3-D Modeling of Liquid Injection into Fluidized Beds

Abstract

A three-dimensional model has been developed to describe the injection of liquid reactants into fluidized bed reactors operating in the bubbling fluidized bed regime. The model considers the processes of liquid transport and evaporation in the vicinity of the point of injection. The underlying idea, which is supported by previous measurements, is that the particles in the dense suspension phase are wetted by the liquid or gas-liquid spray. The wetted particles are subsequently dried while they are following the gross solids circulation within the bed. The model considers the flow structure of the bubbling fluidized bed and the solids mixing with the aid of a hybrid model which combines semi-empirical models for bubble growth by coalescence and for bubble splitting with a CFD approach for the continuous emulsion phase surrounding the bubbles. Submodels for heat and mass transfer are used to describe the temperature and concentration fields in the vicinity of the injection nozzle and the drying process of the wetted particles with the resulting release of the vaporized injection liquid. The model was validated separately against flow structure measurements, solids tracer measurements and experiments with the injection of water and ethanol, respectively, into beds of FCC particles.