Computer simulation of simultaneous heat and mass transfer in aggregative fluidized beds

A mathematical model has been proposed to simulate unsteady state simultaneous heat and mass transfer in an aggregative fluidized bed of porous particles. This model could be used in the design of a fluidized bed dryer for the drying of solids or gases. An implicit finite difference method is used to solve the partial differential equations that describe the model. A computer program is written to solve the model and by using this program the effect of mass transfer on heat transfer is studied by comparing two examples in a fluidized bed dryer for the drying of air by silica-gel particles. To test the proposed model, the experimental results obtained by a pilot-scaled fluidized bed dryer were compared with those predicted by the model. A good agreement has been observed between the results.