Particles mixing induced by bubbles in a gas‐solid fluidized bed

The effect of bubble injection characteristics on the mixing behavior of a gas‐solid fluidized bed is investigated using a discrete particle model. The effect of different parameters including gas injection time, velocity, and mode are studied. Simulation results show that injecting gas at a constant gas flow rate in the form of small bubbles results in a better overall particle mixing. It was also found that the injection velocities have limited effect on particle mixing behavior for the same total gas volume injected into the bed. Moreover, the mixing index (MI) of continuous gas jet bubbling regime is compared with the MI obtained in uniform gas injection regime and the results revealed that the MI of continuous jet bubbling regime has a larger value than that of uniform gas injection regime at the fixed total gas flow rate. In both regimes, z‐direction MI is larger than x‐direction index. The differences between two direction indices are more noticeable in continuous jet bubbling in comparison with the uniform gas injection regime. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1430–1438, 2016     

Borescopy in pressurized gas‐solid fluidized beds

A borescopic technique was used for finding the effect of pressure on the hydrodynamics of gas‐solid fluidized beds. The results showed that solids radial distribution may become more or less uniform with increasing pressure depending on the superficial gas velocity. Moreover, it is found that the solids volume fraction of the emulsion phase may decrease at relatively high pressures, only in the central region of the bed. Additionally, it is observed that with increasing pressure the bubble size generally decreased in the central regions and increased near the wall regions. This trend was more complicated at low excess gas velocities. The number of bubbles increased for the central regions and near the walls for all the performed experiments. However, this parameter showed a different trend at other radial positions. © 2018 The Authors AIChE Journal published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3303–3311, 2018     

Particle‐resolved direct numerical simulation of gas–solid dynamics in experimental fluidized beds

Particle‐resolved direct numerical simulations (PR‐DNS) of a simplified experimental shallow fluidized bed and a laboratory bubbling fluidized bed are performed by using immersed boundary method coupled with a soft‐sphere model. Detailed information on gas flow and individual particles’ motion are obtained and analyzed to study the gas–solid dynamics. For the shallow bed, the successful predictions of particle coherent oscillation and bed expansion and contraction indicate all scales of motion in the flow are well captured by the PD‐DNS. For the bubbling bed, the PR‐DNS predicted time averaged particle velocities show a better agreement with experimental measurements than those of the computational fluid dynamics coupled with discrete element models (CFD‐DEM), which further validates the predictive capability of the developed PR‐DNS. Analysis of the PR‐DNS drag force shows that the prevailing CFD‐DEM drag correlations underestimate the particle drag force in fluidized beds. The particle mobility effect on drag correlation needs further investigation. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1917–1932, 2016     

Experimental investigation of electrostatic effect on particle motions in gas‐solid fluidized beds

The excess accumulation of charges in the fluidized bed has a severe impact on hydrodynamics. Due to lack of effective experimental methods, electrostatic effects on hydrodynamics have mostly been studied using numerical simulation. By injecting a trace of liquid antistatic agents into a fluidized bed, charges were controlled and electrostatic influences on particle motions were investigated. The average particle–wall impact angles are acquired by developing multiscale wavelet decomposition of acoustic emission signals. The impact angles are significantly influenced by both charge levels and gas velocities. If the electric force is reduced and/or fluid drag is increased, friction dominates the particle–wall interactions. Under a larger gas velocity where fluid drag dominates, charges elimination causes no significant variation in particle impact angles, but particle velocities increase as well as at lower gas velocities. In addition, existence of electrostatic charges influences the ranges of bubble growing zone and jet impacting zone. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3628–3638, 2015     

Study of horizontal sonic gas jets in gas–solid fluidized beds

Existing jet penetration correlations have all been developed for sub‐sonic gas jets and have been found to perform poorly when employed in sonic and supersonic regimes. In the present study, triboelectric probes were used to measure both the penetration depth and expansion angle of sonic gas jets. Experiments were conducted using nozzles of different size and geometry, different particle types, different injection gases, and different fluidization velocities. All these data were used to develop a new, general correlation to predict the penetration depth of sonic gas jets. The effects of these variables on jet expansion angle were also studied.     

