An analysis of the chaotic motion of particles of different sizes in a gas fluidized bed

The dynamic behavior of individual particles during the mixing/segregation process of particle mixtures in a gas fluidized bed is analyzed. The analysis is based on the results generated from discrete particle simulation, with the focus on the trajectory of and forces acting on individual particles.Typical particles are selected representing three kinds of particle motion:a flotsam particle which is initially at the bottom part of the bed and finally fluidized at the top part of the bed; a jetsam particle which is initially at the top part of the bed and finally stays in the bottom de-fluidized layer of the bed; and a jetsam particle which is intermittently joining the top fluidized and bottom de-fluidized layers. The results show that the motion of a particle is chaotic at macroscopic or global scale, but can be well explained at a microscopic scale in terms of its interaction forces and contact conditions with other particles, particle-fluid interaction force, and local flow structure. They also highlight the need for establishing a suitable method to link the information generated and modeled at different time and length scales.     

Bubble dynamics in a two-dimensional gas-solid fluidized bed

Related referential studies on gas-solid two-phase flows were briefly reviewed. Bubble ascending in a two-dimensional （2D） gas-solid fluidized bed was studied both experimentally and numerically. A modified continuum model expressed in the conservation form was used in numerical simulation. Solid-phase pressure was modeled via local sound speed; gas-phase turbulence was described by the K-ε two-equation model. The modified implicit multiphase formulation （IMF） scheme was used to solve the model equations in 2D Cartesian/cylindrical coordinates. The bubble ascending velocity and particle motion in the 2D fluidized bed were measured using the photochromic dye activation （PDA） technique, which was based on UV light activation of particles impregnated with the dye. Effects of bed height and superficial gas velocity on bubble formation and ascent were investigated numerically. The numerically obtained bubble ascending velocities were compared with experimental measurements. Gas bubble in jetting gas-solids fluidized bed was also simulated numerically.     

Product design based on discrete particle modeling of a fluidized bed granulator

Fluidized bed agglomeration is a process commonly used to construct powdered food or pharmaceutical products to improve their instant properties. This works analyzes the influence of a wide range of operating parameters (i.e., fluidization air flow rate, temperature, and liquid injection rate) on growth rate, process stability, and product particle structure. Different granulator configurations (i.e., top spray, Wurster coater, spouted bed) are compared using identical process parameters. The impacts of both process variables and granulator geometry on the fluidization regime, the particle and collision dynamics, and the resulting product structure and corresponding properties are studied in detailed simulations using a discrete particle model (DPM) and lab-scale agglomeration experiments with amorphous dextrose syrup (DE21). The combination of numerical and experimental results allows to correlate the kinetics of micro-scale particle interactions and the final product properties (i.e., agglomerate structure and strength). In conclusion, detailed DPM simulations are proven as a valuable tool for knowledge-based product design.     

Rotation characteristic and granular temperature analysis in a bubbling fluidized bed of binary particles

In this work, a discrete particle model (DPM) was applied to investigate the dynamic characteristics in a gas–solid bubbling fluidized bed of binary solid particles. The solid phase was simulated by the hard-sphere discrete particle model. The large eddy simulation (LES) method was used to simulate the gas phase. To improve the accuracy of the simulation, an improved sub-grid scale (SGS) model in the LES method was also applied. The mutative Smagorinsky constant case was compared with the previously published experimental data. The simulation by the mutative Smagorinsky constant model exhibited better agreement with the experimental data than that by the common invariant Smagorinsky constant model. Various restitution coefficients and different compositions of binary solids were investigated to determine their influences on the rotation characteristics and granular temperatures of the particles. The particle translational and rotational characteristic distributions were related to certain simulation parameters.     

