Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

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Advanced Powder Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apt

Original Research Paper

Hydrodynamic studies on uidization of Red mud: CFD simulation

Pranati Sahoo , Abanti Sahoo
Chemical Engg. Department, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 13 February 2014
Received in revised form 12 June 2014
Accepted 22 June 2014
Available online 3 July 2014
Keywords:
Fluidization
Fine Red mud particles
Hydrodynamic studies
Eulerian model
CFD analysis

a b s t r a c t
Hydrodynamic studies are carried out for the uidization process using ne i.e. Geldart-A particles.
Effects of supercial velocity on bed pressure drop and bed expansion is studied in the present work.
Commercial CFD software package, Fluent 13.0 is used for simulations. Red mud obtained as waste
material from Aluminum industry having average particle size of 77 microns is used as the bed material.
EulerianEulerian model coupled with kinetic theory of granular ow is used for simulating unsteady
gassolid uidization process. Momentum exchange coefcients are calculated using the Gidaspow drag
functions. Standard ke model has been used to describe the turbulent pattern. Bed pressure drop and
bed expansion studies are simulated by CFD which are explained with the help of contour and vector
plots. CFD simulation results are compared with the experimental ndings. The comparison shows that
CFD modeling is capable of predicting the hydrodynamic behaviors of gassolid uidized bed for ne
particles with reasonable accuracy.
2014 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder
Technology Japan. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Huge amounts of Red mud, nearly 1.5 tons per 1 ton of Alumina
are produced in any Aluminum plant. With increasing demand for
production of Aluminum, more and more Red muds are being produced daily for which its disposal is now a matter of great concern.
That is why researchers are coming forward to know more about
the Red mud so that it can be utilized for useful purpose. It is
already tested by many researchers that Red mud can be used
for making bricks, ooring materials and extraction of some noble
materials etc. Researchers is still going on to explore more about
Red mud for which it is planned to know the uidization characteristics of Red mud before using for any application. Fluidization
characteristics of bed material and hydrodynamic studies of the
uidizer are very much inter-related. Hydrodynamic studies give
prior information about the ow behavior along with the changes
occurring on the bed materials.
Literature revels that supercial velocity plays important role in
uidization process [1]. To know the effect of supercial velocity
on ne particles, the present work is planned to be studied both
experimentally and with the help of CFD simulation. At high gas
velocity the movement of bed materials is more vigorous which
results in bubbling uidized bed. With further increase in gas
velocity turbulent uidization results and entrainment of solids
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9438600372 (M); fax: +91 6612472926.
E-mail address: pranatisahoo02@gmail.com (P. Sahoo).

becomes appreciable. With further increase in gas velocity fast uidization is resulted. Therefore it is essential to understand the
hydrodynamics of uidized bed quantitatively as well as qualitatively by which one can design uidization unit properly. Selection
of the correct operating parameters is very much essential for the
appropriate uidization regimes [13]. Gassolid ows inside the
column are quite complex because of the coupling of the turbulent
gas ows and uctuation of particle motions dominated by interparticle collisions. These complexities lead to considerable difculties in designing, scaling up and optimizing the operation. The
fundamental problem encountered in modeling hydrodynamics
of a gassolid uidized bed is the motion of two phases where
the interface is unknown and transient, and the interaction is
understood only for a limited range of conditions [1,2]. Computational uid dynamics (CFD) offers a new approach to understand
the complex phenomena between the gas and the solid particles
in the bubbling uidized beds. Two different CFD models namely
EulerianLagrangian and EulerianEulerian model are applied for
modeling gassolid uidized beds. The EulerianEulerian model
is considered to be more appropriate for uidized beds [4] for
which this model is preferred over EulerianLagrangian model.
In EulerianEulerian model, all phases are considered to be
continuous and fully interpenetrating. The equations employed
are the generalization of the NavierStokes equations. One set of
the mass and momentum conservation equations are solved for
each phase, where the momentum equations are linked by an
interphase exchange term. By comparing EulerianEulerian and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2014.06.017
0921-8831/ 2014 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.

