Simulation of large biomass pellets in fluidized bed by DEM-CFD

An improved numerical model was proposed to solve the problem that the traditional DEM-CFD (Discrete element method-computational fluid dynamics) method was not suitable for the flow simulation of large particles. In the improved model, the large particle was regarded as an agglomerate of many small fictitious spheres. Herein, the drag force between gas and large pellets was assumed as a combined effect of that between gas and fictitious spheres by volume penalty method. Based on the proposed model, the flow of the mixtures of large biomass pellets and quartz sands in fluidized bed was simulated. It shows that the existence of the biomass pellets has a great impact on the flow field. The flow patterns and pressure drops under different working conditions in simulation results have a good agreement with that in experimental results partially, which also tests the proposed model.