Eularian-Eularian Model for Agglomeration Behavior of Combusted Iron Particles

Direct reduction of iron (DRI) technology in fluidized beds has been identified as a promising approach due to its environmental benefits over other methods. Nevertheless, the process of iron particle sintering in the DRI approach poses a significant obstacle to its advancement. The present work investigated the phenomenon of agglomeration in fine iron particles across various temperatures and with multiple sintering force models of different intensities of solid bridge force. The study utilized a simple but comprehensive and cost-effective CFD model developed using the Eularian-Eularian two-fluid model. The model was explicitly incorporated with user-defined subroutines for the solid phase, while the gas phase was modeled with AVL Fire advance simulation software. The solid bridge force between solid particles was modeled as the inter-particle cohesive force. The model was validated with the experimental results and results from another CFD-DEM model for the same experiment. High temperatures with increased sintering forces were observed to have the most impact on the iron particle agglomeration, while the gas's superficial velocity had a minimal effect on it. The predictions of this model closely align with the CFD-DEM model results, providing sufficient reliability to implement this model on a large scale.