Study on Fine Silt Loading Characters of Tshd Based on Computerised Fluid Dynamics (Cfd)
Type:
Presented during:
WODCON XX: "The Art of Dredging" - 2013, Brussels, Belgium
Authors:
Yang ZJ, Qin L, Li ZC, Gao W
Abstract: When dredging fine silt by a twin hopper suction dredger (TSHD) the loading efficiency is very low because the settlement process of small diameter particles is slow. This greatly limits the production of a TSHD. In such a situation the process of particle settlement is heavily dependant on profile of velocity, intensity and scale of turbulence. In this paper, solid liquid two phase flow transient simulation of the loading process in an operation condition was implemented using the computerized fluid dynamics(CFD) method. The computation results are in good agreement with the data obtained from TSHD instruments. Various operation conditions, including different inlet velocities and overflow tube heights, were studied using the same CFD method. The effects of the profile of velocity on the loading process were analyzed. Studies show that the CFD method can be used to predict the process of loading and settlement. The prediction for the filling velocity and settlement process can provide technical guidance to process optimization factors and achieve improvements to the hopper shape.
Keywords: TSHD, fine silt, loading characters, CFD