Eulerian-Eulerian modeling of multiple jet interactions for different distributor plates

The hydrodynamics of fluidized beds involving gas and particle interactions are very complex, and must be carefully considered when modeling such a system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). One of the issues involved is the interaction of multiple jets that develop above the distributor plate, which impacts the uniformity of fluidization. Using the common approach of a uniform gas velocity inlet boundary condition may not accurately represent distributor plates with nonuniform holes. The numerical approach will use a multi-fluid Eulerian-Eulerian CFD modeling to predict and examine the hydrodynamics of interacting jets. The present work will model a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) fluidized bed to compare with a corresponding experimental setup designed to examine multiple jet interactions for a distributor plate with 9 holes. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations of the quasi-2D bed will be compared with experiments by investigating solid volume fraction distributions and solid flux distributions with agreeable results qualitatively. Use of experimental data in determining the amount of mass fluidizing will also be assessed using CFD. The efficacy of the new approach in capturing the hydrodynamics is demonstrated.