Virtual experimentation through 3D full-loop simulation of a circulating fluidized bed

Abstract

Eulerian granular multiphase model with a drag coefficient correction based on the energy-minimization multi-scale (EMMS) model was used to simulate a semi-industry scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent simulation of a full-loop CFB revealed that the axial profiles of cross-sectionally averaged solid volume fraction, and the radial profiles of solid axial velocity and solid volume fraction were in reasonable agreement with experimental data. Based on this agreement, database derived from experiments not yet accomplished was replenished with such simulations, and fluid regime diagrams and pressure balance around the CFB loop were derived accordingly. This work presents an integrated viewpoint on CFB and unfolds a fresh paradigm for CFB modeling, which can be expected to help resolve certain issues long in dispute but hard for experiments.