A comparison of flow development in high density gas-solids circulating fluidized bed downer and riser reactors

3D CPFD Simulation of Circulating Fluidized Bed Downer and Riser: Comparisons of Flow Structure and Solids Back-Mixing Behavior

The difference of gas-solids flow between a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) downer and riser was compared by computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) approach. The comparison was conducted under the same operating conditions. Simulation results demonstrated that the downer showed much more uniform solids holdup and solids velocity distribution compared with the riser. The radial non-uniformity index of the solids holdup in the riser was over 10 times than that in the downer. In addition, small clusters tended to be present in the whole downer, large clusters tended to be present near the wall in riser. It was found that the different cluster behavior is important in determining the different flow behaviors of solids in the downer and riser. While the particle residence time increased evenly along the downward direction in the downer, particles with both shorter and longer residence time were predicted in the whole riser. The nearly vertical cumulative residence time distribution (RTD) curve in the downer further demonstrated that the solids back-mixing in the downer is limited while that in the riser is severe. Solids turbulence in the downer was much weaker compared with the riser, while the large clusters formation near the wall in the riser would hinder solids transportation ability.

Gas-solid Flow Behaviors in a Pressurized Multi-stage Circulating Fluidized Bed with Geldart Group B Particles

A comprehensive study of gas-solids flow behaviors was conducted in a novel multi-stage circulating fluidized bed (MCFB). Experiments were carried out in a cold model apparatus (a jetting fluidized bed, JFB, of 0.3 m diameter and 1.95 m tall, a riser of 0.15 m diameter and 12 m tall) at different elevated pressure, solids circulation rates and gas velocities. Geldart group B polystyrene particles of 400 μm in diameter and 1020 kg/m3 in density were used as bed materials. The characteristic of L-valve, axial and radial distributions of solids holdup were systematically tested at elevated pressures by pressure transducers with the frequency of 100 Hz and model PC6M of the optical fiber probes. Operating the L-valve at elevated pressure needs less cross-section average gas velocity compared to that at atmospheric pressure. Experimental results showed that under elevated pressure and high solids flow rate, the MCFB could more easily couple JFB with a riser, where the solids that entered could form three-level step-by-step supplement entrainment and multi-flow regimes formed. Besides, increasing operating pressure led to a higher the apparent solids holdup and local solids holdup. The local solids profiles behaved less uniform distribution at elevated pressure due to decreasing the gas velocity.