Effect of Gas Distributor Structure on Fluidization Characteristics in a Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed

In the present paper,the experimental method and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)method were used to investigate the effect of gas distributors with different orifice sizes and orifice pitches on fluidization characteristics in a gas-solid fluidized bed.The Euler-Euler two fluid model(TFM)approach based on the kinetic theory of granular flow(KTGF)and the standard k-epsilon turbulence model was employed in the numerical simulation by using ANSYS Fluent 15.0.The results showed that the orifice size and the orifice pitch of gas distributor had a significant influence on the flow characteristics in the gas-solid fluidized bed.With a decreasing orifice size and orifice pitch of gas distributor having the same opening area,the distributor pressure drop,the initial bubble size,and the height of dead zone just above the distributor were decreased,and the bed pressure drop was increased more than that of the larger orifice size and orifice pitch of distributors,the distribution of solid volume fraction was also more homogeneous for the smaller orifice size.

CFD Model of Dense Gas-solid Systems in Jetting Fluidized Beds

A CFD code has been developed based on the conservation principles describing gas and solid flow in fluidized beds. This code is employed to simulate not only the spatiotemporal gas and solid phase velocities and voidage profiles in a two dimensional bed but also fluid dynamics in the jet region. The computational results show that gas flow direction is upward in the entire bed accompanied with random local circulations, whilst solid flow direction is upward at the center and downward near the wall. The radical reason of strong back mixing of solid particles and good transfer behavior between two phases is that the jet entrains solid particles. Numerical calculation indicates that gas velocity, solid velocity and pressure profile have a significant change when the voidage is 0 8. The simulated time averaged voidage profiles agree with the experimental results and simulated data reported by Gidaspow and Ettehadieh(1983). Therefore, CFD model can be regarded as a useful tool to study the jet characteristics in dense gas solid fluidized beds.

Synthesis gas production using oxygen storage materials as oxygen carrier over circulating fluidized bed

A novel process for synthesis gas production over Circulating Fluidized Bed （CFB） using oxygen storage materials as oxygen carder was reported. First, oxygen in the air was chemically fixed and converted to lattice oxygen of oxygen storage materials over regenerator, and then methane was selectively oxidized to synthesis gas with lattice oxygen of oxygen storage materials over riser reactor. The results from simulation reaction of CFB by sequential redox reaction on a fixed bed reactor using lanthanum-based perovskite LaFeO3 and La0.8Sr0.2Fe0.9CO0.1O3 oxides prepared by sol-gel, suggested that the depleted oxygen species could be regenerated, and methane could be oxidized to synthesis gas by lattice oxygen with high selectivity. The partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas over CFB using lattice oxygen of the oxygen storage materials instead of gaseous oxygen should be possibly applicable.

Novel concepts of mechanical technology for gas recovery from marine hydrate reservoir

According to the characteristics of marine natural gas hydrate,China has proposed the solid-state fluidization exploitation technology or natural gas hydrate,with subsea exploitation being key to the commercial recovery of gas.In this paper,two new integrated tools are proposed for breaking and collecting natural gas hydrate,and their working principles and steps are illustrated.Finite element analysis,three-dimensional modeling,and simulations were conducted for both exploitation tools to verify their technological feasibility.The results show that the two exploitation tools can effectively improve the efficiency of hydrate exploitation and ensure the stability of the hydrate reservoir.This provides a reference for further research on the solid-state fluidization exploitation technology of marine gas hydrates.

