CFD modeling of a typical fluidized bed column

Abstract

The hydrodynamic behavior of a 2-D gas–solid fluidized bed has been studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package ANSYS Fluent. The modeling results were validated using the experimental data carried out in a lab-scale perspex column based fluidized bed having a diameter of 0.1 m and height of 0.62 m. The modeling studies showed a very good resemblance with the experimental observations. Studies were carried out by using 0.0003 m biomass fine powder having a density of around 1242 kg/m3 at different inlet gas velocities. Eulerian-Eulerian model approach along with the kinetic theory of granular flow is used for simulating the gas–solid fluidization behavior. In the present work, the effects of inlet gas velocity, pressure drop and bed expansion ratio was studied. The minimum fluidization velocity condition was predicted by using the simulated contour plot of the computational software. The momentum exchange coefficients were calculated using Syamlal-O’Brien functions. The comparison study showed that the CFD simulation of a gas–solid fluidized bed can be used effectively for the designing and operation of a lab-scale fluidized bed column. Moreover the simulation studies would also help in the scaling up of the fluidized bed further for industrial usage.