CFD-DEM investigation on the agglomeration behavior of micron-sized combusted iron fines

The occurrence of agglomeration due to particle sintering is one of the most significant technical issues hindering the direct reduction process of iron oxide fines (DRI) in a high-temperature fluidized bed. To get a better understanding of the agglomeration mechanism, the (de-)fluidization behavior of micron-sized iron oxide particles in a 3-D fluidized bed is investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics coupled with a coarse-grained Discrete Element Method (CFD-cgDEM). The inter-particle cohesive force is considered as a temperature-dependent solid bridge force. The coarse-grained method is first verified by comparing results for different scaling factors. Subsequently, the effects of temperature on the bed pressure drop, void fraction distribution, particle velocity distribution, and agglomerate size are investigated. In conclusion, the developed model shows the capacity for reliable prediction of particle agglomeration behavior, which can shed light on the design of the DRI process in high-temperature fluidized beds. •Modeling agglomeration behavior of micron-sized combusted iron particles.•A coarse-grained method is extended to model cohesive dense gas-solid flows.•The inter-particle cohesive force is considered as a temperature-dependent solid bridge force.•Effects of temperature and solid bridge strength on bed dynamics are studied.