3D characterization and analysis of pore structure of packed ore particle beds based on computed tomography images

Methods and procedures of three-dimensional （3D） characterization of the pore structure features in the packed ore particle bed are focused. X-ray computed tomography was applied to deriving the cross-sectional images of specimens with single particle size of 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10 ram. Based on the in-house developed 3D image analysis programs using Matlab, the volume porosity, pore size distribution and degree of connectivity were calculated and analyzed in detail. The results indicate that the volume porosity, the mean diameter of pores and the effective pore size （d50） increase with the increasing of particle size. Lognormal distribution or Gauss distribution is mostly suitable to model the pore size distribution. The degree of connectivity investigated on the basis of cluster-labeling algorithm also increases with increasing the particle size approximately.

COMPRESSIVE COMMINUTION MECHANISM OF PARTICLE BEDS

Granular material mechanics,finite element analysis and crushing theory are applied to study the compressive comminution mechanism of particle beds in this paper.This is a new method by which we have established an equivalent model of granular material,determined the values and distributions of contact forces and discovered a crushing law.The model has been tested on the newly designed equipment and proved to be correct.Some new characteristics and laws of compressive comminution of particle beds have been found.

Investigation of thermochemical process of coal particle packed bed reactions for the development of UCG

In this study,a packed bed reactor was developed to investigate the gasification process of coal particles.The effects of coal particle size and heater temperature of reactor were examined to identify the thermochemical processes through the packed bed.Three different coal samples with varying size,named as A,B,and C,are used,and the experimental results show that the packed bed with smaller coal size has higher temperature,reaching 624°C,582°C,and 569°C for coal A,B,and C,respectively.In the case of CO formation,the smaller particle size has greater products in the unit of mole fraction over the area of generation.However,the variation in the porosity of the packed bed due to different coal particle sizes affects the reactions through the oxygen access.Consequently,the CO formation is least from the coal packed bed formed by the smallest particle size A.A second test with the temperature variations shows that the higher heater temperature promotes the chemical reactions,resulting in the increased gas products.The findings indicate the important role of coal seam porosity in underground coal gasification application,as well as temperature to promote the syngas productions.

A CFD Model for Fluid Dynamics in a Gas-fluidised Bed

A modified particle bed model derived from the two-fluid momentum balance equations was employed to predict the gas-fluidised bed behaviour. Additional terms are included in both the fluid and the particle momentum balance equations to take into account the effect of the dispersed solid phase. This model has been extended to two-dimensional formulations and has been implemented in the commercial code CFX 4.3. The model correctly simulates the homogeneous fluidisation of Geldart Group A and the bubbling fluidisation of Geldart Group B in gas-solid fluidised beds.

Mixing and segregation of solid particles in a conical spouted bed： Effect of particle size and density

In this work, the mixing and segregation of binary mixtures of particles with different sizes and densities in a pseudo-2D spouted bed were studied experimentally. A binary mixture of solid particles including sand, gypsum, and polyurethane was used. To determine the particles mass fraction, and their mixing and segregation in the bed, an image-processing technique was developed and used. Important hydrodynamic parameters, such as the axial and radial segregation profiles of the solid particles, were measured. The effects of air velocity, particle size, and particle mass fraction were also evaluated. The flow regime in the spouted bed and the time required for reaching the equilibrium state of the solid particles were discussed. The results showed that the segregation of solid particles and the time to equilibrium both decreased when the air velocity increased to much larger than the minimum spouting velocity. The axia! segregation increased with the diameter ratio of the particles. Upon completion of the test, coarse particles were concentrated mainly in the spout region, while fine particles were aggregated in the annulus region. Examination of the flow pattern in the spouted bed showed that the particles near the wall had longer flow paths, while those near the spout region had shorter flow paths.

Statistical and frequency analysis of the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed of non-spherical particles

In this paper, the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed was measured and processed via standard devia- tion and power spectrum analysis to investigate the dynamic behavior of the transition from the bubbling to turbulent regime. Two types （Geldart B and D） of non-spherical particles, screened from real bed materials, and their mixture were used as the bed materials. The experiments were conducted in a semi- industrial testing apparatus. The experimental results indicated that the fluidization characteristics of the non-spherical Geldart D particles differed from that of the spherical particles at gas velocities beyond the transition velocity Uo The standard deviation of the pressure fluctuation measured in the bed increased with the gas velocity, while that measured in the plenum remained constant. Compared to the coarse particles, the fine particles exerted a stronger influence on the dynamic behavior of the fluidized bed and promoted the fluidization regime transition from bubbling toward turbulent. The power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation was calculated using the auto-regressive （AR） model; the hydrodynamics of the flu- idized bed were characterized by the major frequency of the power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation. By combining the standard deviation analysis, a new method was proposed to determine the transition velocity Uk via the analysis of the change in the major frequency. The first major frequency was observed to vary within the range of 1.5 to 3 Hz.

A new drag model for TFM simulation of gas-solid bubbling fluidized beds with Geldart-B particles

In this work, a new drag model for TFM simulation in gas-solid bubbling fluidized beds was proposed, and a set of equations was derived to determine the meso-scale structural parameters to calculate the drag characteristics of Geldart-B particles under low gas velocities. In the new model, the meso-scale structure was characterized while accounting for the bubble and meso-scale structure effects on the drag coefficient. The Fluent software, incorporating the new drag model, was used to simulate the fluidization behavior. Experiments were performed in a Plexiglas cylindrical fluidized bed consisting of quartz sand as the solid phase and ambient air as the gas phase. Comparisons based on the solids hold-up inside the fluidized bed at different superficial gas velocities, were made between the 2D Cartesian simulations, and the experimental data, showing that the results of the new drag model reached much better agreement with exoerimental data than those of the Gidasoow dra~ model did.

Flow-regime transitions in fluidized beds of non-spherical particles

Fluidized beds frequently involve non-spherical particles, especially if biomass is present. For spheri- cal particles, numerous experimental investigations have been reported in the literature. In contrast, complex-shaped particles have received much less attention. There is a lack of understanding of how par- ticle shape influences flow-regime transitions. In this study, differently shaped Geldart group D particles are experimentally examined. Bed height, pressure drop, and their respective fluctuations are analyzed. With increasing deviation of particle shape from spheres, differences in flow-regime transitions occur with a tendency for the bed to form channels instead of undergoing smooth fluidization. The correlations available in the literature for spherical particles are limited in their applicability when used to predict regime changes for complex-shaped particles. Hence, based on existing correlations, improvements are derived.

Comparison of the standard Euler-Euler and hybrid Euler-Lagrange approaches for modeling particle transport in a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed

Particle transport phenomena in small-scale circulating fiuidized beds （CFB） can be simulated using the Euler-Euler, discrete element method, and Euler-Lagrange approaches. In this work, a hybrid Euler-Lagrange model known as the dense discrete phase model （DDPM）, which has common roots with the multiphase particle-in-cell model, was applied in simulating particle transport within a mid-sized experimental CFB facility. Implementation of the DDPM into the commercial ANSYS Fluent CFD package is relatively young in comparison with the granular Eulerian model. For that reason, validation of the DDPM approach against experimental data is still required and is addressed in this paper. Additional difficulties encountered in modeling fluidization processes are connected with long calculation times. To reduce times, the complete boiler models are simplified to include just the combustion chamber. Such simplifications introduce errors in the predicted solid distribution in the boiler. To investigate the conse- quences of model reduction, simulations were made using the simplified and complete pilot geometries and compared with experimental data. All simulations were performed using the ANSYSFLUENT 14.0 package. A set of user defined functions were used in the hybrid DDPM and Euler-Euler approaches to recirculate solid particles.

Experimental and numerical investigation of liquid-solid binary fluidized beds： Radioactive particle tracking technique and dense discrete phase model simulations

Liquid-solid binary fluidized beds are widely used in many industries. However, the flow behavior of such beds is not well understood due to the lack of accurate experimental and numerical data. In the current study, the behavior of monodisperse and binary liquid-solid fluidized beds of the same density but dif- ferent sizes is investigated using radioactive particle tracking （RPT） technique and a dense discrete phase model （DDPM）. Experiments and simulations are performed in monodisperse fluidized beds containing two different sizes of glass beads （0.6 and I mm） and a binary fluidized bed of the same particles for vari- ous bed compositions. The results show that both RPT and DDPM can predict the mixing and segregation pattern in liquid-solid binary fluidized beds. The mean velocity predictions of DDPM are in good agree- ment with the experimental findings for both monodisperse and binary fluidized beds. However, the axial root mean square velocity predictions are only reasonable for bigger particles. Particle-particle interac- tions are found to be critical for predicting the flow behavior of solids in liquid-solid binary fluidized beds.

