Powder Technology 172 (2007) 41 49

www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec

Moving granular filter bed of quartz sand with

louvered-walls and flow-corrective inserts
Chuen-Shii Chou , Shun-Hsing Chen
Powder Technology Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Pingtung
University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 91207 Taiwan
Received 26 February 2006; received in revised form 16 June 2006; accepted 17 October 2006
Available online 10 November 2006

Abstract
This study investigated the effect of a simple flow-corrective element, a vertical plate, on the flow patterns and wall stresses in a twodimensional louvered-wall moving granular filter bed of quartz sand. The static wall stress distributions produced by the granular solids were
measured, and compared with the theoretical prediction, using the differential slice and RungeKutta (order four) methods. The variations in the
dynamic wall stresses over time were obtained using a two-directional pressure gauge. The results show that a vertical plate placed in each stage of
the granular filter bed effectively diminished the quasi-stagnant zone adjacent to the louvered-wall, and reduced the wall pressure pulsation. For
example, the ratio of the stagnant zone area in the second stage to the area of quartz sand in the second stage decreased from 50.66% (without an
insert) to 27.86% (with a vertical plate). The maximum dynamic normal wall stress on the convergent section of third-stage louvered-wall (louver
angle: 40) declined remarkably from 9.95 kPa (without an insert) to 5.9 kPa (with a vertical plate), and then the reduction of the maximum
dynamic normal wall stress was up to 40.7%. Furthermore, a vertical plate installed at an appropriate location satisfies the following requirements:
(1) it shrinks the stagnant zone and reduces the wall stresses on the louvered wall of a moving granular filter bed; and (2) it solves the potential
problem of a roof-type insert, on which the stagnant zone may sit.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Moving granular filter bed; Flow patterns; Wall stress; Differential slice; Flow corrective insert

1. Introduction
Beds of granular solids have been employed for dust
collection for many years, but the subject has gained
prominence recently as a possible means of simultaneously
removing fly ash and sulfur dioxide from powerhouse flue gases
at temperatures in excess of 400 C. The competing device for
the hot gas particulate filtration is the ceramic barrier filter.
However, the problems of the bag fracture encountered during
recent pilot and demonstration-scale tests, have led to concerns
over the future exploitation of this technology. Consequently,
the granular bed filter, which can be operated in four modes:
fixed bed, intermittently moving bed, continuously moving bed
and fluidized bed [1,2], remains a viable alternative.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 8 7703202x7016; fax: +886 8 7740142.

E-mail address: cschou@mail.npust.edu.tw (C.-S. Chou).
0032-5910/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2006.10.028

In the moving bed cross flow operations, the filter bed is a

vertical layer of granular material, held in place by retaining
grids or louvered walls (Fig. 1). The dust-laden gas passes
horizontally through the granular layer while filter granules
move downwards and are removed from the bottom of the
moving bed filter. Knowledge of filter granule velocity fields
inside the convergent channels between the pairs of louvers
provides important information for system design. The filter
granule flow patterns and velocity fields in a granular moving
bed with different louvered walls were experimentally studied
in [3,4] and numerically studied in [1,5]. The main finding of
these results was that stagnant and quasi-stagnant zones could
exist in the regions adjacent to the louvers. In addition, the
influences of the louver angles upon the velocity profiles were
discussed [1,4,5].
Chou et al. [1] also stated that louver efficiency F / L in terms
of angle of repose r and louver angle L was determined by
L
using FL sina
cosar , where L was the louver length and F was the