Effect of bed size on hydrodynamics in 3‐D gas–solid fluidized beds

It is well known that hydrodynamics observed in large scale gas–solid fluidized beds are different from those observed in smaller scale beds. In this article, an efficient two‐fluid model based on kinetic theory of granular flow is applied, with the goal to highlight and investigate hydrodynamics differences between three‐dimensional fluidized beds of diameter 0.10, 0.15, 0.30, 0.60, and 1.0 m, focusing on the bubble and solids flow characteristics in the bubbling regime. Results for the 0.30 m diameter bed are compared with experimental results from the literature. The bubble size evolution closely follows a correlation proposed by Werther for small beds, and a correlation proposed by Darton for sufficiently large beds. The bubble size increases as the bed diameter is increased from 0.10 to 0.30 m, and remains approximately constant for bed diameters from 0.30 to 1.0 m. Concurrently, an increase in bubble rise velocity is observed, with a much high bubble rise velocity in the largest bed of diameter 1.0 m due to gulf stream circulations. The dynamics in shallow and deep beds is predicted to be different, with marked differences in bubble size and solids circulation patterns. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1492–1506, 2015     

Experimental investigation of electrostatic effect on bubble behaviors in gas‐solid fluidized bed

Electrostatics and hydrodynamics in the fluidized bed are mutually affected, and excess accumulation of electrostatic charges has a severe impact on hydrodynamics. However, there is a serious lack of experimental investigation of electrostatic effect on hydrodynamics. This work provides a first insight into the electrostatic effects on bubble behaviors experimentally by injecting a trace of liquid antistatic agents (LAA) into a fluidized bed. Different amounts of LAA (0–50 ppm) were injected to make the electrostatic charges vary in a wide range and the bubble behaviors were investigated simultaneously. Results showed that the charges on particles decreased with increasing amount of LAA, which resulted in larger bubble sizes, stronger fluctuations of dynamic bed height, and less wall sheeting, respectively. The maximum reduction ratio of bubble sizes due to electrostatic effect was 21%. When particles were charged, the bubble sizes were significantly smaller than those estimated from the classical correlation. This discrepancy was attributed to the neglect of electrostatic effect in classical correlation. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1160–1171, 2015     

流化床内颗粒混合研究

分析了流化床内颗粒混合机理，综合了床内水平方向和垂直方向上颗粒混合，将床内颗粒混合过程分成两部分：一是向上运动的尾迹相和向下运动的乳化相之间的对流交换，二是乳化相内横向扩散。建立了二维的对流扩散模型，数值结果和实验数据吻合。     

单孔射流流化床内颗粒混合特性的数值模拟

在欧拉-拉格朗日坐标系下,采用离散单元法对单孔射流流化床内颗粒混合特性进行了数值模拟。引入混合指数对床内轴向及径向布置的颗粒混合质量进行定量分析,并研究了不同表观气速、不同弹性系数对颗粒混合特性的影响。模拟得到了颗粒轴向及径向混合序列图、气体和颗粒速度分布、整床颗粒混合指数分布、参量变化时整床颗粒混合指数分布。结果表明：流化床床层内颗粒混合速度受颗粒内循环能力和颗粒扩散能力的综合作用。单口射流喷动流化床颗粒轴向混合速度主要由颗粒内循环速度决定,颗粒径向混合速度主要由颗粒扩散能力决定。表观气速增大时,颗粒内循环速度增加,从而加快了颗粒轴向混合进程,但对颗粒径向混合影响微弱;弹性系数增大时,颗粒混合速度及混合质量均下降,并且弹性系数增大对颗粒径向混合进程影响小于颗粒轴向混合。     

二维双支腿流化床内气体混合特性

Experiments of gas mixing between two half-beds were performed in a dual-leg circulating fluidized bed(DL-CFB)240 mm in width,40 mm in depth and 2000 mm in height by using glass beads with diameter of 0.25-0.28 mm as bed material.SO₂ and CO as the gas tracers entering the left and right distributors separately were used to simulate the gas mixing between the two legs.MSD(mean square displacement)model was adopted to calculate the gas dispersion coefficient(D_w)which was used to investigate the effect of fluidization velocity and bed material inventory on gas mixing in the DL-CFB.The experimental results showed that D_w was about 50-300 cm²穝^-1 at different fluidization velocities and bed material inventories.A higher fluidization velocity benefited particles exchange between two half-beds,which intensified the gas-solids interactions at the region with higher solids volume fraction.The gas mixing in the lower region of the DL-CFB was stronger than that in the upper region of the bed.A higher bed inventory was helpful to gas mixing at a lower fluidization velocity,while a higher fluidization velocity weakened gas mixing because of higher solids concentration in the center of the bed that prevented gas mixing.     