Influence of drag laws on pressure and bed material recirculation rate in a cold flow model of an 8 MW dual fluidized bed system by means of CPFD

A cold flow model of an 8 MW dual fluidized bed (DFB) system is simulated using the commercial computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) software package Barracuda. The DFB system comprises a bubbling bed connected to a fast fluidized bed with the bed material circulating between them. As the hydrodynamics in hot DFB plants are complex because of high temperatures and many chemical reaction processes, cold flow models are used. Performing numerical simulations of cold flows enables a focus on the hydrodynamics as the chemistry and heat and mass transfer processes can be put aside. The drag law has a major influence on the hydrodynamics, and therefore its influence on pressure, particle distribution, and bed material recirculation rate is calculated using Barracuda and its results are compared with experimental results. The drag laws used were energy-minimization multiscale (EMMS), Ganser, Turton–Levenspiel, and a combination of Wen–Yu/Ergun. Eleven operating points were chosen for that study and each was calculated with the aforementioned drag laws. The EMMS drag law best predicted the pressure and distribution of the bed material in the different parts of the DFB system. For predicting the bed material recirculation rate, the Ganser drag law showed the best results. However, the drag laws often were not able to predict the experimentally found trends of the bed material recirculation rate. Indeed, the drag law significantly influences the hydrodynamic outcomes in a DFB system and must be chosen carefully to obtain meaningful simulation results. More research may enable recommendations as to which drag law is useful in simulations of a DFB system with CPFD.     

Flow structures inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles:Eulerian simulation with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model

Turbulent fluidized bed reactors are widely used in industry. However, CFD simulations of the hydrodynamic characteristics of these reactors are relatively sparse, despite the urgent demand from industry. To address this problem, Eulerian simulations with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model, accounting for the effect of sub-grid scale structures on the inter-phase friction, are performed to study the hydrodynamics inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles. It is shown that the simulated a...     

Three-dimensional multi-phase simulation of the mixing and segregation of binary particle mixtures in a two-jet spout fluidized bed

This study presents a three-dimensional numerical study of the mixing and segregation of binary particle mixtures in a two-jet spout fluidized bed based on an Eulerian–Eulerian three-fluid model. Initially, the particle mixtures were premixed and packed in a rectangular fluidized bed. As the calculation began, the gas stream was injected into the bed from the distributor and jet nozzles. The model was validated by comparing the simulated jet penetration depths with corresponding experimental data. The main features of the complex gas–solid flow behaviors and the mechanism of mixing and segregation of the binary mixtures were analyzed. Moreover, further simulations were carried out to evaluate the effects of operating conditions on the mixing and segregation of binary particle mixtures. The results illustrate that mixing can be enhanced by increasing the jet velocity or enlarging the difference of initial proportions of binary particle mixtures.     

DEM simulation of polydisperse systems of particles in a fluidized bed

Numerical simulations based on three-dimensional discrete element model (DEM) are conducted for mono-disperse, binary and ternary systems of particles in a fluidized bed. Fluid drag force acting on each particle depending on its size and relative velocity is assigned. The drag coefficient corresponding to Ergun’s correlation is applied to the system of fluidized bed with particle size ratios of 1:1 for the mono-disperse system, 1:1.2, 1:1.4 and 1:2 for the binary system and 1:1.33:2 for the ternary system b...     

Bubbling behavior of cohesive particles in a two-dimensional fluidized bed with immersed tubes

Fluidization hydrodynamics are greatly influenced by inter-particle cohesive forces. This paper studies the fluidization of large cohesive particles in a two-dimensional fluidized bed with immersed tubes using “polymer coating” to introduce cohesive force, to gain better understanding of bubbling behavior when particles become cohesive and its effect on chemical processes. The results show that the cohesive force promotes bubble splitting in the tube bank region, thereby causing an increase in the number and a decline in the aspect ratio of the bubbles. As the cohesive force increases within a low level, the bubble number increases and the bubble diameter decreases, while the aspect ratio exhibits different trends at different fluidization gas velocities. The difference in the evolution of bubble size under various cohesive forces mainly takes place in the region without tubes. When the cohesive force is large enough to generate stable agglomerates on the side walls of the bed, the bubble number and the bed expansion sharply decrease. The tubes serve as a framework that promotes the agglomeration, thus accelerating defluidization. Finally, the bubble profile around tubes was studied and found to greatly depend both on the cohesive forces and the location of tubes.     

