Numerical simulation and experimental verification of bubble size distribution in an air dense medium fluidized bed

Bubble size distribution is the basic apparent performance and obvious characteristics in the air dense medium fluidized bed (ADMFB). The approaches of numerical simulation and experimental verification were combined to conduct the further research on the bubble generation and movement behavior. The results show that ADMFB could display favorable expanded characteristics after steady fluidization. With different particle size distributions of magnetite powder as medium solids, we selected an appropriate prediction model for the mean bubble diameter in ADMFB. The comparison results indicate that the mean bubble diameters along the bed heights are 35 mm < D b < 66 mm and 40 mm < D b < 69 mm with the magnetite powder of 0.3 mm+0.15mm and 0.15mm+0.074mm, respectively. The prediction model provides good agreements with the experimental and simulation data. Based on the optimal operating gas velocity distribution, the mixture of magnetite powder and <1mm fine coal as medium solids were utilized to carry out the separation experiment on 6-50mm raw coal. The results show that an optimal separation density d P of 1.73g/cm 3 with a probable error E of 0.07g/cm 3 and a recovery efficiency of 99.97% is achieved, which indicates good separation performance by applying ADMFB.

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.

Simulations of vertical jet penetration using a filtered two-fluid model in a gas-solid fluidized bed

The influence of a vertical jet located at the distributor in a cylindrical fluidized bed on the flow behavior of gas and particles was predicted using a filtered two-fluid model proposed by Sundaresan and coworkers. The distributions of volume fraction and the velocity of particles along the lateral direction were investigated for different jet velocities by analyzing the simulated results. The vertical jet penetration lengths at the different gas jet velocities have been obtained and compared with predictions derived from empirical correlations; the predicted air jet penetration length is discussed. Agreement between the numerical simulations and experimental results has been achieved.

Numerical comparison of two modes of gas-solid riser operation： Fluid catalytic cracking vs CFB combustor

Two modes of gas-solid riser operation, i.e., fluid catalytic cracking （FCC） and circulating fluidized bed combustor （CFBC）, have been recognized in literature; particularly in the understanding of choking phenomena. This work compares these two modes of operation through computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulation. In CFD simulations, the different operations are represented by fixing appropriate boundary conditions： solids flux or solids inventory. It is found that the FCC and CFBC modes generally have the same dependence of solids flux on the mean solids volume fraction or solids inventory. However, during the choking transition, the FCC mode of operation needs more time to reach a steady state; thus the FCC system may have insufficient time to respond to valve adjustments or flow state change, leading to the choking. The difference between FCC and CFBC systems is more pronounced for the systems with longer risers. A more detailed investigation of these two modes of riser operation may require a three-dimensional full loop simulation with dynamic valve adjustment.