CFD-DEM simulation of fluorination reaction in fluidized beds with local grid and time refinement method

The gas-solid reaction process with wide particle size distribution is extensively used in the chemical engineering field,especially the particle reacts with the gas gradually,such as fluorination reactions in fluidized beds.When the computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method(CFD-DEM)is used for the coupling simulation of multiphase and polydisperse particle reaction system,the grid size directly affects the accuracy of flow field information and simulation of chemical reaction.Furthermore,particle calculation time step will directly affect the efficiency of coupling calculation.In this work,a local grid and time step refinement method is proposed to simulate multiphase and polydisperse particle fluid-ization reaction system.In this method,the refined DEM grids are automatically generated in the computational domain around the fine particles,and the detailed fluid phase information is obtained with the interpolation algorithm.In the two-phase coupling process,particles are divided into different groups based on physical properties,each group has its own independent time step.The multistage conical-cylindrical spouted bed is proposed for the fluorination reaction process;the operating gas ve-locity range of the polydisperse particle system is extended by the new design while the particle size distribution changes with the gas-solid reaction process.It is demonstrated that the local grid and time step refinement method can improve the accuracy and efficiency of the traditional CFD-DEM method in the reaction process simulation,which describes a polydisperse particle system with wide particle size distribution.Aimed at improving the simulation accuracy and efficiency,this paper will be helpful for simulating the particle reaction process in the gas-solid fluidized bed and beneficial for the development of the CFD-DEM method.

CFD-DEM simulation of high density particles fluidization behaviors in 3D conical spouted beds

The spouted bed has been used in the coating process of high-density nuclear fuel particle.The particle fluidization behaviors in pseudo-2D and 3D spouted beds were simulated and validated.The effects of four independent variables(cone angle,particle density,inlet gas velocity,and particle loading)on particle fluidization behaviors in the 3D spouted bed were investigated systematically.The cone angle effect on fluidization mechanism was studied quantitatively first time.A new fluidization quality index was proposed based on the particle entrainment principle,and an extreme value was obtained when the cone angle was 60°,considered to be the optimum value for the 3D conical spouted bed.It was indicated the gas–solid contact efficiency can be kept up if the gas velocity was proportional toρp 0.65 and N p 0.78 when the particle density or loading was increased.These results will be useful for geometry and operation parameters design of the 3D conical spouted bed and helpful for developing the fluidization mechanism of high-density particles.

Numerical simulation of uranium tetrafluoride fluorination in a multistage spouted bed using the improved CFD-DEM chemical reaction model

A CFD-DEM reaction coupling model was established to simulate UF_(4) fluorination process,in which heat and mass transfer,heterogeneous chemical reaction,and particle shrinkage model were considered.The gas behavior was described by the conservation laws of mass,momentum,and energy.The solid phase is modeled with the discrete element method,considering the gas-solid interphase force,contact force,heat transfer,and chemical reaction models based on the discretized surface.Each particle can be individually tracked and associated with specific physical properties.The proposed CFD-DEM reaction coupling model based on particle shrinking reaction model with discretized surface was validated by the experimental and literature results at first.Then a multistage conical spouted bed was proposed and the process of UF_(4) fluoridation reaction in it was investigated.The fluidization characteristics and the con-centration distribution of gaseous products in the spouted bed with an extended gas velocity range were obtained and analyzed.In addition,the effects of different parameters,such as superficial gas velocity,temperature,fluorine concentration,on fluoridation rate and the fluorine conversion rate were inves-tigated based on the proposed CFD-DEM reaction coupling model.The results obtained in this work are beneficial for method development of the chemical reaction simulation research in particle scale using the CFD-DEM model,and useful for operation and equipment parameters design of the uranium tetra-fluoride fluorinate industrial process in the future.

碳化物陶瓷材料在核反应堆领域应用现状

核能系统兼具高温、高压、高辐射、高腐蚀等特性,严苛的服役环境对核用材料提出了极高的要求,相关材料的研发是其走向应用的重大挑战.相较于传统核用材料,碳化物陶瓷材料具有更好的高温辐照性能和更优异的综合热物理性能,其制备和应用成为新的研究热点.本文综述了碳化物陶瓷材料在新一代核能系统中的应用现状,重点阐述了核用碳化物陶瓷材料的应用领域、基本性能、制备方法和辐照性能,并展望了碳化物陶瓷材料在新一代核能系统中的应用前景和发展方向.

