Numerical and experimental investigation of mixing in a continuously operated fluidized bed

Abstract

Many processes require solid material to be fed continuously into a fluidized bed. In order to study the related mixing process of the solid feed with the bed material, a laboratory scale experiment with a continuous supply system is set up and monitored with a high resolution camera system. Additionally, two simulation methods are used: The EulerEuler and an Euler-Lagrange approach based on the Discrete-Element-Method (DEM) coupled with CFD. Experimental investigations carried out at varying fluid velocities are compared with simulations. A reasonable agreement is found between the coupled DEMCFD-method and the experimental findings.