CFD-DEM modeling and validation of solids drying in a gas-fluidized bed

Fluidized beds are commonly used for industrial drying applications due to their excellent heat and mass transfer characteristics. These features are desired since solids drying is very energy-intensive. Computer models such as Computational Fluid Dynamics - Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) can be employed to facilitate the fundamental understanding of solids drying and as a tool to improve process design. A crucial step is model validation with experimental data. In this study, the CFD-DEM drying simulations are validated using a detailed one-to-one comparison with the experimental results of De Munck et al. (2022). The pressure drop over the bed, the solids volume fluxes, the particle temperatures, and the particle densities are presented and discussed. Reasonable agreement between the experiments and simulations is observed. Furthermore, a connection between the local bed hydrodynamics and the local solids density distribution is found.