Numerical simulation of turbulent fluidized bed with Geldart B particles

•Euler–Euler CFD simulation of turbulent fluidized bed was performed.•Suitability of gas–solid drag models was investigated.•Effect of elasticity of particle collision on flow behavior was studied.•Different wall boundary conditions were investigated.•Time-averaged results were compared against experimental data.

A numerical study was carried out to explore the hydrodynamic behavior of gas–solid flow in a 2D turbulent fluidized bed. The gas–solid flow was simulated by mean of an Eulerian–Eulerian two fluid model incorporating the Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow (KTGF). The main purpose of this work was to examine the ability of various models to predict the hydrodynamic of a turbulent fluidized bed filled with Geldart B particles on the Fluent V.6.2 platform. The effect of different drag models including those of Gidaspow, Syamlal & O’Brien and Mckeen, were tested and the corresponding results were compared. A good level of agreement was achieved with the Gidaspow model with reference to experimental data. Two viscous models were tested and the standard k–εk–ε model performed the better prediction of the core annular structure of the bed with reference to the experimental data. Different wall boundary conditions were also tested and their impact evaluated on the hydrodynamics of the bed.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide