Simulation of Fluid Flow and Collection Efficiency at Low Stokes Number

Numerical simulations of fluid flow and collection efficiency for a Science Engineering Associates (SEA) Robust probe are presented. The cases cover a range of freestream velocity from 10-135 m/s, and particle sizes from 1-200 µm. This combination produces results for Stokes numbers in the range of 0.07-1092. A blended modified Stokes (defined in the paper) is introduced which covers a range of 0.07-146. Of particular interest is the collection efficiency of the sensing element (a forward-facing half-pipe), Etot, in the low Stokes number regime. It was observed that the collection efficiency of the sensing area approached one for large Stokes numbers (>100) as expected. As blended modified Stokes number approached one, the Etot dropped to approximately 0.5. By blended modified Stokes numbers of 0.3, the Etot has dropped to essentially zero. Plotting collection versus blended modified Stokes number, the different freestream velocities collapsed quite well on to a single curve. The paper presents a discussion on the flowfield and local collection efficiency, beta, in an effort to explain the predictions. Of particular interest is what is essentially a shadow zone in plain sight. As the Stokes number is reduced, the local beta along the centerline of the half-pipe goes to zero. This occurs at Stokes numbers where the overall collection, Etot, is still appreciable. An empirical relation was developed to allow for corrected collection values at low Stokes numbers. The correlation remains within 2% for blended modified Stokes numbers above 1, and within 6% for all cases.