Experimental validation of Lagrangian-Eulerian simulations of fluidized beds

The present study aims to validate two-dimensional Lagrangian-Eulerian simulations of gas-solid fluidized beds by comparing these with dedicated exptl. data obtained with polystyrene Geldart type D particles of 1.545 mm size. Exptl. data on pressure, voidage, and bed height fluctuations, and the power spectral d. are compared with three different implementations of the Lagrangian-Eulerian model. Though qual. trends found in the expt. are correctly reproduced by the simulations, the simulations are particularly sensitive to porosity estn. procedures used in the three different simulation strategies employed. Furthermore, the phenomenon of particle clustering predicted by the model does not conform to exptl. observations; this is because the physics of the break-up of clusters is not properly captured in the Lagrangian-Eulerian model. [on SciFinder (R)]