A Generalized Contact Modification for Fixed-Bed Reactor CFD Simulations

Particle-resolved CFD simulations provide detailed insights into fixed-bed reactors. One of the remaining challenges is the generation of high-quality computational cells, which is especially challenging near particle-particle contacts. This contribution presents a generalized and automated contact modification independent of the particle shape by introducing a defined gap of 1 % of the particle diameter. This approach is successfully demonstrated for non-spherical cylinders, hollow and multi-hole cylinders, and a novel particle shape in terms of radial void fraction, pressure drop and an illustrative heat transfer study.

Automated summary

This contribution presents a generalized and automated contact modification method independent of particle shape by introducing a defined gap of 1% of the particle diameter, successfully demonstrated for various non-spherical particles, and includes studies on radial void fraction, pressure drop, and illustrative heat transfer.