Simulation of Coal Ash Particle Deposition Experiments

Existing experimental ash particle deposition measurements from the literature have been simulated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) discrete phase model (DPM) Lagrangian particle tracking method and an existing ash particle deposition model based on the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) theory, in the Fluent commercial CFD code. The experimental heating tube was developed to simulate ash temperature histories in a gasifier; ash-heating temperatures ranged from 1873 to 1573 K, spanning the ash-melting temperature. The present simulations used the realizable k-epsilon turbulence model to compute the gas flow field and the heat transfer to a cooled steel particle impact probe and DPM particle tracking for the particle trajectories and temperatures. A user-defined function (UDF) was developed to describe particle sticking/rebounding and particle detachment on the impinged wall surface. Expressions for the ash particle Young's modulus in the model, E, versus the particle temperature and diameter were developed by fitting to the E values that were required to match the experimental ash sticking efficiencies from several particle size cuts and ash-heating temperatures for a Japanese bituminous coal. A UDF that implemented the developed stiffness parameter equations was then used to predict the particle sticking efficiency, impact efficiency, and capture efficiency for the entire ash-heating temperature range. Frequency histogram comparisons of adhesion and rebound behavior by particle size between model and experiments showed good agreement for each of the four ash-heating temperatures. However, to apply the present particle deposition model to other coals, a similar validation process would be necessary to develop the effective Young's modulus versus the particle diameter and temperature correlation for each new coal.