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P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Nomenclature
d

e
q
u
p

s
g
F

l
Kgs
I2D
Re
ess
g0,ss
CD
Cfr,gs

Diameter (m)
Volume fraction
Density of uid (kg/m3)
Velocity (m/s)
Pressure (Pa)
Stressstrain tensor (Pa)
Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
Force
Viscosity (Pa S)
The uidsolid and Solidsolid exchange coefcient
Second invariant of the deviatoric stress tensor
Reynolds number
Coefcient of restitution
Radial distribution co-efcient
Drag co-efcient
Coefcient of friction of solid phase particles

Hs

ls
ls,col
ls,kin
ls,fr
ks
/
K Hs
 Hs

Ugs

g
~
vs

EulerianLagrangian approaches [5] it can be concluded that

EulerianEulerian approach is potentially faster than the
EulerianLagrangian method which requires the formulation of
constitutive equations. Gassolid simulations of bubbling uidized
beds obtained by EulerianEulerian model are veried experimentally with the existing correlations for bubble size or bubble
velocity [6,7]. A computational study for the ow behavior of a
lab-scale uidized bed is also carried out by Chiesa et al. [8]. The
results obtained from a discrete particle method (DPM) are qualitatively compared with that of a multi uid computational uid
dynamic (CFD) model by them. Hydrodynamic behaviors of nonreactive gassolid uidized bed reactor are investigated by using
multi uid Eulerian model where the effects of particle size and
supercial gas velocity are studied by researchers [9,10]. Hydrodynamics of a gassolid tapered uidized bed with CFD simulations
are reported [11]. Simulation for minimum uidization velocity,
bubbling velocity and slugging velocity are studied for four types
of Geldart particles by Labview method [12].
Thus it is aimed to carryout CFD simulation for hydrodynamic
studies of bubbling gassolid uidized bed using ne particles in
the present work. For CFD simulations, it is planned to develop a
two uid Eulerian model coupled with the kinetic theory granular
ow for 77 lm sized solid (i.e. Red mud) particles. The standard
ke turbulence model is thought to apply to simulate the gassolid
ows at different supercial gas velocities. The effects of modeling
parameter i.e. inlet air velocity on hydrodynamics of bubbling gas
solid uidized bed are planned to be studied both experimentally
and computationally. It is also planned to carry out comparisons
of the model predictions and experimental measurements on the
time-averaged bed pressure drop, bed expansion and qualitative
gassolid ow pattern have been carried out at different operating
conditions in order to arrive at a conclusion.

Solid phase granular temperature (m2/s2)

Solid shear viscosity (Pa S)
Collision viscosity (Pa S)
Kinetic viscosity (Pa S)
Frictional viscosity (Pa S)
Bulk viscosity (Pa S)
Angle of internal friction ()
Diffusion co-efcient
Collisional dissipation of energy (kg/s3 m)
Energy exchange of solid phase (kg/s3 m)
Rate exponent
Phase-weighted velocity
Gradient

The continuity equation for gas and solid phases in the absence
of interphase mass transfer are expressed as

@
eg qg reg qg ug 0
@t

@
es qs res qs us 0
@t

The conservation of momentum for the gas and solid phases are
described by

@
q eg ug rqg eg ug ug eg rp rsg qg eg g F i;g
@t g

@
q es us rqs es us us es rp  rps rss qs es g F i;s
@t s

Where the terms Fi;g and Fi;s of the above momentum equations
represent the interphase momentum exchange for gas phase and
solid phase respectively. Thus the gassolid interphase drag force
is expressed as

F D;gs K gs ug  us

Here g is gravitational constant and (es rp K gs ug  us is an

interaction force (drag and buoyancy forces) representing the
momentum transfer between gas and solid phases.
The terms sg and ss are the stressstrain tensors for gas and
solid phases respectively. They are expressed as follows.

2
3

sg eg lg rug ruTg eg kg  lg rug I



2
3

ss es ls rus ruTs es ks  ls rus I

1.1. Governing equation
The governing equations for the gassolid ow include the conservation of mass and momentum [13]. CFD simulation parameters
are given in Table 1(ac) where model equations, mesh size, time
step, convergence criteria, discretization method, geometry and
boundary conditions are listed.
The governing equations of solid and gas phases based on the
EulerianEulerian model are used for CFD simulation. The volume
fractions of the phases sum to one i.e.

eg es 1

Here I is unity tensor (dimensionless).

In the present study Gidaspow model has been chosen for simulation which is a combination of Wen and Yu model and the
Ergun equation. The uid solid exchange coefcient, Kgs is
expressed in the following form.
1.1.2. Gidaspow drag model

When

eg > 0:8;

K gs

3 es eg qg jug  us j 2:65
CD
eg
4
dp

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P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Table 1
CFD simulation parameters with base case settings.
Description

Base case setting

Change compared to base case settings

Model equations
Kinetic viscosity
Granular bulk viscosity
Frictional viscosity
Angle of internal friction
Granular conductivity
Drag law
Coefcient of restitution for particleparticle collisions

Syamlal and OBrien [15]

Lun et al. [17]
Schaeffer [16]
30
Syamlal and OBrien [15]
Gidaspow [2]
0.90

Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed

Mesh size, time step, convergence criteria and discretization method

Mesh resolution
Convergence criteria
Maximum iterations
Discretization method
Time step

0.002 m  0.002 m grids

103
30
First order upwind
0.001 s

Fixed value
Relative/xed value
Fixed value
Fixed value
Fixed value

Geometry, boundary, initial and operating conditions

Bed width
Bed length
Initial bed height
Initial solids packing (minimum voidage)
Outlet boundary condition
Wall boundary condition
Gravitational acceleration
Operating pressure
Supercial gas velocity
Inlet boundary condition

12 cm
70 cm
10 cm
0.80
Pressure outlet
No slip condition
9.81 m/s2
1.013  105 Pa
0.01 m/s
Uniform velocity inlet

Fixed value
Fixed value
Fixed minimum value
Fixed value
Fully developed ow

Fixed value
Fixed value
0.008 m/s, 0.012 m/s, 0.014 m/s, 0.016 m/s, 0.018 m/s
Fixed value

When

eg  0:8

K gs 150

es 1  eg lg
qg es jug  us j
1:75
2
dp
eg dp

ks
10

24
where C D
1 0:15eg Rep 0:687 
eg Rep

11

The particle Reynolds number is dened as follows

Rep

qg dp jug  us j
lg

12

1.2. Constitutive equations

Constitutive equations are required to close the governing relations. The Constitutive equations are expressed as follows.
1.2.1. Solid shear stresses
The solid shear stresses contain shear and bulk viscosities
arising from particle momentum exchange due to translation and
collision.

ls ls;col ls;kin ls;fr

13

Where collision viscosity [14] is given as

4
5

ls;col es qs ds g o;ss 1 ess

Hs

1=2es

14

Kinetic viscosity [15] is expressed as

ls;kin

p 

es ds qs Hs p
2

1 1 ess 3ess  1es g o;ss

5
63  ess

15

And Frictional viscosity [16] is dened as

lsfr

p sin /
s p
2 I2D

value
value
value
value
value
value
value

1
4
es qs ds g o;ss 1 ess Hs p2
3

17

1.2.3. Solid pressure

For granular ow in the compressible regime where the solid
volume fraction is less than its maximum allowable value, a solid
pressure is calculated independently. The solid pressure [17] is
composed of a kinetic term and a secondary term due to particle
collisions. It is expressed as

ps es qs Hs 2qs 1 ess e2s g 0;ss Hs

18

1.2.4. Radial distribution function

The radial distribution function g o is a correction factor [18]
that modies the probability of collision of solid granular particles.
It is expressed as for a one solid phase

"
go 1 

es

1=3 #1

es;max

19

1.2.5. Granular temperature

The granular temperature for solids phase is proportional to the
kinetic energy of random motion of particles. The transport equation derived from kinetic theory takes the following form.



3 @
qs es Hs r  qs es~
v s Hs ps I ss
2 @t
v s r  K Hs r  Hs  !Hs Ugs
: r~

20

where K Hs is the diffusion coefcient for granular energy [15]. It is

expressed as
K Hs

p 

15ds qs es Hs p
12
16
1 g2 4g  3es g 0;ss
41  33gges g 0;ss
5
15p
441  33g

21

16

1.2.2. Bulk viscosity

The bulk viscosity accounts for the resistance of the granular
particle to compression and expansion [17].

