Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of spouted bed: Assessment of drag coefficient correlations

In the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of gas–solids two-phase flows, drag force is the only accelerating force acting on particles and thus plays an important role in coupling two phases. To understand the influence of drag models on the CFD modeling of spouted beds, several widely used drag models available in literature were reviewed and the resulting hydrodynamics by incorporating some of them into the CFD simulations of spouted beds were compared. The results obtained by the different drag models were verified using experimental data of He et al. [He, Y.L., Lim, C.J., Grace, J.R., Zhu, J.X., Qin, S.Z., 1994a. Measurements of voidage profiles in spouted beds. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 72 (4), 229–234; He, Y.L., Qin, S.Z., Lim, C.J., Grace, J.R., 1994b. Particle velocity profiles and solid flow patterns in spouted beds. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 72 (8), 561–568.] The quantitative analyses showed that the different drag models led to significant differences in dense phase simulations. Among the different drag models discussed, the Gidaspow (1994. Multiphase Flow and Fluidization, Academic Press, San Diego.) model gave the best agreement with experimental observation both qualitatively and quantitatively. The present investigation showed that drag models had critical and subtle impacts on the CFD predictions of dense gas–solids two-phase systems such as encountered in spouted beds.