece of farming equipment used in the seeding process. Three factors which are necessary to monitor during the seeding process are the seeding rate (material mass flow rate), air flow rate, and blockages. In current practice, there are systems that monitor and report air flow and blockages but not the actual seeding rate. Presently, the seeding rate is based on the metering calibration before the seeding process starts, which requires a lot of time and energy from the operator. If that goes wrong, it not only takes longer, but also costs more money and increases the already significant stress and fatigue which farmers and operators have during the seeding period. Therefore, the development of reliable, and easily calibrated, on-line sensors for flow monitoring would be beneficial. Further, such sensors would facilitate closed-loop control of the flow rate itself. In order to develop a laboratory prototype for mass flow measurement, a model for mass flow estimation was established. This was accomplished by using pressure transducers to determine the pressure drop across an elevation in the primary air cart run (between the air seeding cart and the air hoe drill). An air seeding test station was designed and developed for the study. Three different types of seeds and a granular fertilizer were chosen and tested. These tested materials were canola, wheat, chickpea and urea fertilizer (46-0-0). The general form of the model was developed using data from the canola tests. The input parameters for this mass flow estimation model were pressure drop and air flow information. The average percent error of the material mass flow rate’s full range was under 10%, except for the highest rate which tested up to 20%. Overall, more than 75% of the estimations had percent errors being less than 5%. The form of the model was also applicable to other individual tested materials with the percent error of their full ranges up to 20%. However, their average of their median error was around 5% of their full ranges. The general model was also applied to the combined data from all tested materials. The results were not as accurate as when the model was applied to the individual tested material. The median of the percent error (of material mass flow rate full range) varied from as low as 1% to as high as 30%, depending on the tested materials. Nevertheless, it demonstrated that there were consistencies between the behaviour of the four tested materials.

O transporte pneumático de sólidos constitui uma aplicação comum em processos industriais petroquímicos, de mineração, de alimentos e agrícola. Entretanto, devido a limitações de ordem prática, a maioria das aplicações existente envolve o transporte de 1 a 400 toneladas por hora, através de distâncias de até 1000 m. Entre estas limitações, o consumo de potência provavelmente é a mais severa. Um sistema de transporte seguro e que apresente uma redução no consumo de potência pode ser implementado com técnicas não convencionais de controle. Este trabalho descreve a implementação de um controlador difuso em um circuito experimental de 45 mm de diâmetro interno utilizado para transportar sementes de Setaria Itálica ao longo de 21 metros. Informações obtidas com um estudo prévio de identificação de regimes gás - sólido através de redes neurais auto-organizáveis foram utilizadas no projeto do controlador. Os resultados mostraram uma redução significativa de 41%, em média, no consumo de potência requerida para o transporte de uma mesma carga de sólido. / The pneumatic conveying of solids in a gas stream is a recurrent process in petrochemical industries as well as in agricultural, food and mining. However, due to practical limitations the majority of existing systems have capacities ranging from 1 to 400 tones per hour over distances less than 1000 m, mainly because of a high power consumption per transported unit mass. A safe circuit with reduced power consumption can be designed using non-conventional control techniques. This work describes a fuzzy controller implementation for a 45 mm i.d. pneumatic conveying system used to transport Setaria Italica seeds over a distance of 21 m. Data obtained in a previous study about gas-solid flow regime identification through a self-organizing neural network were used in the controller design. The results show that reduction in power consumption can reach 41% when compared with classical non controller transport.

Dans le contexte du développement d’une agriculture durable, il est nécessaire d’optimiser le coût énergétique des opérations agricoles tout en garantissant des temps de travaux courts ainsi que la qualité des opérations réalisées. Cette question concerne en particulier l’opération du semis qui est déterminante pour la qualité de la future récolte. Les semoirs de grande capacité et à haute productivité conçus aujourd’hui se doivent d’être compatibles avec cet ensemble de contraintes. L’enjeu essentiel de cette thèse est donc d’élaborer une méthodologie innovante et utilisant des outils de modélisation dans le but de réduire la consommation énergétique des matériels de semis. En suivant cette logique, nous avons étudié quatre aspects clef de la conception des semoirs pneumatiques : la manœuvrabilité des semoirs poly-articulés, l’établissement des conditions du transport pneumatique des semences et des engrais, l’optimisation des systèmes de répartition des semences ou des engrais, et enfin les aspects énergétiques du mode d’introduction des semences dans le circuit pneumatique. Chaque modélisation a été précédée par une phase expérimentale de détermination des phénomènes majoritaires influençant le processus étudié. Ensuite une modélisation du processus étudié, basée sur la simulation des effets du phénomène majoritaire identifié a pu être mise en œuvre et des conclusions, appuyées par des essais expérimentaux, proposées quant à la conception des semoirs pneumatiques. L’étude de la manœuvrabilité des ensembles poly articulés a démontré qu’il était possible de proposer et de tester un modèle explicatif de prédiction de trajectoires adapté aux engins agricoles. Cette approche ouvre la voie à l’optimisation et à de nouvelles méthodes d’automatisation de manœuvres complexes, notamment des demi-tours en bout de champ. Il est par ailleurs possible de démontrer qu’une trémie en position arrière permet de réaligner plus rapidement la barre de semis après une manœuvre. L’étude des conditions du transport pneumatique a montré notamment que l’établissement de conditions de transport correctes au niveau des sorties de la tête de distribution conditionne l’ensemble de la conception du circuit de distribution de la matière. L’étude des systèmes de répartition des semences a permis d’expliquer l’origine des principaux défauts de répartition observés et notamment l’importance de l’adéquation entre le coude et la conduite verticale qui précède la tête de répartition des semences. Ces résultats ont ouvert la voie à l’étude de la mise en place de systèmes d’anticipation et de correction de ces défauts. Enfin l’étude comparée de deux systèmes d’introduction de la matière dans un circuit pneumatique a montré que du point de vue énergétique les systèmes pressurisés sont plus intéressants que les systèmes injecteurs. / In the context of sustainable farming, the optimization of the energy costs of agricultural operations allows shorter working times and high quality of the agricultural operations. This question relates particularly to the seeding. This operation one is decisive for the quality of the future harvest. The modern high capacity seed drills must be compatible with all the constraints. The main goal of this PhD thesis is thus to develop an innovative methodology, integrating the modeling tools, in order to reduce the energy consumption of the heavy seeding equipment. Thus, we explored four key aspects concerning air seed drill design: maneuverability of poly-articulated seed drills; establishment of the pneumatic conveying conditions of seeds and fertilizers; seed distribution accuracy optimization, and finally the energy aspects of the air stream loading systems. Each modeling was preceded by a preliminary experimental phase, defying the majority phenomena influencing the studied process. The modeling of the studied process and the conclusions (supported by experimental trials) have been proposed for the design of air seed drills. The study of maneuverability of poly-articulated agricultural machines showed that it was possible to get and test an explanatory model of trajectory prediction adapted for agricultural machines. This approach opens the way for optimization and automation of complex operations, including U-turns on headlands. We showed that a towed behind storage hopper (air-cart) allows faster realignment of the coulter bar after maneuvers. The study of pneumatic conveying conditions showed that the establishment of the correct conveying conditions in the outlets after the dispensing head defines the entire design of the distribution system. The study of seed distribution systems explains that the origin of the low distribution accuracy is caused in particular by the elbow and the vertical pipe before the dispensing head. These results open the way for the development of anticipation systems and correction of these defects. Finally the comparative study of two air-stream loading systems has showed that from the energy point of view the pressurized systems are more interesting than the injectors systems. / В рамках концепции устойчивого развития, необходимо учитывать энергетический аспект, сохраняя при этом эффективность использования рабочего времени и качества выполнения сельскохозяйственных операций. Особенно, это касается операции посева, определяющей в наибольшей степени будущий урожай. Современные широкозахватные зерновые сеялки и посевные комплексы вписываются в рамки устойчивого