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The characteristics of gas–solid flow and wall heat transfer in a fluidized bed reactor

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Abstract

Numerical study using computational fluid dynamics has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of a laboratory fluidized bed reactor. The fluidized bed reactor of vTI (Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute)-Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology is modeled. For the simulation of multiphase flow and thermal fields, an Eulerian–Eulerian approach is applied. The flow and thermal characteristics of the reactor are fully investigated for the wide range of superficial gas velocities and two different particle diameters. In particular, the contributions of the gas bubble and emulsion phase flows on the wall heat transfer are scrutinized. From the predicted results, it is fully elucidated that particular near-wall bubble motions mainly govern the wall heat transfer.

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Abbreviations

A :

Local wall area (m2)

A wall :

Total wall area (m2)

C p :

Specific heat capacity at constant pressure (J kg−1 K−1)

d p :

Particle diameter (m)

F :

Coefficient for interphase drag force (kg m−3 s−1)

g :

Gravitational acceleration (m s−2)

H* :

Time-averaged bed expansion rate

h :

Time-averaged wall heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

h instant :

Instantaneous wall heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

k :

Thermal conductivity (J m−1 K−1 s−1)

p :

Pressure (Pa)

T :

Temperature (K)

T bulk :

Bulk mean temperature (K)

T wall :

Wall temperature (K)

t :

Time (s)

q :

Conductive heat flux (J m−2 s−1)

R :

Rate of production of chemical species (kg m−3 s−1)

RM :

Rate of mass transfer between phases (kg m−3 s−1)

S sj :

Solid phase stress tensor (Pa)

v :

Velocity (m s−1)

v0 :

Superficial gas velocity (m s−1)

vmf :

Gas velocity at minimum fluidization (m s−1)

γ:

Gas–solid heat transfer coefficient (J m−3 K−1 s−1)

ε:

Void fraction

Θ sj :

Granular temperature (m2 s−2)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

τ g :

Deviatoric stress tensor for gas phase (Pa)

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Alexander von Humboldt foundation and the authors thank all the collaborative members of Alexander von Humboldt foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 220-710, Republic of Korea

    Hang Seok Choi

  2. vTI-Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology, Hamburg, Germany

    Dietrich Meier

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  1. Hang Seok Choi
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  2. Dietrich Meier
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Correspondence to Hang Seok Choi.

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Choi, H.S., Meier, D. The characteristics of gas–solid flow and wall heat transfer in a fluidized bed reactor. Heat Mass Transfer 48, 1513–1524 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-0997-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-0997-7

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