Reactive gas–solids flows in large volumes—3D modeling of industrial circulating fluidized bed combustors

A model is presented for the simulation of reactive gas–solids flows in large industrial reactors. Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustors with several thousands of cubic meters reaction volume are probably the largest reactors of this type. A semi-empirical modeling approach has been chosen to model the three-dimensional concentration distributions of gas and solids components and temperatures inside the combustion chamber of such boilers. Two industrial CFB boilers are investigated in detail: the 105 MWe Duisburg combustor in Germany and the 235 MWe Turów combustor in Poland. The semi-empirical model approach is described first. Then the model is used to show how the three-dimensional concentration and temperature fields are formed by the interaction of several local phenomena. Good agreement between simulation and measurements has been achieved.