Fluidization characteristics of different sizes of quartz particles in the fluidized bed

Fluidization characteristics of quartz particles with different sizes are experimentally investigated in a fluidized bed with an inner diameter of 300 mm and height of 8250 mm.Results show that the average solid holdup increases with the increase in superficial gas velocity and the decrease in initial solid holdup in the dense zone of the fluidized bed.The average cross-sectional solid holdup decreases with increasing bed height and superficial gas velocity.The bed expansion coefficient increases with the increase in superficial gas velocity and the decrease in solid holdup.Correlations of average solid holdup,average cross-sectional solid holdup and bed expansion coefficient are also established and discussed.These correlations can provide guidelines for better understanding of the fluidization characteristics.

A Comparative Study on Heat Transfer Performance of Typical Petrochemical Reactors

The performance of heat transfer is a key issue for reactor design in petrochemical industry. Since the heat transfer in reactors is a complicated process and depends on multiple parameters, the evaluation of the heat transfer performance is usually challenging, and few previous studies gave an overall view of heat exchange performance of different types of reactors. In this review, heat transfer coefficients of two types of petrochemical reactors, including the packed bed and the fluidized bed, were systematically analyzed and compared based on a number of reported correlations. The relationship between heat transfer coefficients and fluid flow velocity in different reactors has been well established, which clearly demonstrates the varying range of their heat transfer coefficients. Heat transfer coefficients of gas-phase packed bed can exceed 200 W/m^2·K, rather than the suggested values(17—89 W/m^2·K) mentioned in the literature. The fluidized bed shows better performance for both two-phase and three-phase beds as compared to the packed bed. Systems with liquid phase also show better heat transfer performance than other phases because of the larger heat capacity of liquid. Thus the industrial three-phase fluidized beds have the best heat transfer performance with an overall heat transfer coefficient of greater than 1 000 W/m^2·K. The heat transfer results provided by this review can afford not only new insights into the heat transfer in typical reactors, but also the basis and guidelines for reactor design and selection.

Oxide coating mechanism during fluidized bed reduction: solid-state reaction characteristics between iron ore particles and MgO

Experiments on the solid-state reaction between iron ore particles and MgO were performed to investigate the coating mechanism of MgO on the iron ore particles＇ surface during fluidized bed reduction. MgO powders and iron ore particles were mixed and compressed into briquettes and, subsequently, roasted at different temperatures and for different time periods. A Mg-containing layer was observed on the outer edge of the iron ore particles when the roasting temperature was greater than 1173 K. The concentration of Fe in the Mg-containing layer was evenly distributed and was approximately 10wt%, regardless of the temperature change. Boundary layers of Mg and Fe were observed outside of the iron ore particles. The change in concentration of Fe in the boundary layers was simulated using a gas–solid diffusion model, and the diffusion coefficients of Fe and Mg in these layers at different temperatures were calculated. The diffusion activation energies of Fe and Mg in the boundary layers in these experiments were evaluated to be approximately 176 and 172 k J/mol, respectively.

Euler-Euler CFD modeling of fluidized bed:Influence of specularity coefficient on hydrodynamic behavior

Euler-Euler two-fluid model is used to simulate the hydrodynamics of gas-solid flow in a bubbling flu- idized bed with Geldert B particles where the solid property is calculated by applying the kinetic theory of granular flow （KTGF）. Johnson and Jackson wall boundary condition is used for the particle phase, and different amount of slip between particle and wall is given by varying the specularity coefficient （φ） from 0 to 1. The simulated particle velocity, granular temperature and particle volume fraction are compared to investigate the effect of different wall boundary conditions on the hydrodynamic behavior, Some of the results are also compared with the available experimental data from the literature. It was found that the model predictions are sensitive to the specularity coefficient. The hydrodynamic behavior deviated sig- nificantly for φ = 0 and φ = 0.01 with maximum deviation found at φ = 0 i.e. free-slip condition. However, the overall bed height predicted by all the conditions is similar.

