The effect of collision parameters on the 3D Eulerian simulation of a thin rectangular bubbling fluidized bed

Abstract

It is well known that the hydrodynamics of dense gas–particle flows depends heavily on inter-particle and particle–wall collisions; however, the subtleties of these interactions are not always fully recognized or appreciated. In this study, the two-fluid model is used to systematically examine the effects of collision parameters, i.e., particle–particle restitution coefficient, particle–wall restitution coefficient, and wall specularity coefficient, on simulations of the hydrodynamics of a pseudo two-dimensional bubbling fluidized bed.The utilization of high-resolution Eulerian simulations facilitates the representation of meso-scale structures without the use of a sub-grid scale model, while qualitatively reflecting the experimental data. To ensure statistically robust results and increase confidence in the simulations, a careful assessment of the time-averaging interval was first undertaken to smooth out the fluctuations that persist even after the bed reaches steady state.A quantitative analysis was then performed to analyze important facets of the flow, including bubble characteristics, particle velocity fields, and granular temperature. The underlying physical formulation was employed to elucidate how collision parameters impact the hydrodynamics of the flow.The notable findings of this study are threefold. First, the specific details of the collisions between particles are shown to significantly influence the bubble characteristics and overall flow pattern. However, the effect of the particle–particle restitution coefficient turns out to be minimal on the bed circulation time except in the limit of particle elastic collisions. It is also found that the elastic collision of particles highly affects the bubble count and unexpectedly changes the role of the wall from a source to a sink of granular temperature. Second, the effect of the particle–wall restitution coefficient is appreciable on the granular temperature while having a minimal effect on the flow hydrodynamics. Third, the effect of the wall specularity coefficient is felt across the bed such that an increase in this parameter increases the bed circulation time. The results of this systematic study enhance the understanding of how collision parameters impact flow characteristics while also providing insight into the selection of their values in simulations.