An experimental investigation of a new method for protecting bends from erosion in gas-particle flows

This paper intends to introduce a new way of bend erosion protection: the r ibbed bend erosion protection method. Experimental research has come out fi xing ribs on the outer-wall of the inside bend as well as on the wall of th e straight pipe extending behind the bend in order to decrease the erosion damage caused by the "bend effect". The experiment shows that ribbed bend t echnology is a simple and efficient erosion protection method, which can gr eatly enhance bend erosion protection ability. It also shows that the rib r elative height and the rib gap between two adjacent ribs are two important parameters in the ribbed bend erosion protection ability. The same result c an be reached on the straight pipe extending from the bend. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science S.A. All rights reserved.