сельского хозяйства. Главной целью данной диссертации является разработка действенной методики проектирования пневматических сеялок, применяя методы моделирования и оптимизации, с целью уменьшения энергопотребления. Таким образом, мы использовали причинно-следственный подход для энергетической оптимизации четырех определяющих параметров: маневренность многозвеньевых посевных машин, обоснования необходимых условий пневмотранспорта, оптимизация распределения посевного материала, и ввода материала в магистральный трубопровод. В дополнение, снижение энергопотребления не должно сказываться на качестве выполнения технологического процесса посева. Моделирование каждого процесса, является следствием длительной экспериментальной фазы, посвященной определению наиболее значимых факторов, для каждого отдельного явления. В результате моделирований, симуляций и анализа, были составлены практические рекомендации, для конструкторов пневматических сеялок. Изучение маневренных характеристик многозвеньевых агрегатов позволило предложить и испытать физическую модель, позволяющую предопределить траекторию движение каждого звена машинно-тракторного агрегата. Такой подход позволяет автоматизировать выполнение наиболее сложных маневров (например, разворотов в конце гона). Кроме всего было показано, что заднеприцепные бункера позволяют более быстрое выравнивание агрегата после разворота. Изучение условий пневмотранспорта, позволило установить оптимальные, с точки зрения энергосбережения, параметры пневмотранспорта на выходе из распределительной головки, что послужило исходными данными для расчета характеристик пневмотранспорта в целом. Исследование процесса распределения семян в распределительной головке вертикального типа, позволило определить причины неравномерного распределения семян между выходными трубопроводами, в частности влияние отвода и вертикального трубопровода. На основании полученных данных, было предложена система устройств, позволяющих избежать возникновения завалов в системе, при минимальных энергопотерях. Сравнительные исследования двух систем ввода материала в магистральный трубопровод, позволили заключить, что питатели с наддувом являются менее энергоемкими по сравнению с питателями эжекторного типа.

In power plants using large utility coal-fired boilers for generation of electricity the coal is pulverised in coal mills and then it has to be pneumatically transported and distributed to a larger number of burners (e.g. 30-40) circumferentially arranged in several rows around the burning chamber of the boiler. Besides the large pipework flow splitting devices are necessary for distribution of an equal amount of pulverised fuel (PF) to each of the burners. So called trifurcators (without inner fittings or guiding vanes) and ''riffle'' type bifurcators are commonly used to split the gas-coal particle flow into two or three pipes/channels with an equal amount of PF mass flow rate in each outflow cross section of the flow splitting device. These PF flow splitting devices are subject of a number of problems. First of all an uneven distribution of PF over the burners of a large utility boiler leads to operational and maintenance problems, increased level of unburned carbon and higher rates of NOX emissions. Maldistribution of fuel between burners caused by non uniform concentration of the PF (particle roping) in pipe and channel bends prior to flow splitting devices leads to uncontrolled differences in the fuel to air ratio between burners. This results in localised regions in the furnace which are fuel rich, where insufficient air causes incomplete combustion of the fuel. Other regions in the furnace become fuel lean, forming high local concentrations of NOX due to the high local concentrations of O2. Otherwise PF maldistribution can impact on power plant maintenance in terms of uneven wear on PF pipework, flow splitters as well as the effects on boiler panels (PF deposition, corrosion, slagging). In order to address these problems in establishing uniform PF distribution over the outlet cross sections of flow splitting devices in the pipework of coal-fired power plants the present paper deals with numerical prediction and analysis of the complex gas and coal particle (PF) flow through trifurcators and ''riffle'' type bifurcators. The numerical investigation is based on a 3-dimensional Eulerian- Lagrangian approach (MISTRAL/PartFlow-3D) developed by Frank et al. The numerical method is capable to predict isothermal, incompressible, steady gas- particle flows in 3-dimensional, geometrically complex flow geometries using boundary fitted, block-structured, numerical grids. Due to the very high numerical effort of the investigated gas-particle flows the numerical approach has been developed with special emphasis on efficient parallel computing on clusters of workstations or other high performance computing architectures. Besides the aerodynamically interaction between the carrier fluid phase and the PF particles the gas-particle flow is mainly influenced by particle-wall interactions with the outer wall boundaries and the inner fittings and guiding vanes of the investigated flow splitting devices. In order to allow accurate quantitative prediction of the motion of the disperse phase the numerical model requires detailed information about the particle-wall collision process. In commonly used physical models of the particle-wall interaction this is the knowledge or experimental prediction of the restitution