Theory and Simulation of Incipient Instability in Gas-Solid Fluidization

The mechanism of incipient instability in gas-solid fluidized bed was investigated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation – FLUENT version 6.1.18. The Finite Volume Method (FVM) is employed to simulate the complex flow behaviours and heterogeneous structure of the gas-solid fluidized bed. Fluidization of Geldart group A, B and C particles were simulated. The formation and development of the plumes during incipient fluidization were studied. Different fluidization behaviours of Geldart group A, B and C particles were observed from the contours of gas volume fraction and velocity vector. The observations agreed well with characteristics and behaviours of particles in gas-solid fluidized bed as reported by Geldart (1973). A theory of transient instability adopted with the principles advanced by Tan and Thorpe (1992 and 1996) was proposed to calculate the theoretical transient Rayleigh number (Rac) for the onset of incipient instability. The mobilization of the particles occurred once a critical value of transient Rayleigh number was exceeded. Different type of particles exhibited different Rac values. However, the Rac is almost independent of the superficial velocity. The incipient instability of gas-solid fluidized bed was first identified when the initial stable air diffusion became distorted and particles began to move chaotically. The fluidization parameters such as gas volume fraction, bubble rise velocity and bed pressure drop were used to determine the critical time for onset of incipient instability. The simulated critical onset time (tc) and transient Rayleigh Number (Rac) for the incipient instability of gas-solid fluidized bed were then investigated. A correlation between Rac and permeability was derived, which provides a convenient and simple way to estimate the Rac. The predicted values of Rac were found to agree fairly well with the literature data.

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