Experimental study of pressurized gas-fluidized bed heat transfer

This paper reports on an experimental study of the influence of operating pressure, in the range 150-1100 kPa, on wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficient in a bubbling fluidized bed. Both Geldart Group A and B solids were studied and the fluidizing gases were air and superheated steam. Fluidizing velocities were in the range 1-33 U_mf and wall temperatures in the range 125-275°C. Wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficients were found to increase steadily with increasing fluidizing gas velocity and not to pass through a maximum. Increase in operating pressure was found generally to result in an increase in wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficient, although the effect is probably non-linear. In the bubbling regime, the wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficient was found to change with vertical position in the bed. Wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficients decreased when the bed entered the slugging regime.     

Numerical prediction of heat transfer in fluidized beds by a kinetic theory of granular flows

In dense gas–solid two-phase flows of bubbling fluidized beds the particle-to-particle interactions cannot be neglected and an Eulerian approach has been used to predict the fluid dynamics as well as the heat transfer. The physical properties of the solid phase can be modeled with the kinetic theory of granular medias and the governing equations are solved numerically. The present work compares different physical models for the thermal transport coefficients of the solid phase for a lab-scaled two-dimensional fluidized bed filled with mono-disperse glass beads. The numerical results show a strong correlation between fluid dynamics and the instantaneous heat transfer similar to the so-called packet theory by Mickley and Fairbanks [1].     

Gas-solid flow characteristics in high-density CFB

The gas-solid flow characteristics in the riser of a high density CFB of square (0.27 m×0.27 m×10.4 m) or circu-lar (? 0.187m×10.4 m) cross section, using Geldart B particles (quartz sand), was investigated experimentally. The influence of riser structure on the hydrodynamic behaviors of a high-density circulating fluidized bed was investigated. The solid circulation rate was up to 321 kg/(m2s) with the circular cross-section under the operating conditions of the main bed air velocity 12.1 m/s and loosen wind and back-feed wind flow 25.1 m3/h. Different operating conditions on realizing high density circulation was analyzed, while both solids circulation rate and particle holdup depended highly on operating conditions. The circulating gas-solid flow was accompanied by an evidently-dense character in the riser’s bottom zone and became fully developed in the middle and upper zones.     

Heat transfer characteristics in a pulsating fluidized bed in relation to bubble characteristics

A pulsating fluidized bed is operated with two sequential durations designated as an on‐period with injecting fluidization gas and an off‐period without it. The heat transfer coefficient between a vertically immersed heater and bed in a pulsating fluidized bed is measured under various pulse cycles and fluidized particles. The obtained results are compared with those in a normal fluidized bed with continuous fluidization air injection. The relationship between heat transfer coefficients and bubble characteristics, evaluated using a digital video camera, has also been investigated. For certain fluidized particles and operating pulse cycles, the fluidization of particles and the increment of heat transfer coefficients can be obtained under a mean air velocity based on a pulse cycle duration smaller than the minimum fluidization air velocity in a normal fluidized bed. Under the pulse cycles where a static bed through the whole bed is formed in the off‐period duration, the improved heat transfer rate over that in a normal fluidized bed can be measured. This may be attributed to large bubble formation. As heat transfer in the pulsating fluidized bed is obstructed with increasing time to keep a static bed due to the excessive off‐period duration, it is indicated that there is an optimum off‐period duration based on the heat transfer rate. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(4): 307–319, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10038     

Fundamental design of a continuous biomass gasification process using a supercritical water fluidized bed

A novel biomass gasification (first stage of hydrogen production from biomass) process using a supercritical water fluidized bed was proposed and the fundamental design of the process was conducted. The flow rate was determined by evaluating the minimum fluidization velocity and terminal velocity of alumina particles enabling fluidization with the thermodynamic properties of supercritical water. Three cases were examined: a bubbling fluidized bed in which water was used mainly as the fluidized medium and biomass were added for gasification, a bubbling fluidized bed fluidized by biomass slurry feed alone, and a fast fluidized bed fluidized by biomass slurry feed alone. According to calculations of the residence time and thermal efficiency assuming heat recovery with a heat exchanger efficiency of 0.75, the bubbling fluidized bed fluidized by biomass slurry alone was appropriate for continuous biomass gasification using a fluidized bed.     

Heat recovery from hot solid particles in a shallow fluidized bed

A heat exchanger with a shallow gas–solid fluidized bed was experimentally studied in order to analyze energy recovery from solid particles leaving a combustion process. The experiments were carried out with and without vertical baffles in a fluidized bed with immersed horizontal tubes filled with water, in a counter flow arrangement. Two particle diameters (254 and 385 μm), two solid flow rates (50 and 80 kg/h) and two gas flow rates (46 and 50 kg/h) were tested. The bed temperature along the equipment length, the mass flow rate and the inlet and outlet temperatures of solid particles, air and water were measured in order to obtain the bed-tube heat transfer coefficient and the heat exchanger effectiveness. An increment of about 55% in the heat transfer coefficient and higher values of the heat exchanger effectiveness, in experiments with the presence of baffles, was verified. The experimental results also showed that the suspension-wall heat transfer coefficient increased considerably with the solid flow rate and also when the particle diameter decreased.     

Simulation study of the effect of the restitution coefficient on interphase heat transfer processes and flow characteristics in a fluidized bed

This article discusses a simulation study performed to investigate the effect of particle collision on inter-particle and gas–solid heat transfer processes, and other related bed flow characteristics. The effect of particle elasticity is presented using different values of the particle–particle coefficient of restitution. The simulation study was carried out using a two-dimensional model of a fluidized bed reactor incorporated to ANSYS Fluent 16.2 software. Two different materials, steel beads and sand particles, were used as the bed material fluidized by air. The simulation results are compared to those from previous studies on fluidized bed reactors containing a single bed material. The coefficient of restitution affected the bed hydrodynamics. Specifically, an increasing coefficient of restitution resulted in an increasing bed pressure drop and decreasing void fraction, granular temperature, particle velocity, and collision frequency. Conversely, increasing the particle coefficient of restitution resulted in decreasing the particle–particle heat exchange coefficient and the gas–particle heat transfer coefficient. The gas–particle heat transfer coefficient for sand particles was higher than that for steel beads. The effect of the coefficient of restitution on the flow characteristics from a binary mixture bed was quite similar to those of single material beds found in previous studies. This study demonstrated that the restitution coefficient clearly affected both the particle–particle and gas–particle heat transfer processes.     

An experimental investigation of burning rate and mass transfer in a turbulent fluidized bed

Burning rates of carbon spheres are measured in a 102 mm diameter bed fluidized in the turbulent regime. Results suggest carbon burns much faster than in a bubbling fluidized bed operating under otherwise similar conditions—excepting velocity. The enhanced burning rate is attributed to high mass transfer rates in a turbulent fluidized bed. This indirect observation of high mass transfer rate in turbulent fluidized beds is confirmed by a series of mass transfer (sublimation of naphthalene) experiments in the same bed. For the prediction of mass transfer in turbulent fluidized beds, a correlation of the Sherwood number is proposed. It shows a fair agreement with experimental data.     

流化床表面传热系数的直接数值模拟

采用数值试验方法对表面传热系数进行了直接数值模拟．在流化床表血传热系数模型中,流体相的运动和传热规律以Euler方法描述,对固体颗粒相运动和传热规律则以离散单元法(DEM)在颗粒层次上进行描述．利用该模型,对一个二维鼓泡流化床内瞬时和局部传热系数进行了模拟,得到了瞬态表面传热系数随流化速度的变化规律,以及局部传热系数随高度的变化规律．该规律与Ozkaynak等人的实验研究结果以及Syamlal等人采用颗粒相拟流体模型的数值模拟结果相一致,但与双流体数学模型相比,该模型所需主观假设较少且适用范围更广．     

The impact of bed temperature on heat transfer characteristic between fluidized bed and vertical rifled tubes

