A DEM study of bubble formation in Group B fluidized beds with and without cohesive inter-particle forces

This paper presents a 2D soft-sphere discrete element method (DEM) simulation study of bubble formation in fluidized beds of Geldart Group B powders with and without externally imposed cohesive interparticle force. The effect of interparticle force on bubble formation and bubble characteristics is studied by inducing a single bubble at the centre of the distributor of a 2D bed that contains 36 000 mono-sized particles having a diameter of 500μm and density of 1000kgm-3. It is observed that in the presence of externally imposed cohesive interparticle force, the bubble formation process not only requires a higher air velocity for its initiation, but it is also slower when compared to the case with no interparticle force.