Particles' flow characteristics in a drum cooler with heat exchanger tubes: simulation and comparison with traditional solution

Abstract In order to improve the waste heat recovery efficiency of metallized pellets, a new drum cooler with heat exchanger tubes was creatively proposed, and the flow characteristics of metallized pellets were investigated. The soft sphere model and discrete element method were used to investigate the axial velocity, the total velocity, the mixed standard deviation and the contact number of particles. The calculated values of the motion of particles showed good agreement with the corresponding available experimental data. The results show that, the flow characteristics of particles in the drum cooler with heat exchanger tubes are quite different from that in the drum cooler without heat exchanger tubes. The heat exchanger tubes can prevent the axial velocity, and promote the radial velocity and the mixing effect of particles. The ratio of the contact number between particles in the new drum cooler to the contact number between particles in the traditional drum cooler is 25.8%, and the heat exchanger tubes can make the bed of particles becomes loose. The violent motion of particles in the new drum cooler must be better for the cooling of particles and waste heat recovery.