42

C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

span of the free surface. The louver efficiency was found to

increase with an increase in both the angle of repose r and the
louver angle L. However, as the angle of the louver increased,
the quasi-stagnant zone area adjacent to the louvered wall
became larger. Consequently, developing an appropriate flow
corrective element is one of the important issues of designing a
moving granular bed filter.
In the past, some theoretical, numerical and experimental
methods were conducted to explore the flow mechanism of bulk
solids around fixed inserts and the effect of inserts upon the wall
stresses and flow patterns in a silo [611]. Hsiau et al. experimentally investigated the placement of flow-corrective
elements in a symmetric moving granular bed of PE spheres
[12]. Additionally, Chou et al. presented measurements of wall
stresses in a moving bed of PE spheres with an asymmetric
louvered-wall and obstacles [13].
The references cited thus far are confined to consideration of
either the experimental or theoretical investigation of the insert
effect upon the velocity field or the wall stress in a silo. Little
attention has been paid to the study of the reduction in pulsating
wall pressure and the study of diminishing the quasi-stagnant
zone area adjacent to the louvered wall in a moving granular
filter bed. In addition, the references cited thus far are confined
to consideration of either the equilateral triangle insert [6,11,12]
or hexahedral insert [8,9]. Nevertheless, Chou et al. [14] and
Chou and Tseng [15] demonstrated the fluctuation of the insert
load acting respectively upon the equilateral triangle insert and
the hexahedral insert during granular material withdrawal. The
insert load acting upon the equilateral triangle insert was found
to increase with an increase in the angle of equilateral triangle
insert [15].
Furthermore, the references cited thus far are confined to
consideration of the granular material of PE spheres [3,4,12,13,16]
or numerical simulation of flow patterns of disks [1,5] in a
louvered-wall moving granular filter bed. Little attention has been

Fig. 2. Schematic of the experimental apparatus.

paid to the flowing behavior of quartz sand, which is one of the

probable filter granules used in the hot gas particulate filtration, in
a louvered-wall moving granular filter bed. Therefore, the
purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility of reducing the quasi-stagnant zone and wall stress pulsation using a
vertical plate in a louvered-wall moving granular filter bed of
quartz sand.
Consequently, extending the work of Chou and Chen [17],
this research work studied the flow patterns and wall stresses in
a symmetric louvered-wall moving granular filter bed of quartz
sand, in which a vertical plate was placed in each stage. The
differential slice method by Chou and Tseng [15] was employed
to predict the static wall stress distribution in a symmetric
louvered-wall moving granular bed filter with vertical plates. In
addition, the quartz sand was moved between the two louvered
walls of the filter with no interstitial fluid flow relative to the
solids.
2. Experimental apparatus and procedures
2.1. Two-dimensional moving granular filter bed

Fig. 1. Illustration of the granular filter bed.

A two-dimensional moving granular filter bed, in which a

vertical plate was placed in each stage, was set up to observe the
effect of the insert upon flow patterns and the wall stresses
during granular material withdrawal (Fig. 2). This granular bed
consisted of a layer of particulate material sandwiched between
two transparent acrylic panels with louver-like side walls. The
granules were fed into a vertical channel from a hopper at the
top that had a rectangular discharge slot with the same crosssectional dimensions as the vertical channel. A granular solid
flow was induced and controlled by a moving belt underneath
the bottom of the granular bed.
Table 1 lists the test conditions for six experiments. The
layout of the pressure gauges and detailed dimensions of the

C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

43

Table 1
Test conditions
Test
1
Louver length L (mm)
Louver spacing LS (mm)
Louver width W (mm)
Pressure gauge position PL1
(mm)
PL2
PL3
PS1
PS2
PS3
Louver angle L ()
Insert
Distance h (mm)

Test
2

Test
3

Test
4

Test
5

Test
6

92
455
820
50
Yes
35

78
441
805
40
Yes
50

92
455
820
50
Yes
50

200
363
455
200
623
987
78
441
805
40
No

92
455
820
50
No

78
441
805
40
Yes
35

granular filter bed are shown in Fig. 3 and Table 1. Excluding

the flow corrective elements, the layout of the pressure gauges
and detailed dimensions of the granular filter bed for Test 1 and
Test 2 are identical to those of Test 3 and Test 4, respectively. In
Table 1 and Fig. 3, distance h represents the span between the
bottom point of a vertical plate and the bottom of the louver (see
Fig. 3).
2.2. Two-directional pressure gauge
Two kinds of pressure gauges were used in this research. The
first, a cylindrical gauge, was installed on the vertical section of
the louvered wall. The second, with the shape of a hexahedron,
was installed on the convergent section of the louvered wall.
The normal and shear forces produced by the granular solids are
transmitted by the sensing plate to a steel ring to which the

