Numerical study of mixing and heat transfer of SRF particles in a bubbling fluidized bed

In this article, numerical investigations on mixing and heat transfer of solid refused fuel (SRF) particles in a bubbling fluidized bed are carried out. The numerical model is based on the Eulerian-Eulerian approach with empirical submodels representing gas-solid and solid-solid interactions. The model is verified by experimental data from the literature. The experimental data include SRF vertical distribution in SRF-sand mixtures of different sand particle sizes (d(pm) = 654,810 and 1110 mu at different fluidization velocities (u/u(mf) = 1.2-2.0). We proposed magnification of drag force exerted by the gas on SRF particles based on Haider and Levenspiel (Powder Technol 58(1):63-70, 1989) drag coefficient. The proposed model shows good agreement with the experimental data at high fluidization velocities (u/u(mf) = 1.5-2.0) and poor predictions at low fluidization velocities (u/u(mf) = 1.2-1.5). Heat transfer results showed that the present model is valid and gives good agreement with the experimental data of wall-bed heat transfer coefficient.