Simulation of gas-solid flow characteristics of the circulating fluidized bed boiler under pure-oxygen combustion conditions

Under the pressure of carbon neutrality,many carbon capture,utilization and storage technologies have witnessed rapid development in the recent years,including oxy-fuel combustion(OFC)technology.However,the conventional OFC technology usually depends on the flue gas recirculation system,which faces significant investment,high energy consumption,and potential low-temperature corrosion problem.Considering these deficiencies,the direct utilization of pure oxygen to achieve particle fluidization and fuel combustion may reduce the overall energy consumption and CO_(2)-capture costs.In this paper,the fundamental structure of a self-designed 130 t·h^(-1) pure-oxygen combustion circulating fluidized bed(CFB)boiler was provided,and the computational particle fluid dynamics method was used to analyze the gas-solid flow characteristics of this new-concept boiler under different working conditions.The results indicate that through the careful selection of design or operational parameters,such as average bed-material size and fluidization velocity,the pure-oxygen combustion CFB system can maintain the ideal fluidization state,namely significant internal and external particle circulation.Besides,the contraction section of the boiler leads to the particle backflow in the lower furnace,resulting in the particle suspension concentration near the wall region being higher than that in the center region.Conversely,the upper furnace still retains the classic core-annulus flow structure.In addition to increasing solid circulation rate by reducing the average bed-material size,altering primary gas ratio and bed inventory can also exert varying degrees of influence on the gas-solid flow characteristics of the pure-oxygen combustion CFB boiler.

Experimental study on the activation of coal gasification fly ash from industrial CFB gasifiers

Coal gasification fly ash(CGFA)is an industrial solid waste from the coal circulating fluidized bed(CFB)gasification process,and it needs to be effectively disposed to achieve sustainable development of the environment.To realize the application of CGFA as a precursor of porous carbon materials,the physicochemical properties of three kinds of CGFA from industrial CFB gasifiers are analyzed.Then,the activation potential of CGFA is acquired via steam activation experiments in a tube furnace reactor.Finally,the fluidization activation technology of CGFA is practiced in a bench-scale CFB test rig,and its advantages are highlighted.The results show that CGFA is characterized by a high carbon content in the range of 54.06%–74.09%,an ultrafine particle size(d50:16.3–26.1 μm),and a relatively developed pore structure(specific surface area SSA:139.29–551.97 m^(2)·g^(-1)).The proportion of micropores in CGFA increases gradually with the coal rank.Steam activation experiments show that the pore development of CGFA mainly includes three stages:initial pore development,dynamic equilibrium between micropores and mesopores and pore collapse.The SSA of lignite fly ash(LFA),subbituminous fly ash(SBFA)and anthracite fly ash(AFA)is maximally increased by 105%,13%and 72%after steam activation;the order of the largest carbon reaction rate and decomposition ratio of steam among the three kinds of CGFA is SBFA>LFA>AFA.As the ratio of oxygen to carbon during the fluidization activation of LFA is from 0.09 to 0.19,the carbon conversion ratio increases from 14.4%to 26.8%and the cold gas efficiency increases from 6.8%to 10.2%.The SSA of LFA increases by up to 53.9%during the fluidization activation process,which is mainly due to the mesoporous development.Relative to steam activation in a tube furnace reactor,fluidization activation takes an extremely short time(seconds)to achieve the same activation effect.It is expected to further improve the activation effect of LFA by regulating the carbon conversion ratio range of 27%–35%to create pores in the initial development stage.

Comparative analysis on gas–solid drag models in MFIX-DEM simulations of bubbling fluidized bed

In this study,the open-source software MFIX-DEM simulations of a bubbling fluidized bed(BFB)are applied to assess nine drag models according to experimental and direct numerical simulation(DNS)results.The influence of superficial gas velocity on gas–solid flow is also examined.The results show that according to the distribution of time-averaged particle axial velocity in y direction,except for Wen–Yu and Tenneti–Garg–Subramaniam(TGS),other drag models are consistent with the experimental and DNS results.For the TGS drag model,the layer-by-layer movement of particles is observed,which indicates the particle velocity is not correctly predicted.The time domain and frequency domain analysis results of pressure drop of each drag model are similar.It is recommended to use the drag model derived from DNS or fine grid computational fluid dynamics–discrete element method(CFD-DEM)data first for CFD-DEM simulations.For the investigated BFB,the superficial gas velocity less than 0.9 m·s^(-1) should be adopted to obtain normal hydrodynamics.

Mechanisms of granular activated carbon anaerobic fluidized-bed process for treating phenols wastewater

Granular activated carbon (GAC) anaerobic fluidized bed reactor was applied to treating phenols wastewater. When influent phenol concentration was 1000 mg/L, volume loadings of phenol and COD Cr were 0 39 kg/(m 3·d) and 0 98 kg/(m 3·d), their removal rates were 99 9% and 96 4% respectively. From analyzing above results, the main mechanisms of the process are that through fluidizing GAC, its adsorption is combined with biodegradation, both activities are brought into full play, and phenol in wastewater is effectively decomposed. Meanwhile problems concerning gas liquid separation and medium plugging are well solved.

Modularized dry coal beneficiation technique based on gas-solid fluidized bed

A 40-60 t/h modularized dry coal beneficiation process with a novel method to control the bed was designed around a gas-solid fluidized bed separator. Furthermore, the hydrodynamics of medium-solids consisting of wide-size-range magnetite powder （0.3-0.06 ram） and 〈1 mm fine coal were numerically studied. The simulation results show that the fluidization performance of the wide-size-range medium-solid bed is good. The separation performance of the modularized system was then investigated in detail using a mixture of 〈0.3 mm magnetite powder （mass fraction of 0.3-0.06 mm particles is 91.38 %） and 〈1 mm fine coal as solid media. The experimental results show that at separation densities of 1.33 g/cm^3 or 1.61 g/cm^3, 50-6 mm coal can be separated effectively with probable error, E, values of 0.05 g/cm^3 and 0.06 g/cm^3, respectively. This technique is beneficial for saving water resources and for the clean utilization of coal.

CFD simulation of pressure fluctuation characteristics in the gas-solid fluidized bed:Comparisons with experiments

A simple hydrodynamic model based on two-fluid theory, taking into account the effect of discrete particles on both the gas- and solid-phase momentum equations, was used to numerically investigate the pressure fluctuation characteristics in a gas-solid fluidized bed with the aid of CFX 4.4, a commercial CFD software package, by adding user-defined Fortran subroutines. Numerical simulations together with typical experimental measurements show that pressure fluctuations originate above the distributor when a gas pulse is injected into the fluidized bed. The pressure above the bubble gradually increases due to the presence of a rising bubble. When the bubble passes through the bed surface, the pressure near the bed surface gradually decreases to a lower value. Moreover, the pressure signals in the bubbling fluidized beds show obviously periodic characteristics. The major frequency of pressure fluctuations at the same vertical position is affected slightly by the operating gas velocity, and the amplitude of pressure fluctuations is related to both the operating gas velocity and the vertical height. In this study, the influence of the operating gas velocity on the pressure wave propagation velocity can be ignored, and only two peak frequencies in the power spectrum of the pressure fluctuations are observed which are associated with the bubble formation above the distributor and its eruption at the bed surface.

Experimental Study on Gas-Solid Mass Transfer in Circulating Fluidized Beds

This study is devoted to gas-solid mass transfer behavior inheterogeneous two-phase flow. Experiments were carried out in a coldcirculating fluidized bed of 3.0 m in height and 72 mm in diameterwith naphthalene particles. Axial and radial distributions ofsublimated naphthalene concentration in air were measured with an on-line concentration monitoring system HP GC-MS. Mass transfercoefficients were obtained under various operating conditions,showing that heterogeneous flow structure strongly influences theaxial and radial profiles of mass transfer coefficients.

Multi-scale Analysis of Chaotic Characteristics in a Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed

Deterministic chaos theory offers useful quantitative tools tocharacterize the non-linear dynamic be- havior of a fluidized bed andthe developed complexity theory presents a new approach to evaluatefinite sequences. In this paper, the non-linear, hydrodynamicbehavior of the pressure fluctuation signals in a reactor wasdiscussed By chaos parameters and complexity measures. Coherentresults were achieved by our multi-scale analysis, which Furtherexposed the behavior in a gas-solid two-phase system.

Removal of CO2 in a multistage fluidized bed reactor by amine impregnated activated carbon: optimization using response surface methodology

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the major component of greenhouse gas. Increase in concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to global warming. To remove the CO2 from waste flue gas a four-stage counter-current multistage fluidized bed adsorber was developed and operated in continuous bubbling fluidization regime for the two丒phase system. This paper describes the optimum condition for CO2 removal efficiency in a multistage fluidized bed reactor using amine impregnated activated carbon. Response surface methodology with central composite design was used to determine the effect of three variables on the response. The variables are inlet concentration of CO2 in ppm (ranging from 3000 to 20,000), impregnation ratio of monoethanol amine (ranging from 0.2 to 0.6) and weir height in mm (20-60). The response was CO2 removal efficiency. The factor which was most influential has been identified from the analysis of variance. The optimum CO2 removal efficiency for the amine impregnated activated carbon (MEA-AC) was found to be 95.17%, at initial concentration of CO2 7312.85 ppm, chemical impregnation ratio of 0.31, and weir height 48.65 mm. From the experiment, the CO2 removal efficiency was found to be 95.97% at the same operating conditions. The predicted response was found to relevance with experimental data.

Simulation of gas-solid fluidized bed reactor for F-T synthesis

Using the lumping method, CH_4, C_3H_8, C_10H_22, and C_22H_44 were chosen as themodel products, and CO as the key component. The mathematical model of a gas-solidfluidized bed reactor was established based on some hypotheses. The consumption kinetic model of CO was investigated, and the parameters were estimated by UniversalGlobal Optimization with the Marquardt method. Residual error distribution and a statisticaltest show that the intrinsic kinetic models are reliable and acceptable. A model of carbonchain growth probability was established in terms of experiments. Coupled with the Ander-son- Schulz-Flory (ASF) distribution, the amount of specific product could be obtained.Large- scale cold model experiments were conducted to investigate the distribution of thegas (solid) phase and determine the function of the voidage with the location of the catalytic bed. The change tendencies of the components in the catalytic bed at different temperatures were computed and figured out. The calculated value computed by the modelestablished for the Fe-based F-T synthesis catalyst fit the experimental value very wellunder the same operating conditions, and all the absolute values of the relative deviationsare less than 5%.

Computational study of bubble coalescence/break-up behaviors and bubble size distribution in a 3-D pressurized bubbling gas-solid fluidized bed of Geldart A particles

A computational study was carried out on bubble dynamic behaviors and bubble size distributions in a pressurized lab-scale gas-solid fluidized bed of Geldart A particles.High-resolution 3-D numerical simulations were performed using the two-fluid model based on the kinetic theory of granular flow.A finegrid,which is in the range of 3–4 particle diameters,was utilized in order to capture bubble structures explicitly without breaking down the continuum assumption for the solid phase.A novel bubble tracking scheme was developed in combination with a 3-D detection and tracking algorithm(MS3 DATA)and applied to detect the bubble statistics,such as bubble size,location in each time frame and relative position between two adjacent time frames,from numerical simulations.The spatial coordinates and corresponding void fraction data were sampled at 100 Hz for data analyzing.The bubble coalescence/break-up frequencies and the daughter bubble size distribution were evaluated by using the new bubble tracking algorithm.The results showed that the bubble size distributed non-uniformly over cross-sections in the bed.The equilibrium bubble diameter due to bubble break-up and coalescence dynamics can be obtained,and the bubble rise velocity follows Davidson’s correlation closely.Good agreements were obtained between the computed results and that predicted by using the bubble break-up model proposed in our previous work.The computational bubble tracking method showed the potential of analyzing bubble motions and the coalescence and break-up characteristics based on time series data sets of void fraction maps obtained numerically and experimentally.

Fluidized-bed chlorination thermodynamics and kinetics of Kenya natural rutile ore

Natural rutile and gaseous chlorine with carbon as reductant were used to prepare titanium tetrachloride. Thermodynamics and kinetics of chlorination of Kenya natural rutile particles in a batch-type fluidized bed were studied at 1173-1273 K. Thermodynamic analysis of this system revealed that the equation of producing CO was dominant at high temperatures. Based on the gas-solid multi-phase reaction theory and a two-phase model for the fluidized bed, the mathematical description for the chlorination reaction of rutile was proposed. The reaction parameters and the average concentration of gaseous chlorine in the emulsion phase were estimated. The average concentration of emulsion phase in the range of fluidized bed was calculated as 0.3 mol/m^3. The results showed that the chlorination of natural rutile proceeded principally in the emulsion phase, and the reaction rate was mainly controlled by the surface reaction.

Wavelet Characterization of the Flow Regime in a Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed

Processes like combustion, pyrolysis or gasification of coal and biomass are typical applications of gas-solid fluidized beds. These reactors normally use silica sand as the inert material inside the bed and the sand particles represent around 95% of the total bed weight. Pressure measurements have been used to characterize the dynamic behavior of fluidized beds since early researches in the area. Pressure fluctuations are generally due to bubbles flow which characterizes the fluidization regime. The present work aims to perform a time-frequency analysis of the pressure signal acquired in an experimental apparatus on different gas-solid flow regimes. Continuous and discrete wavelet transforms were applied and the results were compared with image records acquired simultaneously with the pressure signal. The main frequencies observed are in accordance with the ones obtained through Fourier spectra. The time-frequency distribution of the signal agrees with the phenomena observed in the image record, remarkably for the slugging flow. Some additional research is still necessary to completely characterize the flow regimes using the wavelet scalograms but the present results show that the task is a very promising one.

