Numerical prediction on the minimum fluidization velocity of a supercritical water fluidized bed reactor: Effect of particle size distributions

Abstract The minimum fluidization velocity of a supercritical water fluidization bed reactor (SCWFBR) is numerically investigated based on coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) simulations. The accuracy of the CFD-DEM model is firstly validated via previously published experimental data. Then, the model is adopted to study the effects of particle size distributions (PSD) on the minimum fluidization velocity in which four types of PSD including Gaussian-type, Mono-type, Flat-type and Binary-type are considered. Numerical results show that the minimum fluidization velocity for the Flat-type PSD is the smallest among the four while the one for the Mono-type PSD is the largest. The minimum fluidization velocities for the Mono-type and Gaussian-type PSD share quite similar values. However, it is conditionally valid when the largest amount of particle size in the Gaussian-type PSD is equal to its mean particle size which is used in the Mono-type PSD. The agreement of the minimum fluidization velocity between Mono-type and Gaussian-type PSD is also influenced by the number of small particles. The mechanism behind these phenomena is revealed by investigating the micro-structure of differently sized particles. Finally, predictive correlations for the minimum fluidization velocity of the SCWFBR are proposed based on the numerical results which demonstrates strong predictive capability for wide PSD.