Heterogeneity analysis of gas-solid flow hydrodynamics in a pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor

Mesoscale drag model is of crucial significance for the reliability and accuracy in coarse-grid EulerianEulerian two-fluid model(TFM)simulations of gas-solid flow hydrodynamics in fluidized bed reactors.Although numerous mesoscale drag models have been reported in the literature,a systematic comparison of their prediction capability from the perspective of heterogeneity analysis is still lacking.In this study,in order to investigate the effect of several typical drag models on the hydrodynamic behaviors,the nonuniformity analysis and the sensitivity to material properties,extensive coarse-grid TFM simulations of a bubbling pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor are carried out.The results demonstrate that the mesoscale drag models outperform the empirical drag model in terms of nonuniformity due to the consideration of the influence of the mesoscale structures on the drag force in the bubbling region.Furthermore,the results reveal that our previously developed three-marker gradient-based drag model considering the solid concentration gradient exhibits satisfactory performance in predicting the bubbling flow hydrodynamics.Besides,the material-property-dependent drag model considering the explicit effect of material properties on drag corrections is most sensitive to the particle diameter.This work provides guideline for possible future improvements of mesoscale models to simulate gas-solid flow more accurately and universally.

The Influence of Feeding Method on Fluidization Behavior of Fixed Fluidized Bed

An experimental installation of cold model simulation was set up to study the bed pressure drop in different regions of fixed fluidized bed reactor during top feeding and bottom feeding, respectively, at various gas velocities with the fluidization image of solid particles monitored at the same time. By comparing the changes in bed density and operating gas velocity in different regions of fixed fluidized bed reactor, the influence of top feeding and bottom feeding patterns on fluidization behavior could be investigated. The results showed that the bed density in top feeding reactor responded more stably to the change in gas velocity along with the advantage of working in a wider range of operating gas velocities. Based on this study, it is concluded that existing bottom feeding reactor configurations cannot meet the fluidization requirements; and optimization of bottom feeding reactor will be needed.

Determination of thermal parameters for waste liquid and gas fluidized-bed incinerator

Equations are established for calculation of dense and dilute phase zone combustion temperatures, quantity of auxiliary fuel and thermal efficiency for a fluidized bed incinerator with coal burnt as auxiliary fuel, waste liquid burnt in dense phase zone and waste gas burnt in dilute phase zone while there is a heat transfer, thereby providing theoretical basis for design of waste liquid and gas fluidized bed incinerators.

Fluidization dynamic characteristics of carbon nanotube particles in a tapered fluidized bed

In this work,a tapered fluidized bed(TFB)without a distributor for fluidizing carbon nanotube(CNT)was applied for improving the dead zone,blockage,and fracture of distributor,which occurred in actual production.Experiments were performed under different superficial gas velocities,static bed heights,CNT agglomerate size,and positions of pressure probe.To obtain multi-perspective and multi-scale understanding of fluidization dynamics of gas–CNT flow in the TFB without a distributor,the standard deviation,skewness,kurtosis,wavelet decompositions and homogeneous index analysis methods were adopted.Some noticeable phenomena were observed.Particle movements including inter-particle,gas–particle and particle–wall dominate dynamic characteristics.The amplitudes of pressure fluctuations of coarse agglomerated multi-walled CNT were more sensitive to the gas velocity than that of fine agglomerated multi-walled CNT.The sensitively of energy contribution of the meso-and macrostructures was that the sensitivity of the measured position was less than the sensitivity of the energy contribution by the changes of particle size,and the sensitivity of the energy contribution by the changes of particle size was less than the energy contribution by the changes of gas velocity.The fluidization quality of coarse agglomerated multi-walled CNT was better than that of fine agglomerated multi-walled CNT,which was verified by the skewness and wavelet analysis.

Temperature distribution and control in liquefied petroleum gas fluidized beds

Temperature distribution and control have been investigated in a liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) fluidized bed with hollow corundum spheres (A1_2O_3) of 0.867-1.212 mm indiameter at moderately high temperatures (800-1100℃). Experiments were carried out for the airconsumption coefficient α in the range of 0.3 to 1.0 and the fluidization number N in the range of1.3 to 3.0. Particle properties, initial bed height, α and N all affect temperature distribution inthe bed. Bed temperature can be adjusted about 200℃ by combined the adjusting of α and N.