Anaerobic tapered fluidized bed reactor for starch wastewater treatment and modeling using multilayer perceptron neural network

treatability of synthetic sago wastewater was investigated in a laboratory anaerobic tapered fluidized bed reactor （ATFBR） with a mesoporous granular activated carbon （GAC） as a support material. The experimental protocol was defined to examine the effect of the maximum organic loading rate （OLR）, hydraulic retention time （HRT）, the efficiency of the reactor and to report on its steady- state performance. The reactor was subjected to a steady-state operation over a range of OLR up to 85.44 kg COD/（m^3·d）. The COD removal efficiency was found to be 92% in the reactor while the biogas produced in the digester reached 25.38 m^3/（m^3·d） of the reactor. With the increase of OLR from 83.7 kg COD/（m^3·d）, the COD removal efficiency decreased. Also an artificial neural network （ANN） model using multilayer perceptron （MLP） has been developed for a system of two input variable and five output dependent variables. For the training of the input-output data, the experimental values obtained have been used. The output parameters predicted have been found to be much closer to the corresponding experimental ones and the model was validated for 30% of the untrained data. The mean square error （MSE） was found to be only 0.0146.

Fluidized-Bed Drying of Biological Materials:Two Case Studies

Drying is the last operation for processing most biomaterials. Due to the heat and moisture sensitivity of biomaterials, selections of drying methods and operating parameters are very important to keep the viability of these materials. In the present study, experiments were carried out in fluidized bed drying of photosynthetic microorganism liquid and mixed culture animal food. Results show that most activities can be kept in dried products. Appropriate operation parameters were determined.

Characteristics of fluidization and dry-beneficiation of a wide-size-range medium-solids fluidized bed

Wide-size-range medium-solids are used in a modularized coal beneficiation demonstration system with a gas-solid fluidized bed. The characteristics of fluidization and dry-beneficiation of the medium solids were studied. The numerical simulation results show that 0.15–0.06 mm fine magnetite powder can decrease the disturbances caused by the bubbles. This is beneficial to the uniformity of the gas-solid interactions and thus to the uniformity and stability of the bed density and height. The experimental results show that, with an increase in the fine coal content in medium solids, both the fluidization quality and the beneficiation performance of the bed decreased gradually. When the fine coal content was no more than 13%, a relatively high superficial gas velocity increased the beneficiation efficiency. When the content was more than 13%, part of the fine coal was separated, leading to product layers. The separation efficiency was therefore gradually decreased. The models for predicting the bed density standard deviation and the probable error, E, value were both proposed. The E value can reach to 0.04–0.07 g/cm^3 under the optimized experimental parameters. This work provides a foundation for the adjustment of the bed density and the separation performance of the modularized 40–60 ton per hour dry coalbeneficiation industrial system.

Bubble dynamics properties of B-particles in a quasi-2D gas-solid fluidized bed:Computational particle fluid dynamics numerical simulation and post-processed by digital image analysis technique

Bubble dynamics properties play a crucial and significant role in the design and optimization of gas-solid fluidized beds.In this study,the bubble dynamics properties of four B-particles were investigated in a quasi-two-dimensional(quasi-2D)fluidized bed,including bubble equivalent diameter,bubble size distribution,average bubble density,bubble aspect ratio,bubble hold-up,bed expansion ratio,bubble radial position,and bubble velocity.The studies were performed by computational particle fluid dynamics(CPFD)numerical simulation and post-processed with digital image analysis(DIA)technique,at superficial gas velocities ranging from 2u_(mf) to 7u_(mf).The simulated results shown that the CPFD simulation combining with DIA technique post-processing could be used as a reliable method for simulating bubble dynamics properties in quasi-2D gas-solid fluidized beds.However,it seemed not desirable for the simulation of bubble motion near the air distributor at higher superficial gas velocity from the simulated average bubble density distribution.The superficial gas velocity significantly affected the bubble equivalent diameter and evolution,while it had little influence on bubble size distribution and bubble aspect ratio distribution for the same particles.Both time-averaged bubble hold-up and bed expansion ratio increased with the increase of superficial gas velocity.Two core-annular flow structures could be found in the fluidized bed for all cases.The average bubble rising velocity increased with the increasing bubble equivalent diameter.For bubble lateral movement,the smaller bubbles might be more susceptible,and superficial gas velocity had a little influence on the absolute lateral velocity of bubbles.The simulated results presented a valuable and novel approach for studying bubble dynamics properties.The comprehensive understanding of bubble dynamics behaviors in quasi-2D gas-solid fluidized beds would provide support in the design,operation,and optimization of gas-solid fluidized bed reactors.