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.

Sand storms:CFD analysis of Reynolds stress and collision stress of particles near sand bed

Sand storm is a serious environmental threat to humans. Sand particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil erosion in one place and deposition in another. In order to prevent and predict sand storms, the causes and the manners of particle motions must he studied in detail. In this paper a standard k-8 model is used for the gas phase simulation and the discrete element method （DEM） is used to predict the movements of particles using an in-house procedure. The data are summarized in an Eulerian-Eulerian regime after simulation to get the statistical particle Reynolds stress and particle collision stress. The results show that for the current case the Reynolds stress and the air shear stress predominate in the region 20-250 mm above the initial sand bed surface. However, in the region below 3 ram, the collision stress must be taken into account in predicting particle movement.

Discrete particle simulations of bubble-to-emulsion phase mass transfer in single-bubble fluidized beds

A classical Euler-Lagrangian model for gas-solid flows was extended with gas component mass conser- vation equations and used to obtain fundamental insights into bubble-to-emulsion phase mass transfer in bubbling gas-solid fluidized beds. Simulations of injected single rising bubbles under incipient fiuidiza- tion conditions were carried out, using Geldart-A and -B particles. Phenomena observed in the simulations and those of various theoretical models used to derive phenomenological models were compared to chal- lenge the assumptions underlying the phenomenological models. The bubble-to-emulsion phase mass transfer coefficients calculated for the simulations using Geldart-B particles were in a good agreement with predictions made using the Davidson and Harrison （1963） model. The bubble-to-emulsion phase mass transfer coefficients for Geldart-A particles were, however, much smaller than the predictions obtained from theoretical models （e.g. Chiba and Kobayashi （1970））. The newly developed model allows a detailed analysis of various hydrodynamic aspects and their effects on the mass transfer characteristics in and around rising bubbles in fluidized beds.

3D CFD modeling of acetone hydrogenation in fixed bed reactor with spherical particles

Acetone hydrogenation in a fixed bed reactor packed with spherical catalyst particles was simulated to study the effects of inlet gas velocity and particle diameter on hydrogenation reaction. Computational results show that the catalyst particles in the reactor are almost isothermal, and the high isopropanol concentration appears at the lee of the particles. With the increase of inlet velocity, the outlet isopropanol mole fraction decreases, and the total pressure drop increases drastically. Small diameter catalyst particles are favorable for acetone hydrogenation, but result in large pressure drop.

Particle Measurement Sensor for in situ determination of phase structure of fluidized bed

Based on three-dimensional （3D） acceleration sensing, an intelligent particle spy capable of detecting, transferring, and storing data, is proposed under the name of Particle Measurement Sensor （PMS）. A prototype 60-mm-dia PMS was tested to track its freefall in terms of velocity and displacement, and served as a particle spy in a fluidized bed delivering the in situ acceleration information it detects. With increasing superficial gas velocity in the fluidized bed, the acceleration felt by PMS was observed to increase. The variance of the signals, which reflect the fluctuation, increased at first, reaching a maximum at the gas velocity （Uc） which marks the transition from bubbling to turbulent fluidization. Through probability density distribution （PDD） analysis, the PDD peak can be divided into the emulsion phase peak and the bubble phase peak. The average acceleration of emulsion and bubble phase increased, while the variance of both phases reached a maximum at Uc, at the same time. However, the difference between the variances of two phases reached the maximum at Uc. Findings of this study indicate that PMS can record independent in situ information. Further, it can provide other in situ measurements when equipped with additional multi-functional sensors.

Numerical prediction of flow hydrodynamics of wet molecular sieve particles in a liquid-fluidized bed

The Eulerian-Eulerian framework was used in the numerical simulation of liquid hydrodynamics and particle motion in liquid-fluidized beds. The kinetic theory of granular flow, which accounts for the viscous drag influence on the interstitial liquid phase, was used in combination with two-fluid models to simulate unsteady liquid-solid two-phase flows. We focus on local unsteady features predicted by the numerical models. The solid fraction power spectrum was analyzed. A typical flow pattern, such as core annular flow and particle back-mixing near the wall region of liquid-solid fluidized beds is obtained from this calculation. Effects of the restitution coefficient of particle-particle collisions on the distribution of granular pressure and temperature are discussed. Good agreement was achieved between the simulated results and experimental findings.

