Modeling the effects of solid particles in CFD-PBM simulation of slurry bubble columns

Prediction of gas holdup and bubble size distribution is of paramount importance for modeling mass and heat transfer and reactions in multiphase reactors. Addition of hydrophilic particles into gas-liquid systems usually decreases gas holdup and increases bubble size. Rational prediction is still difficult in view of the complex effects of solid particles on gas-liquid flows, e.g., the increase of slurry apparent density and viscosity, the reduced film drainage time during bubble coalescence, and the attenuation of liquid turbulent dissipation rate. This work attempts to construct a rational step-by-step approach to analyze these particle effects in CFD-PBM modeling. First, the EMMS-PBM approach is used to improve the BSD simulation in a solid-free system. Then for a gas-slurry system, we propose a correlation of attenuation factor for turbulent dissipation rate in PBM kernel models. Combining EMMS-PBM and the attenuation factor can well predict the gas holdup and BSD in slurry bubble columns. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.