Fluidization and bubbling behavior of potash particles in a deep fluidized bed

Most existing models for predicting bubble size and bubble frequency have been developed for freely bubbling fluidized beds. Accurate prediction of bubbling behavior in deep fluidized beds, however, has been a challenge due to the higher degree of bubble coalescence and break up, high probability of the slugging regime, partial fluidization, and chaotic behavior in the bubbling regime. In this work, the bubbling and fluidization behavior of potash particles was investigated in a deep fluidized bed employing a twin-plane electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) system. Solid volume fraction, average bubble velocity, average bubble diameter, and bubble frequency in both bubbling and slugging regimes were measured at two different bed height ratios (H/D = 3.5 and H/D = 3.78). This work is the first to illustrate a sequential view of bubbles at different superficial gas velocities in a fluidized bed. The results show that both the bubble diameter and rising velocity increased with increasing the superficial gas velocity for the two bed heights, with larger values observed in the deeper bed compared to the shallower one. Predicted values for bubble diameter, bubble rise velocity and bubble frequency from different models are compared with the experimental data obtained from the ECT system in this work. Good agreement has been achieved between the values predicted by the previous models and the experimental data for the bubble diameter and bubble rise velocity with an average absolute deviation of 16% and 15% for the bed height of 49 cm and 13% and 8% for the bed height of 53 cm, respectively.     

Penetration into a granular bed in the presence of upward gas flows

We present a numerical study on the penetration of spherical projectiles into a granular bed in the presence of upward gas flows. Due to the presence of interstitial fluid, the force chains between particles in the granular bed are weakened significantly, and this distinguishes the penetration behavior from that in the absence of fluid. An interesting phenomenon, namely granular jet, is observed during the penetration, and the mechanism for its formation and growth is attributed to the merging of granular vortices generated by the interaction between the intruder and primary particles. Moreover, both the final penetration depth and the maximum diameter of the crater are found to follow a power-law dependence with the impact velocity, and the maximum height reached by the granular jet tends to increase linearly as the impact velocity increases, agreeing well with the experimental results reported in the literature.     

Effects of various parameters on the attrition of bed material in a recirculating fluidized bed with a draft tube

We performed an experimental study to investigate the effects of various parameters on the attrition of bed material and its size distribution with increasing operation time in a recirculating fluidized bed (RCFB). The studied parameters included superficial velocity of fluidizing air, bed inventory, and spacing between the jet top and draft tube bottom (spacer height). The bed material was prepared from Indian Standard (IS) Grade I sand from sieves with a size range of 2.20–1.00 mm. Experiments were performed at ambient conditions, with the superficial air velocity ranging from 7.13–9.16 m/s, a bed inventory of 7–10 kg, spacing of 0.085 and 0.045 m between the jet top and draft tube bottom, and an operating time of 40 h. We investigated the influence of these parameters in terms of changes in the size distribution of particles, changes in the %-weight of particles of different size ranges, generation of particles with smaller diameters, the decrease of the downcomer bed height, variations in the coefficient of uniformity and coefficient of curvature, and material loss from entrainment of fines with increasing operation time. The mode of attrition was abrasion in all experiments. We found that with increasing operation time and other parameters (bed inventory, superficial air velocity, and spacer height) attrition of the bed material also increased. Generation and elutriation of fines were more pronounced at higher superficial air velocity, bed inventory, and spacer height.     