CFD–DEM–CVD multi-physical field coupling model for simulating particle coating process in spout bed

Particle coating is a very important step in many industrial production processes as the particle coating layers may fix surfaces with unique advantages. Given the limitation and disadvantages of the existing simulation methods, a coupled CFD–DEM–CVD multi-physical field model for particle-coating simulations has been established taking into account the velocity field, temperature field, concentration field, and deposition model. In this model, gas behavior and chemical reactions are simulated in the CFD frame based on the conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy. The particle behavior is simulated in the DEM frame based on the gas–solid interphase force model and contact force model. The deposition behavior is simulated in the CVD frame based on the particle movement–adhesion–deposition model. The coupled model can be implemented in Fluent-EDEM software with their user definition function and application programming interface. The particle coating process involving the pyrolysis of acetylene was investigated, and the effect of bed temperature and inlet gas velocity on deposition rate and coating efficiency were investigated based on the proposed model with adjustable deposition coefficients. Both the average deposition layer mass and the average deposition layer thickness were found to be proportional to the elapsed time and increased at the rate of about 1.05 × 10^-2 mg/s and 3.45 × 10^-4 mm/s, respectively, setting the inlet gas velocity to 11 m/s and bed temperature to 1680 K. A higher temperature and larger inlet gas velocity lead to a larger deposition rate, but the coating efficiency decreases because of limits imposed by the chemical reaction. At a bed temperature of 1280 K, the average deposition rate is 7.40 × 10?3 mg/s when the inlet gas velocity is set to 11 m/s, which is about double the deposition rate when the inlet gas velocity is set as 5 m/s. The proposed model can provide some guidance for the operating conditions and parameters design of the spouted bed in actual coating settings and can also be further developed as a basic model of mechanisms to integrate detailed information across multiple scales.

Synthesis of SiC@Al2O3 core-shell nanoparticles for dense SiC sintering

Owing to the difficulty for dense SiC sintering,high sintering temperatures and pressures are usually needed.Lowering the sintering temperature by adding Al2O3 as a sintering additive has previously been shown to be beneficial.However,traditional addition methods limit the effect of the Al2O3 owing to inhomogeneous mixing at the nanoscale.A SiC@Al2O3 composite nanoparticle with a core-shell structure is designed and prepared using the slow co-precipitation method.The differences between this method and the traditional mechanical ball milling method are interpreted by different experimental parameters,such as temperature,pressure,amount of additive,and mixing type.It is found that the method of slow co-precipitation enables homogeneous mixing of Al2O3 and SiC at a smaller scale,and makes the sintered SiC much denser and more homogeneous,when compared with the traditional method.The parameters of sintering at 1900 ℃ and 30 MPa for 30 min are recommended.The conclusions here are also beneficial for the sintering research of other ceramic materials.

A novel coated-particle design and fluidized-bed chemical vapor deposition preparation method for fuel-element identification in a nuclear reactor

Particle coating is an important method that can be used to expand particle-technology applications. Coated-particle design and preparation for nuclear fuel-element trajectory tracing were focused on in this paper. Particles that contain elemental cobalt were selected because of the characteristic gamma ray spectra of 60Co. A novel particle-structure design was proposed by coating particles that contain elemental cobalt with a high-density silicon-carbide （SiC） layer. During the coating process with the high-density SiC layer, cobalt metal was formed and diffused towards the coating, so an inner SiC–CoxSi layer was designed and obtained by fluidized-bed chemical vapor deposition coupled with in-situ chemical reaction. The coating layers were studied by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. The chemical composition was also determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The novel particle design can reduce the formation of metallic cobalt and prevent cobalt diffusion in the coating process, which can maintain safety in a nuclear reactor for an extended period. The experimental results also validated that coated particles maintain their structural integrity at extremely high temperatures （～1950 °C）, which meets the requirements of next-generation nuclear reactors.

CFD-DEM-VDGM method for simulation of particle fluidization behavior in multi-ring inclined-hole spouted fluidized bed

The simulation of particle fluidization behavior in a complex geometry with a large number of particles is challenging owing to the complexity of unstructured computational grids and high computational intensity.In this study,a virtual dual-grid model(VDGM)is proposed to calculate the solid volume fraction in unstructured grids and speed up the calculation.The VDGM is coupled with a computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method model to simulate particle fluidization behavior in a multi-ring inclined-hole spouted fluidized bed with 4.2 million particles under a high temperature of 1423 K.A computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method-virtual dual-grid model(CFD-DEM-VDGM)coupling model is implemented based on commercial software Fluent and EDEM.The time step settings in Fluent and EDEM and the pattern of particle data transfer in Fluent are improved to speed up the calculation.It is discovered that the VDGM can calculate the solid volume fraction in unstructured grids of complex geometry and speed up the calculation effectively.The calculation speed increased by more than 10 times compared with that of the segmentation sampling method.The new pattern of particle data transfer in Fluent can reduce data transfer time by more than 90%.The fluidization behavior of 4.2 million high-density particles in the multi-ring inclined-hole spouted fluidized bed is obtained and analyzed in detail.The CFD-DEM-VDGM coupling method is validated for the bed expansion height and spouting cycle time in a spouted fluidized bed via experimental results.