A Probabilistic Statistical Method for the Determination of Void Morphology with CFD-DEM Approach

Voids that are formed by gas injection in a packed bed play an important role in metallurgical and chemical furnaces. Herein, two-phase gas–solid flow in a two-dimensional packed bed during blast injection was simulated numerically. The results indicate that the void stability was dynamic, and the void shape and size fluctuated within a certain range. To determine the void morphology quantitatively, a probabilistic method was proposed. By statistically analyzing the white probability of each pixel in binary images at multiple times, the void boundaries that correspond to different probability ranges were obtained. The boundary that was most appropriate with the simulation result was selected and defined as the well-matched void boundary. Based on this method, the morphologies of voids that formed at different gas velocities were simulated and compared. The method can help us to express the morphological characteristics of the dynamically stable voids in a numerical simulation.