Euler-Euler granular flow model of the combustion of liquid fuels in a fluidized reactor

Abstract

This paper deals with the numerical simulation of liquid fuel combustion in a fluidized reactor using two-fluid Eulerian-Eulerian fluidized bed modeling incorporating the kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) to gas and solid phase flow prediction. The comprehensive model of the complex processes in a fluidized combustion chamber incorporates, besides the prediction of gas and particular phase velocity fields, the energy equations for the gas and solid phase and the transport equations of conservation of chemical species with the source terms due to the conversion of chemical components. Numerical experiments showed that the coefficients in the model of inter-phase interaction drag force have a significant effect, and they have to be adjusted for each regime of fluidization. A series of numerical experiments was performed with combustion of liquid fuels in a fluidized bed (FB), with and without significant water content. The given estimations were related to the unsteady state, and the modeled period corresponds to the passing time of the flow through the reactor column. The numerical experiments were conducted to examine the impact of the water content in a liquid fuel on the global FB combustion kinetics.