Gas-solid fluidized beds are widely used in various industries due to their favourable mixing, and mass and heat transfer characteristics. Fluid catalytic cracking, polymerization, drying, and granulation are a few examples of their applications. In recent years, there has been increased application of fluidized beds in biomass gasification and clean energy production. Fluidization has been extensively studied, experimentally, theoretically and numerically, in the past. However, most of these studies focused on spherical particles while in practice granules are rarely spherical. Particle shape can have a significant effect on fluidization characteristics. It is therefore important to study the effect of particle shape on fluidization behavior in detail. One of the main reasons we still do not completely understand the fluidization phenomenon is because of complex hydrodynamic interactions and its large separation of scales. Industrial fluidized bed reactors of tens of meters in diameter can have hydrodynamic scales varying from micrometers to meters. Experimental setups of such large size are extremely expensive and therefore not practical. On the other hand, theoretical and empirical correlations are not accurate for scale-up and are rarely available for non-spherical particle shapes. Because of this, we need a different approach. One that takes advantage of experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The tasks are divided into three parts based on scales, each focusing on a particular aspect : DNS (direct numerical simulation), CFD-DEM (computational fluid dynamics - discrete element model) and TFM (two fluid model) or MP-PIC (multi-phase - particle in cell). In this thesis, the focus is on CFD-DEM modelling, a ’bridge’ that connects the DNS and TFM/MP-PIC models. @en

The aim of many industrial processes is to manipulate solid particle aggregates within gas suspensions. Prime examples of such processes include fluidised bed reactors, cyclone separators, and dust collectors. In recent years, fluidised bed reactors have been used in the gasification of biomass particles. When fluidised, these particles are subject to various hydrodynamic forces such as drag, lift and torque due to interactions with the fluid. Computational approaches, which can be used to replicate laboratory and industrial scale processes, offer a crucial method for the study of reactor design and for the formulation of optimal operating procedures. Until now, many computer models have assumed particles to be spherical whereas, in reality, biomass feedstocks typically consist of non-spherical particles. While lift and torque are of minimal importance for spherical particles, non-spherical particles experience varying lift force and torque conditions, depending on particle orientation relative to the direction of the fluid velocity. In this study, we present a numerical investigation on the effect of different lift force and torque correlations on fluidised spherocylindrical particles. We find that lift force has a significant influence on particle velocities parallel to the direction of gravity. On the other hand, particle orientation is dependent on hydrodynamic torque. Results from this numerical study provide new insight with regards to the dynamics of non-spherical particles that can be of paramount importance for industrial processes involving non-spherical particles.

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The rheology of suspensions of high-inertia (or granular) non-spherical particles characterized by high particle Stokes and Reynolds numbers is rarely investigated. In this study, we investigate the rheology of suspensions of inertial rod-like particles of aspect ratio 4 subjected to shear flow. In particular, the effect of fluid medium (air, water) against dry granular simulations on the developed stresses is assessed. CFD-DEM simulations are performed for a periodic shear box for a range of shear rates and volume fractions of particles. The dependence of rheological properties like shear stress, normal stress difference, pressure and relative viscosity on volume fraction, shear rate, granular temperature and the particle orientation are discussed. These results provide insight into the macroscopic rheology of suspensions of rods and demonstrate that the effect of particle shape and surrounding fluid cannot be completely ignored. Air as a fluid medium shows similar scaling as compared to dry granular simulations, but the stress values are generally lower. We observe drastic change in both scaling and values for water as fluid medium. In all cases, the rods show strong alignment in the direction of shear. This study can be further extended to develop stress closures for use in Eulerian flow models.

