INVESTIGATION OF HYDRODYNAMICS AND HEAT TRANSFER IN PSEUDO 2D SPOUTED BEDS WITH AND WITHOUT DRAFT PLATES

In the present study, hydrodynamics and gas to particle heat transfer in pseudo two dimensional spouted beds (2DSB) with and without draft plates were investigated using the Eulerian-Eulerian approach. The main objective of the study was to provide an understanding of effects of the presence of draft plates on the hydrodynamics and heat transfer behavior of solid particles in the spouted beds. To validate the model, the predicted mean particle vertical velocity at the bed axis, the lateral profiles of vertical particle velocity at different bed heights for both systems, and the particle velocity vector fields in the beds were compared with the experimental measurements. A close agreement between the CFD results and the experimental data was found for both systems. The simulation results showed that the particle volume fraction in the spout and fountain regions of the spouted bed with draft plates is considerably lower than that in a conventional spouted bed (without draft plates). Simulation results also showed significant differences between the temperature distributions of gas and solid phases in spouted beds with and without draft plates.