Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering and Information Technology ICEIT2012

Sep. 17-18, 2012, Toronto, Canada

ISBN: 978-1-77136-064-7
*
Laith Jaafer Habeeb; E-mail: laithjaafer@yahoo.com or
dr.laith_jaafer@uotechnology.edu.iq,

ICEIT-2012





Experimental and Numerical Study of Gas-Solid Flow Behavior in the
Standpipe of a Circulating Fluidized Bed


Laith Jaafer Habeeb
a
and Riyadh S. Al-Turaihi
b

a
University of Technology, Mechanical Engineering Dept., Baghdad Iraq, laithjaafer@yahoo.com
B
University of Babylon, Dept. of Mech. Eng., Babel - Iraq, riyadh_1974@yahoo.com

Abstract

Experimental and simulation study for steady and unsteady two-phase flow (air-sand) in a vertical pipe were
conducted. The effect of the particle size, the fluidized velocity and heat flux are included to estimate the flow and thermal
behavior. In this work for the unsteady and steady states, three different particles sizes were used (300,550 and 800 m).
The fluidizing medium was air at different velocities in the range of (1.4-2.1 m/s). The rig provided with a horizontal
heating tube with outer diameter of (3.175 cm) was heated electrically with different power supplies (100, 140, 180 Watt).
Numerical simulation was conducted using commercial CFD package FLUENT to investigate the inner flow behavior of
the study. The fluidized bed temperatures profiles were plotted at different positions. Also these measurements were
monitored by interphase system connected with computer. The results show that the temperature distribution along the
packing height decreases with the increase of particle size and increases with the increase of heat flux. According to the
temperature increases when the air velocities increased with time.

Keywords: two-phase flow, gas-solid, fluidized bed, steady and unsteady cases.



Nomenclature

dp Particle size
F Force
g Acceleration of gravity
j Diffusion
K Exchange coefficient
m

Mass flow rate

p Pressure
q Heat flux
R Homogeneous reaction
9 Interphase forces exchange
S Homogeneous production
t Time
u Velocity
Y Temperature
Greek Symbols
oq Volume fraction
o
q
Mass fraction
Density

t Shear
Subscripts
i Species
lift Lift
p Iteration
q Phase number
vm Virtual mass


1.0 Introduction

Recently use of Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB)
boilers in power generation became more popular
because of its environmental compatibility and high
efficiency. Circulating fluidized bed is widely used for
various industrial applications which include power
generation, drying, cracking, and combustion. The
increase and diversity in CFB applications demand the
need for the development of more efficient experimental
techniques, realistic simulations, and other research and
design tools. Versatile tool like CFD and related
softwares may be therefore used to accomplish the
research with accuracy and also to overcome the
limitations of experimental aspects. Some information on
turbulence parameters which hard to obtain in laboratory
conditions can be easily estimated using CFD tools. In
addition, CFD models provide (a) more detailed data
profile as a function of space and time without interfering
or disturbing the flow by internal probes [1]. The heat
transfer problem in fluidized bed especially in column
was investigated in numerous experimental and
numerical studies. However, S. Benyahia et al., [2]
simulated the gas-particle flow behavior in riser section of
circulating fluidized bed using commercial CFD package
FLUENT. Sunun et al. [3], investigated the solid motion in
gassolid fluidized bed via discrete particle simulation. N.
S. Winaya et al. [4], studied the effect of operating
parameters on heat transfer from bed to U-beam impact
separators located in the top region of the riser column.
Karageorgieva et al. [5], presented an information about
ICEIT-2012 - 105 -
a low temperature installation, with which can be
investigated the convective heat transfer in circulating
fluidized bed. Observed the influence of some factors on
the total heat transfer coefficient and also on the
convective heat transfer one. Maan S. Al-Dabbagh [6],
investigated an experimental study of heat transfer
between a shallow fluidized bed and the surface of a
single horizontal tube and a tube bundle, which was
immersed in it. Chang Ahn et al. [7], simulated a
computational modeling study of gas-solid flow in a
fluidized bed furnace by means of three- dimensional
computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Mladen et al. [8],
described the mathematical model of unsteady one-
dimensional gas to particles heat transfer for non-
isothermal fluidized bed with periodic heating of solid
particles. Z. O. Opafunso et al. [9], designed the
pneumatic and hydraulic systems in coal fluidized bed
combustor. U. S. Wankhede [10], Studies related to heat
transfer in a sound assisted fluidized bed of fine powders
were very limited. Investigated heat transfer in a bubbling
fluidized bed of fine powders and immersed heating
surface in absence and presence of acoustic waves. P.
Mahanta [1], described a numerical study on the steady
state wall-to-bed heat transfer characteristics of
circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser of cross section 0.15
m 0.15 m and height 2.85 m. It concluded that bed
temperature and heat transfer coefficient increases with
increase in bed inventory and particle size.
From the previous review it is denoted that the recent
researches in showing the flow behavior and shape
inside the piper for steady and unsteady cases is very
limited. So, my concern in this work is to study the effects
of different particle sizes, heat fluxes and air velocities
experimentally for the steady and unsteady state cases.
A numerical simulation was conducted using commercial
CFD package FLUENT to investigate different cases
behavior.

2.0 The Experimental Apparatus and
Procedure:-

Figure (1) show the experimental equipment and
measurement system which is used in this work to
measure the temperature along the glass tube and the
fluidized velocities with time [12&13]. The experimental
apparatus is consisting of:


1- Air compressor followed by an accumulator storage
tank (1 m
3
) with maximum pressure (4 bars). The
compressor was connected with a filter to get dry air.
This air compressor pumps the required air to the air
container until the pressure inside the air container
satisfies the operation pressure (approximately 2
bars).
2- Orifice meter used to measure the discharge in the
pipe. A mercury manometer is connected across the
orifice to measure the difference in pressure in order
to determine the velocity of the air flow through the
pipe.
3- Voltage regulator used to balance the voltage across
the heater.
4- Heater with capacity (1000 Watt) supported into the
pipe (D= 1.25 inch).
5- U-tube manometer used to measure the pressure
difference across the orifice meter.
6- The fluidization column constructed from main glass
pipe, having an inner diameter of (3.175 cm) and a
height of (125 cm) is placed in a vertical position with
(150 g) sand granules putted inside it.
7- Eight K-type thermocouples fixed on the pipe at equal
distance (10 cm) from the beginning to the end of the
glass pipe.
8- Interface connected with a personal computer so that
the measured temperatures at various eight regions
are displayed directly on the computer screen.
Experiments were carried out to show the effect of
different operation conditions on temperature profile in
fluidized bed. The selected experimental values are
presented in table (1).

Table (1) values of operation conditions used in
experiments.

Heat flux
q (watt)
Fluidized bed
velocity u (m/s)
Particle size
dp (m)
100 1.4 300
140 1.8 550
180 2.1 800

Fifty four experimental set were conducted for the
steady and unsteady states. Each experiment was
repeated many times to ensure accuracy of the results
for each sand particle size. The experimental procedures
are:

1- Weight a quantity of sand (150 g) of a specific size
and put it into the pipe (column) above the distribution
plate.
2- Turn on the air compressor till the pressure inside the
air storage tank reaches about (2.5 bar).
3- Open the valve for feeding the air into the pipe.
4- Record the pressure drop through the orifice meter to
determine the fluidized bed velocity.
5- Turn on the electrical circuit to obtain the required
amount of heat flux. The heat flux was controlled by
voltage regulator and measured indirectly by an
ammeter and voltmeter.
6- Record the temperature with time along the vertical
pipe using the thermocouples that connected to the
interphase and computer.
Repeat the above procedures by changing the
fluidized bed velocity then the heat flux and finally the
particle size.