Where; g

1
1 ess
2

The collision dissipation of energy [17] is denoted as Y Hs and is

dened as

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Y Hs

P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

121  e2ss g 0;ss

p
:qs e2s Hs3=2
ds p

22

The transfer of the kinetic energy is denoted as

Ugs 3K gs Hs

23

2. Experimentation
The uidization characteristics of ne particles are studied in a
uidizer, a cylindrical column made of perspex material, 12 cm
inside diameter and 70 cm high. A lter cloth with pores of approximately 40 lm is tightly attached at the bottom of column which
acts as the distributor. The calming section is packed with spherical glass beads of size 5 mm for uniform distribution of gas. The
column is also covered with lter cloth at the top to prevent the
entrainment of the particles. The average particle size of bed materials is determined by sieve analysis. The column is lled with
known amount of Red mud up to certain height. Air is supplied
from the bottom of the column through the distributor at the
ambient conditions. Air ow is measured by a Rotameter. A U-tube
manometer is connected to the uidizer for measuring pressure
drop across the bed. Carbon tetra chloride (CCl4) is used as the
manometric uid. The pressure drop and the expanded bed heights
(maximum and minimum heights within which the bed uctuates)
are noted against different air ow rates. Details about the equipment/instruments used in the experimentation are shown in
Table 2.
3. Details of CFD simulations
The CFD software package, FLUENT 13 is used to simulate the
gas - solid uidization process. Red mud particles of 77 microns
in size are used as the bed material to study the hydrodynamic
behavior of the gassolid uidized bed. The results of simulations
are compared with the experimental data to check the effectiveness of the model.
Two dimensional (2D) computational geometry of the bed is
generated by using commercial software GAMBIT as shown in
Fig. 1(a). Quadrilateral element structure (height to width ratio
of 1) is used for meshing the geometry (Fig. 1(b)). In this study,
total of 21,154 numbers of cells with each cell size of
0.002 m  0.002 m and 21,570 numbers of nodes are employed
for simulating the uidized bed. The time step is chosen as 0.001
of 1000 steps. The convergence criteria for all the numerical simulations are based on monitoring of the mass ow residual and the
residual value is observed to be converging in the range of 1.0 e03
as shown in Fig. 1(c). The simulation is carried out using different
ow quantities till the system reaches quasi-steady state.
Standard ke dispersed Eulerian granular multiphase model
with standard wall functions are used for modeling the transition
nature of bubbling uidized bed. The success of EulerianEulerian

Table 2
Details of instruments used in experimentation.
Sl. No.

Instruments/equipments

Capacity

Company/model

Multistage air
compressor
Air Rotameter (made up
ber)
U tube manometer
(made up Glass)

25 kgf/cm2

ELGI equipment
limited
APEX

2
3

Fluidizer
(made up Perspex)

