Effects of Particle Diameter and Inlet Flow Rate on Gas–Solid Flow Patterns of Fluidized Bed

Abstract

The complex multiscale characteristics of particle flow are notoriously difficult to predict. In this study, the evolution process of bubbles and the variation of bed height were investigated by conducting high-speed photographic experiments to verify the reliability of numerical simulations. The gas–solid flow characteristics of bubbling fluidized beds with different particle diameters and inlet flow rates were systematically investigated by coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM). The results show that the fluidization in the fluidized bed will change from bubbling fluidization to turbulent fluidization and finally to slugging fluidization, and the conversion process is related to the particle diameter and inlet flow rate. The characteristic peak is positively correlated with the inlet flow rate, but the frequency corresponding to the characteristic peak is constant. The time required for the Lacey mixing index (LMI) to reach 0.75 decreases with increasing inlet flow rate; at the same diameter, the inlet flow rate is positively correlated with the peak of the average transient velocity; and as the diameter increases, the distribution of the average transient velocity curve changes from “M” to linear. The results of the study can provide theoretical guidance for particle flow characteristics in biomass fluidized beds.