Fig. 4. Schematic of two-directional pressure gauge.

semiconductor strain gauges are attached (see Fig. 4). The

pressure gauge employed in this research work enabled
simultaneous and independent measurements of both normal
and shear stress components. Chou and Chen [18] explicated
the principle on which the two-directional pressure gauge is
based. This pressure gauge exhibited linear calibration
characteristics (i.e. a linear relationship between the stress and
the output voltage). Chou et al. [16] elucidated the calibration of
the normal stress measurement and the calibration of shear
stress measurement using a pressure gauge.
2.3. Experimental procedures and measuring systems
The pressure gauges were calibrated before installation on
the louvered walls. The cylindrical pressure gauges installed on
the vertical section of the left side wall were marked L1 to L3,
and the hexahedron pressure gauges installed on the convergent
section of the left side wall were marked LS1 to LS3 (Fig. 3).
The cylindrical pressure gauges installed on the vertical section
of the right side wall were marked R1 to R3, and the hexahedron
pressure gauges installed on the convergent section of the right
side wall were marked RS1 to RS3 (Fig. 3).
The granular materials used in this research work were
quartz sand (0.6351.27 mm) with a specific gravity of 2.5. The
friction angles for the above-mentioned granular material listed
in Table 2 were obtained using a Jenike shear tester. The blackcolored quartz sand, which was dyed by the poster colors, was
used as the tracer. The black-colored and gray-colored quartz
sands were heated in the oven at 250 C for 5min, respectively.
These quartz sands were then taken out from the oven and
stirred around, and then they were heated in the oven again. In
order to dehydrate the quartz sand, the procedure of heating and
stirring quartz sand was repeated three times.
The method of Chou and Chen [17] was used to measure and
analyze the normal and shear wall stresses exerted by the
Table 2
Friction angles

Fig. 3. The layout of the pressure gauges and detailed dimensions of the granular
filter bed.

Granular
material

Particleparticle

Particlesteel
side wall

Particletransparent
acrylic wall

Quartz sand

54

16

25

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C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

Fig. 5. Schematic of the stress measurement and video imaging systems.

particulates and to record and edit the images of granular flow in

the moving granular filter bed of quartz sands with a symmetric
louvered-wall and flow-corrective inserts. The mass flow rate
for six tests was controlled and maintained at 0.090.1 kg/s
during all experiments. The schematic drawing of the stress
measuring equipment and video imaging system is shown in
Fig. 5.

wall and the vertical plate; (D) the wedge hopper region; and (E)
the region on the top of rectangular bin region and below the
louver of the upper stage (Fig. 6). Furthermore, the status of
granular material in the region between the convergent section
of the louvered wall and the vertical plate is similar to that in an
asymmetric wedge hopper whose static wall stress can be
calculated using the differential slice method of Chou and Tseng
[15], which is briefly introduced in following section.

3. Theoretical static wall stresses

3.1. Differential slice method for an asymmetric wedge hopper
A granular filter bed, in which a vertical plate was placed in
each stage, was considered in this research. Therefore, the
particulate solids in the granular filter bed could be divided into
five regions: (A) the rectangular bin region; (B) the region
between the vertical section of louvered wall and the vertical
plate; (C) the region between the convergent section of louvered

Fig. 6. Five regions in the granular bed with a vertical plate.

