The Muschelknautz Method of Modeling

The roots of the Muschelknautz method ( MM ) extend back to the early work performed by Professor W. Barth (see Barth (1956), for example) of the University of Karlsruhe. Over the years, as understanding of the underlying phenomena and measuring techniques developed, Muschelknautz and co-workers, and those who have now followed him, have continued to refine the model. The reader of the literature will thus encounter many versions or improvements of the MM depending on the time of publication. It will also be noted that the more recent adaptations of the basic method are rather complex. We present some elements from simpler versions of the MM in other chapters (5 and 9) in this chapter and in Appendix 6.B we present what we believe to be a rather complete account of a later version of the model. Even here, however, we are obliged to strike a balance between covering all the details of the most recent versions of the MM, which would require another book in itself to do justice to all the details, and covering only the most basic elements of the model, which would limit its applicability or utility to the reader. 

One explanation for the effect is the critical loading concept of Muschelk-nautz. We refer to om discussion of the Muschelknautz method in Chap. 6, and give here only a brief outline of the hypothesis. This concept sprang from a model for horizontal pnemnatic conveying of powders. The idea is that the... 

Over a period of more than 30 years, Professor Edgar Muschelknautz, along with his students and co-workers, working mostly at the University of Stuttgart, have developed what may be, overall, the most practical method for modeling cyclone separators at the present time. 

Figure 9.B.1 shows the experimental results from Fig. 9.1.5 together with the predictions of the Smolik Equation. Obviously this model describes the effect of loading on pressure drop very well. The equation of Smolik takes the pressure drop at zero loading as input, and it would not be fair to include the Barth-Muschelknautz model, which predicts the pressure drop at zero loading, in this figure. Moreover, as mentioned in Chap. 4, the Barth-Muschelknautz model predicts higher pressure drops than those measured here, probably due to a difference in experimental method when measuring pressure drops.

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