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In this paper, we present a number of key numerical methods that can be used to study elongated particles in fluid flows, with a specific emphasis on fluidised beds. Fluidised beds are frequently used for the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and other products from biomass particles, which often have an approximate elongated shape. This raises numerous issues in a numerical approach such as particle-particle contact detection and the accurate description of the various hydrodynamic forces, such as drag, lift, and torque, that elongated particles experience when moving in a fluid flow. The modelling is further complicated by a separation of length scales where industrial flow structures that can extend for many metres evolve subject to solid-solid and solid-fluid interactions at the millimetre scale. As a result, it is impossible to simulate both length scales using the same numerical approach, and a multiscale approach is necessary. First, we outline the direct numerical simulation (DNS) approach that may be employed to estimate hydrodynamic force closures for elongated particles in a fluid flow. We then describe the key aspects of a CFD-DEM approach, which can be used to simulate laboratory scale fluidisation processes, that must be addressed to study elongated particles. Finally, we briefly consider how current industrial-scale models, which concretely assume particle sphericity, could be adapted for the simulation of large collections of elongated particles subject to fluidisation.

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Fluidization is widely used in industries and has been extensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically, in the past. However, most of these studies focus on spherical particles while in practice granules are rarely spherical. Particle shape can have a significant effect on fluidization characteristics. It is therefore important to study the effect of particle shape on fluidization behavior in detail. In this study, experiments in pseudo-2D fluidized beds are used to characterize the fluidization of spherocylindrical (rod-like) Geldart D particles of aspect ratio 4. Pressure drop and optical measurement methods (Digital Image Analysis, Particle Image Velocimetry, Particle Tracking Velocimetry) are employed to measure bed height, particle orientation, particle circulation, stacking, and coordination number. The commonly used correlations to determine the pressure drop across a bed of nonspherical particles are compared to experiments. Experimental observations and measurements have shown that rod-like particles are prone to interlocking and channeling behavior. Well above the minimum fluidization velocity, vigorous bubbling fluidization is observed, with groups of interlocked particles moving upwards, breaking up, being thrown high in the freeboard region and slowly raining down as dispersed phase. At high flowrates, a circulation pattern develops with particles moving up through the center and down at the walls. Particles tend to orient themselves along the flow direction.

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Fluidised beds are used in a variety of processes because of their favourable mass and heat transfer characteristics. In this and many other processes, non-spherical particles are commonplace, which can drastically affect the fluidisation behaviour. In this study, we use numerical models to study non-spherical fluidisation behaviour in detail. A crucial step in the development of the numerical model is a detailed validation with experimental data. The validated model can then be used with confidence for further investigations. In this study, the results obtained from CFD-DEM modelling are compared with detailed experiments (Mahajan et al., 2017). The particles used are of spherocylindrical shape with an aspect ratio 4. We discuss the numerical modelling strategy including the DEM contact detection algorithm and accurate voidage calculation algorithm. The non-spherical single particle drag model of Hölzer and Sommerfeld (2008) is compared with a DNS drag model for spherocylindrical particles developed in-house. We propose two new voidage correction models and compare results with the (Di Felice, 1994) model. The pressure drop, bed height, particle orientation, particle circulation, stacking of particles and coordination number obtained from simulations are compared with experiments. The numerical measurements show good agreement with experiments. Similar to experiments, simulations show that rod-like particles are prone to interlocking behaviour. At high gas flow rates above the minimum fluidisation velocity, vigorously bubbling fluidisation is observed, with gas bubbles moving up through the center and particles moving down at the side walls. The orientation of particles in the fluidised state do not match with the experiments when hydrodynamic torque is neglected. The importance of hydrodynamic torque and multi-particle drag in CFD-DEM modelling of non-spherical particles is demonstrated through these results.

