CFD-DEM study of the effects of solid properties and aeration conditions on heat transfer in fluidized bed

Abstract

The solid properties are of significant influence on the thermal performance of the fluidized bed. In order to provide valuable information for the application of this equipment, a numerical study is carried to clarify the effects of solid properties on the heat transfer characteristics in a lab-scale fluidized bed by means of the CFD-DEM method. Specially, two aeration conditions, i.e. the same superficial velocity and the same fluidization number, are considered. The results show that the violent convective mechanism at bed bottom plays a significant role in the heating of the bed material. The entrainment of rising bubbles and hence solid mixing are the key factors to get better temperature uniformity of the bed during the heating process. With the decrease of particle density and size, the internal circulation of solid phase is strengthened under the same superficial velocity, while slightly weakened under the same fluidization number. Obvious resemblance can be captured between solid mixing and temperature uniformity, and the enhanced solid mixing usually leads to homogeneous temperature distribution of the bed. It can be found that the heating rate decreases with increasing solid density regardless of aeration setup. In addition, it is positively related to particle diameter under the same fluidization number, while keep unchanged under the same superficial velocity. Furthermore, enhanced solid mixing and better temperature uniformity can be captured with increasing solid heat capacity, which confirms that gas temperature shows considerable effect on gas-solid flow.