coefficients (dynamic friction coefficient, coefficient of restitution) for the used combination of particle and wall material, e.g. PF particles on steel. In the present investigation these parameters of the particle-wall interaction model have been obtained from special experiments in two test facilities. Basic experiments to clarify the details of the particle-wall interaction process were made in a test facility with a spherical disk accelerator. This test facility furthermore provides the opportunity to investigate the bouncing process under normal pressure as well as under vacuum conditions, thus excluding aerodynamically influences on the motion of small particles in the near vicinity of solid wall surfaces (especially under small angles of attack). In this experiments spherical glass beads were used as particle material. In a second test facility we have investigated the real impact of non-spherical pulverised fuel particles on a steel/ceramic target. In this experiments PF particles were accelerated by an injector using inert gas like e.g. CO2 or N2 as the carrier phase in order to avoid dust explosion hazards. The obtained data for the particle-wall collision models were compared to those obtained for glass spheres, where bouncing models are proofed to be valid. Furthermore the second test facility was used to obtain particle erosion rates for PF particles on steel targets as a function of impact angles and velocities. The results of experimental investigations has been incorporated into the numerical model. Hereafter the numerical approach MISTRAL/PartFlow-3D has been applied to the PF flow through a ''riffle'' type bifurcator. Using ICEM/CFD-Hexa as grid generator a numerical mesh with approximately 4 million grid cells has been designed for approximation of the complex geometry of the flow splitting device with all its interior fittings and guiding vanes. Based on a predicted gas flow field a large number of PF particles are tracked throughout the flow geometry of the flow-splitter. Besides mean quantities of the particle flow field like e.g. local particle concentrations, mean particle velocities, distribution of mean particle diameter, etc. it is now possible to obtain information about particle erosion on riffle plates and guiding vanes of the flow splitting device. Furthermore the influence of different roping patterns in front of the flow splitter on the uniformness of PF mass flow rate splitting after the bifurcator has been investigated numerically. Results show the efficient operation of the investigated bifurcator in absence of particle roping, this means under conditions of an uniform PF particle concentration distribution in the inflow cross section of the bifurcator. If particle roping occurs and particle concentration differs over the pipe cross section in front of the bifurcator the equal PF particle mass flow rate splitting can be strongly deteriorated in dependence on the location and intensity of the particle rope or particle concentration irregularities. The presented results show the importance of further development of efficient rope splitting devices for applications in coal-fired power plants. Numerical analysis can be used as an efficient tool for their investigation and further optimisation under various operating and flow conditions.

In power plants using large utility coal-fired boilers for generation of electricity the coal is pulverised in coal mills and then it has to be pneumatically transported and distributed to a larger number of burners (e.g. 30-40) circumferentially arranged in several rows around the burning chamber of the boiler. Besides the large pipework flow splitting devices are necessary for distribution of an equal amount of pulverised fuel (PF) to each of the burners. So called trifurcators (without inner fittings or guiding vanes) and ''riffle'' type bifurcators are commonly used to split the gas-coal particle flow into two or three pipes/channels with an equal amount of PF mass flow rate in each outflow cross section of the flow splitting device. These PF flow splitting devices are subject of a number of problems. First of all an uneven distribution of PF over the burners of a large utility boiler leads to operational and maintenance problems, increased level of unburned carbon and higher rates of NOX emissions. Maldistribution of fuel between burners caused by non uniform concentration of the PF (particle roping) in pipe and channel bends prior to flow splitting devices leads to uncontrolled differences in the fuel to air ratio between burners. This results in localised regions in the furnace which are fuel rich, where insufficient air causes incomplete combustion of the fuel. Other regions in the furnace become fuel lean, forming high local concentrations of NOX due to the high local concentrations of O2. Otherwise PF maldistribution can impact on power plant maintenance in terms of uneven wear on PF pipework, flow splitters as well as the effects on boiler panels (PF deposition, corrosion, slagging). In order to address these problems in establishing uniform PF distribution over the outlet cross sections of flow splitting devices in the pipework of coal-fired power plants the present paper deals with numerical prediction and analysis of the complex gas and coal particle (PF) flow through trifurcators and ''riffle'' type bifurcators. The numerical investigation is based on a 3-dimensional Eulerian- Lagrangian approach (MISTRAL/PartFlow-3D) developed by Frank et al. The numerical method is capable to predict isothermal, incompressible, steady gas- particle flows in 3-dimensional, geometrically complex flow geometries using boundary fitted, block-structured, numerical grids. Due to the very high numerical effort of the investigated gas-particle flows the numerical approach has been developed with special emphasis on efficient parallel computing on clusters of workstations or other high performance computing architectures. Besides the aerodynamically interaction between the carrier fluid phase and the PF particles the gas-particle flow is mainly influenced by particle-wall interactions with the outer wall boundaries and the inner fittings and guiding vanes of the investigated flow splitting devices. In order to allow accurate quantitative prediction of the motion of the disperse phase the numerical model requires detailed information about the particle-wall collision process. In commonly used physical models of the particle-wall interaction this is the knowledge or experimental prediction of the restitution coefficients (dynamic friction coefficient, coefficient of restitution) for the used combination of particle and wall material, e.g. PF particles on steel. In the present investigation these parameters of the particle-wall interaction model have been obtained from special experiments in two test facilities. Basic experiments to clarify the details of the particle-wall interaction process were made in a test facility with a spherical disk accelerator. This test facility furthermore provides the opportunity to investigate the bouncing process under normal pressure as well as under vacuum conditions, thus excluding aerodynamically influences on the motion of small particles in the near vicinity of solid wall surfaces (especially under small angles of attack). In this experiments spherical glass beads were used as particle material. In a second test facility we have investigated the real impact of non-spherical pulverised fuel particles on a steel/ceramic target. In this experiments PF particles were accelerated by an injector using inert gas like e.g. CO2 or N2 as the carrier phase in order to avoid dust explosion hazards. The obtained data for the particle-wall collision models were compared to those obtained for glass spheres, where bouncing models are proofed to be valid. Furthermore the second test facility was used to obtain particle erosion rates for PF particles on steel targets as a function of impact angles and velocities. The results of experimental investigations has been incorporated into the numerical model. Hereafter the numerical approach MISTRAL/PartFlow-3D has been applied to the PF flow through a ''riffle'' type bifurcator. Using ICEM/CFD-Hexa as grid generator a numerical mesh with approximately 4 million grid cells has been designed for approximation of the complex geometry of the flow splitting device with all its interior fittings and guiding vanes. Based on a predicted gas flow field a large number of PF particles are tracked throughout the flow geometry of the flow-splitter. Besides mean quantities of the particle flow field like e.g. local particle concentrations, mean particle velocities, distribution of mean particle diameter, etc. it is now possible to obtain information about particle erosion on riffle plates and guiding vanes of the flow splitting device. Furthermore the influence of different roping patterns in front of the flow splitter on the uniformness of PF mass flow rate splitting after the bifurcator has been investigated numerically. Results show the efficient operation of the investigated bifurcator in absence of particle roping, this means under conditions of an uniform PF particle concentration distribution in the inflow cross section of the bifurcator. If particle roping occurs and particle concentration differs over the pipe cross section in front of the bifurcator the equal PF particle mass flow rate splitting can be strongly deteriorated in dependence on the location and intensity of the particle rope or particle concentration irregularities. The presented results show the importance of further development of efficient rope splitting devices for applications in coal-fired power plants. Numerical analysis can be used as an efficient tool for their investigation and further optimisation under various operating and flow conditions.

This thesis is developed as a proposal for heating for a primary school and kindergarten in the region of Brno-countryside. For the insulated building, a combination of heating and air-conditioning is proposed. The concept is designed so that the air-conditioning preheats the exterior air and the heating system warms the incoming air to a comfortable temperature. For the required thermal performance, sources of heat (for gas and pellets) and a layout solution for the boiler room is designed. Drainage of combustion products is proposed for both solutions. The project solution is per the extent of the construction permit. The theoretical part is linked with the practical part through the condensation boilers, their function and division, and drainage of combustion products. The experiment for the given topic was conducted on the drainage of combustion products. The pressure loss of the reverse knob was determined in relation to the flow rate of air in the condensation boilers as this loss is essential in assessing the drainage of combustion products.