010 lpm
0100 mm
(CCl4 manometric
uid)
12 cm ID, 70 cm High

approach depends on the proper description of all possible intra

and interphase interactions, such as gassolid interactions, collision and frictional interactions between particles, and interactions
between wall and particles. Air is taken as continuous phase while
Red mud solid particles are taken as dispersed phase which are
treated as continua, interpenetrating and interacting with each
other and everywhere in the computational domain.
The assumptions made for CFD simulations are isothermal, nonreactive, unsteady state gassolid system, no lift force, no mass
transfer between gas and solid phase. Constant pressure gradient
and constant density of each phase are also assumed in the present
work. In this work, bubbling uidization is observed with bed
material where viscosity is considered to be negligible.
Initially particle velocity is set at zero (i.e. in minimum uidization) and the inlet gas velocity at the bottom of uidized bed is
assumed to be uniform along the axial direction. The pressure is
not specied at the inlet because of the assumption of incompressible gas phase i.e. of relatively low pressure drop system. At the
outlet, only pressure boundary condition is specied and no slip
boundary conditions are assumed. The phase coupled SIMPLE
method [19] is chosen for pressurevelocity coupling and rst
order upwind scheme is used for discretization of volume fraction
equation whereas second order upwind scheme is used for discretization of momentum, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation rate.
4. Results and discussion
Studying the effect of inlet velocity is very much essential as it
plays an important role in uidization process. In this work, uidization velocities higher than the minimum uidization velocity
and terminal velocity are used for experimentation which implies
the occurrence of bubbling uidization. The bubbling behavior is
observed for Geldart-A particles in between the minimum uidization and terminal velocity of gas in a gassolid uidization process
as reported by Kunii and Levenspiel [1].
4.1. Effects of inlet gas velocity on bed dynamics
Experimental analysis is performed to achieve the steady bed
pressure drop and expansion ratio at different supercial gas
velocities varying from 0.008 m/s to 0.018 m/s. The hydrodynamic
behaviors of uidized bed are analyzed by monitoring the contour
plots for volume fraction of bed materials, static pressure and uid
velocity etc. The bed pressure drop and expansion ratios are also
measured experimentally for different supercial gas velocities.
These outputs are then compared with the CFD simulated results.
Fig. 2 compares the contours of solid volume fraction distribution against gas velocity at different times of simulation. It is
observed that bubbles grow in size as time increases at any particular gas velocity. With increase on time, the volume fraction of
solid material is observed to decrease indicating the bed expansion. It is also seen that the average bed heights increase with
increasing time at any particular inlet gas velocity.
Using Gidaspow drag model, the contours of solid volume fraction distribution are obtained for six different gas velocities in the
range of 0.0080.018 m/s (Fig. 3) simulated for a time period more
than 10 s. The results show an increase in bed expansion with
increasing inlet gas velocity. Initially small bubbles are formed at
the distributor which causes the movement of the particles. With
the increase in gas velocity, bubble size increases as more gases
are processed within the bubble. These bubbles gradually coalesce
and convert to slug within the bed. At higher velocity, bubbles
grow larger and consequently the bed expands signicantly. It is
observed that at the supercial gas velocity of 0.014 m/s, the bed

P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

1703

Fig. 1. Fluidized bed details.

Fig. 2. Solid volume fractions at different inlet gas velocities from 1 to 10 s simulation time.

surface is highly uctuating. These uctuations may be considered

as the indication of transition from stable uidization to turbulent
uidization, which agrees with the experimental observations. It is
also observed that when the bed expands a large portion of bed
materials is pushed toward the wall region as a result a high value
of solid volume fraction is seen near the walls implying the formation of wall slug.
Fig. 4 shows the comparison among the vector plots of solid
phase velocity and gas phase velocity against inlet gas

velocities predicted by the CFD different simulation times. In

all cases, the internal circulation of particles is observed to
occur while gas is not found to be distributed evenly. The
core-annulus structure shows that the solid and gas velocities
in the core region are much higher than those in the annulus
region while solid velocity and gas velocity near the wall are
greatly decreased. This may be due to the back mixing and
internal circulation which is also observed with the simulation
of gassolid ow.

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P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Fig. 3. Solid volume fraction for different gas inlet velocities.

Fig. 4. Velocity vector plots of solids phase and gas phase.

Fig. 5(a) shows variation in axial velocity for solid phases

against radial positions. Proles of axial velocity of particles are
found to be smoother in higher gas velocities because of more transition in ow patterns. This transient ow pattern results a
smoother velocity prole in the bed after reaching a quasisteady-state condition. With the increasing inlet gas velocity the
maximum axial velocity of particles decreases to certain limit in
the central region but it increases near the wall region. The reason
for this may be as follows. Bed materials move upward with the
movement of rising bubble. When bubble breaks particles are dispersed in the radial direction. As a result axial velocity decreases

but in the wall region particles movement increases. Thus a

decreased value of axial velocity causes the particles near the wall
to show particle slip on the wall.
Fig. 5(b) shows the computed gas velocity distribution versus
radial distance for different inlet gas velocities. The simulated
results show that in the central region of the bed, the velocity of
gas is maximum which decreases from the core toward the wall
of the bed. With the increase of inlet gas velocity, the energy of
the high pressure gas is quickly converted to the kinetic energy
of particles. With the increase of inlet gas velocity within the
bed, the radial distribution of gas velocity becomes more uniform.