A two-dimensional model for gas mixing in the upper dilute zone of a circulating fluidized bed

Based on measurements in a circulating fluidized test unit with a riser of 0.4 m i.d., a two-dimensional two-phase model for gas mixing has been developed. Radial gas dispersion and gas backmixing caused by dense clusters falling countercurrently to the main flow of a lean gas/solid suspension are considered. The model has successfully been compared with experimental data over a wide range of operating conditions. The model accounts for the main mixing phenomena and may be applied to calculations of chemical reactions in CFB risers.     

布风方式对流化床混合特性的影响

通过将离散单元法同计算流体力学相结合,对流化床内物料混合过程进行了研究。给出了水平布风板均匀布风、倾斜布风板非均匀布风2种情况下的示踪颗粒场历变过程。模拟结果表明:瞬时颗粒场组图能够较为直观表征床内混合现象;其中,在均匀布风情况下,床内气泡横向运动受到限制,颗粒整体横向运动能力较弱,混合方式以扩散混合为主;而对于非均匀布风流化床,床内存在较大的横向颗粒浓度梯度,对流混和起主要作用,且混合速度较为迅速。     

Particle entrainment from gas‐solid fluidized beds: Conductive vs. dielectric fines

Conductive and non‐conductive fine powders were entrained by air at atmospheric temperature and pressure in a fluidization column of diameter 0.15 m made of stainless steel. Under equivalent operating conditions, entrainment of the conductive particles was markedly higher than for non‐conductive species. This finding cannot be explained by hydrodynamic factors. Examining the electrostatic interaction between touching particles reveals that dominance of the inter‐particle attractive forces hinders independent motion of non‐conductive particles in the freeboard. In addition, because of non‐uniform distribution of the electrical charges over the surface of dielectric particles, they are subject to stronger electrostatic forces than for particles made of conductive materials. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1194–1202, 2017     

Comparison of decoupling methods for analyzing pressure fluctuations in gas‐fluidized beds

Two methods of decoupling pressure fluctuations in fluidized beds by using the incoherent part (IOP) of absolute pressure (AP) and differential pressure (DP) fluctuations are evaluated in this study. Analysis is conducted first to demonstrate their similarities, differences, and drawbacks. Then, amplitudes, power spectral densities, mean frequencies, coherence functions, and filtering indices of the IOP of AP and DP fluctuations are calculated and compared based on experimental data from a two‐dimensional fluidized column of FCC particles. Derived bubble sizes are also compared with the sizes of bubbles viewed in the two‐dimensional bed. The results demonstrate the similarity of these two methods in filtering out global compression wave components from absolute pressure fluctuations, especially those generated from oscillations of fluidized particles and gas flow rate fluctuations. However, both methods are imperfect. Neither can filter out all the compression wave components and retain all the useful bubble‐related wave components. Their amplitudes can be used to characterize global bubble property and quality of gas–solids contacting in bed, but they do not give accurate measurement of bubble sizes. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

微型流化床内混合特性的数值模拟

微型流化床反应分析仪是中国科学院过程工程研究所研制的具有等温微分反应特性,且适合于气固反应分析的新仪器。细微样品与高温流化介质的瞬间混合是该仪器实现等温微分的必要条件。针对如何满足该要求,基于欧拉多流体模型对连接不同进样器的微型反应器本体进行了三维数值模拟,得到了不同喷口结构和位置下的流动图景及混合区浓度的相对标准偏差曲线,定量表征了各种进样器的混合质量。同时采用高速摄像手段获得了冷态实验中颗粒流动的快照,验证了模拟计算结果的可靠性。模拟结果对脉冲射流微量进样器结构的优化提出了如下建议：进样细管应避免采用弯角喷口,弯角结构会导致脉冲进样载流气喷出方向与流化气流相逆,使得细微颗粒试样堆积滞留,影响混合效果。     

灰熔聚气化炉内气体与固体混合特性的研究

气化炉内的气化剂与煤粉的混合特性直接影响着气化炉内的碳转化率和灰熔聚流化床气化炉的热效率。研究气化炉内气体和固体颗粒的混合特性,掌握炉内气体和固体颗粒的轴向和径向的运动规律,对认识床内传热和传质机理具有重要的意义。基于欧拉双流体模型,结合颗粒动力学理论,应用商用FLUENT软件,对太原化学工业集团有限公司运行的灰熔聚流化床气化炉内的气体与固体的混合特性进行了数值模拟。