For a plane differential trapezoid slice of material in an

asymmetric wedge hopper shown in Fig. 7, the static force
balance in the vertical direction is given by
w w dw
dh
dh Pw2 b
sina
2
cosa
dh
w w dw
Sw2 b
cosa Sw3
dh
cosa
2
dh
dh
sing Sw4 b
cosg
Pw4 b
cosg
cosg
w w dw
Pv dPv w dwb qb gb
dh
2

Pv wb Sw1

where Pv, w, dh, b and b represent the vertical stress acting on

the plane differential slice, the width of plane differential slice,
the height of the plane differential slice, the depth of the plane
differential slice and the bulk solids density. Sw1, Sw2, Sw3 and
Sw4 are the tangential stresses acting on the front, right-side, rear
and left-side of the plane differential slice, respectively. Pw1,
Pw2, Pw3 and Pw4 are the normal stresses acting on the front,
right-side, rear and left-side of the plane differential slice,
respectively. Moreover, angles and represent inclined rightand left-wall angles from the vertical, respectively. In this
research work, the bulk solids density in an asymmetric wedge
hopper is assumed to be a uniform distribution, and the vertical
stress Pv is constant over a plane differential trapezoid slice.

C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

45

Fig. 7. A differential trapezoid slice in an asymmetric wedge hopper.

By neglecting high order terms such as: dwdh and dPvdw,

Eq. (1) then becomes

3Pw3 and Sw4 = 4Pw4, the items in the left-hand side of Eq. (2)
may be written in terms of Pw2 through

Sw1 wdh Pw2 bdh tana Sw2 bdh Sw3 wdh

l1

Pw4 bdh tang Sw4 bdh

Pv bdw wbdPv qgbwdh

The static force balance in the x-direction is given by

dh
dh
cosa Sw4 b
sing
Pw2 b
cosa
cosg
dh
dh
Pw4 b
cosg Sw2 b
sina
cosg
cosa

1 c1
Pw2 wdh Pw2 bdh tana l2 Pw2 bdh
2
1 c1
Pw2 wdh c1 Pw2 bdh tang l4 c1 Pw2 bdh
l3
2
5
Pv bdw wbdPv qgbwdh

where 1 and 3 are the front and rear wall friction coefficients,
respectively.
3

1l2 tana
In terms of Sw2 = 2Pw2, Sw4 = 4Pw4, and c1 1l
, Eq. (3)
4 tang
is simplified and then the relation between Pw4 and Pw2 is given
by

Pw4 cb1 Pw2

where 2 and 4 are the right- and left-side wall friction

coefficients, respectively. Similarly, from the static force
balance in the y-direction, Pw1 = Pw3 is obtained.
By referring to the assumption of Michalowski [19], the front
and back walls subjected to a linear distribution of normal stress
were considered in this research, and the average normal stress
(i.e. (pw2 + pw4) / 2) on the front and back walls was assumed to
w4
simplify the problem. By assuming Pw1 Pw2 P
, and em2
ploying Pw4 = c1Pw2, Pw1 = Pw3, Sw1 = 1Pw1, Sw2 = 2Pw2, Sw3 =

Fig. 8. (a)(c) The flow status at 300 s from the beginning of the outflow in the
louvered-wall moving granular filter bed (louver angle: 40). (a) Test 1; (b) Test
3; (c) Test 5.

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C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

Table 4
Quasi-stagnant zone area of second stage (louver angle: 50)

Quasi-stagnant zone area (mm2)

Stagnant Zone Area 2nd Stage
%
Total Area 2nd Stage

Fig. 9. (a)(c) The flow status at 300 s from the beginning of the outflow in the
louvered-wall moving granular filter bed (louver angle: 50). (a) Test 2; (b) Test
4; (c) Test 6.

