CFD-DEM model for coupled heat and mass transfer in a spout fluidized bed with liquid injection

In this paper, we present a novel CFD–DEM model for coupled heat and mass transfer in a spout fluidized bed with liquid injection. In our CFD–DEM approach both particles and droplets are treated as discrete elements. Before actual simulations were conducted, a number of tests were performed to determine the optimum particle collision time step by analysing the error in the prescribed restitution coefficient (difference between defined and applied values). Subsequently we test the model for a selected case as a proof-of-principle. In this test case, the effect of liquid injection on dynamics of a pseudo-2D spout fluidized bed with draft plates was demonstrated for the fluidized bed-spouting-with-aeration (dispersed spout) regime with injection of water droplets. The computational results were compared with experimental results that were obtained through a unique combination of particle image velocimetry (PIV) and infrared thermography (IRT).