Hydrodynamic studies on fluidization of Red mud: CFD simulation

• To study the hydrodynamic behaviors of fine particle in fluidization process.
• Also carry out the CFD simulation for fine particles to study the hydrodynamic behaviors.
• CFD Simulation results are also compared with the experimental findings in terms of bed pressure drop and expansion ratio.

Hydrodynamic studies are carried out for the fluidization process using fine i.e. Geldart-A particles. Effects of superficial velocity on bed pressure drop and bed expansion is studied in the present work. Commercial CFD software package, Fluent 13.0 is used for simulations. Red mud obtained as waste material from Aluminum industry having average particle size of 77 microns is used as the bed material. Eulerian–Eulerian model coupled with kinetic theory of granular flow is used for simulating unsteady gas–solid fluidization process. Momentum exchange coefficients are calculated using the Gidaspow drag functions. Standard k–ε model has been used to describe the turbulent pattern. Bed pressure drop and bed expansion studies are simulated by CFD which are explained with the help of contour and vector plots. CFD simulation results are compared with the experimental findings. The comparison shows that CFD modeling is capable of predicting the hydrodynamic behaviors of gas–solid fluidized bed for fine particles with reasonable accuracy.

An attempt has been made to carryout hydrodynamic studies of fine particle fluidization process using ‘Red mud’ as bed material at different system parameters. Experimental findings are validated against CFD simulation results using software package, Fluent 13.0.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide