Assessment of air-sand-biomass flow and particle segregation in a conical spouted bed using CFD

Abstract Biomass pyrolysis is a promising technology used to obtain important industrial chemicals or to produce renewable energy. For pyrolysis reaction, conical spouted beds (CSBs) can be used because of the high heat and mass transfer rates. On the other hand, for CSB either the fluid dynamics stability or particle segregation may limit its usage as a reactor. As a contribution to the application of CSB reactors for biomass pyrolysis, this research aims not only to test Euler-Euler models to predict segregation in CSBs composed of binary mixtures with different particle shapes and densities but also present experimental verification. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) designs are carried out using the Euler granular model. The results reveal that the CFD simulation using Gidaspow's drag and dispersed k-ε turbulence models can better represent the experimental pressure drop and axial biomass particle concentration in the bed.