By substituting Pw2 =K1Pv, w =w0 +h(tan + tan ) and dw =

(tan + tan )dh into Eq. (5), and simplifying the intermediate
1
, c4 =K1b tan ,
result using c2 = tan + tan , c3 l1 K1 1c
2
K1 l3 1c1
, the Eq.
c5 =2K1b, c6 =c1K1b tan , c7 =4c1K1b, c8
2
(5) can be rearranged to be a first-order ordinary differential
equation, as follows:
dPv c3 c8 w0 c2 c3 c8 h c4 c5 c6 c7 c2 b

Pv qb g
bw0 c2 h
dh

6
Additionally, the coefficient K1, the ratio of the normal
hopper wall stress acting on the right-side wall to crosssectional averaged vertical stress is given by

Test 2

Test 4

Test 6

3315

2375

2391

50.7

29.4

27.9

the dimensions of five regions; (2) calculate the wall stress

distributions for the fourth stage of the granular filter bed from
the bottom using the differential slice methods of Chou et al.
[16] (for symmetric regions), and Chou and Tseng [15] (for
asymmetric region); and (3) repeat the step (2), and calculate the
wall stress distributions for the third, second and first stage of
the granular filter bed in sequence.
For each region (Fig. 6), an initial-value problem, consisting of
a first-order ordinary differential equation and an initial condition
(i.e. the vertical stress Pv at the top of each region), is considered.
The RungeKutta (order four) method [20] is employed to solve
the initial-value problem. The initial condition can be either zero
surcharge or under surcharge. For region A, in the condition of
zero surcharge, the vertical stress Pv acting on the top of region
A (Fig. 6) in each stage is assumed to be zero. In contrast, in the
condition of under surcharge, the vertical stress Pv acting on the
top of region A in each stage is equal to that at the bottom of
region D of the upper stage. Additionally, the vertical stresses Pv
at the top of regions B, C, and D are equal to those at the bottom of
regions A, B and C, respectively.
In order to simplify the problem, the following assumptions
were made: (1) the contribution of region E to wall stress was
neglected; and (2) the vertical stress Pv at the top of region A in
fourth stage of granular filter bed was assumed to be zero.
4. Results and discussion

Pw2
1 sindcos2b
K1

1sindcos2a 2b
Pv

where and are the effective angle of internal friction and the
angle between the hopper wall and the major principal plane,
respectively.

4.1. The effect of an insert upon the flow patterns

Fig. 8(a)(c) demonstrates the flow status at 300 s from the
beginning of the outflow in the louvered-wall moving granular

3.2. Calculating procedures and conditions

For each test condition, the calculating procedures to obtain
the wall stresses in a louvered-wall granular filter bed, with a
vertical plate placed in each stage, comprise: (1) divide the
particulate solids in the each stage of granular filter bed with a
vertical plate into five regions as shown in Fig. 6, and figure out
Table 3
Quasi-stagnant zone of second stage (Louver angle: 40)

Quasi-stagnant zone area (mm2)

Stagnant Zone Area 2nd Stage
%
Total Area 2nd Stage

Test 1

Test 3

Test 5

2831
43.2

2421
28.5

2260
29.1
Fig. 10. Schematic of five flow regions in a symmetric louvered wall moving
granular filter bed of quartz sand with a vertical plate.

C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

47

stagnant zone areas in the second stage for Test 2, Test 4 and
Test 6 were calculated and listed in Table 4. Moreover, the
boundary of the quasi-stagnant area in the second stage for each
test is depicted using dashed line in Figs. 8 and 9. The vertical
plate employed in this research work effectively diminishes the
quasi-stagnant zone adjacent to the louvered-wall. For example,
the ratio of quasi-stagnant area in the second stage to total area
in the second stage decreases from 50.7% (Test 2) to 27.9%
(Test 6).
Figs. 8 and 9 reveal that the vertical plate splits the granular
flow into two equal flowing streams in the moving granular filter
bed with a symmetric louvered-wall. Hence, five flow regions
were observed: (1) the region of flow deceleration above the
vertical plate; (2) the quasi-stagnant zone adjacent to the louvered
wall; (3) a tiny wall shear region along the vertical plate; (4) the
shearing interlayer sandwiched by the quasi-stagnant zone, the
region of flow deceleration and the region of flow acceleration;
and (5) the region of flow acceleration whose boundary is shared
with the wall shear region, shearing interlayer and the region of
flow deceleration. Fig. 10 schematically depicts five flow regions.
4.2. The effect of an insert upon the wall stresses
4.2.1. The static wall stresses
Fig. 11(a)(b) shows the static normal wall stress distributions
in the symmetric louvered-wall (louver angle: 40) granular filter

