U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Hydrodynamics of Fluid Particle Systems

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This award will support collaborative research between Dr. George Homsy, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University and Dr. Elisabeth Guazelli, Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles, Paris, France. The objective of the project is to investigate the hydrodynamics of fluid particle systems. The investigators will study hydrodynamic effects in suspensions and fluidized beds. The behavior of such dispersed multiphase systems is important in a number of fields of science and technology. These include applications in handling and processing materials such as: 1) composites and emulsions, 2) chemical processing of fluids, as in fluidized bed reactors, 3) environmental fluid mechanics, such as sediment and nutrient transport in natural flows and 4) separation technologies, such as flotation, sedimentation and clarification. Despite intensive study of these fields over the last several decades, there are many fundamental aspects of the mechanical behavior of such systems that remain poorly understood, in particular, the interactions between the particles making up the dispersed phase. In this project, the investigators propose to carry out: 1) theoretical and numerical studies of hydrodynamic interactions between particles in suspension, and 2) experimental studies of the behavior of sedimenting suspen- sions, fluidized beds, and so-called "ferro fluids", i.e. suspensions of magnetic Brownian particles. The primary focus of the French group will be the experimental studies, while that of the US will be theoretical and numerical modeling. The project will benefit from the availability of special NMR facilities for flow visualization in the French laboratory.