CFD-DEM Simulation of Minimum Fluidisation Velocity in Two Phase Medium

Abstract

In this work, CFD-DEM (computational fluid dynamics - discrete element method) has been used to model the 2 phase flow composed of solid particle and gas in the fluidised bed. This technique uses the Eulerian and the Langrangian methods to solve fluid and particles respectively. Each particle is treated as a discrete entity whose motion is governed by Newton's laws of motion. The particle-particle and particle-wall interaction is modelled using the classical contact mechanics. The particles motion is coupled with the volume averaged equations of the fluid dynamics using drag law.

In fluidised bed, particles start experiencing drag once the fluid is passing through. The solid particles response to it once drag experienced is just equal to the weight of the particles. At this moment pressure drop across the bed is just equal to the weight of particles divide by the cross-section area. This is the first regime of fluidization, also referred as ‘the regime of minimum fluidization’.

In this study, phenomenon of minimum fluidization is studied using CFD-DEM simulation with 4 different sizes of particles 0.15 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.6 mm, and 1.2 mm diameters. The results are presented in the form of pressure drop across the bed with the fluid superficial velocity. The achieved results are found in good agreement with the experimental and theoretical data available in literature.