Effect of coefficient of restitution in Euler-Euler CFD simulation of fluidized-bed hydrodynamics

Collision between particles plays an important role in determining the hydrodynamic characteristics of gas-solid flow in a fluidized bed. In the present work, earlier work （Loha, Chattopadhyay, ＆ Chatterjee, 2013） was extended to study the effect of the elasticity of particle collision on the hydrodynamic behavior of a bubbling fluidized bed filled with 530-~m particles. The Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model was used to simulate the hydrodynamics of the bubbling fluidized bed, where the solid-phase properties were calculated by applying the kinetic theory of granular flow. To investigate the effect of the elasticity of particle collision, different values of the coefficient of restitution were applied in the simulation and their effects were studied in detail. Simulations were performed for two different solid-phase wall boundary conditions. No bubble formation was observed for perfectly elastic collision. The bubble formation started as soon as the coefficient of restitution was set below 1.0, and the space occupied by bubbles in the bed increased with a decrease in the coefficient of restitution. Simulation results were also compared with experimental data available in the literature, and good agreement was found for coefficients of restitution of 0.95 and 0.99.

Effect of wall boundary condition on CFD simulation of CFB risers

The effect of solid-phase wall boundary condition on the numerical simulation of gas-solid flow in CFB risers containing FCC particles was investigated using the two-fluid model incorporating the kinetic the- ory of granular flow. Both the Gidaspow drag model and the EMMS-based drag model were used. The Johnson and Jackson （1987） wall boundary condition was applied to describe the interaction between particles and wall. Based on the experimental system of Li and Kwauk （1994）, parametric studies of spec- ularity coefficient （cp = 1.0, 0.6, 0.0005, 0.00005, 0） and particle-wall restitution coefficient （ew = 0.6, 0.9, 0.95, 0.99, 0.999） were performed to evaluate their effects on axial voidage profile, solids flux, meso-scale and heterogeneous structures. Simulation results showed that solid-phase wall boundary condition had little effect on axial voidage profile when the Gidaspow drag model was used. However, the specular- ity coefficient ~a had a pronounced influence on flow behavior when the EMMS-based drag model was used, and a small specularity coefficient （cp = 0.00005, 0） could result in better agreement with exper- imental data. The particle-wall restitution coefficient ew plays but a minor role in the holistic flow characteristics.

Evaluation of the effect of wall boundary conditions on numerical simulations of circulating fluidized beds

A computational fluid dynamics （CFD） modeling of the gas-solids two-phase flow in a circulating fluidized bed （CFB） riser is carried out. The Eularian-Eularian method with the kinetic theory of granular flow is used to solve the gas-solids two-phase flow in the CFB riser. The wall boundary condition of the riser is defined based on the Johnson and Jackson wall boundary theory （Johnson ＆ Jackson, 1987） with specularity coefficient and particle-wall restitution coefficient.The numerical results show that these two coefficients in the wall boundary condition play a major role in the predicted solids lateral velocity, which affects the solid particle distribution in the CFB riser. And the effect of each of the two coefficients on the solids distribution also depends on the other one. The generality of the CFD model is further validated under different operatin~ conditions of the CFB riser.

Mass transfer between bubbles and the dense phasein gas fluidized beds

Mass transfer between a bubble and the dense phase in gas fluidized beds of Group A and Group B particles was proposed based on previous experimental results and literature data. The mass transfer coefficient between bubbles and the dense phase was determined by kbe = 0.21 db. A theoretical analysis of the mass transfer coefficient between a bubble and the dense phase using diffusion equations showed that the mass transfer coefficient between a bubble and the dense phase is kbe α εmf√ub/db in both three- and two-dimensional fiuidized beds. An effective diffusion coefficient in gas fluidized beds was introduced and correlated with bubble size as De = 13.3db2.7 for Group A and Group B particles. The mass transfer coefficient kbe can then be expressed as kbe = 0.492εmf√ubdb1.7 for bubbles in a three-dimensional bed and kbe = 0.576εm√ubdb1.7 for bubbles in a two-dimensional bed.

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.