A Simplified Bubble Size Relation Compatible with the Energy Minimization Multiscale Drag Model for Studying Hydrodynamics in a 2D Gas–Solid Tapered Fluidized Bed

Abstract

Gas–solid fluidized bed reactors are extensively utilized in direct reduced iron production. In practice, these reactors will have a wide particle size distribution, which is better handled by tapered fluidized beds due to their vertical velocity gradient. Herein, a simplified bubble size relation is proposed to remove implicit interdependency between the bubble size and its drag coefficient in the bubble-based energy minimization multiscale (EMMS) heterogeneous drag model. Further, the proposed drag model is coupled with the two-fluid kinetic theory of granular flow model to investigate hydrodynamics. The heterogeneous flow structure predicted by the model is similar to experiments. Further, the bulk parameters such as bed expansion ratio and bubble fraction obtained from the simulations using a simplified EMMS drag model are compared and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental findings, with mean relative deviations of 3.95% and 14.64%, respectively. The time-averaged bubble fraction and bed expansion ratio are found to increase with air velocity and decrease with taper angle, whereas a reverse trend is observed for the mean particulate fluidized area fraction. Based on the current study, the taper angle between 5° and 10° is found to be most suitable. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.