Fluidization of spherocylindrical particles

Journal article (2017)

Authors

V.V. Mahajan Eindhoven University of Technology, Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Tim M.J. Nijssen Eindhoven University of Technology
B. Fitzgerald Eindhoven University of Technology, Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Jeroen Hofman Eindhoven University of Technology
Hans Kuipers Eindhoven University of Technology
J.T. Padding Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering , Eindhoven University of Technology
Research Group
Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2017 V.V. Mahajan, Tim M.J. Nijssen, B. Fitzgerald, Jeroen Hofman, Hans Kuipers, J.T. Padding
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714006019
More Info
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

Faculty

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Department

Process and Energy

Research Group

Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems

Abstract

Multiphase (gas-solid) flows are encountered in numerous industrial applications such as pharmaceutical, food, agricultural processing and energy generation. A coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) approach is a popular way to study such flows at a particle scale. However, most of these studies deal with spherical particles while in reality, the particles are rarely spherical. The particle shape can have significant effect on hydrodynamics in a fluidized bed. Moreover, most studies in literature use inaccurate drag laws because accurate laws are not readily available. The drag force acting on a non-spherical particle can vary considerably with particle shape, orientation with the flow, Reynolds number and packing fraction. In this work, the CFD-DEM approach is extended to model a laboratory scale fluidized bed of spherocylinder (rod-like) particles. These rod-like particles can be classified as Geldart D particles and have an aspect ratio of 4. Experiments are performed to study the particle flow behavior in a quasi-2D fluidized bed. Numerically obtained results for pressure drop and bed height are compared with experiments. The capability of CFD-DEM approach to efficiently describe the global bed dynamics for fluidized bed of rod-like particles is demonstrated.