Cold-modeling study of a circulating fluidized bed reactor for flue gas desulfurization (FGD)

Short residence time of the sorbent in the gas stream and formation of a dense layer of reaction product surrounding its surface influence the sulfur removal efficiency. A practical means of improving the process performance is to employ fluidized bed reaction in replacement of entrained bed reaction on normally used in cool side desulfurizaiton. This paper describes cold modeling study of a circulating fluidized bed reactor. Several aspects of the problem are discussed: fluidization behavior of CaO, attrition of the sorbent and solids entrainment from the fluidized bed. Mechanisms and key controlling parameters are identified, and an integral model based on rate of attrition and mass balance is developed for predicting steady state mass flows and particle size distributions of the system. A process flow scheme is finally presented for conducting desulfurization tests in the second stage of the study.

Thermochemical Heat Storage Performance in the Gas/Liquid-Solid Reactions of SrCl2 with NH3

Thermochemical heat storage is a promising technology for improving energy efficiency through the utilization of low-grade waste heat. The formation of a SrCl2 ammine complex was selected as the reaction system for the purpose of this study. Discharge characteristics were evaluated in a packed bed reactor for both the gas-solid reaction and the liquid-solid reaction. The average power of the gas-solid reaction was influenced by the pressure of the supplied ammonia gas, with greater powers being recorded at higher ammonia pressure. For the liquid-solid reaction, the obtained average power was comparable to that obtained for the gas-solid reaction at 0.2 MPa. Moreover, the lower heat transfer resistance in the reactor was observed, which was likely caused by the presence of liquid ammonia in the system. Finally, the short-term durability of the liquid-solid reaction system was demonstrated over 10 stable charge/discharge cycles.

Oxidation Kinetics of Aluminum Powders in a Gas Fluidized Bed Reactor in the Potential Application of Surge Arresting Materials

In this technical paper, the oxidation mechanism and kinetics of aluminum powders are discussed in great details. The potential applications of spherical aluminum powders after oxidation to be part of the surging arresting materials are discussed. Theoretical calculations of oxidation of spherical aluminum powders in a typical gas fluidization bed are demonstrated. Computer software written by the author is used to carry out the basic calculations of important parameters of a gas fluidization bed at different temperatures. A mathematical model of the dynamic system in a gas fluidization bed is developed and the analytical solution is obtained. The mathematical model can be used to estimate aluminum oxide thickness at a defined temperature. The mathematical model created in this study is evaluated and confirmed consistently with the experimental results on a gas fluidization bed. Detail technical discussion of the oxidation mechanism of aluminum is carried out. The mathematical deviations of the mathematical modeling have demonstrated in great details. This mathematical model developed in this study and validated with experimental results can bring a great value for the quantitative analysis of a gas fluidization bed in general from a theoretical point of view. It can be applied for the oxidation not only for aluminum spherical powders, but also for other spherical metal powders. The mathematical model developed can further enhance the applications of gas fluidization technology. In addition to the development of mathematical modeling of a gas fluidization bed reactor, the formation of oxide film through diffusion on both planar and spherical aluminum surfaces is analyzed through a thorough mathematical deviation using diffusion theory and Laplace transformation. The dominant defects and their impact to oxidation of aluminum are also discussed in detail. The well-controlled oxidation film on spherical metal powders such as aluminum and other metal spherical powders can potentially become an important part of switch devices of surge arresting materials, in general.

Experimental characterization and CFD simulation of gas maldistribution in turbulent fluidization of Group A particles

The study presented hereby investigates experimentally and with CFD simulations the gas distribution effect on the hydrodynamic of a Geldart Group A turbulent fluidized bed. Experiments were carried out on a cold flow fluidized bed column with an even and uneven gas distribution. Local solid volume fraction profiles were measured using optical probes at different bed heights and along two radial directions. Optical probe measurements allow catching a clear hydrodynamic difference between both even and uneven gas distributions. These results were then used to assess CFD simulations with the code Barracuda^(TM) (MP-PIC approach). It is noteworthy that the choice of drag correlation and boundary conditions strongly influences the agreement between the experimental and CFD results. Once the correct parameters are chosen, CFD simulations captured the effect of gas distribution changes.

Pressure Drop of Liquid–Solid Two-Phase Flow in the Vertical Tube Bundle of a Cold-Model Circulating Fluidized Bed Evaporator

A cold-model vertical multi-tube circulating fluidized bed evaporator was designed and built to conduct a visualization study on the pressure drop of a liquid–solid two-phase flow and the corresponding particle distribution.Water and polyformaldehyde particle(POM)were used as the liquid and solid phases,respectively.The effects of operating parameters such as the amount of added particles,circulating flow rate,and particle size were systematically investigated.The results showed that the addition of the particles increased the pressure drop in the vertical tube bundle.The maximum pressure drop ratios were 18.65%,21.15%,18.00%,and 21.15%within the experimental range of the amount of added particles for POM1,POM2,POM3,and POM4,respectively.The pressure drop ratio basically decreased with the increase in the circulating flow rate but fluctuated with the increase in the amount of added particles and particle size.The difference in pressure drop ratio decreased with the increase in the circulating flow rate.As the amount of added particles increased,the difference in pressure drop ratio fluctuated at low circulating flow rate but basically decreased at high circulating flow rate.The pressure drop in the vertical tube bundle accounted for about 70%of the overall pressure drop in the up-flow heating chamber and was the main component of the overall pressure within the experimental range.Three-dimensional phase diagrams were established to display the variation ranges of the pressure drop and pressure drop ratio in the vertical tube bundle corresponding to the operating parameters.The research results can provide some reference for the application of the fluidized bed heat transfer technology in the industry.

Experiments on particle cluster behaviors in a fast fluidized bed

A three-dimensional(3D) fast fluidized bed with the riser of 3.0 m in height and 0.1 m in inner diameter was established to experimentally study the cluster behaviors of Geldart B particles. Five kinds of quartz sand particles(dp= 0.100, 0.139, 0.177, 0.250 and 0.375 mm and ρp= 2480 kg·m^(-3)) were respectively investigated, with the total mass of the bed material kept as 10 kg. The superficial gas velocity in the riser ranges from 2.486 to 5.594 m·s^(-1) and the solid mass flux alters from 30 to 70 kg·((m^(-2)·s))^(-1). Cluster characteristics and evolutionary processes in the different positions of the riser were captured by the cluster visualization systems and analyzed by the self-developed binary image processing. The results found four typical cluster structures in the riser,i.e., the macro stripe-shaped cluster, saddle-shaped cluster, U-shaped cluster and the micro cluster. The increasing superficial gas velocity and particle sizes result in the increasing average cluster size and the decreasing cluster time fraction, while the solid mass flux in the riser have the reverse influences on the cluster size and time fraction. Additionally, clusters in the upper region of the riser often have the larger size and time fraction than that in the lower region. All these effects of operating conditions on clusters become less obvious when particle size is less than 0.100 mm.

Decarburization Thermodynamics of High-Carbon Ferromanganese Powders During Gas-Solid Fluidization Process

Thermodynamic conditions of reactions between high-carbon ferromanganese powders and gas decarbonizers like O2, CO2 and water vapor were studied by thermodynamic calculation. In O2, CO2 and water vapor atmosphere, high-carbon ferromanganese powders were decarburized in a fluidized bed. When the temperature is respectively higher than 273, 1 226 and 1 312 K, the gas-solid decarburization reaction will occur between ferromanganese carbide on the surface of the high-carbon ferromanganese powders and different gas decarbonizers. Since metal manganese is easy to be oxidized by O2, CO2 or water vapor, the decarburization reaction will transfer into a solid-solid phase reaction of ferromanganese carbide and ferromanganese oxide, promoting external diffusion of carbon to achieve a further decarburization of high-carbon ferromanganese powders.

EFFECTS OF GAS TYPE AND TEMPERATURE ON FINE PARTICLE FLUIDIZATION

The influence of gas type （helium and argon） and bed temperature （77-473 K） on the fluidization behaviour of Geldart groups C and A particles was investigated. For both types of particles tested, i.e., Al2O3 （4.8μm） and glass beads （39 μm）, the fluidization quality in different gases shows the following priority sequence： Ar 〉 He. In the same gaseous atmosphere, the particles when fluidized at an elevated temperature usually show larger bed voidages, higher bed pressure drops, and a lower Umf for the group A powder, all indicating an enhancement in fluidization quality. Possible mechanisms governing the operations of gas type and temperature in influencing the fluidization behaviours of fine particles have been discussed with respect to the changes in both gas properties and interparticle forces （on the basis of the London-van der Waals theory）. Gas viscosity （varying significantly with gas-type and temperature） proves to be the key parameter that influences the bed pressure drops and Umf in fluidization of fine particles, while the interparticle forces （also varying with gas-type and temperature） may play an important role in fine-particle fluidization by affecting the expansion behaviour of the particle-bed.

Modified correlation for minimum fluidization velocity of low-density particles in inverse liquid-solid fluidized beds

The minimum fluidization velocity(U_(mf))is a key parameter for the scale-up of inverse liquid-solid flu-idized beds.Theoretical predictions using common correlations were compared against experimental minimum fluidization velocity measurements of low density(28-638 kg/m^(3)),0.80-1.13 mm Styrofoam particles in a fluidized bed with a height of 4.5 m and 0.2 m diameter.The average absolute relative deviation for the predicted minimum fluidization velocity for particles below 300 kg/m^(3) was above 40%using the studied common correlations.A modified Wen and Yu correlation was thus proposed based on novel and past measurements with low-density and small-diameter particles,expanding the range for predicting U_(mf).The new correlation predicted U_(mf) with deviations below 15%for ST028,ST122 and ST300.This modified correlation also improved U_(mf) predictions for comparable particles from a previous study,demonstrating its validity for a larger range of low-density particles.

Experimental and mechanism studies on simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification from flue gas using a flue gas circulating fluidized bed

The oxidizing highly reactive absorbent was prepared from fly ash,industry lime,and an oxidizing additive M.Experiments of simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification were carried out in a flue gas circulating fluidized bed(CFB).The effects of influencing factors and calcium availability were also investigated on the removal efficiencies of desulfurization and denitrification.Removal efficiencies of 95.5%for SO2 and 64.8%for NO were obtained respectively under the optimal experimental conditions. The component of the spent absorbent was analyzed with chemical analysis methods.The results in- dicated that more nitrogen species appeared in the spent absorbent except sulfur species.A scanning electron microscope(SEM)and an accessory X-ray energy spectrometer were used to observe micro-properties of the samples,including fly ash,oxidizing highly reactive absorbent and spent absorbent.The simultaneous removal mechanism of SO2 and NO based on this absorbent was pro- posed according to the experimental results.

Onset velocity of circulating fluidization and particle residence time distribution:A CFD-DEM study

Until now, the onset velocity of circulating fluidization in liquid-solid fluidized beds has been defined by the turning point of the time required to empty a bed of particles as a function of the superfcial liquid velocity, and is reported to be only dependent on the liquid and particle properties. This study presents a new approach to calculate the onset velocity using CFD-DEM simulation of the particle residence time distribution （RTD）. The onset velocity is identified from the intersection of the fitted lines of the particle mean residence time as a function of superficial liquid velocity. Our results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The simulation indicates that the onset velocity is infuenced by the density and size of particles and weakly affected by riser height and diameter, A power-law function is proposed to correlate the mean particle residence time with the superficial liquid velocity. The collisional parameters have a minor effect on the mean residence time of particles and the onset velocity, but influence the particle RTD, showing some humps and trailing. The particle RTD is found to be related to the particle trajectories, which may indicate the complex flow structure and underlying mechanisms of the particle RTD.