P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

1705

Fig. 5. Radial proles for different gas inlet velocities.

Decreased velocities for solid particles in gas phase appear near the
walls with increasing inlet gas velocities. This happens due to
severe back mixing in the axial direction of the bed.
Fig. 5(c) and (d) shows the radial proles for predicted turbulent kinetic energy of the gas phase and predicted granular temperature distribution of the solid phase respectively. Both the output
parameters are observed to increase signicantly with the increase
in inlet gas velocity. The lower velocity is observed to give a low
granular temperature where as a high uctuating velocity per unit
of mass is observed at higher inlet gas velocity. The particle uctuating energy per unit of mass is found to increase from the central

region of the bed toward the wall of the bed. At the wall, the granular temperature is found to decrease because of the wall effects.
Fig. 5(e) shows the simulated time-averaged volume fraction of
solid particles for static bed height of 10 cm at six different inlet
gas velocities. It is observed that the volume fraction of solid particles increases toward the walls. It is also seen that at the higher
velocity the volume fraction of particles increases more near the
walls. At lower velocity of particles the volume fraction remains
nearly same as before. As the inlet gas velocity increases, the
particles tend to accumulate more at the walls than in the central
portion of the uidized column.

Fig. 6a. Contour of bed pressure drop against air velocity.

Fig. 6b. Variation in static pressure along the bed height.

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P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Fig. 7a. Variation of bed pressure drop against time.

Fig. 7b. Comparison plot of bed pressure drop.

4.1.1. Pressure drop

Variation in bed pressure drop is mainly due to the gassolid
interactions during the uidization process. Fig. 6a shows the contours of pressure drop against the gas velocity and static pressure
variations along the bed height with simulation time step of 10 s.
The bed pressure drop for a uidized bed varies from maximum
value at the bottom of the bed to minimum value at the top of
the bed. It is evident from this gure that the pressure is maximum
at the inlet which decreases gradually and becomes zero at the top.

It is also found from Fig. 6b that the higher velocity yields the
higher static pressure as pressure drop is directly proportional to
supercial air velocity. The pressure drop is found to be minimum
in the bed height zone above 0.25 m which is the free board region
for this system.
Fig. 7 shows the variations of the bed pressure drop against
time for different velocities. It is observed that as time increases,
the bed pressure drop uctuates and increases signicantly. The
higher supercial gas velocity gives the lower pressure drop than
the lower supercial gas velocity (Fig. 7a) for more drag force being
exerted on particles. Initially the bed pressure drop is found to
increase linearly with supercial velocity (Fig. 7b) indicating
packed bed behavior. The pressure drop becomes constant when
all the materials start uidizing. This is justied from orice theory. It is also found that simulated results are in good agreement
with experimental results with a deviation of 4.09% approximately.
4.1.2. Bed expansion
The time-averaged voidage proles for the gassolid uidized
bed are shown in Fig. 8(a) for six different velocities varying from
0.008 m/s to 0.018 m/s. It is found that initially, the bed height
increases with bubble formation. As a result gas volume fraction
increases. After some time expanded bed height remains constant
at steady state of uidization. In the beginning of the simulation,
waves of voidage are created which travel through the bed. Subsequently bubbles coalesce to form large bubbles as the simulation
progresses. It is also observed from this gure that for higher gas
velocities the gas volume fraction is larger indicating more bed
expansion. It is further observed that there are uctuations in gas
volume fractions. This may be due to the frequent formation and
breakage of bubbles with increase in gas velocity within the bed.
In the bottom region of the column, concentration of solid particles is larger than that in the upper part. Therefore, the maximum
gas volume fraction/voidage is found to occur in the top part of the
column. The voidage then increases sharply to 1 at the top of the
column which corresponds to the region with no solid particles
present. Thus the expanded bed represents a clear interface
between the uidized regions and the free board regions. Gas volume fraction approaches the saturation condition when it is equal
to 1. The maximum expanded bed heights for different velocity are
given in Table 3.
Solid volume fraction against bed heights for six different
supercial gas velocities in the range of 0.0080.018 m/s are
shown in Fig. 8(b). It is seen that at higher supercial gas velocity,
the distribution of solid volume fraction decreases in the bed. At
lower supercial gas velocity, the bed shows higher solid volume

Fig. 8. Comparison of volume fractions for different velocities.

