Mostafa kolivand - M.Sc in Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering. Faculty of Agriculture. University of Kurdistan. Sanandaj, Iran
Hiwa golpira - Ph.d in Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering. Faculty of Agriculture. University of Kurdistan. Sanandaj, Iran

In this paper computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and measurements using hot-wire anemometers were used to study the flow configuration and performance of a suction fan (SF) used for pneumatic conveyor for chickpea seed. A general two-dimensional simulation of turbulent fluid flow is presented to predict velocity and pressure fields for a suction fan. A commercial CFD code was used to solve the governing equations of the flow field. In order to study the most suitable turbulence model, three known turbulence models of standard K–ε, RNG and RSM were applied. Simulation results in the form of characteristic curves were compared with available experimental data, and an acceptable agreement was obtained. Additionally, special attention was paid on the effect of location of inlet on the efficiency of fan was studied. It was demonstrated that two-dimensional CFD model can predict fan performance up to an acceptable level. Moreover, it was shown in general that the location of inlet plays a crucial role for the performance of the SF. The location of inlet was changed in four section (top, below, left & right). The results show that the position of inlet in below section has the highest velocity inlet. Investigations of this kind can help to reduce the required experimental work for the development and design of such devices

suction fan, chickpea, CFD