Simulation of the clustering phenomenon in a fast fluidized bed:The importance of drag correlation

Drag force is a key parameter in the numerical modeling of gas-particle flow in circulating fluidized beds. The reliability of current drag force correlations over the regime of fast fluidization has, however, not been thoroughly investigated. In this article, a drag force correlation accounting for the clustering effects for Geldart A particles is used to simulate the behaviors typical of fast fluidization, including dynamic evolution of clusters as well as time- averaged axial and lateral voidage profiles. Diverse images of clusters are captured and the time-averaged profiles of voidage are shown to be in quantitative agreement with the present empirical correlation. The results based on different constitutive correlations of drag force show the importance of the choice of drag force in modeling fast-fluidized beds. This drag force correlation, based on a simple averaging assumption, could give some basic insights about the magnitude of the drag reduction