3.0 Numerical approach:-

The numerical model using a computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) is consists of a two-dimensional
unsteady and steady state. Eulerian-granular model
(EGM) is used where, both particle-wall and particle-
particle interaction are taken into account. The numerical
study has been carried out with the commercial finite
volumes package ANSYS (Fluent 13.0) designed for the
solution of incompressible fluid dynamic problems with a
two-dimensional model. The investigation deals with the
cases of multi heat fluxes, air velocities and particle
sizes. The analysis uses a mesh structure with square
grids. A total number of about 41283 nodes are
employed for the entire flow domain to attain grid
independent solutions. The volume fraction is (o=0.598).
The Eulerian multiphase model equations of continuity,
momentum, and energy can be written as follows
[13&14]:

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- Continuity:

(1) m ) u (
t
) (
n
1 p
pq q q q
q q

=
= V +
c
c

o
o


Where: (oq) is the volume fraction for the q
th
phase.


- Momentum for q
th
phase:

(2) ) F F F (
) u m ( g
p ) u u (
t
) u (
q , vm q , lift q q q
q
n
1 p
pq pq q q q
q q q q q
q q q
+ +
+ + 9 + V + +
V = V +
c
c

=
o
t o
o o
o

Where the first left hand side term is referring to the
transient and the second one is refer to the convection.
In the right hand side, the terms are referring to the
pressure, body force, shear stress, (interphase forces
exchange and interphase mass exchange) and (external,
lift, and virtual mass forces) respectively. Hence, solids
pressure term is included for granular model. The inter-
phase exchange forces are expressed as:

) u u ( K
q p pq pq
= 9


Where Kpq is the exchange coefficient and in general
Fpq= - Fqp.

- Energy equation for q
th
phase can be similarly
formulated.

Multiphase species transport for species i belonging
to mixture of q
th
phase

(3) ) m m (
S R J
) Y u ( ) Y (
t
i j j i
q p
n
1 p
q p
q
i
q q
i
q q
i
q
q
i
q q q q
i
q q


+ + + V
= V +
c
c

=
o o o
o o


Where the first left hand side term is referring to the
transient and the second one is refer to the convection.
In the right hand side, the terms are referring to the
diffusion, homogeneous reaction, homogeneous
production and heterogeneous reaction respectively.
Each of the computational iteration is solved implicitly.
The convergence of the computational solution is
determined on scaled residuals for the continuity,
momentum and energy equations for many of predicted
and standard variables. The settings for the scaled
residuals for solution convergence are set to 10
-3
for all
computed residuals approximately. The solution is
considered to be converged when all of the scaled
residuals are less than or equal to these default settings.


4.0 Results and Discussion

4-1 Experimental Part:

4-1-1 Steady State:

Figure (2) shows the effects of particle size on
temperature gradient distribution curve along the column
for different fluidized bed velocities at the heat flux values
at the steady state condition. For a certain value of
fluidized bed velocity and heat flux, the temperature
gradients increase as the mean solid particle diameter
decreases. This is due to that the finer particle can cause
higher heat transfer coefficient because the small particle
have small thermal conductive resistance and the smaller
particles can increase the effective heat transfer area
covered by particle.

Figure (3) describes the effects of heat flux on
temperature gradient distribution curve along the column
for different particle size at different fluidized bed
velocities for the steady state condition. For a certain
value of fluidized bed velocity, the temperature gradients
increase as the heat flux increases this is due to increase
of amount of heat to the fluidized bed flow.

Figure (4) illustrates the effects of the fluidized bed
velocity on temperature gradient distribution curve along
the column for different particle size at the heat flux
values at the steady state condition. Also, for certain
value of heat flux, the temperature gradients increase as
the fluidized bed velocity increases this is due to increase
the amount of air which have amount of heat therefore
increase the heat transfer to the solid particle and
increase the temperature profile.


