CFD-DEM Study of heat and mass transfer of ellipsoidal particles in fluidized bed dryers

In this paper, a 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach combined with 3D discrete element method (DEM) is extended by incorporating heat, mass transfers, and drying kinetic models to study the drying of ellipsoidal particles with equivalent volumes in fluidized beds. The validity of the proposed model is tested in terms of hydrodynamic and mass transfer behaviors. It is shown that the simulation results are in well-agreement with existing correlation or data. Finally, the effects of aspect ratio on heat and mass transfer behaviors at the same superficial gas velocity are then analyzed to improve the fundamental understanding of the system. It is demonstrated that the spherical particle has the highest drying rate compared to other ellipsoidal particles due to its highest average Reynold number of individual particles. The obtained results should be useful to the devel-opment of the fundamental understanding and optimization of fluidized bed dryers.

Automated summary

In this paper, a combined approach of 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and 3D discrete element method (DEM) is used to study the drying of ellipsoidal particles in fluidized beds. The model incorporates heat, mass transfers, and drying kinetic models. The validity of the model is tested and the results show good agreement with existing correlation or data. The influence of aspect ratio on heat and mass transfer behaviors is analyzed to improve the fundamental understanding of the system.