A study of particle packing compresssion under Fluid Drag Force by DEM Simulations

Many chemical engineering processes, such as chromatography, filtration and drying, amongst others, involve particles in packed beds which undergo some deformation, caused by their own weight or by an external force, for instance, fluid drag force. In some cases, this deformation is of significant importance with regard to resistance to flow, heat and mass transfer. This paper examines the effect of fluid drag force upon a packed bed using the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate a process in which air blows through a packing of 14,000 soft spherical particles. The particles rearrange their locations and deform against one another due to the fluid drag force, which is derived from the Ergun equation. Changes throughout the bed in the voidage distributions, available inter-phase contact area, pressure drops, and fluid flow field are presented. The influences of fluid superficial velocity, particle rigidness, and initial packing status upon the properties of the compressed particle bed are examined