Euler-Lagrange/DEM simulation of wood gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor

We present an Euler–Lagrange method for the simulation of wood gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed. The gas phase is modeled as a continuum using the 2D Navier–Stokes equations and the solid phase is modeled by a Discrete Element Method(DEM)using a soft-sphere approach for the particle collision dynamic. Turbulence is included via a Large-Eddy approach using the Smagorinsky sub-grid model.The model takes into account detailed gas phase chemistry,zero-dimensional modeling of the pyrolysis and gasification of each individual particle,particle shrinkage,and heat and mass transfer between the gas phase and the particulate phase.We investigate the influence of wood feeding rate and compare exhaust gas compositions and temperature results obtained with the model against experimental data of a laboratory scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor.     

Flow structure and bubble dynamics in supercritical water fluidized bed and gas fluidized bed: A comparative study

Supercritical water (SCW) fluidized bed is a new reactor concept for hydrogen production from biomass or coal gasification. In this paper, a comparative study on flow structure and bubble dynamics in a supercritical water fluidized bed and a gas fluidized bed was carried out using the discrete element method (DEM). The results show that supercritical water condition reduces the incipient fluidization velocity, changes regime transitions, i.e. a homogeneous fluidization was observed when the superficial velocity is in the range of the minimum fluidization velocity and minimum bubbling velocity even the solids behave as Geldart B powders in the gas fluidized bed. Bubbling fluidization in the supercritical water fluidized bed was formed after superficial velocity exceeds the minimum bubbling velocity, as in the gas fluidized bed. Bubble is one of the most important features in fluidized bed, which is also the emphasis in this paper. Bubble growth was effectively suppressed in the supercritical water fluidized bed, which resulted in a more uniform flow structure. By analyzing a large number of bubbles, bubble dynamic characteristics such as diameter distribution, frequency, rising path and so on, were obtained. It is found that bubble dynamic characteristics in the supercritical water fluidized bed differ a lot from that in the gas fluidized bed, and there is a better fluidization quality induced by the bubble dynamics in the supercritical water fluidized bed.     

Bottom bed regimes in a circulating fluidized bed boiler

This paper extends previous work on the fluidization regimes of the bottom bed of circulating flyidized bed (CFB) boilers. Pressure measurements were performed to obtain the time-average bottom bed voidage and to study the bed pressure fluctuations. The measurements were carried out in a 12 MW_th CFB boiler operated at 850°C and also under ambient conditions (40°C). Two bubbling regimes were identified: a “single bubble regime” with large single bubbles present at low fluidization velocities, and, at high fluidization velocities, an “exploding bubble regime” with bubbles often stretching all the way from the air distributor to the surface of the bottom bed. The exploding bubble regime results in a high through-flow of gas, indirectly seen from the low average voidage of the bottom bed, which is similar to that of a stationary fluidized bed boiler, despite the higher gas velocities in the CFB boiler. Methods to determine the fluidization velocity at the transition from the single to the exploding bubble regime are proposed and discussed. The transition velocity increases with an increase in particle size and bed height.     

Experimental and computational studies on flow behavior of gas-solid fluidized bed with disparately sized binary particles

This paper presents experimental and computational studies on the flow behavior of a gas-solid fluidized bed with disparately sized binary particle mixtures. The mixing/segregation behavior and segregation efficiency of the small and large particles are investigated experimentally.Particle composition and operating conditions that influence the fluidization behavior of mixing/segregation are examined. Based on the granular kinetics theory, a multi-fluid CFD model has been developed and verified against the experimental results. The simulation results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The results showed that the smaller particles are found near the bed surface while the larger particles tend to settle down to the bed bottom in turbulent fluidized bed. However, complete segregation of the binary particles does not occur in the gas velocity range of 0.695--0.904 m/s. Segregation efficiency increases with increasing gas velocity and mean residence time of the binary particles, but decreases with increasing the small particle concentration. The calculated results also show that the small particles move downward in the wall region and upward in the core. Due to the effect of large particles on the movement of small particles, the small particles present a more turbulent velocity profile in the dense phase than that in the dilute phase.