Hydrodynamics of a bed fluidized gasifier bubbly: validation of the simulation

Abstract

Fluidized beds may be used in many industrial processes, such as gasification of biomass. These beds promote a higher solid-gas contact. Understanding the hydrodynamics of these systems is important to optimize the gasification process. In this work, experimental data from the literature was employed to validate the computational model of the fluidized bed using a 2D geometry. After the validation, it was possible to apply the same conditions to the actual equipment (keeping the 2D simplification). It was then possible to estimate pressure drop and bed expansion as well as the profiles of pressure and volume fraction. The relative errors between the simulations and the experimental data were less than 5.0% during the bubbling fluidization. Comparing two different geometries, the maximum relative error for fluid dynamic parameters: pressure drop, final bed height and the ratio between the final and the initial heights of the bed remained under 12.0%. Therefore, the computational model used in this work serves as a basis for analyzing the bubbling fluidization, which enables the study of other changes in the operational conditions of the fluidized bed.