In this work, proppant transport process is studied based on two popular numerical methods: multiphase particle-in-cell method (MP-PIC) and concentration transport method. Derivations of governing equations in these two frameworks are reviewed, and then similarities and differences between these two methods are fully discussed. Several cases are designed to study the particle settling and conveying processes at different fluid Reynolds number. Simulation results indicate that two physical mechanisms become significant in the high Reynolds number cases, which leads to big differences between the simulation results of the two methods. One is the gravity convection effect in the early stage and the other is the particle packing, which determines the shape of sandbank. Above all, the MP-PIC method performs better than the concentration transport approach because more physical mechanisms are considered in the former framework. Besides, assumptions of ignoring unsteady terms and transient terms for the fluid governing equations in the concentration transport approach are only reasonable when Reynolds number is smaller than 100.
Part of the book: Progress in Fine Particle Plasmas