In the present work, the heat transfer study focuses on assessment of the impact of bed temperature on the local heat transfer characteristic between a fluidized bed and vertical rifled tubes (38mm-O.D.) in a commercial circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. Heat transfer behavior in a 1296t/h supercritical CFB furnace has been analyzed for Geldart B particle with Sauter mean diameter of 0.219 and 0.246mm. The heat transfer experiments were conducted for the active heat transfer surface in the form of membrane tube with a longitudinal fin at the tube crest under the normal operating conditions of CFB boiler. A heat transfer analysis of CFB boiler with detailed consideration of the bed-to-wall heat transfer coefficient and the contribution of heat transfer mechanisms inside furnace chamber were investigated using mechanistic heat transfer model based on cluster renewal approach. The predicted values of heat transfer coefficient are compared with empirical correlation for CFB units in large-scale.     

Fluid flow and heat transfer in fluidized bed vertical shell and tube type heat exchanger

Measurements were made on the effects of circulating solid particles on the characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer in the fluidized bed vertical shell and tube type heat exchanger with counterflow. The present work showed that the flow velocity range for collision of particles to the tube wall was higher with heavier density solid particles, and the increase in heat transfer was in the order of sand, copper, steel, aluminum, and glass.     

Effect of pressure on thermal aspects in the riser column of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed

In the present paper the effect of pressure on bed‐to‐wall heat transfer in the riser column of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed (PCFB) unit is estimated through a modified mechanistic model. Gas–solid flow structure and average cross‐sectional solids concentration play a dominant role in better understanding of bed‐to‐wall heat transfer mechanism in the riser column of a PCFB. The effect of pressure on average solids concentration fraction ‘c’ in the riser column is analysed from the experimental investigations. The basic cluster renewal model of an atmospheric circulating fluidized bed has been modified to consider the effect of pressure on different model parameters such as cluster properties, gas layer thickness, cluster, particle, gas phase, radiation and bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficients, respectively. The cluster thermal conductivity increases with system pressure as well as with bed temperature due to higher cluster thermal properties. The increased operating pressure enhances the particle and dispersed phase heat transfer components. The bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient increases with operating pressure, because of increased particle concentration. The predicted results from the model are compared with the experimentally measured values as well as with the published literature, and a good agreement has been observed. The bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient variation along the riser height is also reported for different operating pressures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CFD modeling of hydrodynamic and heat transfer in fluidized bed reactors

In this study, a gas–solid fluidized bed reactor has been simulated applying CFD techniques in order to investigate hydrodynamic and heat transfer phenomena. Reactor model predictions were compared with corresponding experimental data reported in the literature to validate the model. The results indicate that considering two solid phases, particles with smaller diameters have lower volume fraction at the bottom of the bed and higher volume fraction at the top of the bed. In addition, it was revealed that bed expansion was larger when a bimodal particle mixture was applied compared with the case of mono-dispersed particles. Gas and solid phase temperature distributions in the reactor were also computed, considering the hydrodynamic of the fluidized bed and the heat generated by the solid particles. The results showed that gas temperature increases as it moves upward in the reactor due to the heat of polymerization reaction leading to the higher temperatures at the top of the bed.     

Bench-scale bubbling fluidized bed systems around the world - Bed agglomeration and collapse: A comprehensive review

Thermochemical conversion by gasification process is one of the most relevant technologies for energy recovery from solid fuel, with an energy conversion efficiency better than other alternatives like combustion and pyrolysis. Nevertheless, the most common technology used in the last decades for thermochemical conversion of solid fuel through gasification process, such as coal, agriculture residues or biomass residues are the fluidized bed or bubbling fluidized bed system. For these gasification technologies, an inert bed material is fed into reactor to improve the homogenization of the particles mixture and increase the heat transfer between solid fuel particles and the bed material. The fluidized bed reactors usually operate at isothermal bed temperatures in the range of 700–1000 °C, providing a suitable contact between solid and gas phases. In this way, chemical reactions with high conversion yield, as well as an intense circulation and mixing of the solid particles are encouraged. Moreover, a high gasification temperature favours carbon conversion efficiency, increasing the syngas production and energy performance of the gasifier. However, the risk of eutectic mixtures formation and its subsequent melting process are increased, and hence the probability of bed agglomeration and the system collapse could be increased, mainly when alkali and alkaline earth metals-rich biomasses are considered. Generally, bed agglomeration occurs when biomass-derived ash reacts with bed material, and the lower melting temperature of ash components promotes the formation of highly viscous layers, which encourages the progressive agglomerates creation, and consequently, the bed collapse and system de-fluidization. Taking into account the relevance of this topic to ensure the normal gasification process operating, this paper provides several aspects about bed agglomeration, mostly for biomass gasification systems. In this way, chemistry and mechanism of bed agglomeration, as well as, some methods for in-situ detection and prediction of the bed agglomeration phenomenon are reviewed and discussed.     

