Two-fluid modeling of Geldart A particles in gas-solid micro-fluidized beds

The fluidization behavior of Geldart A particles in a gas-solid micro-fluidized bed was investigated by Eulerian-Eulerian numerical simulation. The commonly used Gidaspow drag model was tested first. The simulation showed that the predicted minimum bubbling velocities were significantly lower than the experimental data even when an extremely fine grid size (of approximately one particle diameter) was used. The modified Gibilaro drag model was therefore tested next. The predicted minimum bubbling velocity and bed voidage were in reasonable agreement with the experimental data available in literature. The experimentally observed regime transition phenomena from bubbling to slugging were also reproduced successfully in the simulations. Parametric studies indicated that the solid-wall boundary conditions had a significant impact on the predicted gas and solid flow behavior. (C) 2014 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.