Fig. 11. (ab) The static normal wall stress distributions in the symmetric
louvered-wall granular filter bed (louver angle: 40). (a) Test 1; (b) Test 3.

filter bed (louver angle: 40) in Test 1, Test 3 and Test 5. Fig. 9
(a)(c) shows the flow status at 300 s from the beginning of the
outflow in the louvered-wall moving granular filter bed (louver
angle: 50) in Test 2, Test 4 and Test 6.
Due to the fact that a vertical plate was placed in each stage
of the granular filter bed, the central flowing core was divided
into two streams. Each stream of particulate material triggered a
layer of non-flowing granules to slough off the surrounding
granular material, and then slid into the channel of active flow.
Consequently, the quasi-stagnant zone adjacent to the louveredwall was lessened. From Fig. 8(a)(c), the quasi-stagnant zone
areas in the second stage for Test 1, Test 3 and Test 5 were
calculated and listed in Table 3. From Fig. 9(a)(c), the quasi-

Fig. 12. The variation in dynamic normal stress acting on the convergent section
of the left-side wall with time in Test 1 and Test 3 in the symmetric louvered-wall
granular filter bed (louver angle: 40).

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C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

bed in Test 1 and Test 3, respectively. In each frame of Fig. 11, the
solid line and the dashed line represent the theoretical static normal
stress distributions with surcharge, and under zero surcharge,
respectively. In addition, square, asterisk, diamond, triangle, cross
and circle represent the static normal stress measured by pressure
gauges L3, LS3, L2, LS2, L1 and LS1, respectively. In general, the
magnitude of the static normal stress acting on the convergent
section of louvered-wall greatly exceeds that acting on the vertical
section of louvered-wall because the most weight of the granular
bed in each stage is felt by the convergent section of louveredwall.
At the vertical section of the louvered-wall, the static normal
stress measured by the pressure gauge is close to the theoretical
prediction obtained using the initial condition of zero surcharge
(Fig. 11). For example, at the position of pressure gauge L3, the
theoretical and experimental static normal stresses under Test 3
were 1.0 and 0.57 kPa, respectively. In contrast, at the convergent
section of the louvered-wall, the static normal stress measured by
the pressure gauge is close to the theoretical prediction obtained
using the initial condition of under surcharge. For instance, at
the position of pressure gauge LS1, the theoretical and experimental static normal stresses under Test 3 were 3.6 and
4.1 kPa, respectively. The theoretical surcharges (i.e. the vertical
stress Pv) acting at the top of region A in the third stage in Test 1
and Test 3 were 4.59 and 4.17 kPa, respectively.
The effect of the insert upon the static normal wall stress is
significant. For example, the static normal wall stresses
measured by pressure gauge LS1, which was installed on the
convergent section of the louvered-wall in first stage, in Test 1
(without a vertical plate) and Test 3 (with a vertical plate) were
5.9 and 4.1 kPa, respectively (Fig. 11). The static normal stress
reduction rate was up to 30.5%. This stress discrepancy is
followed by that the vertical plate can disrupt the contact force
network of the granular bed.
Due to the fact that a vertical plate is placed at each stage of
the granular filter bed, for each stage, the theoretical static
normal wall stress distribution (with surcharge) increases from
the top of region A to the apex of the vertical plate. In region B,
the normal wall stress slightly decreases from the apex of the
vertical plate to the transition point of the louvered-wall. In
region C, the normal wall stress slightly increases from the
transition point of the louvered-wall to the bottom of vertical
plate. Finally, in region D, the normal wall stress slightly
increases from the bottom of the vertical plate to the end point of

Table 6
Maximum dynamic, mean dynamic and static normal stresses for Tests 3 and 4
Pressure
gauge

Test 3
Max.
dynamic
stress

Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

Test 4
Max.
dynamic
stress

Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

L1
L2
L3
LS1
LS2
LS3

0.57
0.56
0.66
4.78
6.0
5.9

0.38
0.44
0.53
3.68
4.2
4.27

0.41
0.42
0.57
4.1
5.32
4.62

0.84
0.6
0.77
4.37
4.98
5.29

0.49
0.51
0.55
3.8
4.37
4.5

0.46
0.46
0.56
3.88
4.2
4.2

the louvered-wall. Because the louvered-wall of the granular

filter bed is not a succession of boundaries (Fig. 3), the discontinuity of the solid line is observed in Fig. 11. Furthermore,
due to neglecting the contributions of region E in each stage and
the quartz sand in the hopper at the top of the granular filter bed
(Fig. 2) to the wall stress, this theoretical model cannot predict
the values around 6 kPa measured by pressure gauges LS1, LS2
and LS3.
4.2.2. The dynamic wall stresses
Fig. 12 demonstrates the variations in dynamic normal stress
acting on the convergent section of the left-side louvered wall
with time in Test 1 and Test 3 in the symmetric granular filter
bed (louver angle: 40). Fig. 12 has three panels: the top panel is
for pressure gauge LS3; the center panel is for pressure gauge
LS2; and the bottom panel is for pressure gauge LS1. In each
panel, the black-colored line represents the dynamic response in
Test 1 (without the inserts) and the gray-colored line represents
the dynamic response in Test 3 (with the inserts). In addition,
two horizontal dotted lines represent the static normal stresses
for Test 1 and Test 3. In general, under the same louver angle,
the dynamic normal wall stress (with the inserts) is smaller than
that without the inserts, and the fluctuation amplitude of the
normal stress (with the inserts) is also smaller than that without
the inserts.
In the top panel of Fig. 12, the dynamic normal wall stress
measured by pressure gauge LS3 in Test 1 fluctuated about the
static normal wall stress (5.51 kPa) between 0 and 410 s. The
maximum dynamic normal stress was 9.95 kPa, and the mean
dynamic normal stress was 6.67 kPa. During this period, the
granules were emptied out of the fourth stage from the bottom

Table 5
Maximum dynamic, mean dynamic and static normal stresses for Tests 1 and 2

Table 7
Maximum dynamic, mean dynamic and static normal stresses for Tests 5 and 6

Pressure
gauge

Test 1
Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

Max.
dynamic
stress

Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

Pressure
Gauge

Test 5

Max.
dynamic
stress

Max.
dynamic
stress

Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

Max.
dynamic
stress

Mean
dynamic
stress

Static
stress

L1
L2
L3
LS1
LS2
LS3

0.95
0.51
0.81
6.28
8.12
9.95

0.45
0.32
0.45
5.29
6.2
6.67

0.56
0.51
0.47
5.51
5.47
5.91

0.76
0.59
0.57
5.6
7.26
7.05

0.43
0.4
0.47
4.93
5.82
5.2

0.4
0.4
0.4
5.1
5.56
5.76

L1
L2
L3
LS1
LS2
LS3

0.74
0.57
0.79
4.9
6.4
5.76

0.36
0.48
0.53
4.34
4.57
4.43

0.34
0.51
0.58
4.7
5.1
4.78

0.71
0.69
0.79
4.38
4.9
5.61

0.46
0.55
0.64
3.78
4.08
4.75

0.46
0.58
0.65
3.82
3.9
4.55

Test 2

Test 6

C.-S. Chou, S.-H. Chen / Powder Technology 172 (2007) 4149

(Fig. 8(a)). In addition, between 410 and 590 s, the normal wall
stress measured by pressure gauge LS3 fluctuated under the
static normal wall stress and decreased to zero. At the same
time, the granules were emptied out of the third stage, where
pressure gauge LS3 was installed. Although the dynamic
normal wall stresses measured by pressure gauge LS3 in Test 1
and Test 3 had the same trend (top panel of Fig. 12), the
maximum dynamic normal wall stress reduced remarkably from
9.95 kPa (in Test 1) to 5.9 kPa (in Test 3). The reduction rate of
the maximum dynamic normal wall stress was up to 40.7%.
The stress recorded in the top panel of Fig. 12 showed that a
peak in the normal stress appeared at 340 s in Test 1 (without
inserts). The reason for this sudden stress increase was an
avalanche of granules sliding along the free surface. This
avalanche consequently impacted on the stagnant material
(Fig. 8(a)). An increase in the normal stress measured by
pressure gage LS3 was then registered. During this period, the
free surface at the top of the granular bed moved downward
from the forth stage to the third stage. The granular flows
expand when the granules are just leaving the upper stage exit.
Consequently, the flow expansion and the avalanche behavior at
the top of the free surface significantly affected the magnitude
of the wall stress produced by the granules during material
withdrawal.
The records of stresses measured by pressure gauge LS2 in
the center panel of Fig. 12 showed a stress peak at the beginning
of material withdrawal. The reason for this sudden stress
increase was that at the beginning of the outflow, a flowing core
was formed above the exit. Consequently, the wall stress levels
started increasing possibly due to the re-compaction of the
material next to the walls of the filter granular bed. A sudden
stress decrease ensued because the dilated material came into
contact with the walls. In contrast, the records of stresses
measured by pressure gauge LS1 in the bottom panel of Fig. 12
showed a sudden stress decrease at the beginning of material
withdrawal because the pressure gauge LS1 located at the first
stage from the exit was close to the moving belt.
For both Test 1 and Test 3, as the normal stress measured by
the pressure gauge installed on the upper stage (e.g. LS3)
decreased to zero, the normal wall stress measured by the
pressure gauge installed on the adjacent lower stage (e.g. LS2)
began to fluctuate under the static normal wall stress (Fig. 11).
We can explain that this stress pulsation was due to the
existence of the flowing core and the quasi-stagnant zone. The
boundary between them was a shear plane where periodical
shear failures took place. The shear failure caused a stress pulse
that was transmitted through the quasi-stagnant zone to the
louvered wall of the filter bed. Maximum dynamic normal
stresses, mean dynamic normal stresses, and static normal
stresses measured by pressure gauges L1, L2, L3, LS1, LS2 and
LS3 in Test 1 and Test 2, Test 3 and Test 4, and Test 5 and Test 6
are listed in Tables 5, 6 and 7, respectively. For pressure gauge
LS3, the averaged reduction rate of the maximum dynamic
normal stress for Tests 3, 4, 5 and 6 was up to 32%. Whether the
corresponding induced dynamic loads are observable depends
on the pulsation of the flow, and on the natural frequencies of
the louvered-wall filter bed and supporting structure.

49

5. Conclusions
A two-dimensional louvered-wall moving granular filter bed
of quartz sand, in which a vertical plate was placed in each
stage, was set up to observe the effect of the insert upon flow
patterns and the wall stresses. Five flow regions in the moving
granular filter bed of quartz sand with a symmetric louveredwall and inserts were observed. The static wall stress
distributions produced by the granular solids were measured
and compared with the theoretical prediction using the
differential slice and RungeKutta (order four) methods. The
dynamic responses of the normal stress acting on the louveredwall were also investigated. In this study, a vertical plate placed
in each stage of the granular filter bed effectively diminished the
quasi-stagnant zone adjacent to the louvered-wall, as well as
reduced the wall pressure pulsation. Furthermore, the vertical
plate proposed in this study, which is the simplest flow
corrective element, can solve the potential problem of a rooftype insert, on which the stagnant zone may sit (see Fig. 10 in
Chou and Yang [21]).
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support
from National Science Council of R.O.C. through project grants
NSC 93-2211-E-020-009 and NSC 94-2212-E-020-009.
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