CPFD study of volatile liquid injection in a dense gas–solid fluidized bed

Abstract

This study uses the Eulerian-Lagrangian multiphase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) approach, adopted in the computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) code, Barracuda Virtual Reactor®, to simulate the injection of a gas–liquid spray into a gas–solid fluidized bed. The model accounts for evaporation of volatile liquid in the form of individually moving droplets and thin films distributed on the surface of the solid bed particles. Comparison with previously reported temperature measurements for varying spray nozzle gas-to-liquid ratios suggests that the model is capable of predicting the overall features of the gas temperature distributions within the injection region at injection velocities of less than 50 m/s. Locally observed discrepancies between experimental and simulated temperature profiles are likely related to the presence of wet particle agglomerates in the spray region, as suggested by a developed energy dissipation model that, combined with the MP-PIC model, predicts the location and extent of agglomeration in the fluidized bed.