P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Table 3
Comparisons of static bed height and expanded bed height.
Supercial air
velocity (m/s)

Uo/
Umf

Static bed
height (m)

Expanded bed
height (m)

Percentage
increase (%)

0.008
0.010
0.012
0.014
0.016
0.018

0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8

0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

0.171
0.185
0.2
0.214
0.228
0.242

71
85
100
114
128
142

fraction because the solid particles are accumulated in the lower

portion of the bed. When the supercial gas velocity increases,
the solid volume fraction distributions uctuate more in the axial
direction. Gradually solid volume fraction decreases and then
reduces to zero at the bottom of the column. With increasing
supercial gas velocity, the solid volume fraction generally
increases with height in the bed. Finally solid volume fraction
increases to 1 at the top of the bed beyond which there is no solid
particles indicating it to be free board region.
Fig. 9 shows the time-averaged solid volume fraction as a function of bed height for different inlet gas velocities for different
times of simulation. Initially the solid volume fraction uctuates
and then it decreases as uidization starts. It can also be seen at
higher supercial gas velocity the distribution of solid volume

1707

fractions decreases more in bed than at the lower supercial gas

velocity. Then solid volume fraction decreases sharply to zero at
the bottom of the bed which is known as saturation condition. It
is also observed from Fig. 6 that with simulation time step of
10 s the solid volume fraction is approaching saturation condition
for all velocities (Table 3).
Fig. 10a shows the bed expansion against time at six different
inlet gas velocities varying from 0.008 to 0.018 m/s. The results
show an increase in bed height with increasing inlet gas velocity
(Table 3). Fig. 10b shows the plot of variation in bed height against
different supercial air velocities. The bed height is observed to
increase linearly with inlet gas velocity indicating that the bed
expands with increased velocity till steady state is attained.
Fig. 10c shows the comparison of variation in bed expansion ratio
against supercial/inlet air velocities for experimental and simulation results. The bed expansion ratio is found to increase linearly
with inlet gas velocity. It is also found that simulated results are
in good agreement with experimental results with a deviation of
9.76% approximately.
5. Conclusion
Experimental observation revealed that pressure drop and bed
expansion ratio increase with supercial velocity. As the supercial
velocity is about two times the minimum uidization velocity, it is

Fig. 9. Distributions of volume fraction with variation of time.

1708

P. Sahoo, A. Sahoo / Advanced Powder Technology 25 (2014) 16991708

Fig. 10a. Bed expansion against time.

computationally. It was observed that the modeling predictions

agree reasonably well with experimental pressure drop, bed
expansion ratio and gassolid ow patterns. Pressure drops in
gassolid ow predicted by the simulations were found to be in
relatively close agreement with experimental measurements at
all supercial gas velocities higher than the minimum uidization
velocity ensuring for the same hydrodynamics of bubbling uidization both computationally and experimentally. Simulation results
also indicated that small bubbles are produced at the bottom of
the bed. These bubbles coalesce and grow as they move upwards
forming larger bubbles with the increased air velocity. By selecting
proper velocity the amount of nes entrained from the bed can be
decreased. Further experimental and modeling efforts are required
with respect to other parameters such as time and particle size for
validation of CFD models for uidized bed. As velocity of uidizing
medium is one of the important parameters to determine the quality of uidization, this study on hydrodynamics of uidized bed
using ne particles can be considered as a strong base for development of a pilot plant unit.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Institute of Technology,
Rourkela for which the authors would like to thank Director of
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, for necessary funding
and support without which this work would not have been
possible.
References

Fig. 10b. Expanded bed height versus inlet air velocity.

Fig. 10c. Comparison plot of bed expansion ratio.

ensured that the bubbling uidization has occurred in the present

work. CFD simulation was also carried out for bubbling uidization. Effect of velocity on bed dynamics such as pressure drop
and bed expansion ratio were analyzed both experimentally and

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