Experimental validation of Lagrangian-Eulerian simulations of fluidized beds

Abstract

The present study aims to validate two-dimensional Lagrangian-Eulerian simulations of gas-solid fluidized beds by comparing these with dedicated experimental data obtained with polystyrene Geldart type D particles of 1.545 mm size. Experimental data on pressure, voidage, and bed height fluctuations, and the power spectral density are compared with three different implementations of the Lagrangian-Eulerian model. Though qualitative trends found in the experiment are correctly reproduced by the simulations, it is found that the simulations are particularly sensitive to porosity estimation procedures used in the three different simulation strategies employed. Furthermore, the phenomenon of particle clustering predicted by the model does not conform to experimental observations; this is because the physics of the break-up of clusters is not properly captured in the Lagrangian-Eulerian model.