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Particle aggregates are frequently processed in industrial apparatus such as pneumatic conveyors, bed gasifiers and fluidised bed reactors. In numerical models of these processes, particles have traditionally been represented as spheres, thus limiting complexities associated with drag or lift forces. However, spherical particles are not representative of the entities encountered in real systems. For example, non-spherical biomass particles of varying aspect ratios are used in the production of biomass fuels. Thus far, there is limited literature in relation to hydrodynamic forces experienced by non-spherical particles under fluidised conditions. In fluidised beds, particles will experience varying lift force conditions dependent on the orientation of the particle relative to the direction of the fluid velocity. In this study, we investigate numerically the effect of differing lift force coefficient correlations on spherocylindrical particles of varying aspect ratios. We employ correlations derived from previous simulations on non-spherical particles [1] and aerofoil dynamics [2] in simulations. Particle interactions are modelled using the Open Source engine CFDEM, which uses the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver to describe the fluid component and LIGGGHTS to implement discrete element method (DEM) calculations [3]. We investigate the importance of lift forces on non-spherical particles under dense fluidised conditions and compare results to the case of spherical particles where lift forces are often neglected.@en

In industry we encounter many processes that rely on equipment in which particles are suspended by a gas flow, such as pneumatic conveyors, CFB gasifiers, combustors and fluidized bed reactors. In numerical models of these processes, particles have traditionally been represented as spheres, thus limiting complexities associated with drag or lift forces. However, spherical particles are not representative of the entities encountered in real systems. For example, non-spherical biomass particles of varying aspect ratios are used in the production of biomass fuels. Thus far literature is quite limited when it comes to hydrodynamic forces experienced by non-spherical particles under fluidized conditions. In fluidized beds, particles will experience varying lift force conditions dependent on the orientation of the particle relative to the direction of the flow. In this study, we investigate numerically the effect of different lift force coefficient correlations on fluidization of spherocylindrical particles. We employ correlations derived from previous simulations on non-spherical particles and aerofoil dynamics in simulations. We also look into the effect of the Di Felice approximation, in this case applied to take into account the effect of surrounding particles on the lift force. Particle interactions are modelled using the Open Source engine CFDEM, which uses the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver to describe the fluid component and LIGGGHTS to implement discrete element method (DEM) calculations. We investigate the importance of lift forces on non-spherical particles under dense fluidised conditions and compare results to the case of spherical particles where lift forces are often neglected.@en

Multiphase (gas-solid) flows are encountered in numerous industrial applications such as pharmaceutical, food, agricultural processing and energy generation. A coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) approach is a popular way to study such flows at a particle scale. However, most of these studies deal with spherical particles while in reality, the particles are rarely spherical. The particle shape can have significant effect on hydrodynamics in a fluidized bed. Moreover, most studies in literature use inaccurate drag laws because accurate laws are not readily available. The drag force acting on a non-spherical particle can vary considerably with particle shape, orientation with the flow, Reynolds number and packing fraction. In this work, the CFD-DEM approach is extended to model a laboratory scale fluidized bed of spherocylinder (rod-like) particles. These rod-like particles can be classified as Geldart D particles and have an aspect ratio of 4. Experiments are performed to study the particle flow behavior in a quasi-2D fluidized bed. Numerically obtained results for pressure drop and bed height are compared with experiments. The capability of CFD-DEM approach to efficiently describe the global bed dynamics for fluidized bed of rod-like particles is demonstrated.

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Non-spherical particles are often encountered in fluidized process equipment. Particle shape can significantly affect the hydrodynamics in fluidized beds. However, most of these studies focus on spherical particles while in reality, the constituent particles are seldom spherical. A coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) approach has been extensively applied in recent years to study these flows at the particle scale. The drag force acting on a non-spherical particle can vary considerably with particle shape, orientation of the particle, Reynolds number and packing fraction. In this work, a CFD-DEM approach has been extended to model a lab scale quasi-2D fluidized bed of rod-like particles. These particles can be classified as Geldart D particles and have an aspect ratio of 4. Simulation results for the pressure drop, bed height and solid circulation patterns are compared with results from experiment. Particle velocity and orientations is studied, which provides interesting insight regarding behavior based on particle shape. Thus the capability of the CFD-DEM approach to efficiently account for global bed dynamics in fluidized bed of rod-like particle is demonstrated.@en