An exploratory study of three-dimensional MP-PIC-based simulation of bubbling fluidized beds with and without baffles

In this study, the flow characteristics of Geldart A particles in a bobbling fluidized bed with and without perforated plates were simulated by the multiphase particle-in-cell （MP-PlC）-based Eolerian-Lagrangian method. A modified structure-based drag model was developed based on our previous work. Other drag models including the Parker and Wen-Yo-Ergon drag models were also employed to investigate the effects of drag models on the simulation results. Although the modified structure-based drag model better predicts the gas-solid flow dynamics of a baffle-free bubbling fluidized bed in comparison with the experimental data, none of these drag models predict the gas-solid flow in a baffled bobbling floidized bed sufficiently well because of the treatment of baffles in the Barracuda software. To improve the simulation accuracy, future versions of Barracuda should address the challenges of incorporating the bed height and the baffles.

Experimental investigation of hydrodynamics of liquid-solid mini-fluidized beds

Expanded fluidization behavior in liquid-solid mini-fluidized beds （MFBs） was experimentally investigated using visual measurements. Wall effects in the liquid-solid MFBs were identified and explained. The measured incipient]minimum fluidization liquid velocity （Umf） in the MFBs was 1.67 to 5.25 times higher than that calculated using the Ergun equation when the ratio of solid particle diameter to bed diameter varied from 0.017 to 0.091. The ratio of the Richardson-Zaki （R-Z） exponent obtained by fitting with experimental data to that calculated using the R-Z correlation varied from 0.92 to 0.55. A wider solid particle size distribution resulted in a smaller R-Z exponent. The influence of the solid particle material on Umf and R-Z exponent was negligible.

Three-dimensional simulation of liquid injection,film formation and transport,in fluidized beds

Liquid injection, and film formation and transport in dense-phase gas-solids fluidized beds are numerically simulated in three dimensions using a collisional exchange model that is based on the mechanism that collisions cause transfer of liquid mass, momentum, and energy between particles. In the model, each of the particles is represented by a solid core and a liquid film surrounding the core. The model is incorporated in the framework of the commercial code Barracuda developed by CPFD Software. The commercial software is an advanced CFD-based computational tool where the particles are treated as discrete entities, calculated by the MP-PIC method, and tracked using the Lagrangian method. Details of the collisional liquid transfer model have been previously presented in O＇Rourke, Zhao, and Snider （2009）; this paper presents new capabilities and proof-testing of the collision model and a new method to better quantify the penetration length. Example calculations of a fluidized bed without liquid injection show the expected effect of collisions on the reduction of granular temperature （fluctuational kinetic energy） of the bed. When applied to liquid injection into a dense-phase fluidized bed under different conditions, the model predicts liquid penetration lengths comparable to the experiments. In addition, the simulation reveals for the first time the dynamic mixing of the liquid droplets with the bed particles and the transient distribution of the droplets inside the bed.

Heat and mass transfer study in fluidized bed granulation-Prediction of entry length

Fluidized bed granulation is a process by which granules or coated particles are produced in a single piece of equipment by spraying a hinder as solution, suspension, or melt on the fluidized powder bed. Heat and mass transfer correlation useful for designing a granulator has been derived based on the equivalence of evaporation rate of the liquid to the heat transferred from hot gas to particles： （m/A）Dp^2λ/Lmf（1-εmf）（Tg-Tl）Kg=hDp/Kg.This equation is applied to data on granulation experiments by different workers to calculate Reynolds number and Nusselt number to obtain a relation between heat and mass transfer from gas to particles during granulation on a logarithmic scale from which the following empirical relation is obtained： Nu=0.0205Re^1.3876 which is comparable to Kothari＇s correlation Nu=0.03Re^1.3.By using the heat and mass transfer correlation obtained, the entry length, that is the length of granulator up to which effective heat transfer from gas to bed particles takes place, is estimated, which is also validated with experimental study. The correct estimation of entry length is useful in optimal design of a granulator.