4-1-2 Unsteady State:

Figure (5) shows the effect of particle size on unsteady
state temperature profile along the column for fluidized
velocities at different values of time, namely changing
between (0 min) to (4.85 min) along the vertical pipe
distance (m). It can be observed that the temperature
profile increase when decreased the particle size. Also
because the small particle can cause higher heat transfer
coefficient due to that the smaller particles can increase
the effective heat transfer area covered by particle itself.
Figure (6) describes the effects of the heat flux and
different fluidized bed velocities on temperature profile for
different particle size at the same values of time of figure
(5). It can be observed that the temperature profile along
the fluidization column increases with increasing the heat
flux and as the velocities of fluidized bed increases, the
temperature profile increases. Because when the velocity
of fluidized bed increases, the solid particles will be more
action and as a result, the temperature distribution
increases.


4-2 Numerical Part:

The sand properties were (density=1400 kg/m
3
,
specific heat=800 J/kg.K, thermal conductivity=0.2
W/m.K), granular diameter=450 m and pacing limit=0.5.
The air velocity was 2 m/s with pressure-velocity coupling
(phase coupled SIMPLE) solution method. Figure (7)
ICEIT-2012 - 107 -
depicts the volume fraction of the flow (air-sand) behavior
at different time steps for pressure based Eulerian
laminar flow transient conditions. Figure (7-A) shows the
sand volume fraction at time 0.0 s with the whole pipe
height. It is clear in the figure the 10 cm granular height.
Figure (7-B) presents a zoomed picture to the column at
time=0.03 min. (1.8 sec.). to clarify the two phase flow
behavior. The zoomed picture is enlarged near the
bottom because the upper zone is containing air only.
Figures (7-C to 7-G) show zoomed pictures to the
column at time steps (0.57, 1.1, 1.65, 2.18 and 3.78 min.)
respectively. A turbulent fluidization regime with small
bubbles can be noticed. When time increases, the two
phase zone increases till reached a certain distanced as
described in figure (7-H) for the whole pipe height at
time=4.85 min. then the distanced remains constant. This
mixed zone (air+sand) height is approximately equal to
(0.5-0.6 m) and this is why the temperatures distributions
fall clearly near this distance. Because there is no sand
to carry the heat with it and no particles transfer the heat
to the pipe by conduction, there is only the convection by
air.

5. Conclusion

In this work it have been studied the effect of the
steady and unsteady state conditions for different particle
size, fluidized bed velocity and heat flux on the thermal
behavior of two phase flow (gas-solid). From this study, it
can be concluded that, the decreases of the particle size
will increase the temperature profile for different fluidized
bed velocities and heat flux values. The temperature
profile increases as fluidized bed velocity increases for
different particle size and heat flux values. And the
temperature profile increases as the heat flux increases
for different particle sizes and fluidized bed velocities.

