An approach to simulate gas-solid flow systems with process controllers

Abstract

Gas-solid flow systems usually suffer from complex internal states and unstable operations, thus internal state monitoring and process control are both essential for efficient and stable operations. In this work, a versatile mathematical approach is developed for the collaborative simulation of both describing the transient internal flow details at the microscale and simulating the response of dynamic process controllers at the macroscale, by means of combining a CFD model and a process controller simulation based on the framework of ANSYS-Fluent and MATLAB. The model is applied to a symmetrical Circulating fluidised bed (CFB) for effectiveness demonstration, where the solid maldistribution can be mitigated through online regulation of L-valve aeration rate using the process controller. Then CFBs with process controllers compared with the case without any process controllers, indicating the versatile capability of this approach in effective real-time control to complex systems. This work provides a new versatile method to study and optimise complex CFB processes equipped with controllers in practice and a key foundation to digital twin in future CFB operation.