脉动流化床传热特性

在讨论脉动燃烧对传热特性影响的基础上,基于脉动流化燃烧概念,试验研究了脉动流化床中的传热特性,得到不同空截面风速、静止床层高度和声波扰动下的传热系数,并与同一运行参数条件下非脉动流化床及纯气流脉动燃烧器中的传热特性进行对比．总结影响脉动流化床传热特性的各种因素,分析不同运行参数对传热的影响作用．     

Two phase biomass air-steam gasification model for fluidized bed reactors: Part I—model development

A two-phase model capable of predicting the performance of fluidized bed biomass air-steam gasification reactor during dynamic and steady state operations was developed based on the two phase theory of fluidization. Material and energy balances were taken into consideration and the minimization of free energy technique was used to calculate the gas mole fractions. The fluidized bed was divided into three zones (jetting, bubbling and slugging) and the mass and heat transfer coefficients were calculated for each zone in both bubble and emulsion phases. The model includes the hydrodynamics, transport and thermodynamic properties of fluidized bed. The finite element method was used to solve the partial differential equations. The input variables of the computer program included fluidization velocity, steam flow rate and biomass to steam ratio. The model is capable of predicting the bed temperature, gas mole fractions, higher heating value and production rate.     

Techno-economic analysis of H2 production processes using fluidized bed heat exchangers with steam reforming – Part 1: Oxygen carrier aided combustion

This work presents the techno-economic assessment for a new process where a fluidized bed heat exchanger (FBHE) is used as heat source for steam reforming in a hydrogen production plant. This suggested process configuration is compared with a reference case representing a conventional steam methane reforming (SMR) large-scale hydrogen production plant. The use of a FBHE as a heat source for the endothermic reforming is an advantage because of the high heat transfer coefficient to the reformer tubes. The suggested process configuration utilizes oxygen carrier particles as bed material and a bubbling fluidized bed reactor with immersed reformer tubes to ensure sufficient heat production for the reforming and improved heat transfer to the reformer tubes compared a conventional plant. The results include a comparison of hydrogen production efficiency and levelized production costs (LCOH) of the two plants where the production efficiency is more than 11% higher and the LCOH is more than 7% lower for the suggested process configuration.     

Local Heat and Mass Transfer for Gas—Solid Two Phase Flow in CFB

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Investigations of temperature fluctuation history records of gas-solid fluidized beds

An experimental technique has been developed to delineate the different hydrodynamic regimes of a gas-solid fluidized bed, each regime signifying a characteristic type of fluidization. The technique involves the measurement and statistical analysis of temperature-history records of an element of the heat-transfer surface immersed in a fluidized bed in which different regimes are brought about by changing gas velocity. The experiments were conducted in a 0.153-m square fluidized bed of 2093-μm average diameter spherical glass beads at ambient conditions. The statistical functions computed at each gas velocity were the standard deviation, probability density function, autocorrelation function, and power spectral density function. The standard deviation and the major frequency defined from the power spectral density function were found to represent characteristically the bubbling, transitional and turbulent hydrodynamic regimes. The bed voidage and the local heat-transfer coefficient were also measured as functions of gas velocity. Their appropriateness to represent the quality of bed fluidization has been examined.     

流化床气固传热特性的实验研究

通过对汉化床气固传热特性的简单分析,依据稳态工况活动段区气体温度分布求取了有效传热系统。实验结果和传统经验式数值吻合,从而论证了气固传热特性分析的合理性及计算流化床气固有效传热系数的可行性,为研究流化床气固传热特性的提供参考。