Kinetics of thermal decomposition of hydrated minerals associated with hematite ore in a fluidized bed reactor

The kinetics of removal of loss on ignition(LOI) by thermal decomposition of hydrated minerals present in natural iron ores(i.e.,kaolinite,gibbsite,and goethite) was investigated in a laboratory-scale vertical fluidized bed reactor(FBR) using isothermal methods of kinetic analysis.Experiments in the FBR in batch processes were carried out at different temperatures(300 to 1200°C) and residence time(1 to 30 min) for four different iron ore samples with various LOIs(2.34wt% to 9.83wt%).The operating velocity was maintained in the range from 1.2 to 1.4 times the minimum fluidization velocity(Umf).We observed that,below a certain critical temperature,the FBR did not effectively reduce the LOI to a desired level even with increased residence time.The results of this study indicate that the LOI level could be reduced by 90% within 1 min of residence time at 1100°C.The kinetics for low-LOI samples(<6wt%) indicates two different reaction mechanisms in two temperature regimes.At lower temperatures(300 to 700°C),the kinetics is characterized by a lower activation energy(diffusion-controlled physical moisture removal),followed by a higher activation energy(chemically controlled removal of LOI).In the case of high-LOI samples,three different kinetics mechanisms prevail at different temperature regimes.At temperature up to 450°C,diffusion kinetics prevails(removal of physical moisture);at temperature from 450 to 650°C,chemical kinetics dominates during removal of matrix moisture.At temperatures greater than 650°C,nucleation and growth begins to influence the rate of removal of LOI.

Simulation of the L-valve in the circulating fluidized bed with a coarse-grained discrete particle method

Stable and controllable solid flow is essential in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) systems. The L-valve is a typical non-mechanical valve that can provide flexible solid feeding. The investigation of the solid circulation rate and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the L-valve is crucial to its design and operation. The gas-solid flow in the L-valve of a full-loop CFB is studied with the coarse-grained discrete particle method (EMMS-DPM). Good agreements on the solid circulation rate and the pressure drop through the L-valve are achieved between the simulated and experimental data. The solid circulation rate increases linearly with the aeration velocity until the stable particle circulation of the CFB is destroyed. The flow patterns in the horizontal section of L-valve are gas-solid slug flow above the stationary solid layer and the moving solid layer, respectively. The effects of L-valve geometric parameters on the solid flow characteristics are also investigated. The results indicate that reducing the diameter and length of the horizontal section of L-valve can improve the solid transport efficiency, especially at low aeration velocity. Besides, the solid conveying capacity and flow stability are improved when the sharp bend of L-valve is modified to be a gradual bend.

Validation of an improved two-fluid model with particle rotation for gas-solid fluidized bed

Gas-solid fluidized beds are widely applied in chemical and process engineering.It is of significance to establish a reasonable and effective mathematical model to explore the hydrodynamics of gas-particle system for industrial applications.As a less computationally demanding alternative to the discrete descriptions,two-fluid model considering kinetic theory of granular flow is often adopted to describe the fluidized behaviors of particles,but it cannot characterize the rotation of particles and its influence on the fluidized behaviors.In this study,to address the rotation effect of the fluidized particles,a two-fluid model combining the classical fluid and micropolar fluid is established,namely CMTFM.In the CMTFM,classical fluid is used to describe the motion of gas phase,while micropolar fluid is adopted to describe the motion of particle phase,and the rotation of particles and its influence on the hydrodynamics of the gas-particle system are characterized by the degree of freedom of microrotation and the improved drag force based on micropolar viscosities.In the calculation of the gas-solid bubbling fluidized bed,we investigated the influence of the microstructure parameters,particle-particle collision restitution coefficient and inlet velocity,and the results are compared to those from TFM model and experiments.Through the analysis,it manifests that pressure drop and expansion height of the fluidized bed under the consideration of the microrotation effect are closer to the experiments,which demonstrates the feasibility and advantage of the classical-micropolar two-fluid model.