Insight into particle size distribution and particle-scale reactions in a supercritical water fluidized bed reactor by CPFD method

Abstract

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) provides a promising solution for converting coal into hydrogen-rich gaseous. However, the modelling of the coal SCWG process still poses challenges due to the heterogeneous particle distribution, large quantity of particles, and complex chemical reactions. This study presents a novel three-dimensional numerical model based on computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) to study coal particle gasification in the reactor. The model integrates realistic coal particle size distribution, heat and mass transfer phenomena alongside heterogeneous/homogeneous chemical reactions across phases, elucidating multi-scale reacting flow behaviors and illustrating particle volume fraction, size, and velocity distributions. The obtained results reveal the evolution of coal composition, particle scale gasification process, and distribution of gaseous product components in the supercritical fluidized bed reactor. This work aims to serve as a reference for understanding the flow and heat transfer phenomena between supercritical water and coal particles in SCWG reactors.