References

[1] P. Mahanta, R.S. Patil, and M. Pandey, "Effect of
Particle Size and Sand Inventory on Wall-to-Bed Heat
transfer Characteristics of Circulating Fluidized Bed
Riser", Proceedings of the World Congress on
Engineering, ISSN: 2078-0966, Vol. II, London, U.K.
2010.
[2] S. Benyahia, H. Arastoonpour, T. M. Knowlton and H.
Massah, "Simulation of Particles and Gas Flow Behavior
in the Riser Section of a Circulating Fluidized Bed using
the Kinetic Theory Approach for the Particulate Phase",
Powder Technology / Elsevier, Volume 112, Issues 12,
Pages 2433, 5 October 2000.
[3] Sunun Limtrakul, Ativuth Chalermwattanati, Kosol
Unggurawirote, Yutaka Tsuji, Toshihiro Kawaaguchi and
Wiwut Tanthapanichakoon, "Discrete Particle Simulation
of Solid Motion in Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed", Chemical
Engineering Science,58, pp.915-921, 2003.
[4] N. S. Winaya, P. Basu and B.V. Reddy, "Experimental
Investigations On Heat Transfer From Suspension to
Impact Separators in the Riser Column of a Circulating
uidized Bed Combustor", International Journal of Heat
and Mass Transfer 46 pp. 7175, ,2003.
[5] D. Karageorgieva and R. Stanev, "Heat Transfer In
Low Temperature Circulating Fluidized Bed", Journal of
the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy,
41, 1, 69-74, 2006.
[6] Maan S. Al- Dabbagh, "Experimental Study of Heat
Transfer Between the Shallow Fluidized Bed and a Tube
Bundle Immersed in it", Al-Rafidain Engineering, Vol.14,
No.4, pp.24-33, 2006.
[7] Chang Ahn, Jin-Bok Yoo, Yoo-Taek Kim and Sung-
Chul Yi, "Computational Modeling of the Sintering
Process of Ceramic Particles in a Fluidized Bed
Furnace", Journal 0f Ceramic Processing Research, Vol.
9, No. 6, pp.569-575, 2008.
[8] Mladen M. Stojiljkovic, Branislav V. Tojanovic, Jelena
N. Janevski, and Gradimir S., "Mathematical Model of
Unsteady Gas to Solid Particles Heat Transfer in
Fluidized Bed", Thermal Science: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 55-
68, 2009.
[9] Z. O. Opafunso, I. I. Ozigis and I. A. Adetunde,
"Pneumatic and Hydraulic Systems in Coal Fluidized Bed
Combustor", American J. of Engineering and Applied
Sciences 2 (1): 88-95, 2009.
[10] U. S. Wankhede, "Heat Transfer Characteristics and
Particle Behavior around a Horizontal Heating Surface
Immersed in a Sound Assisted Fluidized Bed of Fine
Powders", International Journal of Dynamics of Fluids,
ISSN: 0973-1784, Volume 5, Number 2, pp. 139144,
2009.
[11] Tahseen Al-Hattb and Riyadh S. Al-Turhee, "Effect
of Particle Size on Heat Transfer Coefficient in Fluidized
Bed Column" Special issue for the papers presented in
1St Annual Scientific Conference of the College of
Engineering 17-18 May 2009 Part (B).
[12] Riyadh S. Al-Turhee, "Transient Thermal Behavior of
Fluidized Bed Column" Iraqi Journal for Mechanical and
Materials Engineering, 2011.
[13] Andr Bakker, "Applied Computational Fluid
Dynamics", Lecture 14-Multiphase Flows, Fluent Inc.
(2002).
[14] Fluent User Services Center, "Modeling Multiphase
Flows", Introductory FLUENT Notes, December 2006.



ICEIT-2012 - 108 -




Figure (1) schematic diagram and photograph of the experimental apparatus.

ICEIT-2012 - 109 -




Figure (2) effects of particle size on temperature distribution along the column for different fluidized bed velocities.

ICEIT-2012 - 110 -





Figure (3) effects of heat flux on temperature distribution along the column (pipe) for different particle size.
ICEIT-2012 - 111 -




Figure (4) effects of the fluidized bed velocity on temperature distribution along the column for different particle size.

ICEIT-2012 - 112 -

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=100 W U=1.4 m/s
Particle Size=550 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=100 W U=1.8 m/s
Particle Size=550 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=100 W U=1.4 m/s
Particle Size=300 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
120
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=100 W U=1.8 m/s
Particle Size=300 mic m


Figure (5) effect of particle size on temperature profile along the pipe for fluidized velocities at different values of time.
ICEIT-2012 - 113 -

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=180 W U=2.1m/s
Particle Size=800 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=140 W U=2.1m/s
Particle Size=800 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=100 W U=2.1m/s
Particle Size=800 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=180 W U=1.4 m/s
Particle Size=550 mic m

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance (m)
70
80
90
100
110
120
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)
Q=180 W U=1.8 m/s
Particle Size=550 mic m


Figure (6) effects of the heat flux and fluidized bed velocities on temperature profile for different particle size at different
values of time.
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(B)
(A)
(C) (D)
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Figure (7) volume fraction of the flow (air-sand) behavior at different time steps.
(E) (F)
(G)
(H)